MOTHER TONGUE AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION:

PARENTS’ AND TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND

PUPILS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION

VIDA LUZ DELA CRUZ VILLALBA

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Master of Arts in Education
(Teaching in the Early Grades, K-2)
In the Division of Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City
May 2013

Permission is given for the following people to have access to this

thesis

Available to the general public Yes

Available only after consultation with author/ thesis adviser No
Available only to those bound by confidentiality agreement No

Student’s Signature:

Signature of Thesis Adviser:

 APPROVAL SHEET

This thesis attached hereto, entitled “MOTHER TONGUE AS MEDIUM OF

INSTRUCTION: PARENTS’ AND TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND PUPILS’
LISTENING COMPREHENSION,” prepared and submitted by VIDA LUZ D.
VILLALBA, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Education (Teaching in the Early Grades, K-2), is hereby accepted.

MARIE YVETTE C. ALCAZAR, M.A.Ed.

Co-Adviser

ROMYLYN A. METILA, M.A.Ed.

Co-Adviser

FELICITAS E. PADO, Ph.D.

Critic/ Reader

NORMA G. CAJILIG, Ph.D.

Member

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of

Arts in Education (Teaching in the Early Grades, K-2).

ROSARIO I. ALONZO, Ph.D.

Dean
 ABSTRACT

This study sought to establish the relationship between the attitude of teachers in

the early grades (1 and 2) towards the use of the mother tongue as a medium of

instruction and the listening comprehension skills of their students in those grade levels.

The study also focused on the attitudes towards the mother tongue as medium of

instruction of the parents of those students from Grades 1 and 2.

Questionnaires were distributed to 41 parents and 14 teachers from Grade 1 and 2,

to determine their attitudes and language beliefs. Focus Group Discussions for the parent

participants and individual interviews for the teacher participants were conducted for

additional data. Three listening comprehension tests were administered to 30 grade 1

pupils and 30 grade 2 pupils to measure their listening comprehension skills.

The parents, in general had a positive attitude towards mother tongue as medium

of instruction. They expressed pride in their own language heritage and most believed

that the use of the MT as MOI in schools garnered positive results for their child’s

literacy development. However, they also expressed apprehension regarding their child’s

English proficiency since English continued to be perceived as the language of social,

educational, and financial advancement. The teacher participants’ attitudes towards MT,

on the other hand, were neither positive nor negative. Like the parents, they observed the

positive results in their pupils’ grades and literacy development, but they experienced

difficulties in the transition stage from mainly English MOI to the mother tongue. They

expressed their lack of guidance, training, materials, and preparation which resulted in

the difficulty to implement the use of MT as MOI in the way they felt it should be

implemented.
 The pupils’ listening comprehension tests showed that were able to answer

questions from the literal, inferential, and application level of comprehension but had

difficulty answering questions from the critical level. It also showed that they had

difficulty with some vocabulary words which may have affected their comprehension of

the stories.

Through the use of the Pearson Correlation Coefficient test, it was concluded that

in this study, there was no statistically significant relationship between the parents’

attitude towards MT as MOI and the children’s listening comprehension skills. Through

the use of the Mann-Whitney U-test, it was proven that, there was a significant difference

between the test scores of the pupils whose teachers have a positive attitude towards MT

as MOI and the test scores of the pupils whose teachers have a negative attitude towards

MT as MOI. Through the use of the t-test, the results showed that there is no significant

difference between the test scores of the grade 1 pupils and the test scores of the grade 2

pupils.

The results of the study show that the teachers’ attitude towards MT as MOI had

an effect on their students listening comprehension development. It also shows that

parents and teachers have specific attitudes towards the different languages used in

school.

It is recommended that training seminars be given to teachers to help them

prepare for the change in the curriculum. Workshops on lesson planning in the new

curriculum and construction of materials will also address some of the difficulties

teachers encountered. This, in turn will help in improving their general attitude towards
MT as MOI. Further, a strong partnership between the school and the parents is needed to

address parents’ apprehensions regarding the changes in the curriculum.

The pupils need more literacy experiences to help develop their listening

comprehension skills and vocabulary in the MT. Regular story reading in the mother

tongue at home and in school will be advantageous for them in this area.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis is dedicated to my children, Oyayi and Julian;

my students, past and present; and
all the teachers in the Philippines who, amidst overwhelming adversity, strive to provide
a better education for their students.

For their constant love, support, and faith in me, I wish to thank my family:

Tatay and Nanay, my parents;

Omar and Tara, my brothers; and
Fermin, my lifelong partner.

This research would not have been possible without the guidance, encouragement, and
expertise of many people. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to:

My teachers, Dr. Felicitas E. Pado and Dr. Norma G. Cajilig;The panel of experts,
Teacher Haydee, Teacher Maitha, Teacher Pam, and Prof. Olegario;
Prof. Hazelle Preclaro and Dr. Dina Ocampo; and
My advisers, Prof. Romylyn A. Metila and Prof. Marie Yvette C. Alcazar.
.

For their encouragement, friendship, kindness, insight, generosity, and knowledge, I wish
to express my deepest appreciation to:

Prof. Rachel Ramirez and Prof. Dianne Ferrer;

Torch of Life Academy Faculty and Staff;
Teacher Vivian and Sir Junjun;
Ina Ocampo, Teacher Sarah Gonzales, Teacher She and Nurse Liza;
and
Teacher Ruth Balbuena

Lastly, I would like to thank God for allowing me to finish what I started.
All is done in His time.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

APPROVAL SHEET …………………………………………………………. i

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………… vi
LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………………… vii
LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………….. viii

CHAPTER

I INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………. 1
Statement of the Problem ……………………………………… 6
Significance of the Study ……………………………………… 7
Scope and Limitation ………………………………………….. 9

II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ……............……….……… 10

Language Development in the Early Years …………………………… 10
Early Language Development of Bilinguals ………………………….. 13
Domains of Early Literacy Development ……………………..………. 15
Listening Comprehension ……………………………………………... 16
Strategies on Developing Comprehension Skills ……………………... 18
Literacy Practices of Filipino Families …….………………………….. 20
Policies on the Medium of Instruction ……………………………….. 23
The Lingua Franca Project …………………………………………… 26
Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA)…………………... 27
Recognition of the Mother Tongue …………………………………… 30
The Lubuagan Experience ……………………………………………. 31
The Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education – MTB-MLE …… 32
International Perspectives on the MTB-MLE ………………………… 39
Teachers’ Attitudes towards the MOI ………………………………… 43
Parents Attitude towards the MOI …………………….……………… 44
Conceptual Framework ………………………………………………. 49
Hypothesis ……………………………………………………………. 49
Definition of Terms …………………………………………………… 50
III METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………… 52
IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA …………………… 81
V SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS …………………………………………….. 112

REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………. 123

 LIST OF APPENDICES

Page
APPENDICES

A Parents’ Questionnaires …………………………………………………….. 100

B Teachers’ Questionnaires ……….………………………………………….. 101

C Listening Comprehension Tests………… ………..………………………… 102

D Interview and FGD Guide Questions ………….…………….…………….. 127

E1-7 Letters of Requests and Correspondence ………………......…………..…… 132

F Table of Results for Parents’ Questionnaires ……………….……………… 139

G Table of Results for Teachers’ Questionnaires …………………………..… 140

H1-3 Pupils’ Listening Comprehension Test Results………. ..…………………... 141

I Schedule of Data Collection ………...……………………………………… 145

 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES Page

1 Factors Affecting use of Mother Tongue as MOI………………………… 41

2 Conceptual Framework ..……………………………………...………… 48

3 Instrument Construction Flow-Chart .…………………………………… 67

4 Process Used in the Methodology …………………………………..…… 80

5 Distribution of the MOI Preferred by Parents …………………………… 84

6 Perceived Language Preference Used by Pupils to Express Themselves… 94

7 Teachers’ Preferred MOI ………..………………………………………… 95

8 Teachers’ Belief on the Ideal Language for Students’ Learning ..………... 96

 LIST OF TABLES

TABLES Page

1 Sample Size ……………………………………………………...…..…… 53

2 Teachers’ Educational Background ……..………………………………… 54

3 Distribution of Pupils from School A, B, and C ………………....…..…… 57

4 Distribution of Parents’/ Guardians’ …………….………………………... 59

5 Parents’ Background ………..……………………………………………. 61

6 Distribution of Parents by Language Beliefs …….…………..…………. 79

7 Mean Score of Parents’ Attitude towards MT as MOI ..………………… 85

8 Distribution of Teachers by Language Beliefs …...…….……………….. 93

9 Students’ Mean Listening Comprehension Score ………………………. 106

10 Students’ Mean Scores for Different Levels of Comprehension.……….. 107

 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The medium of instruction (MOI) plays an important role inside the classroom

because young children have an easier time adjusting to the school setting when they are

familiar with the language used by the teacher (Duguiang, N. & Dekker, D., 2010). It has

also been observed that preschoolers make friends more easily when their own language

is the same as that of the majority of their classmates. Consequently, students who are

normally confident and unreserved can become withdrawn and unwilling to participate in

activities when a new language is introduced in class. In private schools, where the MOI

is English, some students have shown resistance when Filipino is used or introduced as a

subject and would say things like “I don’t want to speak Filipino!” or “I can’t speak

Filipino!” Some would also unwittingly express their parents’ opinions by saying,

“Daddy told me I should speak English only” or “My mom doesn’t like it when people

use Filipino.” However there are also some students who have experienced being

alienated from their classmates because they do not know how to speak Filipino. Some

would feel frustrated and confused when the use of Filipino is encouraged inside the

classroom.

This study started with a germ of an idea – are children’s ability to use their

mother tongue affected by their parents’ perceptions of that language?

 Young children need to use a language to promote its enjoyment and

consequently to encourage its development (Gordon & Browne, 2007). Preschoolers

depend largely on the environment and the people around them for their learning. Parents

as well as teachers share a common goal in developing young children’s literacy skills as

well as their language acquisition. These goals should include increasing the children’s

desire to use the language whether in reading, writing, or speaking by building on their

intrinsic motivation to learn these skills (Essa, 2003).

In discussions with parents, the researcher has often observed how the parents

emphasize the need for their children to learn English above other languages used in

schools. Consequently, they would encourage their child to use English only.

Language in the Philippines is an issue with a deeply rooted history. Aside from

the languages brought by colonizers, there are 170 languages used in the Philippines

(Nolasco, 2008) and 12 mother tongues used as media of instruction (DepEd, 2009).

Language issues, and consequently language use in schools, are clearly not a simple

matter.

