Intensify Learning

Activity 1: EXPLORING MY MOTHER TONGUE

1. Choose a partner and form a dyad.

With your partner, list at least twenty (20) commonly used words in your mother tongue that
you use at home. Write these in the boxes provided below:

2. Interview a teacher in public school who teaching in Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3. Solicit
answers to the following questions:

Interview Protocol

Name of the Teacher: School:

Grade level taught:
Questions:
1. What Mother Tongue (MT) are you using in your class? ________________________
2. Are you using the MT as a language for teaching (MOI) ___________ or/ and as a subject ____________?
3. Do you see instructional materials in the MT? ______. Please enumerate:
4. Do you find it easy _____ or difficult _____ in using the MT as a medium of instruction of a language of teaching?
Why? _____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. If you teaching MT as a subject, do you find it easy ______ of difficult? _____. Why? ______________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Do you use the mother tongue in singing songs ______? Or reciting poems _____? If yes, Please write the title of
the song, or the title of the poem.
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Do you find your learners enjoying the lessons with the use of mother tongue? Yes ______ No ______. Describe
their reactions. ______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. Are your learners learning? Yes _____ No _____
9. Is the MT you are using, the same as your own as a teacher? _____. If no what is your MT? _________________
10. When did you start teaching MTB-MLE? ___________________________________ Why did you shift to
MTB-MLE? _________________________________________________________________________
11. What are the things that are favorable or not in MTB-MLE? Please enumerate.

What I LIKE in MTB-MLE What I do NOT LIKE in MTB-MLE

Share the result of your interview during the discussion.

Insure Outcomes
Let’s find out what we have learned. Answer the ten items with YES or NO.

1. Should teachers in K to Grade 3 learn the mother tongue of the learners where they are teaching?
2. Is there a need for mother tongue orthography to begin teaching the mother tongue?
3. Should instructional materials used in K to Grade 3 be in the mother tongue?
4. Is the mother tongue a subject to be taught starting Grade 1 to Grade 3?
5. Is the mother tongue a language for teaching and learning from K to Grade 3?
6. Is the mother tongue the same as the first language of LI?
7. Does DepEd Order 74, s. 2009 imply the future teachers should learn the what and how in teaching the
mother tongue?
8. Will Mother Tongue be used as medium of instruction in Science and Math in Grade 3?
9. I high school, if the students cannot express their understanding in English, can they use the mother
tongue to explain?
10. Do other countries use also the mother tongue as advocate by UNESCO to achieve Education for All?

Integrate Learning
Now that you know that the use of the mother tongue has been mandated by the Department of
Education, then you have to prepare yourselves for the role you will play as a teacher from Kindergarten to
Grade 3.

Make an inventory of the words in the mother tongue that you HEAR and READ and are commonly
used in your community. It will help if you can identify its Filipino and English equivalents. Do this in the
format that you see below and submit your output to your facilitator.

INVENTORY OF WORDS in the MOTHER TONGUE with FILIPINO and ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS

Mother Tongue words English Filipino

The Benefits: Why Use the Mother Tongue?

Lesson Outcomes:
 Enumerated some benefits of the use of the mother tongue for learners and future teachers.
 Discussed what sample studies have said about the benefits of the use of the mother tongue.

Inspire Oneself
Congratulations! You are very lucky to be a teacher who will re-use the mother tongue as a medium
for teaching and learning in the school subjects. This practice is not new because as early as 1948-1954, School
Superintendent Dr. Jose V. Aguilar had been popularly cited to have started the mother tongue experiment
with the use of Hiligaynon (the mother tongue of the people of Iloilo) as medium of instruction in Grade 1 and
Grade 2 in the Division of Iloilo. His advocacy in the use of the vernacular was an off-shoot of the community-
school movement which engaged the farmers to double their harvest. As a school superintendent Dr. Aguilar
stared an experiment on the use of vernacular in the first two grade levels. This was approved by the Bureau
of Public School. Other provinces like Rizal Province followed suit and used Tagalog as the medium of
Instruction in Grade 1 in 1960-1966.

