Abstract

Sindhi is the most ancient language of the sub-continent and has been used as a medium of instruction in this region through centuries. The writing history of the Sindhi Language starts from Indus Civilization in the era of pictographic scripts being used for sister civilizations. Observing ground and historical realities, Sindhi is one of the most important languages of the world. For the study and development of language, it is necessary to develop primary textbooks. In our country, the teaching of language is a specialized skill. The primer (textbook) has a very milestone role in teaching and learning of respective language. The Sindhi Primers of public and private sectors were not as per the standard of other language primers. As per basic language skills textual and spelling forms' analysis, there were found only three primers of more than 50% success rate, while others were of very low standard with less than the success rate of 30%. Therefore it was a dire need to develop and design a Model Sindhi Primer based on the new revised National Curriculum with a 100% success rate of speaking, listening, reading, writing and understanding skills of the Sindhi Language for effective learning in early childhood class in schools of Sindh. The primer under research is an effective learning model primer which fulfils sufficient needs of learners and teachers for teaching and learning of Sindhi Language. The primer under research is also a Model Primer for textbook writers and authors in developing and designing any textbook in accordance with learning outcomes and objectives described in the curriculum.

Key Words

The Sindhi Primer, Designing, Developing, Textbook.

Introduction

The importance of language can be known from its age, usage, strength, and adaptation in terms of the propagation of literature and knowledge. Languages are the medium of communication. In the words of famous German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (Bayer, 1922), verbatim "the limits of my language are the limits of my world"(p.124.) The significance of the mother tongue is well defined by Abraham Lincon, "I always remembered the good wishes from my mother, and those were always with me in my success" (Baker,1989, p. 124). He has explained the importance of the mother tongue most simply, and that is that the mother tongue is the best source of teaching. The comprehensiveness of Sindhi is obvious because it pertains not only to a large number of vowels but also keeps a large number of alphabetic characters in the alphabet, that's why the one who can speak Sindhi could easily pronounce the vowels and consonants of any language. Henrich Heine, the German poet provides helps to sum up by saying, Romans would not have got the time to conquer the world if they would have to learn Latin first (Brown, 1974).

The same opinion may be replicated to show the importance of the Sindhi language for the natives of Sindh. It is considered one of the oldest languages in the region of Pakistan (Kandhro et, al. 2019). An estimate showed that it is spoken by 18 million people in Pakistan and which makes it the third most spoken language in the country. It would be unfair to restrict this language as the language of Sindh province of Pakistan, In Baluchistan, it is taught as a second language. It is one of the national languages of India and it is taught in several educational institutes in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat. It has been the language of Sufis and scholars of Sindh, who made it their source of preaching. They expressed their thoughts and spread their messages in Sindhi and that literature is preserved in the Sindhi books and syllabi (Kandhro et, al. 2019),. Besides this, it portrays the cultural identity of the province, which is known in history as Baab-ul-Islam. The Soomra (854-1011) and Samma (1339-1527) periods (Siddique, 2006), witnessed the Islamic teaching in the Sindhi. In British (1843-1947) rule Sindhi was introduced in the schools, colleges, courts, and offices, and it remains continued as the medium of instruction in the periods of Arghoons, Tarkhans, and Mughals (1524-1700) and Kalhoras and Talpurs (1700-1799) regimes (Michael, 1987).

Observing the realities, we can say that the Sindhi language is one of the important languages of the world, and it is a need of the hour that it should be taught either as a mother tongue or non-mother tongue for all residents of the Sindh province of Pakistan (Lashari, Mashori, Abbasi &Talpur 2018). The Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed an Act in July 1972 that made it compulsory for Sindhi speakers as mother tongue and non-mother tongue (second language) for Non-Sindhi speakers (SIND ACT NO.XIV OF 1972). So, we should understand this phenomenon that no other language promises to lead towards success, but the mother tongue does and Japan is a good example of this.