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), Educational Equity for Children from Diverse Language Backgrounds,

language is tied to one’s identity, culture and beliefs (Ball, 2010). With successive

decades of colonization - 300 years under Spain, 2 years under Japan, and 50 years under

America, not to mention the different ethno-linguistic groups in the Philippines, it is no

wonder that until now Filipinos are still struggling to find their identity as a nation. Their

history and experiences have left them confused. Often, they feel that they are victims of

their own history, or perhaps their own education or mis-education.

The issue of language in the Philippines also evokes several strong emotions.

People have differing opinions, attitudes, and beliefs regarding the Philippines’ policies

on language, especially the ones concerning the medium of instruction (MOI). With the

emerging empirical studies and the more recent educational policy in favor of a mother

tongue–based instruction, there seems to be a more positive atmosphere towards the

Philippines’s language heritage. Thus, the Mother Tongue Based – Multilingual

Education (MTB-MLE), an educational policy which uses more than one language in

literacy and instruction, was mandated.

However, according to Nolasco (2008), changing the MOI alone is not enough for

the Mother Tongue Based – Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) to work in the

Philippine context. He cites four other conditions that must be met to ensure the

successful implementation of the MLE program. One of these is community support and

empowerment. Citing several studies, Nolasco states that one of the recurring issues is

the parents’ and teachers’ attitude –perceptions, inclinations whether positive or negative

– towards the mother tongue as the MOI.

In conferences and seminar discussions, even after the merits of using mother

tongue – based instruction had been enumerated, teacher participants would still have
differing opinions and reactions to the MTB-MLE. Sometimes, discussions would turn

into debates. Even in casual conversation among parents and other teachers, the issue of

language and consequently MOI is varied. Some parents would even doubt the need for

the students to learn Filipino in school, and in the same breath, would lament their

children’s low grades in this subject. Others would doubt the value of learning in their

child’s mother tongue believing that English will help their children land a better job after

schooling. This sentiment was also echoed in Duguiang and Dekker’s study, the

Lubuagan Experience (2010).

The argument which usually arises in debates between English, Filipino, and

mother tongue hinges on global competitiveness versus national identity. The premise for

the former is that Filipinos need a good mastery of the English language to meet

whatever economic goal the current government has for the Philippines. On the other

hand, the Filipino language should be mastered so the country will be united as a nation.

The child’s mother tongue was seen as a valuable asset for schools when

overwhelming empirical studies such as the ones mentioned in Benson’s synthesis (2010)

and in UNESCO (Improving the Quality of Mother Tongue Based Literacy Learning,

2008 and Educational Equity for Children from Diverse Language Backgrounds: Mother

Tongue-Based Bilingual or Multilingual Education in the Early Years 2010) showed that

children need a familiar language to facilitate better learning for the different subject

areas. It was also apparent that with the phenomenon of globalization, there was also a

need to use the mother tongue in school to preserve children’s cultural heritage. President
Benigno Aquino III summarizes the basic idea of the need for all three languages,

“English will connect Filipinos to the world, Filipino will connect them to each other, and

the mother tongue will connect them to their heritage” (Department of Education, 2012).

Local studies such the Lubuagan Experience and the Lingua Franca Project have

also enumerated the need to use the mother tongue in facilitating learning for young

children who are just starting their school life. Developing a child’s mother tongue will

also help the child master other languages (Ocampo, 2006). If children at an early age are

discouraged to use or speak a certain language, how can they develop this language?

How will they develop early literacy in this language?

In the new K-12 Curriculum, the Domains of Literacy were identified. These

include: Oral Language, Phonological Skills, Book and Print Knowledge, Alphabet

Knowledge, Phonics and Word Recognition, Fluency, Spelling, Writing/ Composition,

Handwriting, Grammar Composition and Structure, Vocabulary, Listening

Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Attitude towards Language, Literacy and

Literature, and Study Skills.

Listening Comprehension as part of the domains of literacy in the new curriculum

is an important aspect of early literacy since it lays the foundation for the development of

reading comprehension. Listening comprehension skills in the mother tongue may be

compromised if significant adults in their lives do not encourage the children to use the
mother tongue because of their attitudes towards this language. Consequently, their

ability to master other languages such as English will also be compromised.

The directive to use the MT as MOI from DepEd last 2012 will definitely help

early graders develop their early literacy, especially their listening comprehension skills.

However, is it enough to use a familiar language in order to facilitate better listening

comprehension skills? Do parents’ and teachers’ attitude towards that language affect the

children’s development?

Research Questions

In this light, this study attempted to answer the following questions:

1. What are the attitudes of parents and teachers towards the mother tongue as the

medium of instruction?

2. What are the pupils’ listening comprehension skills in the mother tongue?

3. Is there a relationship between the parents’ attitude towards the mother tongue as

medium of instruction and the listening comprehension skills of pupils in the

mother tongue?

4. Is there a significant difference in the listening comprehension of pupils whose

teachers have a positive attitude towards mother tongue and the pupils whose

teachers have a negative attitude towards the mother tongue?

5. Is there a significant difference in the listening comprehension skills of Grade 1

pupils in the mother tongue and the listening comprehension skills of Grade 2

pupils in the mother tongue?

Significance of the Study

With the emergence of the Mother Tongue Based - Multilingual Education

(MTB-MLE), this study hopes to explore the attitudes of the main stakeholders of this

policy, namely the teachers and parents on the use of MT as MOI. Moreover, it will

provide empirical data on the attitudes of the people directly involved in the

implementation of the policy (parents, teachers and the community), the pupils’ early

literacy in the Mother Tongue, and how these two are related to each other.

For the policy implementers:

Knowing parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards this policy is one of the first

steps to ensure community support. By understanding whether parents’ and teachers’

language attitudes affect children in their care, the results of this study will aid policy

implementers in addressing issues through seminars (for parents) and workshops or

training (for teachers). These will move the educational system into a more pro-active

and effective implementation of the policy on the medium of instruction.

For the parents and teachers:

Finding out the parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the policy and whether it

is related to the pupils’ listening comprehension will help the parents and teachers

identify their role in the implementation of the policy and make them more aware of their

responsibility to children within their care. Reflecting on their attitudes towards the
policy and the possible influence it may have on children’s learning could also develop

greater appreciation for their mother tongue and in turn foster unity within the

community.

For the school administrators/ educators:

This study can also serve as an “eye-opener” on the attitudes of parents and

teachers regarding the policy on MTB-MLE. It can provide an avenue to address the

concerns of parents and teachers and, therefore, make way for a better working

relationship with them as partners in shaping the students’ development.

For educational institutions, particularly teachers in the Early Grades:

This study can serve a base line study to find out the attitudes of parents from

other provinces in the Philippines and to find out the status of the different public

schools. Parents’ involvement and home partnership is an integral part of the teaching in

the early grades. Through this study, teachers and researchers alike can find ways to

address disparity between literacy practices in the home and school starting with the

children’s language development.

Scope and Limitation

This study was limited to 41 parents, 14 teachers, 30 Grade 1 and 30 Grade 2

pupils from 3 public schools. The variables were limited to factors that are personal and

social in aspect. The respondents and locale of the study were determined by the

researcher’s language background and social network. The respondents’ mother tongue

for this study is a localized version of Cebuano which the population of the area refers to

as Bisaya.

The group of children chosen was determined by the grade level which definitely

uses the MTB-MLE policy which is Grade 1. The student respondents were determined

by the area of study of the researcher, which is the Early Grades. Thus, Grades 1 and 2

were the chosen student respondents. Sixteen was the number of teachers needed to

collect substantial data for the quantitative part of the study thus several sections were

chosen from different schools for the same limitation.

Early literacy development consists of numerous areas. This study was delimited

to measuring the listening comprehension of the students due to its importance in the

early literacy development of young children, which would later be used by the children

in comprehending materials that they can already read.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies on the following

topics: Language Development in the Early Years, Early Language Development of

Bilinguals, Domains of Early Literacy, Listening Comprehension, Strategies of

Developing Listening Comprehension Skills, Literacy Practices of Filipino Families,

Policies on the Medium of Instruction, The Lingua Franca Project, Basic Education

Sector Reform Agenda, The Lubuagan Experience, The Mother Tongue Based-

Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), International Perspectives on the MTB-MLE,

Teachers’ Attitude towards MOI, and Parents’ Attitude towards MOI.

Language Development in the Early Years

Young children develop language through their experiences with adults and other

children in their lives. From their early experiences with the people around them, children

not only learn about “talking” but they also learn about language in general. Meaning-

making for young children not only involves capturing words, it also involves

interpreting messages. And this is when experience becomes vital since they understand

the meaning of words through their schema. Through their different experiences, words

are associated with different meanings depending on the child’s previous concepts.
 Lev Vygotsky’s view on how children acquire knowledge takes the premise that

all learning takes place within a social context. According to Vygotsky, in order for

children to understand a new concept, they are dependent on the interactions with a more

knowledgeable other (McGee & Richgels, 2008). Interactions between adults and the

child is one of the central principles in Vygotsky’s developmental theory.

Parents, teachers, and the community play a vital role in shaping young children’s

development simply because they have control over what a child can or cannot

experience. Adults, through informal conversations and formal schooling, show children

how their culture interprets and responds to the world around them. Children learn how to

behave in socially acceptable ways from their parents, teachers, and their experiences

with society at large (Luria, 1976).

In Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, children learn social rules and

conventions by observing the behavior of parents, teachers, caregivers and peers. The

term ‘modelling’ is derived from this behavioral theory whereby adults teach and

children learn by example (Gordon & Browne, 2007).

At an early age, children learn about the spoken language. However, as most

children become competent speakers and listeners, they also learn about written

language. Spoken language is composed of sounds that make up words. Words when put

together convey meaning. Depending on the particular language in use, the meanings of
these groups of words vary depending on the order of the words, the speaker’s intonation,

and the context in which these words are said.

Before becoming fully competent speakers and listeners, children will usually gain

knowledge of the written language which involves reading and writing. Their ability to

learn how to read and write, however, will largely depend on their familiarity with the

spoken language. Children develop literacy in four stages: Beginners, Novice,

Experimenters, Conventional Readers and Writers (McGee & Richgels, 2008). Beginners

are mere observers of literacy activities around them. Novices, on the other hand, are

aware of print and how it is used to convey messages. Some novices would attempt to

convey messages in written form usually in the form of pretend play and not in the way

adults or conventional readers and writers use. As children enter preschool, they

eventually begin to recognize the systematic way in which meaning is conveyed in

printed matter. This is the time when they begin to experiment with the alphabetic

principle. They would use inventive spelling or letter strings to convey meaning. Children

who have mastered the alphabet recognition and letter-sound correspondence are now

able to learn strategies in decoding words, acquiring new vocabulary, and understanding

what they read. When they are able to do this, they become the conventional readers and

writers (McGee & Richgels, 2008).