For a while, the use of the mother tongue or vernacular was placed at the back seat of Philippine basic
education until the First Language Component-Bridging Program (FLC-BP) on transitional education was put in
place by the Department of Education from 1966-1993. This was followed by the Lingua Franca Education
(LFE) Pilot study in 1999 to 2002. This study defined and implemented the National Bridging Program from
mother tongue to Filipino to English, using four largest lingua francas in the Philippines which are Tagalog,
Hiligaynon, Cebuano, and Ilocano in Grade 1 and 2. It also bridged learned concepts in the mother tongue to
Filipino and English.

A long story indeed, but the journey of the mother tongue has to continue. It will continue with you as
future teachers.

Moreover, it is not only in the Philippines where the use MTBMLE has been revived, but also in many
other countries in the world as UNESCO reports.

Why is it important to use the mother tongue? Why do we have to embrace MTB-MLE in our teaching
and learners’ learning?

Do you have the answer? Would you like to know more?

Inculcate Concepts
How many languages do you speak? Some of you speak two, three or even more languages but
nobody speaks one language alone. That is why language smart we are as Filipinos! Do you agree?

But why do we have to master our first language (L1) or mother tongue before we learn our second
(L2) or third (L3) language? Let us consider the following benefits.

In the Philippines, studies have been implemented to strengthen the understanding and identify the
benefits in the learning and use of the mother tongue (LI). Among others, there the First and Second Iloilo
Experiment (1948-1954 and 1961-1964); Rizal Experiment (1960-1966); First Language Component Bridging
Program (FLC-BP) in 1986-1993; the Lingua Franca Education Pilot Study in 1999-2002; and the Lubuagan
Kalinga MLE Program. Let us look at these benefits on the four aspects of development. Study the matrix that
follows.
BENEFITS OF MOTHER TONGUE BASED-MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION

Aspects of Development Benefits of MTB-MLE

Language  Education begins with the use of the first language of the learners, a language
that they understand.
 The macroskills in communicating developed for effective meaning-making
and accuracy.
- Listening: Learners listen to understand and use what they hear.
- Speaking: Learners speak with understanding to communicate their
thoughts and ideas clearly.
- Reading: Learners read to understand, apply, analyze, critique and use
information from printed or digital materials.
- Writing: Learners write creatively to communicate thoughts and feelings
clearly and accurately to others.
 School children will have a good language bridge to the next language which
is needed to succeed in school and for lifelong learning.
 The first language that children master will provide a strong educational
foundation.
Cognitive  The first language becomes the language of thinking, doing, applying and
creating.
 School children in the early years learn beyond the who, what, when, and
where the progress to higher order thinking skills because they use the first
language.
Academic  Beginning school learners express themselves easily and freely.
 School learners participate actively in class activities.
 Learners are able to process instruction easily without doing mental
translation.
 Beginning school learners academically perform better than those using the
second or third languages.
 Parents are more likely to participate in the children’s learning.
 Teachers can easily scaffold the learning of children.
Socio-Cultural  School children bring to the class prior knowledge, lived experiences,
language and culture.
 Lessons incorporate the best of cultural values in arts, music, literature,
tradition, and others.
 The daily experiences of the learners are included and developed in the
various concepts in the curriculum.
 Learners preserve their heritage and culture.

More Benefits

Classroom observation have shown that children who are using the first language to communicate are
more participative and confident have higher self-esteem. They show increased motivation, initiative, and
creativity. It is because L1 classrooms allow children to be themselves and develop their personalities as well
as their intellects.

Several studies found out that the decrease in dropout rate and increase in retention rates in schools
have been attributed to the use of the first language. When the language of home and school are the same,
children tend to be interested to going to school everyday.