For the study and development of every language, it is necessary to develop primary textbooks. In this century the teaching of languages is a specialized skill, in which a learner is allowed to acquire skills according to his mental development and environment. To teach a language better, it is necessary to have lessons reflecting a child’s attention span and to involve as many senses as possible. Therefore, it is a need of the hour to design an effective learning textbook. The development of such a textbook involves certain steps, given under Methodology (Abbasi, Lashari Kumar & Rathore 2019).

Numerous studies have confirmed that adding provincial language (Sindhi language) instruction to the curriculum has many positive potential outcomes, particularly in terms of boosting motivation and boosting self-confidence (Wegner, 2012; Manafe, 2014; Vazquez, Molina, and Lopez, 2015). Numerous studies have confirmed that including local provincial language teachers in the curriculum has many potential advantages, particularly in terms of boosting motivation, boosting confidence, contextualizing instruction, providing meaningful learning, and promoting the acquisition of first languages (Bango, Shah, Soomro, & Lashari, 2017).

Although it is thought that applying the Sindhi language to early childhood education has several advantages. One issue that frequently emerges is the lack of suitable materials that may meet those objectives (Khan, Lashari & Iqbal, 2022). The lack of Sindhi language books published by publishers has been a problem in early childhood education. The goal of developing a book for early childhood students is to help someone learning Sindhi get a handle on the fundamentals of the language. Since Sindhi is used as the primary language of teaching for the chosen topics, it is enforced that the objective of language proficiency extends beyond simply allowing students to communicate in their home tongue through reading, writing, listening, and understanding (Bango, Shah, Soomro, & Lashari, 2017),. Writing a book is a challenge because there are not many books being published in international and national languages, and numerous creations and innovations astonish people (Lashari, Mashori, Abbasi & Talpur, 2018),.It is necessary to produce or build a prototype book for the early childhood level in the regional Sindhi language.




This study has the potential in giving more perspective to other book writers to not only pay attention to language aspects when they will be writing textbooks. Therefore, the materials they will create will be more appropriate to the learner's needs and interests. This study will also be additional literature for their study and will become an inspiration on how to develop materials for developing and designing any primer for the language with different procedures. Stakeholders such as Sindh Curriculum Council and Sindh Textbook Board can be a reference for developing a textbook that suits the needs of the society based on the students' study interests (Khan, Lashari & Iqbal 2022). Apart, from the mentioned benefits, the product can also be used as a basis for sustained research on the investigation of effectiveness by incorporating appropriate and basic language skills in any introductory book of the language.

Literature Review

Textbooks are standard works or manuals of instruction in a subject of study. They are the never-failing friends of the students as well as of the teachers. A textbook has been defined as an instrument of instruction that facilitates the teaching-learning process. It is written based on a prescribed syllabus in which the major ideals of the subject matter are selected and summarized judiciously. They are organized logically according to the mental makeup and psychological requirements of the students to facilitate the teaching-learning process, sometimes a textbook is called the Teacher in Print (Sharma, 2018). Nevertheless, it can by no means, replace the teacher. Rather it is to be used to aid and supplement his work (Sharma, 2018).

According to Webster’s Dictionary (2015, p. 17827), a textbook is any manual of instruction, a book containing a presentation of the principles of the subject used as a basis of instruction. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary says, a book used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject, a manual of instructions in a subject of study (Motaboli, 2005). According to the Encyclopedia America, as Collins term in his article, in the strict sense of the term, a textbook is a book that presents a body of knowledge in an organized and usually simplified manner for the purposes of learning. A textbook is frequently the most important teaching tool because it can determine not only what will be taught but also how it will be taught (Lashari, Umrani & Buriro, 2021),. Although television and other new media are rivalling printed materials of communication, textbooks remain major resources in schools and colleges (Collins, 2008).

Education Commission Report (1964-66) puts forth the view, a good textbook written by a qualified and competent specialist in the subject and produced with due regard to the quality of printing, able illustrations, and general getup, stimulated the pupils' interest and helps the teacher considerably in his work. (Khan, Lashari & Iqbal, 2022). The provision of quality textbooks and other teaching and learning materials can thus be an effective program for raising standards.

