Mother Tongue Based–Multi

Lingual Education

Reporters:Charlene Grace D. Rea

Renzel B. Salavarez

What is Mother Tongue Based–Multi Lingual Education?

• Is a formal or non-formal education, in which the children’s mother tongue is used in the classroom as a bridge in learning Filipino and English.

• It is a structured program of language learning and cognitive development which provides learners with a strong educational foundation in the first language.

According to Education Secretary Br Armin Luistro FSC

“The use of the same language spoken at home, in the early grades, helps improve the pupils’ language

and cognitive development in addition to strengthening their

socio-cultural awareness.”

The mother tongue:• - as a subject focuses on the development of reading and speaking from Grades 1 to 3.

• -As a medium of instruction the mother tongue is used in all learning areas from Kinder to Grade 3 except in the teaching of Filipino and English subjects.

What are the benefits?

1. Reduced drop-out2. Reduced repetition3. More attendance4. More learning5. More involvement and participation

from parents and the community6. More cost-effective in the

implementation

Why use the mother tongue as

the First Language in

school?

Local and internationals studies have shown that using the mother tongue

inside the classroom during the learners’ early years of schooling produce better and faster learners who

 can easily adapt to learn a second (Filipino)  and third

language (English).

• Mother Tongue is typically the first language of the child and the language of the home. It can also be construed as the language of primary socialization, the language developed by a child from an early childhood.

• Mother Tongue education implies a linguistically homogeneous community, a teacher who speaks the language, and the curriculum materials in the mother tongue

• Mother Tongue-Based instruction provides an opportunity for our children to exercise their right to learn in their first language.

It promotes literacy, as it hastens the learning process. They are able

to:

a) understand what the teacher is saying,b) think wellc) argue well andd) question properly and critically.

Why mother tongue-based instruction?

Results of the 2003 Functional Literacy Education and Mass Media Survey revealed that out of 57.59 million

Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years old, there were:

• 5.24 million Filipinos who could not read and write;

• 7.83 million who could not read, write and compute and

• 18.37 million could not read, write, compute and comprehend.

What an alarming situation!!

What are these Languages?

There are twelve major languages to be used as language of instruction

1. Tagalog2. Kapampangan3. Pangasinense4. Iloko5. Bikol6. Cebuano

7. Hiligaynon8. Waray9. Tausug10.Maguindanaoan11.Maranao12.Chabacano

DepEd adds 7 more languages in mother tongue-based educationThe additional languages are:

•Ybanag for pupils in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, and Isabela;•Ivatan for the Batanes Group;•Sambal in Zambales;•Aklanon in Aklan, Capiz;•Kinaray-a in Capiz, Aklan;•Yakan in Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao and•Surigaonon covering Surigao City and provinces

What are the effects?

Secretary Edilberto de Jesus, who once went to observe an MTBMLE class in Lubuagan, described the pupils to be

clearly engaged in the learning process.

Lea Lombos, a teacher, says that her pupils can clearly express their ideas thus they enjoy their classes

more. She added that more students are able to participate. Students are able to give more

examples as they are familiar with the language.

Fear and inhibition, especially in the younger ones, are eliminated

as well. Students are also able to write their ideas and even form them into a simple story or song. They

also seem to have a greater appreciation for reading.