The Effectiveness of Mother Tongue as a Medium of Instruction in the Learning Development of Grade 1 Pupils at Baybay Elementary School
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background and Aim: The language of education is essential for how well children learn. The K–12 reform in the Philippines made Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) a part of Kindergarten through Grade 3 to help kids read, understand, and participate more in class. Although global research validates the advantages of mother tongue instruction, specific evidence from Philippine schools is still scarce. This study aimed to determine how well MTB-MLE helped Grade 1 pupils at Baybay Elementary School in Ozamiz City learn and grow. It wanted to find out what subjects were taught in Cebuano, how mother tongue instruction affected understanding, and how it affected student involvement in the classroom.
Materials and Methods: A descriptive qualitative case study methodology was used. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with five Grade 1 kids, supported by teacher interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Triangulation was utilized to strengthen the credibility of the findings, and the data were assessed thematically.
Results: The findings indicated that Cebuano was predominantly utilized in subjects such as Araling Panlipunan, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao, MAPEH, and Mother Tongue. It was also used as a support language in Mathematics and English. Students said they understood and remembered things better when taught in Cebuano. Classroom observations showed students were more active, confident, and excited during mother language instruction.
Conclusion: The study concludes that MTB-MLE improves Grade 1 students' understanding, involvement, and sense of cultural identity. It shows that teaching in a person's native language is not only a good way to teach, but it also changes society by connecting school and community and supporting Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education).
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright on any article in the Journal of Education and Learning Reviews is retained by the author(s) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permission to use text, content, images, etc. of publication. Any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. But do not use it for commercial use or with the intent to benefit any business.
References
Alidou, H., & W. H. (n.d.). Optimizing learning and education in Africa – The language factor (pp. 44–84). ADEA/UNESCO Institute for Education.
Ball, J. (2010). Enhancing learning of children from diverse language backgrounds: Mother tongue-based bilingual or multilingual education in the early years. UNESCO.
Bernardo, A. B. (2019). Implementation challenges in multilingual education in the Philippines. Asian EFL Journal, 21(2.3), 77–96.
Cenoz, J. (1998). Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism and multilingual education. Multilingual Matters.
Crystal, D. (2006). Language and the Internet (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Multilingual Matters.
Department of Education (DepEd). (2012). DepEd Order No. 16, s. 2012 (MTB-MLE).
Edwards, J. (1994). Multilingualism. Routledge.
Fillmore, L. W. (2014). Sequencing instruction in L1 and L2: Maximizing multilingual learning. Language Teaching Research, 18(1), 54–71.
Garbes, A. (2012). Perceptions of parents on the use of English and mother tongue in Philippine schools. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, 43(2), 123–138.
García, O. (1991). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Wiley-Blackwell.
Gonzalez, A. (2016). Mother tongue-based multilingual education in the Philippines: Policy to practice. Philippine Normal University Press.
Heugh, K. (2006). Theory and practice—Language education models in Africa: Research, design, decision-making, and outcomes. [Report/monograph].
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon Press.
Rbandamiller, S. (2011). Cultural involvement in children’s language acquisition. Journal of Multicultural Education, 5(3), 45–57.
SEAMEO. (2019). Community involvement in mother tongue-based education. SEAMEO Secretariat.
SEAMEO-INNOTECH. (2015). MTB-MLE in the Philippines: Findings and policy implications. SEAMEO-INNOTECH.
Tupas, R. (2015). Inequalities of multilingualism in Southeast Asia. Language and Education, 29(2), 112–124.
Tupas, R. (2017). Bilingual and multilingual education in the Philippines and beyond: Current research and future directions. Springer.
UNESCO. (2016). If you don’t understand, how can you learn? Global Education Monitoring Report. UNESCO.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