Among various instructional Aids such as textbooks, supplementary books, reference books, maps, charts, film strips, and films, Misra says, the textbook is presumably the most important because it is used in formal as well as informal situations of instruction and also in situations of self-study (Lashari, Umrani & Buriro, 2021). This is the cheapest of all the aids enumerated above and this is the only aid available to a large majority of the pupils and also the teachers (Marcia, 2008).

According to the writer's handbook for the development of educational materials, the textbook is the term for a book used in a course as the base around which the course is built (Allama Iqbal open Uni. Textbook Development -1), as L.J. Lewis says a textbook is a tool both for the pupil and the teacher (Camp, 2009).

Definition of Textbook

The textbook is a book that is prepared by the curriculum and taught in the classroom for a proper subject. A textbook is a prescribed book for students of a particular age group. It covers items as given in the syllabus. Such a book forms the basis of teaching and learning in the class. Later on, the students can revise their syllabus by studying the book whenever they feel like doing so.

According to Mukerjee, a textbook may be looked upon as the symbol of National Culture (Manish, 2012). They are not national symbols in the same sense as Ashoka Chakra, but they are perhaps more revealing of national ideas, ideals, and values than the figures on our coins and flags (Thera, 2010).

The term textbook is broader than the term schoolbook. To Hall-Quest, it is a record of racial thinking organized for an instructional purpose (Roediger, 2016). Others, Lagne, is a standard book for any particular branch of study (Clemmitt, 2008). Bacon means by the textbook, a book designed for classroom use, carefully prepared by experts in the field and equipped with the usual teaching devices (Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2009).

The textbook Dictionary of Education says it is any manual of instruction, a book dealing with a definite subject of study, systematically arranged, intended for use at a specified level of instruction, and used as a principal source of study material for a given course (http://anjalimann2.blogspot.com).

 

History of Textbooks

Viewing thoroughly the history of textbooks, it is concluded that teaching is a very old tradition but the development of textbooks for this purpose starts in the near past. The past efforts and initiatives for textbook development show that the job of textbook development starts from the initial decades of the 17^th century. People did not feel the need for any textbook before that, but they actualize the directives from teachers as authenticated sources of instruction.

In the education system of John Amos Comenius' period language was supposed a key element and language education was considered an important component of curriculum design and development. Although only classical languages were included in the curriculum of that era, moreover the education of these languages was mode limited to the education of syntax and morphology. John Amos Comenius not only criticized the education system of the respective period but, introduced new applicable theories for improvement of the system, and then he started a new cycle of pedagogical skills and added a new chapter in the curriculum depending on contents and subject knowledge. His efforts consisted of a series of five textbooks. Each book was of great importance in style and content. "World of Pictures" (Grinder, 1989, p. 219), the pictorial primer was of paramount status in this regard. His first book was published in 1658 A.D. This is the first format pictorial textbook in the history of the world for children. His second book “Albab” (p. 220), is written in an easy and communicative language and is the first textbook for children in which the composition of words from letters and sentences from words was being taught. John Amos Comenius is not only the first human who developed the first and second textbook of language but he introduced a golden principle in the subject under discussion; it is better to teach words with the help of compound things rather than an absolute single concept (Grinder, 1989). The ideas of John Amos Comenius in the form of books and essays influenced the education system of his period deeply. Today’s textbooks are based upon the ideas of John Amos Comenius up to a great extent.

 

Nature of Language Textbooks

Language textbook is quite different from textbooks on other subjects. The teaching of language is not possible through general-type textbooks. Experts are divided on the availability and selection of special textbooks for the teaching of language. Some say that there is no need for any textbook for teaching language. While others believe that textbook is very compulsory for teaching any language (Richards, 2001).