Early Language Development of Bilinguals

In many countries, including the Philippines, young children are exposed to more

than one language in their environment. Thus, at an early age, Filipino children learn two

languages at once. Another language is usually introduced as they enter formal schooling.

According to Chomsky (1969), from the ages 5-10, children are still acquiring the

structures of their first language. Therefore, young bilinguals will need to conquer two

milestones: mastery over their first language and learning a second language (Coltrane,

2003). Although, the development of early literacy skills in a second language has some

similarities with the development of early literacy in the first language, second language

learning will be different in varying contexts (Pang & Kamil, 2004). Instruction for

bilingual children learning how to read in a second language will be different from

instruction of college students learning a foreign language. Depending on the first and

second language, these skills involve the following: alphabetic knowledge, fluency,

vocabulary, and comprehension (Pang & Kamil, 2004).

Previous research by Ellen Bialystok (2004) on second-language acquisition and

bilingualism and its impact on cognitive development shows the significance and

influence of a bilingual education on a child’s overall development. Research was mostly

conducted in Canada where a national policy of second-language acquisition and

bilingualism has been adopted by the government, owing in part to the growing

immigration and consequently, its developing multi-cultural and multilingual society. In

most urban Canadian schools, children come from diverse language backgrounds that use

English/ French (the dominant languages) as a second-language. Conclusions from the

studies show that the influence of bilingualism extends beyond the linguistic domain to

the non-verbal cognitive abilities. Another conclusion drawn from the studies is that the

degree and type of influence found depends on whether one is bilingual (one speaks two

languages) or a second-language learner (one who is in the process of learning a second

language). Three patterns in these influences were identified (Bialystok, 2004):

1) Bilingualism makes no difference. Monolingual and bilingual children develop in the

same way and at the same rate. This was found true for cognitive problems like

memory-span development and language problems like phonological awareness.

2) Bilingualism disadvantages children in the development of vocabulary.

3) Bilingualism is a positive force that enhances children's cognitive and linguistic

development. This was most prevalent in the studies.

a) Bilingualism improves access to literacy if the two languages share a writing

system.

b) Bilingualism enhances the development of general executive processes for non-

verbal tasks requiring attention and control - which is at the center of intelligent

thought.

These conclusions show solid evidence that bilingualism (in the home) has positive

advantages. However, the child’s success in linguistic activities like learning to read, in

non-verbal computational subjects like mathematics, and content-based curricula like

social studies, is largely dependent on his proficiency in the language of the school or the
medium of instruction. This means that for bilingual children to be successful in school,

they need to be competent in the form and meaning of the medium of instruction. For

children whose home language is not the school’s, research shows the need for

opportunities to build up skills in the school language (Bialystok, 2004).

Aside from the cognitive advantages that children exposed to more than one

language face, bilingualism and second language acquisition in young children also raise

socio-cultural issues. These include majority language/minority language-status issues,

disparate classroom, and home discourse patterns, as well as the problem of discontinuity

between home and school, or community and school perspectives with respect to literacy

(Pang & Kamil, 2004). For early graders, the home and school discontinuity in their

language poses a big challenge since they would come to school with nothing more than

their experiences at home their language (Smith, 2011). Concept learning therefore

becomes difficult.

Domains of Early Literacy Development

The new K-12 curriculum has identified the different domains of literacy. These

include the following:

1. Oral Language is the ability to understand spoken language and to participate in

discourse,
2. Phonological Awareness refers to the ability to recognize that spoken words are

composed of a series of sounds,

3. Book and Print Awareness which encompasses knowledge of the Alphabet,

different concepts of print, and functions of print,

4. Alphabet Knowledge is the ability to recognize the different features of each

letters,

5. Phonics and Word Recognition is the ability to recognize words and constructs

meaning from it,

6. Fluency refers to the ability to understand text whether by reading, writing, or

speaking,

7. Spelling is the understanding that words are formed through an accepted

sequence of letters,

8. Writing/ Composition is the ability to write using different forms for different

audiences,

9. Grammar Awareness and Structure refers to the ability to recognize structural

used in a language ,

10. Vocabulary development is the ability to use a wide variety of words for

expressive and receptive purposes,

11. Reading Comprehension is the ability to understand different texts read,

12. Listening Comprehension refers to the ability to understand what one has

heard through the use of schema and prior knowledge,

 13. Attitudes towards Language, Literacy and Literature refers to the

understanding of social meaning through the use of different languages in

different context, and

14. Study Strategies is the understanding that there is a variety of ways to

organize and process new information (Ocampo, 2012).

Many studies have been focused on the rudiments of reading and early reading

development. However, there is also much to be said about listening comprehension and

its impact on early literacy development.

Listening comprehension is an important part of the early literacy development of

early graders. A study on the development of reading skills of children (8.5 – 13 years

old) indicated that listening comprehension is a “unique concurrent predictor” (p.354) of

reading comprehension and word recognition than semantic composite (Nation &

Snowling, 2004).

Story reading as early as in the infancy stage has been encouraged specifically for

early language development. It likewise becomes the material for developing listening

comprehension. Reading aloud has been the practice of many schools and it is even

encouraged in the home, especially for the early graders (Grabek, 2006).
Strategies on Developing Comprehension Skills

Reading stories can be a rewarding experience for young children. Several

approaches to literature have been used by educators to help young children have better

comprehension of the stories available. An approach is often used to develop love for

reading, critical thinking and comprehension skills. The Four-Pronged Approach follows

a process before reading the story so that possible sources of difficulties are removed

such as difficult vocabulary and idiomatic expressions. Difficult words, concepts, and

expressions are unlocked through context clues, pictures, or demonstrations. Once this is

done, the children are motivated to listen to the story by asking questions. Questions are

used to tap the experiences of the children and encourage interest in the selection being

read. The goal for this process is to help the child relate to the story on a more personal

level and thus make comprehension more achievable. This happens before a story is read

and is referred to as “Activating Prior Knowledge.” After this, two parallel questions are

asked to directly connect the story to their experiences: the Motivation question which is

about their experiences (i.e. What would you do if you saw a beautiful star?) and Motive

Question which is about the story (i.e. What would the boy in our story do, if he saw a

beautiful star?). The Motivation and Motive Question are asked to further establish a

connection between the reader and the story and to get the students interested in the story.

During the reading of the story, the teacher usually asks literal questions that would keep

the students’ interest in the story and at the same time help students predict events. A

discussion is followed to ensure that the students have an understanding of the story

(Pado & Hermosa, 2005).

 During the discussions, the Gradual Psychological Unfolding (GPU),

conceptualized by Prof. Basilisa J. Manhit (1980), would guide children in their

comprehension of stories as well as enjoyment of literature (Ocampo, 2008). The GPU is

a questioning technique, which consists of steps that will eventually lead students to

better comprehension and appreciation of the literature being read. Through the GPU, the

five levels of comprehension are tapped: the literal, inferential, critical, application, and

creative. The first level of comprehension (literal) deals with the events, characters and

their actions, conversations and thoughts from the story. Answers to these questions are

usually found within the printed words of the story. The second level (inferential) is

usually referred to as “reading between the lines,” the answers to these questions are not

found in the book. The reader needs to infer the personality traits of the characters in the

story through their actions, conversations, thoughts or through other characters from the

story. The third level of comprehension deals with critical thinking, the readers needs to

have a good understanding of the literal and inferential level of comprehension to be able

to answer critical level questions correctly. This level deals with the writer’s (the story

writer) ideas and thus the students should be able to discern the writer’s message and

gauge which values will aid him (the reader) in fulfilling his personal goals. This level

helps in developing critical thinking of students and valuing. The fourth level is called

integration or application. It deals with the readers’ judgment of the writer’s values,

morals, or philosophy and which will be applicable to his life. The last level, creative,

involves questions that will help readers or students in their creative thinking. These
questions would range from making up different endings to asking what ifs (Ocampo,

1998).

Comprehension is vital to reading and language development. However, in cases

where learning usually takes place in a language that children are only beginning to

master, it is difficult to facilitate and keep a productive discussion after the story. It is

during these instances, when a child whose home language is in sync with the school

language is at an advantage.

Literacy Practices of Filipino Families

A study consisting of 100 fathers and mothers (12 fathers and 88 mothers) was

conducted to find out the early literacy beliefs and practices of Filipino parents, what

influences the early literacy beliefs and practices of parents, and if there is an association

between the parents’ beliefs and their practices on early literacy (Carreon, 2009). The

respondents were chosen through a stratified random sampling. Sixty-nine percent of the

respondents had at least 2 children while 39% had one child only. All were middle class

income earners. Most of the respondents believed that the parents are the child’s first

teacher. Although, less than half of the respondents believed that children develop early

literacy before schooling, some believed that school is the children’s main source of

knowledge. Most of the respondents provided story reading activities to their children,

although most also claimed that they lacked the time to spend on more activities to help
develop literacy. The parents in this study felt that the children will perform better in

reading if parents imparted a sense of value for it (Carreon, 2009).

A study consisting of 100 families from one of the impoverished barangays in

Quezon City investigated the different literacy experiences practiced at home (Ticzon,

2011). It aimed to find out the relationship between the home and literacy experiences

provided by low-income families and the children’s literacy behavior in day care centers.

This study used interview guides for the parents and researcher-made tests and

observations for the children’s literacy behavior. The respondents in this study showed a

certain level of awareness in providing their children literacy experiences such as

exposure to different books (e.g. storybooks, coloring books, and writing books). The

families in the study also gave their children different literacy activities such as proper

way of holding writing instruments, letter writing, and letter sound identification. They

also used story sharing and engage their children in meaningful conversation. Given the

respondents’ limited financial resources, they were still able to provide literacy materials

at home. Children from these homes attending the barangay daycare centers showed good

development in alphabet knowledge (Ticzon, 2011).

Another study also investigated the literacy practices of Filipino families. This

study aimed to find out the literacy practices of migrant Muslim Filipino families in

Manila. Three urban poor Maranao families participated in this study. Again, the results

of the study showed that Filipino families do have literacy experiences in the home. The

literacy practices of the families in this study were rooted on families’ own
understanding of reading and writing events (interaction with texts). In these cases, the

families brought their own views, beliefs, and attitudes to the literacy events. However,

most of the practices observed were structured by the school and religious transactions

such as reading the Qur’an and other religious materials (Bumanglag, 2011).

