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Kota Kinabalu: The Kadazandusun Language Foundation’s (KLF) strategic collaboration with the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu on promoting 17 Sustainable Development Goals (17SDGs) is in line with its mission to achieve awareness of sustainability through its Indigenous language conservation programmes in Sabah and Malaysia.

Forming strategic collaborations with various parties including the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu is one of the ways for KLF to diversify programmes, said KLF’s Board of Trustees Chairman Datuk Philip Lasimbang.

Philip said KLF sponsored the publication of the book entitled “Reading Project with 5sMMS on 17SDGs” in May 2024 as discussed by the author of the book, Bernadette Peter Lidadun, together with her Doctoral main supervisor Dr. Nancy Chiuh @ Noemi and Archbishop John Wong in January this year.

“We found the book containing the targets of the 17 SDGs formulated by the UN from 2015 to 2030 to be useful additional input for us to implement our programmes with sustainable methods,” Philip said this after a courtesy call to Archbishop John Wong at his office Monday.

Also present were Fr. Isidore Gilbert, Director of the Aspirant Preparatory Seminary, Rita Lasimbang, CEO of KLF, Bernadette Peter Lidadun, Delia L. Olaybal and Jenny Mosikon from the Academy of Language Studies (APB), UiTM Sabah, Rayner Biam Anjumal, President of the Friends of St. John Vianney (FSJV), Paula Christianus, Mikal Utin @ Micheal and Margaret Musileh of FSJV, and Thomas Ralon of Saffronixora Uniservices, the sole distributor of the book.

“We are pleased to present 100 complimentary copies of the book to the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu to be used as training material by the aspirants at the Aspirant Preparation Seminary and the seminarians at the Initiation Year Seminary, St. Peter’s College, Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.

“We hope that the distribution of this book can increase the general public’s knowledge and awareness of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

“We would like to express our deepest appreciation for the trust of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu in KLF in the publication of this book which is the result of the author’s three years of research at the Aspirant Preparatory Seminary,” said Philip.

Archbishop John said the church welcomes the contribution and involvement of those who wish to build a civil and knowledgeable society.

“I found that the content of this book is very comprehensive, and at the same time, it is very practical. It is presented systematically with interesting illustrations.

“I believe it will be a good resource guide that will foster people’s interest in the sustainability of development that should be balanced with faith and spirituality.

“The lessons contained in Catholic Social Teaching can be used as a guide for those, especially Catholics who want to adapt and implement action plans to achieve the targets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in their area,” he said.

Fr. Isidore said that the contents are very relevant, appropriate and applicable.

This “Reading Project with 5sMMS on 17SDGs” is a sort of “wordy made easy” through a series of reading processes, he said.

Rita said they consistently established partnerships with diverse stakeholders for the success and sustainability of its programs on Indigenous language conservation in Malaysia.

She added that KLF had been dedicated to the preservation and advancement of Indigenous languages in Sabah since its inception in 1994.

KLF is selective in publishing manuscripts and the publication of this book was a special arrangement, and the author has been one of KLF’s Network Partners since 2004.

Bernadette said it was written as part of the response to the Malaysian National Reading Decade (2020-2030) initiative, as it supports Malaysia’s goal of building a nation of readers.

She has been a Visiting Lecturer in English at the Aspirant Preparatory Seminary since 2014.

She explained that the book is the product of her three years of research at the Preparatory Seminary Aspirant and it had been collaboratively developed and received feedback from stakeholders and the participants during the three cycles of classroom action research projects (2021-2023).

“Reading is crucial for individuals and societal development. It enhances literacy skills, critical thinking, empathy, and cultural awareness.

However, many individuals and communities face barriers to developing a reading culture. Therefore, there is a constant need to design reading interventions for language classrooms.

“The book is an innovative reading intervention which focuses on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has four main aims namely to promote reading engagement and sustain reading motivation among learners, to raise awareness of global issues based on the 17SDGs among learners, to promote critical thinking in finding solutions to global problems, and to inspire actions for positive change through the 5sMMS among learners.

“It adapted the five-step Monroe’s Motivated Sequence (5sMMS) which was originally developed by a Professor in Psychology Alan Monroe, for persuasive speeches in the 1930s and the five steps incorporate elements of persuasion psychology.

“Recognising that this book is the culmination of an extensive three-year research endeavour, I am convinced that its contents and objectives are pertinent and in harmony with the mission and initiatives of KLF.

This reading project offers 100 reading topics on the 17SDGs for reading selection and each SDG has 5 to 7 topics for readers’ selection for each reading assignment and it guides the learners to search for accurate information from the official website of the United Nations’ 17SDGs as well as websites of relevant organizations, she said.

Its concept won the Diamond Award at the 2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023 & SDG Innovation@IBSD and the assessment tool for this reading which was created based on another project innovation project entitled “A Multidimensional Approach to Assessing Language: A CEFR-Based Rubric for Adult Learners has also been recognised with the Gold Award at the Virtual International Innovation Competition (VIIC) 2023, she added.

She said the book is well-suited for language educators and special interest groups to use as part of their training materials, as it equips them with an all-encompassing comprehension of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) particularly Target 4.7 of SDG4 – Quality Education.