 

Sindhi Language Textbooks

The Sindhi language exists in this region before invading of Aryan (Maxmuller, 2010), and simultaneously afterwards Greeks, Arabs, and Iranians arrived in Sindh, and they have their languages and ruled Sindh for centuries (Shafaq, 1990). Despite such worst political situations, the Sindhi language stands with strong roots. No one is well aware of the lexical and morphological structure of the spoken Sindhi Language in the period of Mahabharata (Grierson, 1919), to the 10th century, experts have explored that pictographic inscriptions found in Moen-Jo-Daroare closely resembled Mesopotamian civilizations. After the arrival of Arabs, religious education was taught in religious schools along with Arabic alphabetic and diacritical marks. The Sindhi scholars have been traced well equipped with Islamic education and teaching, they contributed at their level best with Arab scholars in Islamic education and teachings, even their mother tongue has been transformed into Arabic language, even Ibn-e-Haoqal (10^thC.E.)Famous traveler quote in his well-known travelogue(Haque, 1959);

??? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ????????

Translation; the language of The Sindhi residents (scholars) was Sindhi and Arabic (Dani, 1971).

When Arab rule ends up, Ghaznavi emperors conquered Sindh and during the era, the Persian Language was introduced as the official language. Both Arabic and Persian were used as twin literacy languages up to the end of the 16^th century. At the beginning of the 17^th-century religious scholars named Abul Hassan from Thatta, think that religious teaching in the mother tongue can be delivered more effectively than Arabic and Persian use as a medium of instruction. He made the Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system to lay the foundation of the Arabic-Sindhi script for the Sindhi language. He authored his well-known book Muqaddamatusalat (??? ??? ?????????) and started to teach in his religious school (Bordie, 1980).

There were no any symbolsor characters (Trump, 1872), determined for following the Sindhi sounds before the introduction of Arabic-The Sindhi alphabetic system of Abul Hassan Thatvi(Nadwi,1972).

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??? ? ? ? ?

Makhdoom Sahib has introduced the following character for above sounds (Baloch, 1962);

?- ? ? ?-? ? ?- ? ? ?- ? ? ?- ??? ? ?- ?? ? ?- ?? ? ?- ??? ? ?- ? ? ???

He also introduced some other symbols for aspirated letters;

§ ? from ? and ??

§ ? from ? and ??

§ ? from ? and ??

§ ? from ? and ?

§ ? from ? and ??

He also introduced some other characters which remained under consideration of the alphabet committee of 1853 in the British period; the committee has approved these symbols as it is (Junejo, 2016).

In the same style, Molvi Ziauddin, Moulana Muhammad Hashim, and Moulana Abdul Rehman have authored their religious books in The Sindhi and these books were called Molvi Ziauddin Ji The Sindhi(????? ????? ????? ?? ????), Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Ji The Sindhi(????? ???? ???? ?? ????) and Molvi Abdul Rehman Ji The Sindhi(????? ?????????? ?? ????) and after that in coming days Girhori Ji The Sindhi(?????? ?? ????), Ghulam Muhammad Bagai Ji The Sindhi(???? ???? ????? ?? ????) and DairaVaranJi The Sindhi(????? ???? ?? ????) were also used as a medium of instructions in religious schools of Sindh (Baloch, 1962)

The alphabet prepared by Makhdoom Abul Hassan Sindhi has been used as an authenticated alphabetic system in the Sindhi language and literature afterwards. Therefore, it was a popular quotation in Sindh (Gopang, 2010); "If there is no Indus River there is no land of Sindh if there is no Nile River, there is no Egypt” (p. 28).

It means the prosperity of Sindh land depends on the Indus River and the Nile River is the secret of the development of the country of Egypt. In this connection, we can say that if there was no existence of The Sindhi of Abul Hassan, there will be no existence of The Sindhi language and literature and also the life of The Sindhi nation. Nowadays the richness of the treasure of Sindhi literature is only due to the scent of the alphabetic system developed by Makhdoom Abul Hassan Thatvi(Gopang, 2010).

The period afterwards of the 17^th century arrived with new messages, new trends, and new standards in The Sindhi language. On one side Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai has catalyzed The Sindhi language with a new spirit and made it the immortal language of the world and on the other side, religious scholars of Thatta territory have introduced a new script which made the Sindhi language a life-lasting language of the world. Makhdoom Abul Hassan has Fixed Naskh Script (??? ??? ????) for The Sindhi language and authored a textbook Muqaddamatusalat (?????? ??????) for the beginner learners of his religious school ( Ali, 1962).