The three studies show that Filipino children’s literacy is also developed outside

of school. However, it is also evident that parents rely mainly on schooling for their

children’s literacy development. Another issue evident in the studies is that the parents’

beliefs and their practices do not appear to be consistent. Since early graders depend

largely on their experiences from home upon entering formal schooling, it would seem

wise for parents to begin literacy practices at home. However, from the studies

mentioned, though there is an agreement on the importance of reading and developing

literacy in children, parents still rely on schools to provide these activities. It is only in

Ticzon’s study (2011) with families in barangay daycares where parents provide literacy

activities at home. These results reflect a disjointed notion of the Filipino children’s

language development. How then is this contradiction between beliefs and practices

related to the bigger picture of the country? This disparity between parents’ beliefs and

practices creates complications when the language used at home is different from that of

the language used in schools.

According to Ocampo et. al. (2006) and Gonzales (2003), language planning and

policies play a major role in the literacy development of children. More importantly,

language planning and policies should be consistent with the practices of schools.
Policies on the Medium of Instruction

English has been a part of Philippine education ever since the American colonial

period when English became the official language of governance and social

advancement. Filipinos were then motivated to learn the language in order to advance

through education. In 1937, a National Language Institute was established to develop a

national language. During the Japanese occupation, even though the use and propagation

of a national language was encouraged, English remained the official language of

government, business, and education. The Philippine education system since the

declaration of independence in 1947 taught the national language in all grade levels. The

medium of instruction, however, remained English until 1974. After which a bilingual

policy was adopted. The national language largely based in ‘Tagalog’ was called

‘Pilipino’ and later changed to ‘Filipino’ after the People Power revolution (Gonzales,

2003).

Although there are some Filipino children who start off as monolinguals, learning one

language from their home and eventually from their experiences outside the home, there

are also some who from the start acquire two different languages simultaneously. These

children are exposed to two or more languages in their communities and home and are

from birth bilinguals (Ocampo, 2006).

 Over the past 30 years, the government bureau in charge of education has had

several changes in its policies regarding the MOI. After the 1986 People Power

revolution, the Philippines experienced renewed pride as a people and there was strong

sentiment of unity and hope. It was in this spirit that the 1987 constitution was formed.

The Department of Education Order No.52 strengthened the already existing Bilingual

Education Policy of 1971. President Corazon Aquino’s administration wanted to use a

national language for communication and instruction that would unite the Filipino people

and foster national peace which would in turn pave way for national progress. The

administration incorporated different Philippine languages into the national language and

changed its name from ‘Pilipino’ to ‘Filipino’ (Gonzales, 2003).

In addition, it was mandated that Filipino and English will also be taught in all

public schools as separate subjects as well as used as the media of instruction in all

levels. This policy had a dual purpose. The first is to fulfill the aspiration of the Filipino

nation to “have its citizens possess skills in Filipino to enable them to perform as Filipino

citizens…" (p.1), and the second is to teach English "to meet the needs of the country in

the community of nations (p.1).” Other regional languages were used as auxiliary

languages of instruction only (DO No.52, s.1987).

The goals of the Bilingual Policy were to enhance the learning of two languages to

achieve quality education as called for by the 1987 constitution: to propagate the use of

Filipino as a language of literacy, to develop Filipino as a linguistic symbol of national

unity and identity, to cultivate the use of Filipino as a language of scholarly discourse and
promote its continuing intellectualization, and to maintain the use of English as an

international language for the Philippines and as a non-exclusive language of science and

technology (DO No.52, s.1987).

Several measures were taken to help implement the policy. The National Language

Commission was formed and tasked to further develop and enrich Filipino as a language.

This was done in cooperation with the Department of Education, Culture and Sports

(DECS). DECS, with the aid of government and non-government agencies, was assigned

to help implement the language policy in all provinces and regions as well as provide

funding for materials, training, compensations, enrichment programs for non-Tagalog

speakers as well as standardizing Filipino for classroom use and developing appropriate

materials for evaluation. Further, with the institutionalization of the Use of Filipino as the

Official Language of Communication (DO No.84, s.1988), Filipino will be further

developed using other languages in the country as basis. The Institute of Philippine

Languages was created to ensure this. In addition, the said Institute will also be

responsible for the translation of orders into Filipino as well as government terms used in

transactions, training of all government officials into the use of Filipino, and monitoring

that the order is being carried out, and reporting of progress on the use of Filipino

throughout the country

During the Ramos administration, eleven years after the implementation of the 1987

Bilingual Education Policy, the Department of Education embarked on a Grade 1 class

experiment program dubbed The Lingua Franca Education Project. DECS started the
pilot study involving selected schools on March 19, 1999 for the SY: 1999-2000. The

project hoped to develop initial literacy use in public schools by defining and

implementing a national bridging program from the vernacular to Filipino and later on to

English. In addition, it also aimed to develop an alternative curriculum to be used in

acquiring basic literacy skills and numeracy skills while using the local lingua franca as

language of instruction.

The Lingua Franca Project (LFP)

The Lingua Franca Project’s initial objective was “to define and implement a

national bridging program from the vernacular to Filipino and later to English to develop

initial literacy for use in public schools” ( p.1, DM No. 144, s.1999). For this initiative,

two grade 1 classes from each of the selected 16 regions were chosen. A selection process

in choosing the schools was used. One school served as the experimental school while

another was the control. The schools chosen were located in the 5th or 6th class

municipality and the lingua franca in the area were either Tagalog, Ilocano, or Cebuano.

The Grade 1 classes had at least 40 students.

All the Grade 1 classes were taught using the lingua franca of the area. In schools

where the lingua franca was either Cebuano or Ilocano, the pre-reading and reading skills

were taught using the lingua franca and Wika (Filipino) was taught orally. For areas
where Tagalog was the lingua franca, Filipino was taught as a subject. English was

introduced as a subject in the second semester in all three areas.

The Lingua Franca Project yielded positive results. Conceptualization took place

from the first day of school and pupils were active and responsive to the lessons. The

project, initiated by then Education Secretary Andrew Gonzales, was a starting point in

developing a curriculum in literacy using the lingua franca as the medium of instruction

(Ocampo et al., 2006).

At the start of President Arroyo’s administration, the results of the Lingua Franca

Project encouraged then DepEd undersecretary, Isagani Cruz, to end the experiment and

mandate the use of Cebuano, Ilocano, or Tagalog, depending on the lingua franca of the

area, as MOI for Grades 1 and 2 (Ocampo et. al., 2006). However, this move was blocked

by his superiors and the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) was put in its place.

Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA)

The DepEd was compelled to eventually take a second look and revise the

bilingual policy in the country. This was mainly due to insights from (and subsequent

studies based on) Cummins’ Developmental Interdependence Theory (as cited in Brown,

2000).
 The growing empirical studies investigating the effects of bilingualism and

learning in a second language on children’s academic achievement came from different

sectors of society such as: individual, group of schools, the private sector, local

governments, public school districts and division, civil society organizations, and other

stakeholder groups.

As a result, the Schools First Initiative began implementation by 2005 and its main

objective was to improve all public schools’ end result and performance (BESRA, 2005).

The Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) is a package of policy

changes that would help sustain the efforts of the Schools First Initiative. BESRA would

create a series of systematic changes in the reforms for the continued growth,

development, and improvement of the basic education system started by the Schools First

Initiative. It has 5 Key Reform Thrusts (KRT) which are as follows:

 KRT 1: Get all schools to continuously improve

 KRT 2: Enable teachers to further enhance their contribution to learning

outcomes

 KRT 3: Increase social support to achieve desired learning outcomes

 KRT 4: Improve impact on outcomes from complementary early

childhood education, alternative learning systems, and private sector

participation
  KRT 5: Change institutional support of DepEd to better support these key

reform thrusts (BESRA, 2006)

Strongly based on empirical data and language learning theories, the report on the

National Learning Strategies for Filipino and English Languages emphasized the need to

first strengthen the language used in the home or the child’s language to help very young

children communicate proficiently, develop their identity in relation to the community,

maximize their potential as a learner, and use this language to facilitate learning in the

future. The report also recognized the importance of the lingua franca or the language

used in the community, however, it was not recommended for use in schools since it does

not vary greatly from the recommended mother tongue of the area and does not help in

the efficient language and literacy learning of the two target languages which are Filipino

and English. For the primary grades, the children’s language is also recommended to be

used in all learning areas for the following reasons (Ocampo et. al, 2006):

1. It is functional and relevant to them,

2. The children’s cultural identity is preserved and enriched,

3. It builds the children’s self-confidence as learners and as individuals,

4. It lends itself to better expression and comprehension,

5. Sustained instruction using the first language will lead to better mastery of

this language and thus it becomes a better foundation for succeeding language

and literacy learning in other languages,

6. There is more efficient transfer of learning and for continuity of

development of thinking,
 7. Concepts previously learned at home and center-based Early Childhood

Care and Development (ECCD) programs have already been learned in the

child’s language and thus the continuation of learning without a language

barrier/hindrance can proceed more efficiently,

8. Using the child’s language will create a more effective learning

environment that connotes that learning is fun and meaningful,

9. Parents can participate and assist in their children’s learning and support

school interventions and programs better.

10. Teachers are fluent in these languages and will be better able to present,

explain and evaluate student learning.

Recognition of the Mother Tongue

Regardless of the recommendations in BESRA, Addendum to DepEd Order No.

36, 2006 (DepEd Order No. 60, s.2008) reiterated the use of the bilingual policy of using

Filipino and English as well as the auxiliary use of the local languages as the media of

instruction. Unlike previous DepEd Orders though, this one recognized the mother-

tongue as the most effective language of instruction in Grade 1 and will serve as a strong

bridge for second language learning. However, for the Alternative Learning System

(ALS) the mother tongue will be used as MOI for basic literacy. Successful, well-

developed models of a language learning program which showed higher and faster

cognitive learning were requested from all Bureau Directors to be passed to the Regional

offices. Further, the DepEd also encouraged schools to integrate improvement plans for
programs using the mother tongue as MOI in Grade 1 and ALS. To help support this

development in the curriculum, funds will also be provided for the launching, planning,

and implementation stages in using the mother tongue as MOI. Specifically, these funds

will be mobilized for the production of the following:

1. Developing and printing and distribution of teacher's guides, students'

workbooks, and instructional materials;

2. Training teachers/ facilitators and hiring of other specialists;

3. Other auxiliary services like community mobilizations, advocacy work,

evaluation and monitoring of outcomes.

Compelling empirical evidence from the Philippines and around the world forced

policy makers to recognize the significance of the mother tongue as an effective language

of instruction for early learners. The Lingua Franca Project was one – The Lubuagan

First Language Component is another.

