Place-Based Multilingual Reading in the Kei Islands: A Context-Responsive Framework for English Education

Abstrak

Students in the Kei Islands approach English texts through linguistic repertoires, cultural experience, and access conditions that differ from those assumed by many generic reading programmes. This article develops a locally responsive direction for university reading courses by integrating scholarship on L2 comprehension, sustained reading, multilingual meaning-making, place-oriented education, and digital literacy. Eighteen traceable academic sources were examined comparatively through qualitative synthesis. The comparison revealed five curriculum obligations: make texts materially and linguistically reachable; teach readers how to monitor understanding; employ several languages with a defined purpose; connect interpretation with island knowledge; and build critical judgement across paper and screen. These obligations are organized as KAM-READ, the Kei Archipelagic Multilingual Reading framework. Its recurring movements—access, connect, interpret, evaluate, and respond—link comprehension with learner agency and socially meaningful use. English remains the main object and medium of development, whereas Indonesian and Veveu Evav can activate knowledge, test interpretations, and support movement toward an accountable English response. KAM-READ offers a research-informed design rather than a claim of tested effectiveness. Its value must next be examined collaboratively in courses, schools, and communities across Tual and Maluku Tenggara.