The authorship of the above book has ensured the use of The Sindhi language as a medium of instruction in the capacity of the mother tongue regularly after the 17^th century. Then all other scholars of Sindh have accepted the importance of Sindhi as a medium of instruction. And on the other side in all religious schools of Sindh same script was adopted, although some scholars of Sindh who were habitual of Nastaliq Script (??????? ??? ????) were using the same in their writings, the majority of The Sindhi scholars have started to use Naskh (???) script in their writings and as a medium of instruction in their religious schools (Allana, 1970).

In connection with the above discussion, Makhdoom Abul Hassan Sindhi initiated the first step to introducing the Arabic- Sindhi alphabetic system and then other scholars followed the same system in their schools. The preliminary penwork of the religious scholars of that period was called Sindhyoon (??????) in the history of Sindhi literature and language (Baloch, 1991).

"When the child starts to read and write in the first year of his school then he used to read or recite the Quran Majeed without meaning and explanation. They train the child at this age very slowly and gradually, when he reached the age of nine years then he has passed to one higher grade to learn The Sindhi language as his mother tongue. For that purpose, the child has to study the following syllabus (Baloch, 1962).

§ Noor Namoon (????????): That is a very short and simple poetry textbook developed by Molvi Abdul Rehman.

§ The books and commentaries were authored by Molana Muhammad Hashim Thatvi.

§ The stories in poetry and prose, for example, Saiful Malook (???? ??????) and Laila Majnon (????? ?????) and one of the very important booksHikayatulSaliheen (?????? ????????) translated from Arabic to The Sindhi by Molvi Abdul Hakeem.

§ Ladino (??????): That book is based on the event of the death of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.), which his translation of the book of Mian Abdullah namely Habib Sayyar (???? ????).

§ Sao Masala (??? ?????): That is also a short book authored by Molvi Ismail (Birton, 1880 &Siddique, 1941).

There is some other Sindhi Textbooks were also taught in religious schools of Sindh, which are emphasized by Dr Ghulam Ali Allana in the list of his research article (Ali, 1984);




Table 1

S. No.	Name of Textbook	Name of Author
01.	Muqaddamatusalat (?????? ??????)	Makhdoom Abul Hassan Thatvi
02.	Cho Ilmi (??????)	Makhdoom Abul Hassan Thatvi
03.	Makhdoom Ziauddin Ji The Sindhi (????? ????? ????? ?? ????)	Makhdoom Ziauddin The Sindhi
04.	Faraiz Islam (????? ?????)	Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thatvi
05.	Zabeh Shikar and Rahat al Momeneen (??? ???? ??? ???? ?????????)	Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thatvi
06.	Wasiyat Nama (???? ????)	Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thatvi
07.	ZaadulFaqir (??? ??????)	Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thatvi
08.	MatloobulMomenin (????? ?????????)	Makhdoom Abdul Khaliq Thatvi
09.	KanzulIbrat (Volume-2) (??? ?????? ( ???-2)	Makhdoom Abdullah NariWaro
10.	Badarul Munir (??? ??????)	Makhdoom Abdullah NariWaro
11.	NoorulAbsaar (??? ???????)	Makhdoom Abdullah NariWaro
12.	HafatBehshat (??? ????)	Makhdoom Abdullah NariWaro
13.	Tamarul Munir (??? ??????)	Makhdoom Abdullah NariWaro
14.	Sang Namoon (??? ????)	Makhdoom Abdullah NariWaro
15.	Makhdoom Muhammad Ibrahim Ji The Sindhi (????? ???? ??????? ?? ????)	Makhdoom Muhammad Ibrahim Bhatti Hallai




The above-listed books were authored in the Arabic-Sindhi script developed by Makhdoom Abul Hassan Thatvi and were the important textbooks of that period in the religious schools of Sindh (Ali, 1984).