The Lubuagan Experience

The Lubuagan Experiment was a study conducted by Duguiang and Dekker

(2010) in Lubuagan, a province located in the north Kalinga region of the Philippines.

Although many can speak English, Filipino, and Ilocano, children grew up speaking

Lilubuagan for the most part in the community. The children eventually learned how to

use English and Filipino when they are in school or when in other areas or social settings.
 The Lubuagan Experiment was a longitudinal study conducted to investigate the

effects of a Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) from the early

grades onwards. After the training and materials preparation for the curriculum,

experimental classes that would adopt the MTB-MLE system were set-up while the

regular classes served as the control. The program was started in 2005 and at the time of

the report, the experiment was on its fifth year. From the results of the school year 2007-

2008, the Grade 1 experimental group performed better compared to the Grade 1 control

group, the same pattern was seen for Grades 2 and 3.

The initial reaction of the community when this project started was one of fear.

The parents primarily feared that in using the mother tongue in school, their children will

not be able to learn English. However, after the results were shown to favor the MTB-

MLE, more support was gained for the program (Duguiang & Dekker, 2010).

The Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education – MTB-MLE

Probably the biggest step that was taken to develop proficiency in the languages

was the establishment of DepEd ORDER no. 74, s.2009 which was entitled

Institutionalizing the Mother Tongue-Based Multi-Lingual Education (MTB-MLE).

DepEd recognized the numerous advantages and effectiveness of using the mother tongue

as MOI – as shown by local initiatives and international studies – in yielding better

cognitive results and providing Education for All (EFA). DepEd defines the Mother

Tongue - Based Multilingual Education as the “effective use of more than two languages

in literacy and instruction” (p.1, DepEd Order No. 74, s.2009). It has been

institutionalized as an important part of the basic educational policy and programs

including the Alternative Learning Systems (ALS). DepEd uses the Lingua Franca

Project as well as the Lubuagan Experience as rationale behind the MTB-MLE because

the studies support the following notions:

1. Learners learn to read more quickly when taught in their mother tongue;

2. Learners taught to read and write in their L1 learned to speak, read, and write

better in their L2 and L3 than those taught in their L2 first;

3. Learners taught in their L1 acquire concepts more quickly than those taught in

a second language.

Further, a study conducted by DepEd (Lim & Giron) Region IV-B (MIMAROPA)

"Double exposure in Mathematics: A Glimpse of Mother Tongue First" validated the

observation that top performing countries in the Trends in International Mathematics and

Science Study (TIMMS) teach and test learners in their L1. As a result of all these studies

that support the use of MLE, regional directors and superintendents with the support of

local government units were instructed to encourage and promote local participation.

Together with the current support system of the MTB-MLE and within the framework of

School-Based Management (SBM), they worked on accomplishing the following tasks

(DO No. 74, s.2009)

 1. Formulating designs specific to each region that will institutionalize and

recognize the initiatives of schools and localities by giving incentives and supporting

policies appropriate to the implementation and development of the MLE towards

becoming financially sustainable and having instruction excellence

2. Providing exposures to successful and well-developed MLE programs

through training and orientation

3. Effective immediately, MLE should be gradually integrated into all

subject areas at all grade levels (beginning in PS - HS) including all ALS programs

4. Operating expenses and school funds are likewise enjoined to fund the

following programs:

a) Advocacy work and community mobilization

b) Develop the orthography of the local language

c) Teacher training and orientation to MLE

d) Developing, printing, and distributing teacher's guide

e) Provision of reading materials and instructional materials

f) Developing assessment tools

g) Evaluation and monitoring of learning outcomes

5. MLE technical working group at the regional and division level will be

established to facilitate the planning, monitoring, and evaluation of the program.

In the first three years, MTB-MLE Bridging Plan will be used as reference for

curriculum development and it will be subject to adjustments and modifications

depending on the monitoring and evaluation results. Further, MTB-MLE does not only
mean changing the medium of instruction or code switching or translations of materials.

Ten measures or preconditions were given to ensure that it does not become so. These are

as follows:

1. A working orthography (spelling) of the local language that is acceptable

to the majority of the stakeholders and promotes intellectualization of that language;

2. Development, production and distribution of inexpensive instructional

materials in the designated language at the school, division, and regional levels with a

special priority on beginning reading and children's literature. These materials should be

as much as possible original, reflecting local people, events, realities; and appropriate to

the language, age, and culture of the learners;

3. The use of the learner's first language (L1) as the medium of instruction

(MOI) from preschool to at least Grade III. During such period, L1 shall be the main the

vehicle to teach understanding and mastery of all subject areas such as math, science,

Makabayan, and language subjects like Filipino and English;

4. Mother Tongue as a subject and as a language teaching and learning will

be introduced at Grade 1 for conceptual understanding;

5. The inclusion of additional languages such as Filipino, English and other

local or foreign languages shall be introduced in a carefully planned pacing program or

no earlier than Grade II;

6. In the secondary level, Filipino and English shall be the primary MOI. The

learner's L1 shall be utilized as auxiliary MOI;

7. Other than English, Filipino, or Arabic for Madaris School, the choice of

additional languages shall be at the behest of parents and endorsed by local stakeholders
as resources permit. When the pupils are ready, Filipino and English shall be gradually

used as MOI no earlier than Grade 3. However, L1 shall be effectively used to scaffold

learning;

8. The language of instruction shall also be the primary language for testing

in all regular school-based and system-wide examinations in all international

benchmarking and assessment exercises. It shall be maintained that the focus of

educational assessment shall be specifically on the learner's understanding of the subject

content and not to be muddled by the language of testing;

9. There must be a continuing in-service training (INSET) in partnership

with MLE specialists on the effective use of L1 as language of instruction --to facilitate

reading, Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), and the development of

cognitive and higher order thinking skills (HOTS) of the learners. INSET shall likewise

equip educators to develop cultural sensitivity and enhance appreciation for cultural

linguistic diversity; and

10. Critical awareness, maximum participation, and support from the LGU,

parents and community shall be ensured for the implementation of the language and

literacy program strategy.

As part of their program, training was given to all teachers who will implement the MTB-

MLE. The main objectives of the MTB-MLE policy are as follows (DepEd No.16,

s.2012):

1. Develop language to establish a strong education for success in the school

and for lifelong learning;

 2. Develop cognitive skills with focus on Higher Order Thinking Skills

(HOTS);

3. Develop academic abilities to prepare the learning in acquiring mastery of

competencies in each learning area;

4. Develop socio-cultural awareness which in turn develops the learner's

pride in his heritage, language, and culture.

The MTB-MLE will have three (3) areas of focus: 1. implementation as a

learning/ subject area and as medium of instruction, 2. learning a second language, and 3.

oral fluency in English. As a learning subject, the focus will be on developing reading

and fluency skills in the mother tongue from Grades 1 to 3. The mother tongue will also

be used as MOI for all other subject areas except for Filipino and English. It will also

serve as transition or bridging program from Kinder up to Grade 3.

Starting at Grade 1, Filipino will be introduced as a second language. It will first

be used in the oral form only. Reading and writing skills in Filipino will only be

introduced in the second semester of Grade 1. Starting Grade 2 up to Grade 6, Filipino as

a subject will focus on developing four major skills: listening, speaking, reading and

writing. In the second semester of Grade 1, English will also be introduced as a second

language. Oral fluency will be the focus of its introduction, reading and writing skills will

later be developed in the first semester of Grade 2. Again the four skills: listening,

speaking, reading and writing in English (alongside Filipino) will be developed from

Grade 2 up to Grade 6.
 The mother tongues (MT) to be used as MOI are Tagalog, Kampapangan,

Pangasinan, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausog, Maguindanaoan,

Meranao, and Chabacano. These languages include the 8 lingua franca cited in the

Philippines with the addition of 4 other languages in the South (Tausug, Maguindanaoan,

Meranao, and Chabacano) (DepEd Order No. 16, s. 2012).

In Kindergarten up to Grade 3, these MT will be used as MOI depending on the

local language of the area. In areas where the population uses three MTs or variations of

the approved lingua franca and does not have an approved orthography, the MOI for

schools will be the lingua franca. Further, special classes for the development of the

children's MT may be held twice a week to develop oral fluency - depending on the

teacher's availability. The oral fluency skills in turn will be used as a bridge to develop

reading and writing skills of the other approved languages. When an approved

orthography is available and learning resources have been developed by trained teachers,

schools are encouraged to use the desired MT. The School Head will inform the Division

Officer so that technical assistance may be given and learning resources can be evaluated

to meet the national standard for learning resources (DO No.74, s.2009).

Guidelines for the training of teachers and preparations of learning resources are

also provided. The MTB-MLE was incorporated with the K-12 Basic Curriculum

Program in SY 2012-2013, specifically in Kindergarten up to Grade 3.

International Perspectives on the MTB-MLE

A synthesis (Benson, 2005) on research regarding bilingualism in developing

countries gives another perspective – albeit a more political standpoint – on the issue of

using the mother tongue for instruction.

Education development has been dogged by many socio-political issues such as

inequalities in different areas of society between urban and rural areas, elite and

subordinate social groups, boys and girls, etc. These issues are mainly products of the

ethno-linguistic heritage and conditions of language access and clear boundaries between

the dominant groups and the dominated. Therefore, language is used to separate the elite

group who speaks the colonizers’ language or the “official” language of governance and

the majority whose access to the prestige language is limited and whose own language

has no formal recognition (Benson, 2005).

Benson’s synthesis cites the countries Mozambique and Bolivia as examples. In

these countries, the majority of the population belonged to different indigenous groups

and only about a quarter of the population used the official language as their first or

second language (Portuguese for Mozambique and Spanish for Bolivia). Both countries

traditionally used “submersion” programs in school. “Submersion” is using a language,

which the students do not use, for instruction without teaching it as a subject. The official

language was also used as their language of instruction in school but is not taught

explicitly. Students use this language in “safe talk” (Hornberger and Chick, 2001 as cited

in Benson. “Teacher will ask: Do you understand? Children respond with Yeeesss” (p.2).
Teachers are prohibited in using the mother tongue for instruction and are usually used

illicitly without any systematic consideration for second language acquisition. According

to Benson (2005), it is for this reason that schooling does not work for the majority of the

students and parents are unable to help their children since they themselves do not

understand the language in school.

This scenario seems too familiar and perhaps would better explain why it had

taken a while for the Philippines to implement the MTB-MLE.