Simply put, the use of mother tongue in learning enables the learner to:
 Listen with understanding.
 Speak with understanding.
 Read with understanding.
 Write with understanding.
 View with understanding.

Understanding means making meaning out of what has been heard, read, spoken, written, or seen.
 It has also been observed in many countries that without the use of the mother tongue in teaching and
learning, children’s potentials are often wasted. This conditions tends to result to less development or even
educational failure.

Intensify Learning

Activity 1: Understanding Further Our First Language

In the Philippines, RICE is our staple food. We eat RICE more than three times a day. Let us use RICE
as an example to study our first language (L1).

Answer the questions that refer to RICE with answer in your mother tongue.

RICE : OUR STAPLE FOOD

Question Answer in the Mother Tongue

1. What is RICE in your mother tongue?
2. What is UNMILLED RICE called?
3. What name do you give to STICKY RICE?
4. How does your family call BROWN RICE?
5. What is UNCOOKED RICE in your mother
tongue?
6. What is COOKED RICE in your mother tongue?
7. How do you call LEFTOVER RICE?
8. What is the word for FRIED RICE in your mother
tongue?
9. What is the term is use for RICE BRAN?
10. What is term used for RICE HUSK?

Did the activity interest you? Have you realized that the English word RICE has several equivalent
words in the language that you commonly use at home?

Write your personal reflection about the activity. Complete the following incomplete sentences:

1. I learned that:
a.________________________________________________________________________________________.
b.________________________________________________________________________________________.
2. I realized that _______________________________________________________________________________.
3. I resolve to _________________________________________________________________________________.
4. When I become a teacher, I will _________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Activity 2: Determining the Benefits of Using the Mother Tongue:
Making an Observation

Work with partner. Together, find time to observe a class where the teacher is using the mother
tongue as medium of instruction or teaching. Write your observation that are related to the identified aspects
of the development presented in the previous section.

What benefit does each learner get from the Classroom activity that uses mother tongue as a medium of teaching and
use of the mother tongue? learning

Language Development

Cognitive Development

Academic Development

Social-Cultural Development

Insure Outcomes
How much do you know? Let us find out!

Below are questions the need a YES or NO answer. After you have decided with your answer, explain
WHY.

1. Will early years school children understand better if taught in L1?

Yes ___ No ___
Why? ______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

2. Will learning with the use of mother tongue hamper the learning of the second language?
Yes ___ No ___
Why? ______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

3. Will it be difficult for mother tongue learners to learn higher order thinking skills in the upper grades or
even in high school? Yes ___ No ___ Why? _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

4. Will mother tongue enhance the learners’ liking of or interest in local songs, poems, and stories?
Yes ___ No ___ Why? ______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Integrate Learning
Let us apply your insights. Form a group of 5 members.

Activity 1: Experience the Benefits of the Mother Tongue: Use it for Listening and Speaking

1. Choose a short story or a legend which is commonly told in your locality and has an English
translation.
2. Write this story or legend in both your mother tongue and in English (L2 or L3).
3. Request for a story telling time from the teacher in the school nearest you. This can be done in any
class in Kindergarten or Grade 1.
4. The two of you will be the storytellers. One will use the mother tongue and the other will use English.
5. You will tell the story in two different days to the same group of children.
6. Let the other members of your group OBSERVE while the story is being told in each language.
7. Record all observations and make a report.
8. Discuss in your class and submit the report to your teacher.

Key Observation Questions Learners’ Behavior Observed in Learners’ Behavior Observed in

Mother Tongue Story English Story
1. Do learners like story telling time?
What are the observable reactions?
2. How do learners listen while the story
is told?
3. How do learners respond to oral
questions about the story?
4. To what extent do learners
understand the story?
5. To what extent do learners enjoy
listening and talking about the
story?
6. What general observations have
you made about the storytelling
time in two languages?
7. In which language did the
learners enjoy and learn more?

Activity 2: Reflect on this.

As a future teacher, which language is more effective in communicating with learners in the early
grade level? Why?