Development of the Sindhi Language Textbook at State Level

In 1843 British forces conquered Sindh from the Talpurs dynasty. Sindh was the last country conquered by the East India Company; they have already got control of the majority of states of the subcontinent before conquering Sindh. The British government (Hock, 1993) has already decided to implement the English language as a medium of instruction in all states of the subcontinent but when they conquered Sindh, they were compelled to introduce Sindhi as a medium of instruction in the capacity of the mother tongue in the Sindh province (Bango, Shah, Soomro, & Lashari, 2017),. The British officers felt a need to pass examinations in the Sindhi language but they have to face some difficulties at the primary level because there was no standard alphabetic system for the Sindhi language. The alphabetic system introduced by Makhdoom Abul Hassan Thatvi (Baloch, 1962), was not sufficient and was need to be improved and modified with the change in time. And also there were two separate religious sects that inhabited Sindh; Hindu and Muslim. Muslims were in the majority and resident of rural Sindh and Hindu was in second position and resident of cities and towns. Both sects have separate beliefs, values and religious thoughts, and both were also adopters of two separate scripts of The Sindhi language following their religions. The Muslims were using Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system following their religion Islam and Hindus were adopting the Devnagri script following their religion Hinduism. In those days Sir Martial Frere was the commissioner for Sindh in 1851 AD and he ordered all British officers appointed in Sindh to pass the examination in the native Sindhi language (Commissioner in Sindh, Circular No. 1825, Year 1851 and 1907).

At the time, there were two famous British Officers; Richard Brittan and Captain George Stack, who were experts in the Sindhi language and were the author of several Sindhi books. Richard Brittan proposed Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system as an official script of the Sindhi language, while Captain George Stack was believed to introduce Hindu- Sindhi alphabetic system as an official script of the Sindhi language (Simming et, al 2015),. Captain George Stack was the author of one of the Sindhi-English dictionaries and the book on the grammar of The Sindhi language in Hindu-Sindhi script. The Hindu-Sindhi alphabetic system was also of different styles and patterns in different areas of Sindh. The script used in Rohri city was different from its neighbouring city Ghotki and was also different from the script used in Ubavro (Munshi, 1980). Due to these faults and hurdles, Richard Brittan and his team criticized the adoption Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system for the Sindhi language.

In the meanwhile court of directors of East India Company introduced the Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system in 1853 as an official script (Attikan, 1960 &Hughes, 1874).  After the making of the decision; Mr Ellis Deputy Collector and Mian, Jan Muhammad received an award for the first author of the Sindhi Grammar. Then the committee has been constituted in the name of the Sindhi Language Committee to finalize the script version for the Sindhi language. The committee recommended both Arabic-Sindhi script for Muslims and Hindu-Sindhi script for Hindus. The Sindhi language committee updated the Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system prepared by Haroon Lohar with the help of Rai Bahadur Jagannath Vidya in 1853 (Attikan, 1960 &Hughes, 1874).

After the announcement of the Arabic-Sindhi alphabetic system series of Sindhi language textbooks was authored and Mr. Ellis published all ten textbooks in 1854 (Attikan, 1960 & Hughes, 1874):




 

Table 2

S. No.	Name of Textbook	Name of Author	Year of Publishing
01.	Bab Namoo (??? ????)	Dewan Nandi Ram Mirani	1853
02.	The SindhiPehryoon Kitab (???? ?????? ????)	Diwan Udha Ram Thanwar Das	1853
03.	The SindhiBiyon Kitab (???? ??? ????)	Diwan Udha Ram Thanwar Das	1853
04.	The SindhiTiyon Kitab (???? ???? ????)	Diwan Prabh Das Ramchandani and revised by Dewan Chohar Mall Kundan Mall	1853
05.	The SindhiChothoon Kitab (Volume-1) (???? ????? ???? ? ???? ??????)	Diwan Prabh Das Annand Ram	1853
06.	The SindhiChothoon Kitab (Volume-2) (???? ????? ???? ? ???? ???)	Diwan Prabh Das Annand Ram	1853




Then the revised and new editions of textbooks were published by the Translation of education department in 1896 and afterwards. Again in 1906, the new editions of the Sindhi Textbooks developed by the Vernacular Textbooks revision committee were published (Gopang, 1980).