Since the 1950’s, UNESCO has supported, encouraged, and promoted the use of

the mother tongue in schools as medium of instruction. In Education Equity for Children

from Diverse Language Backgrounds: Mother Tongue-Based or Multilingual Education

in the Early Years, Jessica Ball (2010) aimed to inform policy makers of the existing

empirical studies on the mother tongue for the early grades. Another thrust is to advocate

for the preservation of the different languages and culture around the world through the

use of the mother tongue in education. Although the use of the mother tongue has been

supported for the past 50 years or so, its use has not been widely spread in multi-lingual

countries. Decisions of policy makers regarding the medium of instruction and

curriculum are often in conflict with socio-economic and political or technical

considerations. Policy makers would need to take into account several factors in making

their decision. These include resources, teacher training, and subjects to be taught.
 There are also additional factors to be considered like: political will of local,

regional, and national government; relationships between countries and their former

colonizers; understanding and patience of international donors as well as the parents'

sentiment and beliefs regarding the language their children need to learn to secure a better

future. Even though the family is a primary factor for a child to learn a second language,

very few research focuses on the role of family and neither is there numerous research

focusing on the early educators' role in mother tongue acquisition (Ball, 2010). Critics

and supporters of programs promoting the use of the mother tongue in early instruction

emphasize the need for parent support - financial and otherwise - to continue the program

and to develop the children’s proficiency in the mother tongue as they move from home-

based instruction to early childhood care to that of the formal schooling.

Figure 1. Factors contributing to a successful mother tongue based instruction. (Ball, 2010)
 Figure 1 shows that part of the factors contributing to the success of a

bi/multilingual education policies such as the MTB-MLE is the community support and

involvement and consistency with parents’ goals for their children. In short, for the MTB-

MLE policy to last, we need the support of the stakeholders outside the school as well as

in the school community is needed. Benson (2005), Duguiang & Dekker (2010), and the

LFP are examples of studies on MTB-MLE that have emphasized or at least mentioned

the importance of the support of the home environment and local acceptance within the

community for it to work.

The United Nations goal for Education for All (EFA) began as an individual and

organizational initiative to help develop a non-exclusive school system that will ideally

serve basic education to the entire children’s population. The EFA was set in motion by

first rethinking the school’s medium of instruction. This later developed into

experimentation with the mother tongue instruction. Eventually, experimentation led to

implementation of a bilingual education. Content area is taught in the children’s L1

(presumably their mother tongue). Learning then takes place before the children are

taught in their second language (which could be the official language). With the initial

literacy in their mother tongue, children are more able to connect the spoken form of

language with the written form - thus they can build on their developing literacy skills to

learn their L2. Further, the second language is taught explicitly. In using the mother

tongue in their instruction, teachers and students can interact more naturally and can

negotiate meanings together. Such positive facilitation of teaching and learning also

benefits the affective domain in language learning. According to Cummins (cited in Ball,
2010), merging culture and language from the home to that of the school is important for

individual identity and group empowerment. Effective Language learning is dependent

on the interaction between learners, the educational system, the cultural context and the

teachers as well (Ngoc & Iwashita, 2012).

Teachers’ Attitudes towards the MOI

In conferences and seminars attended in Manila and during class discussions or

even in discussions in informal settings, there has been a mixed reaction when the MTB-

MLE policy is mentioned. Though it is understandable that there will be teachers who

have a natural aversion to change, one can not help thinking if this is the only reason for

opposing the policy. These observations are also consistent with the results in the study

of Dekker & Duguiang (2010) and mentioned by Gonzales (2003) and Nolasco (2008).

Further, the affective attitude of the language learners’ teacher play a role in the

formation of a learners’ cognitive and affective language attitude formation (Kovacs,

2011). This means that teachers could be one of the factors that shape the language

attitude of pupils.

A local study conducted after the 1987 Constitution mandating Filipino as the

Medium of Instruction investigated the teachers’ attitudes towards the use of Filipino as

MOI in La Trinidad, Benguet – a non-Tagalog province (Garcia, 1988).

 The results showed that even though the elementary teachers were educationally

qualified and some even had in-service training on Filipino as medium of instruction, the

teachers were still unprepared in the use of Filpino as MOI. Their difficulties include the

following: inadequate vocabulary for oral and written communication; inability to use

idiomatic expression and technical terms; inability to spell and pronounce words

correctly; lack of orientation in the use of study guides; having inadequate supply of

visual aids; devices, and textbooks; difficulty in preparing lesson plans, quizzes, and

exams as well as problems in evaluating results of quizzes and exams.

From this study it was obvious that for early graders it would be difficult to use

Filipino as the MOI in a non-Tagalog province. Yet, it took more than 20 years before

policy makers decided to make a big change to the country’s educational systems’ policy

on the medium of instruction.

Parents’ Attitudes towards the MOI

Other foreign studies have also examined attitudes on the medium of instruction,

particularly parents’ attitudes on the MOI. A qualitative study conducted by Chien-Huei

Wu (2005) on Chinese parents’ language attitudes and behavior on bilingualism and how

they maintain Chinese language (the particular language: whether Mandarin, Cantonese,

or Putong-hua was not specified) in their children who are growing up in the U.S.
 Specifically, her study aimed to find out the attitudes and beliefs of parents about

their children’s language and literacy learning in ‘Chinese’ and English in the U.S.

context. Based on these attitudes and beliefs, the study also aimed to find out how

parents have supported their children’s bilingual development through their actions and

what they thought about their children’s abilities in ‘Chinese’ and English and the factors

they thought to have influenced the children’s ‘Chinese’ maintenance.

Fifteen families volunteered to be participants in this study. The parents’ age

ranged between 30-40 years old and all have at least an undergraduate degree in their

home country. Each family had 1-3 children who were either born in the U.S. or

immigrated before school age. All were in the K-8 grade level.

The main methods of data collection were interviews, but field notes and research

logs were also used to supplement the data collected in the interviews. The tapes were

then transcribed into Chinese (as the language more familiar with the researcher) and

coded using the Straus and Corbin method (1990).

It was concluded that parents’ views and actions in preserving heritage language

influence their children’s ability to maintain proficiency in this language. Wu (2005)

cited three major influences in maintaining heritage language: family life, social life, and

children’s characteristics. Parents’ attitudes towards the heritage language are under

family life. The study shows that a positive language attitude is a strong force for their

children to maintain their heritage language. Parents who convey stronger views on
maintaining language heritage were more likely to have children who would maintain

their use of the language.

This study not only investigated the parents’ attitudes but also explored how

parents influence their children’s language use. Although this study was conducted under

circumstances that are different from the Philippines, its results clearly affirms that

parents’ language use and attitude towards the mother tongue affect children’s language

choice.

A study spanning three years was conducted in India (Panda et. al., 2011), where

some districts have adapted the MLE program since 2004, to compare students in MLE

schools with students in non-MLE schools according to: 1. scholastic achievement in the

following areas: Math, Environmental Studies (EVS) and Language; 2. metalinguistic

skills of children; 3. the effects of the MLE program on teachers’ perception and parents’

and community’s attitudes towards the children’s education and the role of the language

and culture, sense of identity and their attitudes towards socio-linguistic maintenance.

Four MLE schools and four non-MLE schools from two states were used for the study. A

pilot study was conducted in 2009 and data were collected between December 2009 and

April 2011. Learning achievement tests were administered to students in Grades 1 to 3,

interviews were conducted with the parents and teachers regarding their attitudes towards

the MOI, and observations of the school and classroom were also recorded.
 The results showed that the children from the MLE schools performed better in all

areas tested (Math, EVS, and Language). Further, the gap between the children from the

MLE schools and the children from the non-MLE schools widened as their grade level

progressed.

With regard to the teachers’ attitudes towards the MLE program, 14 out of 15

interviewed teachers from the MLE schools viewed the mother tongue as the best MOI to

facilitate learning. Opinions in non-MLE schools varied, however. Eight out of 12

teachers from non-MLE schools viewed the mother tongue as the ideal MOI while 3

teachers saw it as a hindrance in the learning of other languages and 2 were not sure.

Eleven out of 15 teachers from MLE schools and 4 out of 12 would agreed though that

parents wanted their children to be taught in the dominant state language, the difference

in their opinions would vary on how they reacted to this belief. The teachers, who saw the

MLE as a hindrance to learning, used the parents’ belief as an argument against the

program. While the teachers, who supported the program, were more convinced with the

effectiveness of using the MT as MOI because of the positive results with the students’

achievements in the different subject areas.

With regard to the attitudes of parents and the community towards the MT as

MOI, although the parents from the MLE schools had general reservations with the use of

the MT in schools and had targeted the development of the dominant state language as a

desirable goal, the general sentiment of the community exposed to the MLE instruction
was positive. They would express apprehensions regarding their children’s learning but

were otherwise satisfied with it (Panda et.al, 2011).

If early experiences of children dictate what they learn and how they will learn it,

then the parents and teachers, as the significant adults in their early lives, have a big

influence in their development too. Second language acquisition and bilingualism also

play an important role in the early graders’ overall development. Research shows that

children exposed to more than one language can be seen at an advantage in terms of

cognitive development; however, socio-cultural factors also need to be considered. In the

Philippines where most children use a home language different from that used in school,

there needs to be a mutual agreement between the two environments with regard to how

children develop the two languages successfully. Policies also need to be in congruence

with the needs of the school and home to help children develop literacy.

All previous policies have tried to meet the presumed need of the Philippines.

However, with the MTB-MLE now set in place, government agencies are not just

considering the needs of the country but also the needs of children. All the research and

studies mentioned so far stress the need for the support of parents, teachers, and the

community for the effective implementation of any policy. It may have been a long time

coming, but now that the powers-that-be have taken a leap of faith by officially validating

the MTB-MLE, it is now imperative for the rest of the country to follow suit. It is

imperative to look into the parents and teachers attitudes towards the mother tongue to
see if these have any relationship with children’s early literacy development than

researchers and policy makers have anticipated.

Conceptual Framework

Attitude of Parents towards the

Listening Comprehension of
Mother Tongue

Grade 1 Pupils

Attitude of Teachers towards

Grade 2 Pupils
the Mother Tongue

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework

Figure 2 represents the possible association between the parents and teachers attitudes

towards the mother tongue as MOI and the children’s listening comprehension skills.

This study aims to find out if there is a relationship between the parents and teachers’

attitudes towards the mother tongue and the pupils’ listening comprehension skills.

Hypothesis:

1. There is a strong relationship between the parents’ attitude towards the mother

tongue and the Grade 1 and Grade 2 pupils’ listening comprehension skills.

2. There is a significant difference between the listening comprehension skills of

pupils whose teachers have a positive attitude towards mother tongue and the

listening comprehension skills of the pupils whose teachers have a negative

attitude towards the mother tongue.