And then the task of designing and developing school textbooks was handed over to the Sindhi Adabi Board after the Independence of Pakistan in 1947. Afterwards, the Government of Pakistan established Textbook boards in four provinces of Pakistan and was handed over the task of developing school textbooks for respective provinces in 1974. (Haque, 1959). Currently, Sindh Text Book Board is continuing the task up to date.

Materials and Method

The proper design that the researcher uses in the educational field is research and development (R&D), the desired educational coursebook is designed based on the requirements, and assessment and supplied the theoretical and empirical foundation for the coursebook as an instructional product. Cunningham's model persuades the researcher to adapt the existing models to meet the needs of proper R&D in a logical order. The researcher adapted (1) Schlegel and Lee & Owens' ADDIE model (mean Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) and (2) Gall et al' model for this study. The sample was taken by purposive sampling technique based on the consideration of the researcher. The type of approach used in this study to achieve the objectives that have been formulated is qualitative descriptive research. The teachers, students and authors of Sindhi primer are the main factors of population.

This study was conducted with the aim to measure the effectiveness of Sindhi primers textbooks in ECCE, which was produced in this research in developing the basic language skills of Sindhi language of the students so that in accordance with the purpose of Sindh Early Childhood Care Curriculum, 2018. For that conducted data collection was to compare the books being used in primary schools of ECCE classes in Sindh of the public and private sectors. The data was obtained in the form of questionnaires respondents for the assessment and analysis of the effectiveness of the book. There is a total of 56 lessons are introduced in the model  The Sindhi Language Primers in which a total of 56 basic language skills are introduced slowly and gradually in different lessons. The evaluation of basic language skills in Primer has been based on the principle of easy to difficult and simple to complex (see Chp. IV, p. 101).

This study used a student questionnaire and a teacher interview. The researcher focused on the learners' needs when creating the questionnaire. The gap between the learners' wants and necessities is what defines their needs. Their wants indicate the learners' subjective needs for what they believe they need or are obligated to have. This desire is in direct opposition to the requirements that other parties (e.g., school vision and mission, national evaluation requirements, or society) may impose on the learners in the Sindhi language acquisition. This gap is filled by a lack of resources, which necessitates a requirements analysis (Nation & Macalister, 2010, p. 29).

Based on the results of the questionnaire, it is discovered that one of the challenges in The Sindhi language ECCE teaching is that students and the Sindhi language teachers require a Sindhi language ECCE effective learning textbook that would enable them to learn basic language skills of the Sindhi language. Based on an interview with the Sindhi instructors, it was discovered that the textbooks used in class do not allow for effective learning of basic language skills. So far, they've employed materials from traditional resources (home tuition, individual teaching) to satisfy the demands of learners who simultaneously have another subject like General Knowledge, etc. They believed it was ineffective, though, because they had to prepare.

They had trouble not just picking acceptable materials, but also managing the time needed to use supplemental materials. The materials in the books they use have already been loaded into them. They are unlikely to provide any additional materials.

Following the establishment of the conceptual framework, a thorough examination of the current curriculum is carried out. In the current study, five subjects are used to build the product: Sindhi, General Knowledge, Religion such as Islamiyat, and local artistic poem. Standards of Content for each subject were mapped for input purposes to see if the contents might be used in foreign language teaching and learning. Theme-based development is particularly useful for accommodating the growth of a notion that may later be used as a foundation for learning, thinking, and reasoning (Kostelnik, 1991). Only when the themes have been determined can the topics be developed.

Figure

Flowcharts of the conceptual framework of product development for the present study



The product in this study was designed using the following conceptual framework: theme-based, Coyle et al4Cs, Mohan Structure of Knowledge, modification of Bloom's cognitive taxonomy, Cummins' Matrix, and tasks-based. Figure (above) illustrates the framework: The product's development includes the following steps (1) selecting themes for the units, (2) selecting appropriate topics related to content-area courses to be integrated, (3) selecting texts from relevant resources based on the topic, (4) modifying the text for Sindhi language teaching at early childhood stage, (5) designing and organizing the tasks, (6) compiling the pages.

Summary and Findings

The primers from both public and private sectors were analyzed as per language skills textual analysis the successful rate of various Sindhi Primers was as under:




 

Table 3

S. No.	Primers	Languages Skills Textual Analysis		Success Rate
		Yes	No
01.	THE SINDHI PRIMER Sindh Textbook Board, Jamshoro	17	10	62.96%
02.	THE SINDHI PRIMER The Sindhi Language Authority	14	13	51.85%
03.	THE SINDHI PRIMER Oxford University Press, Pakistan	08	19	29.62%
04.	THE SINDHI PRIMER Gaba Publishers	18	09	66.66%
05.	THE SINDHI PRIMER Rehbar Publishers	03	24	11.11%
06.	THE SINDHI PRIMER ShaikhShoukat Ali & Sons Publishers	05	22	18.51%
07.	THE SINDHI PRIMER Kathiyawar Store	11	16	40.74%
08.	THE SINDHI PRIMER Under Research	27	0	100%




It shows that mostly The Sindhi Language Primers of the public sector are low standard and do not fulfil the requirements of spelling forms of the Sindhi Language text. There is only a model developed under our research that is 100% of standard and quality which may be used simple for further designing and developing the Sindhi Language Primers for effective learning in the early childhood education schools of Sindh. Therefore, it is a dire need to design and develop a new Sindhi Primer which should be in accordance with basic skills of the Sindhi Language and its textual concepts (Khan, Lashari & Iqbal 2022).

Conclusion and Recommendations

The Sindhi language textbook (Primer) should be comprised of 45 to 50 pages. The text should be very simple for the mental level of children. The phonetic method with necessary modifications may be given preference. The title of the Sindhi Primer should be attractive at a reasonable price. The following information should be inscribed on the title and title verso of The Sindhi Primer.  

? Book Name

? Author Name, Illustrator Name, Reviewers Name

? Date of Printing

? Number of Edition

? Quantity of Books

? Year of Publishing

? Name of Publishers and Printers

? Copyright Information

? Acknowledgement Information (if necessary)

? Selection and Organization of Contents

? Teaching Methodologies and Reference books

? Use of illustrations / Manifestations

The contents of The Sindhi Primer should be by following the basic concept of The Sindhi Language text formation.

? Absolute introduction of surrounding things.

? The first sound of the names of pictures.

? Symbols of alphabetic characters (consonants).

? The long vowel “? ?? ???”.

? Short vowel “??? (   ?  )”.

? Short vowel “??? (  ? )”.

? Long vowel “?-?????”.

? Short vowel “?-???”.

? Short vowel“??? (   ?  )”.

? Long vowel “?-?????”.

? Diphthong vowel “?-?????”.

? Diphthong vowel “?-?????”.

? Use of character “????”.

? Use of diacritical mark “???”.

? Nasalized sound “??? ???”.

? Use of stress mark “?? (   ?  ”.

? Use of wav silent “???-??????”.

? Use of silent consonant “???? ?????”.

? Use of silent consonant “??? ???”.

? Use of silent consonant “??? ???”.

? Use of silent consonant  “??? ???”.

? Use of “?” with word of labial sound as a variant of “?”.

? Use of aspirant sounds “????” i.e. “??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ???”.

? Use of “?  ?  ??  ? ?” prepositions & conjunction.

? Use of sounds “???? ? ???? ? ???? ? ???? ? ???? ? ???? ? ??? ? ??? ” in possessive pronouns.

? Simple poem or story.

? Learning writing and reading together.

Therefore, the Sindhi Language Primer under research is a model of the Sindhi Language Primer with a 100% basic concept of The Sindhi Language text formation that can be used as a model primer for designing and developing the Sindhi Language Primers thereon.

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