 3. There is a significant difference in the listening comprehension skills of Grade

1 pupils (who were taught in the MT in SY: 2012 – 2013) in the mother

tongue and the listening comprehension skills of Grade 2 pupils (who were

not yet taught in the MT) in the mother tongue.

Definition of Terms

For the purpose of this study, the following terms will be used as such:

Listening Comprehension is part of the 12 Domains of Literacy as stated in the new K-

12 Curriculum. It is the ability to understand a story that has been heard manifested

through the ability to answer questions correctly.

To measure the listening comprehension skills of the students, 3 researcher-made

listening comprehension tests were constructed by the researcher. Each test was based on

a story (in the mother tongue) and four of the five levels of comprehension were

represented.

Medium of Instruction (MOI) refers to the language used inside the classroom in order

to teach a particular concept.

Parents’ and Teachers’ Attitude refers to their perceptions, language beliefs and

positive or negative disposition towards the mother tongue as a medium of instruction

(Subaldo, 1990). It was measured using a researcher-made questionnaire regarding the

parents’ and teachers’ favorable or unfavorable inclination towards the mother tongue as

the MOI as well as the other languages used in schools (Filipino and English).

Mother Tongue refers to the first or home language of the pupils which will also be used

the main medium of instruction. In this study, the mother tongue of the sample is Bisaya.

MTB-MLE or MLE refers to the effective use of more than one language in literacy and

instruction. It is an educational policy that has been mandated and institutionalized

throughout the formal schooling system – it shall use the mother tongue as the medium of

instruction starting in Kindergarten through Grade 3 and also used in ALS (DO No. 74,

s.2009). Further, it is developmentally as well as culturally appropriate using the child’s

cultural background as starting point in concept teaching and thus attempts to make the

learning experience relevant to the child.

 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This study attempted to find out the following things: the attitudes of the parents

and teachers towards the mother tongue as the medium of instruction, the listening

comprehension skills of Grade 1 and Grade 2 students, and the subsequent relationship

between the parents’ attitudes and the listening comprehension of the early graders. This

chapter describes the process used by the researcher in gathering data for this study.

Research Design

This study makes use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches in answering

the research questions. For the quantitative part of the research, information regarding the

parents’ attitude towards the mother tongue as the medium of instruction was collected

through questionnaires and correlated with the early grader’s listening comprehension

skills using the Pearson Correlation. Data regarding the teachers’ attitudes towards the

mother tongue were also collected through questionnaires and interviews. The teachers’

attitudes towards MT as MOI were analyzed by calculating their mean scores on the

rating scale (Part III of the questionnaire). The teachers with the score between 1 – 2.9 on

the rating scale were identified as having a negative attitude towards MT as MOI. The

teachers with the score between 3.9 – 5 on the rating scale were identified as having a

positive attitude towards MT as MOI . The scores of the students whose teachers had a
negative attitude were compared with the scores of the students whose teacher had a

positive attitude by using a t-test.

For the qualitative part of the research, interviews and focus group discussions

were conducted to support the results of the questionnaires. On the other hand, for the

listening comprehension tests, which were pen and paper exercises, its results were cross-

verified through subsequent verbal discussions with the students on the same story.

Further observations made by the researcher during the written exams also served to

substantiate these findings.

The researcher followed this research plan to ensure that the data gathered were

consistent and reliable.

Research Locale

The research centered on a small municipality situated in a mountainous area of

Negros Oriental province, located in Western Visayas.

The main language used in the area is Bisaya, a localized version of Cebuano.

However, the head teacher from the one of the schools stated early on that the language

officially assigned for the whole of Negros Oriental province (and therefore its schools)

is actually Cebuano.
 Three public schools in Negros Oriental were chosen for this study because of

their accessibility, population and their use of the Mother Tongue as MOI.

Bisaya is the main language used for communication in the locale. Filipino and

English are also widely used, since some of the population migrated there from other

provinces. For the past five years, the increased presence of foreigners who have taken

residence in the area, could be seen as an influence in the use of English. But

surprisingly, the foreigners the researcher encountered were already quite fluent in

everyday spoken Bisaya.

For this study, three schools from the province were chosen.

School A, located in the center of town, has the most number of Grade 1 and

Grade 2 students in the area - four sections for Grade 1 and four sections for Grade 2,

each section had an average of 48 students.

School B, although still located near the center of town, has a smaller population.

It has two sections for Grade 1 and one section for Grade 2, each section with an average

of 35 students.

School C is farthest from the town center. It has two sections for Grade 1 and two

sections for Grade 2, each section also had an average of 35 students.

 All three schools have been using Bisaya as their MOI. They have also been using

the MTB-MLE curriculum since at least June 2012 for their Grade 1 classes.

Sample

Forty-one (41) parents, fourteen (14) teachers, thirty (30) Grade 1 pupils and

thirty (30) Grade 2 pupils from three (3) public elementary schools in Negros Oriental

were invited to participate in this study. These four groups comprise the sample of this

study: teachers, grade 1 pupils, grade 2 pupils, parents/ guardians.

Table 1

Sample Population for this Study.

Sample Size
Schools A B C Total
Teachers 8 3 3 14
Grade 1 Pupils 10 10 10 30
Grade 2 Pupils 10 10 10 30
Parents/ Guardians 13 9 19 41

The Teachers

For this study, it was intended that a total of sixteen (16) Grade 1 and Grade 2

teachers were to participate. However, School A, B, and C only had a total of fifteen (15)

Grade 1 and Grade 2 teachers among them. All 15 teachers were invited to participate in

the study, but in the end only 14 teachers responded. Of the 14 teacher-participants, 13
were BEEd (Bachelor in Elementary Education) graduates; while one teacher is an AB

graduate with some Education units. Two teachers have a Masters degree, while 3 of the

14 teachers are double degree holders (one graduated from BS Psychology, one from BS

Agriculture, and one from BS Nursing).

Table 2

Teachers’ Educational Background

Teachers' Background
Educational Background

Additional Age Years of

BEEd AB Course Teaching
2 (Psych,
A 7 1 Agriculture) 21-52 1-25
B 3 - 1 (MA) 37-48 11-16
C 3 - 1 (Nursing) 47-59 3-16
TOTAL 13 1 4

Thirteen are female and one is male. The female participants were aged 21-59

while the lone male participant was 50 years old. When it came to years of teaching

experience, eleven of the teachers had been teaching professionally for 10-25 years; one

teacher, for 8 years; another one, for 3 years; the youngest participant had only begun

teaching that year. All fifteen participating teachers were born and raised in Negros

Oriental province, and had Bisaya as their mother tongue.

The Principals

To validate the teachers’ responses and to get a clearer picture of the school

setting, the researcher also sought interviews with the principals of the participating

schools. However, only 2 out of the 3 school principals were able to grant interviews. At

the time of the study, the principal for School A was out of town and was therefore

unavailable for an interview. The principals were not asked to answer the questionnaires.

The 2 remaining principals who managed to participate, like the 14 teachers in the

study, also had Bisaya as their mother tongue.

The Pupils

To make the listening test unbiased, an equal number of students were invited

from each grade level for each participating school. Ten (10) Grade 1 students and ten

(10) Grade 2 students were selected by the teachers to participate in the study.

The age of Grade 1 pupils ranged from 6-8 years; the Grade 2 pupils were aged 7-

9 years old. The Grade 1 pupils from schools A, B, and C were composed of eleven (11)

girls and nineteen (19) boys. The Grade 2 pupils from schools A, B, and C were

composed of nineteen (19) girls and eleven (11) boys.

From School A, participants were four (4) girls and six (6) boys from Grade 1 and

six (6) girls and four (4) boys from Grade 2.

From School B, participants were two (2) girls and eight (8) boys from Grade 1

and seven (7) girls and three (3) boys from Grade 2.
 For School C, participants were five (5) girls and five (5) boys from Grade 1 and

six (6) girls and four (4) boys from Grade 2.

The table below shows the summary of the pupil samples.

Table 3

Distribution of Pupils from Schools A, B, and C

Schools
A B C MT
M F M F M F Age Bisaya
Grade 1
Pupils 6 4 8 2 5 5 6-8 30
Grade 2
Pupils 4 6 3 7 4 6 7-9 30
Total 10 10 11 9 9 11

A total of sixty (60) student participants were included in the research. Each

school was represented by ten (10) Grade 1 students and ten (10) Grade 2 students. From

the parents’ questionnaires, the following data were taken: at least half of the participants

(28 out of 41) were born in Negros Oriental province; and all consider Bisaya as their

mother tongue. Almost all the pupils came from the lower income (CD) brackets.

The participating students were chosen by the teachers, who were given specific

instructions from the researcher to ensure that a cross-section of the students’ abilities

was represented by the emerging groups.

The Parents

For the study, it was intended that the parents who will be invited should be those

parents or relatives of the participating Grade 1 & 2 students. However, only the teachers

and/or the principals from School B and School C managed to inform and gather the

respective parents of the participating students. In a few instances, the main guardians –

three (3) grandmothers, one (1) cousin and one (1) aunt were there in place of the parents

for the discussions. For this study, only one (1) parent or guardian was intended to

answer/represent per participating child/student.

All the parents or guardians participated in the FGDs. The parents from School A,

because they did not match the pupil who took the listening comprehension tests, were

not included in the data used for the correlation of the parents’ attitude towards the MT as

MOI and the pupils’ listening comprehension skills. Table 3 summarizes the parent/

guardian population who participated in the study.

Table 4

Parents/ Guardian Distribution

Distribution of Parents/ Guardians

Parent/ Guardian
Schools A B C Total
Mother 10 7 13 30
Father 1 2 1 4
Grandmother 1 0 3 4
Aunt 1 0 1 2
Cousin 0 0 1 1
 From School B, nine (9) parents responded, along with fourteen (14) parents and

five (5) guardians from School C.

However, in the case of School A, the teachers chose not to contact the respective

parents of their participating students. Instead, the School A teachers contacted other

Grade 1 & 2 parents from the school; unfortunately, these parents and guardians were not

related to any of School A’s participating students.

For this reason the, the eleven (11) parents and two (2) guardians contacted (but

not related to the participating students) for School A were excluded from the data which

determine the correlation between parents’ attitudes and students’ listening

comprehension. However, these parents/guardians from School A still participated in the

general discussion (with parents/guardians from School B and School C) on parents’

attitudes towards MT as MOI.

Of the total forty-one (41) parents/guardians aged 24-72 from schools A, B and C,

almost all belonged to the lower income bracket. Among them, only one (1) was a

college graduate, fourteen (14) were college undergraduates, only six (6) got as far as

elementary school, and three (3) had no schooling at all.

 Thirty-three (33) were homemakers, only two (2) were professionals, two (2)

were drivers, two (2) were vendors, one (1) was a government employee, and one (1)

worked in the agricultural sector.

Most of the participants are from Negros Oriental province, with a few

exceptions. Two (2) parents were from Cebu, one (1) parent was from Antique, one (1)

other parent was from Bicol and one (1) grandmother/guardian was from Manila. But all

participating parents/guardians used Bisaya as their mother tongue.

For a detailed breakdown of these facts, please see Appendix F. Table 4 below

summarized the occupations of the parents/ guardians who participated in the study.

Table 5

Parents’ Background

Occupation
Gov't
Homemakers Professionals Driver Vendors Employee Agriculture
33 2 2 2 1 1

Educational Background
College HS Grade No
Graduate Undergraduate Graduate School Answer
1 14 17 6 3

Province of Origin
Neg. Or. Cebu Antique Bicol Manila
36 2 1 1 1
Research Instruments

Questionnaire on Attitudes towards the Mother Tongue

To measure the parents’ and teachers’ attitudes or perceptions towards the mother

tongue as the medium of instruction, several questionnaires were devised. For these

questionnaires, previous instruments of Subaldo (1990) and Garcia (1988) were used as

the basis for constructing the 50 statements regarding parents’ and teachers’ beliefs,

perceptions, and observations on the different languages used in schools.

Two experts on educational psychology from a state university were asked to

critique the prepared questionnaires. Instruments measuring language attitudes from the

previous studies of Kovacs (2011) and Ngoc & Iwashita (2012) were adapted, as was

suggested by one of the experts. Further, each statement was also analyzed to make sure

that it would measure attitudes towards the mother tongue and have no biases. The 50

statements were reviewed, simplified and divided into two (2) sections: one section dealt

with the respondents’ language beliefs and perceptions, and the other section was on

attitudes towards Bisaya as the MOI. Fifteen statements were removed due to

redundancies.

The final questionnaire had three (3) sections: the 1st section dealt with personal

data such as age, sex, socio-economic status, educational background, occupation,

province of origin, number of years in Valencia, languages spoken at home and with

friends, their child’s grade, and their relation to the pupil; the 2nd section consisted of
fifteen (15) open-ended statements regarding the parents’ and teachers’ language beliefs

and perceptions; the 3rd section consisted of twenty-five (20) statements asserting

differing opinions or beliefs in relation to the mother tongue as MOI. Each statement in

the 3rd section could be given a 5-point rating – Strongly Agree (5), Agree (4), Not Sure

(3), Disagree (2), and Strongly Disagree (1). The mean score for each parent and teacher

respondent, and the mean score for all the parent and teacher respondents were

calculated. A score between 1- 2.9 indicates a general negative disposition towards the

MT as MOI, a score of more than 3.9 -5 indicates a general positive disposition towards

the MT as MOI, and a score of 3 – 3.8 indicates disposition that is neither negative nor

positive towards MT as MOI.

The questionnaires, all written in English, were then contextualized into Cebuano

by a Silliman University professor, whose L1 is Cebuano and who has written and edited

books for international Christian church organizations. This professor has also translated

essays and materials from Cebuano to English.

The translated version of the questionnaires was subsequently checked by another

professor at the same university, whose L1 is also Cebuano and who has edited research

materials for local church and labor organizations, and international NGOs (non-

government organizations) dealing with Filipino migrant workers.

A third resource person, a Grade 1 public school teacher from Negros Oriental

province, also checked the questionnaires for clarity. The parents’ and teachers’
questionnaires were piloted on seven Grade 1 public school teachers and eight parents or

relatives of Grade 1 and 2 pupils. The participants for the pilot all came from Negros

Oriental and spoke the same dialect, which is Bisaya.

After the feedback, the questionnaires were again revised for clarity and

comprehensibility. But the main change made to the questionnaires was the use of the

term ‘Bisaya’ in place of ‘Cebuano’ to refer to the mother tongue of the area. (See

Appendix A and B for the final questionnaires in English)

Listening Comprehension Test

As bases for the listening comprehension test, three (3) bilingual (Tagalog-

Cebuano) books readily available from an established publishing house were used. The

books proved valuable because they were already pre-translated, with both language

versions appearing on each page. They were also age-appropriate for the participating

grade levels included in the test.

These storybooks had been written in both Tagalog and the prescribed mother

tongue of the participating pupils and were used by the researcher as bases to construct

three separate listening comprehension tests for the participating Grade 1 and Grade 2

pupils.
 These tests were based on the discussion format of the GPU questioning

technique. The five (5) levels of comprehension were also used as bases for the questions

on the tests. Fifteen (15) multiple choice questions (5 literal, 3 inferential, 4 critical and 3

application) were made for each test. Examples of these questions were: from one of the

actual story used

 Literal level – “Kinsa ang bida sa atong sugilanon?” (Who were the main

characters of the story?)

 Inferential level – “Nganong nagdali siya ug balik sa isla sa dihang

nakitan niya ang dakung bangka?” (Why did he hurry back to the island

when he saw the big boat?)

 Critical level – “Nisukol si Lapu-lapu, unsang kinaiya ang gipadayag

niya?” (Lapu-lapu resisted the invasion, what character trait did he show?)

 Application level – “Kung ikaw si Ambongan, unsay imong bation

samtang nagtanaw sa baybayon?” (If you were Ambongan, what would

you feel while looking out at the beach?”)

These tests were then critiqued by two teachers from a laboratory school of a

prime state university. These teachers used the GPU questioning technique, and a state

university faculty member with a Reading Education background and Teaching Early

Grades. The three tests were revised according to the comments and suggestions of the

experts. The items measuring the creative aspect of comprehension were removed since it

would generate answers that are neither right nor wrong. To make the tests more

interesting for the children, the questions were simplified and more pictures and/or
images were used. These helped the students to visualize the questions and the choices

(answers), apart from making the test more appealing than a text-heavy test, which might

inhibit the students’ participation.

The revised tests were then contextualized into Cebuano by the same professor

from Silliman University, a prominent provincial university. It was then checked for

language clarity and items by another Early Grades educator, whose L1 is also Cebuano,

from a state university laboratory school.

After further revisions, the tests were piloted on a total of ten (10) Grade 1 and

Grade 2 students from School B. The pilot test was timed and the pupils’ response to the

story and tests were observed to check if they were overwhelmed by three story readings

at a given time, and if their attention span could hold for all three stories and tests. Their

scores for the first, second, and third stories were also noted and compared to see if their

scores varied greatly from the first to the last test. This would determine the time frame

for the testing, since the participating schools had requested for all three tests to be done

in one day. The pupils’ were given roughly 10-minute breaks after each test to rest, eat,

and go to the restroom if necessary.

The whole pilot test lasted around 3 hours. Each story took up 15-20 minutes, the

listening comprehension test lasted 15 minutes. This meant a maximum of 40 minutes for

every story and test. The pilot test was videotaped and reviewed by a research assistant

who administered the test alongside the researcher. Test items were analyzed and revised
for the last time to make sure that each item was neither too easy nor too difficult for the

participants. The revised versions of the tests (in Bisaya) were checked by professors

from a prominent provincial university (Refer to Appendix C1-C3).

The whole process of constructing instruments is shown below.

Construction of Instruments

Questionnaires for Parents’ and Choosing of 3 Storybooks

Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Mother
Tongue Listening Comprehension Tests

Critiquing of Experts Critiquing of Experts

Revision of Instruments

Contextualization of Instruments into

Cebuano

Cebuano Validation of Translation

Revisions based on Feedback from

Translation Validation

Pilot Testing of Questionnaires for Pilot Testing on 10 Grades 1 and 2

Parents and Teachers students from one of the chosen schools
for the Listening Comprehension

Final Revisions

Reproduction of Instruments

Figure 3. The complete process for construction of instruments.

Data Gathering Procedure

Preparatory Phase

Letters of requests were sent to the Provincial Division School Superintendent

and Principals of the chosen schools asking for permission to conduct the study (refer to

Appendix E1 – E7). Once permission was given, the schools were visited and a suitable

approved schedule for the data collection was set. (refer to Appendix I for schedule of

data collection)

After the instruments were prepared and finalized, and with the approval letters

already received from the schools, the participating schools were visited to personally

meet the principals. During this visit, the principals from Schools A and B were out of

town, and the officer-in-charge was met instead. The teachers in the Early Grades were

introduced by the officer-in-charge. The teachers were subsequently briefed regarding the

study and a suitable schedule was set and agreed upon. They were given a general idea

regarding the study and subsequently asked for their assistance in organizing the students

and parents. Eventually, a meeting was set with the principal in School C and was given

brief outline of the study. A suitable schedule was then set for the administration of the

listening comprehension tests and the parents’ questionnaires, as well as the FGDs.
Data Collection Phase

Administration of the Listening Comprehension Test for Grades 1 and 2

For each school, ten (10) Grade 1 pupils and ten (10) Grade 2 pupils were pre-

chosen by the teachers. The student participants were grouped according to their grade

level. The researcher administered the listening comprehension tests for the Grade 2 level

in School C. The listening comprehension tests for the Grade 1 level in School C were

subsequently handled by the research assistant. The storytelling and administration of the

tests were conducted in the outdoor gymnasium of the school since the classrooms were

all occupied. However, extraneous noise was kept to a minimum since the gymnasium

was empty save for the pupils undergoing the listening comprehension tests. Each

storytelling lasted an average of twenty (20) minutes.

For schools A and B, the researcher handled the Grade 1 level while the research

assistant handled the Grade 2 level. One assigned classroom in School A and one

assigned classroom in School B provided the venues for storytelling and administration

of the tests for the respective participating students from both grade levels. In each

school, sessions for Grade 1 and 2 levels were conducted simultaneously, with

participants from each grade level occupying opposite ends of the same classroom.

Difficult vocabulary words or concepts used in the story and test were discussed

and unlocked for the pupils. The pre-reading procedure in the Four-Pronged Approach
was used before the story reading which involved the unlocking of difficult words,

tapping of the pupils’ prior knowledge, the asking of Motivation Question and Motive

Question, and storytelling. The listening comprehension test was administered after the

whole story was read.

The instruction, question items, and answers were read out loud and the students

were given around one (1) minute to answer. The administration of the test lasted 15-18

minutes. After the tests, the pupils were given 10-minute breaks, during which snacks

were distributed. The same procedure was used for all three listening comprehension

tests. The researcher also observed and took notes of their literacy behavior.

Although, the researcher asked for three days to conduct the listening

comprehension tests to comply with the Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP)

important to teaching in the early grades, the Division Schools Superintendent agreed to

participate only on the condition that the administration of the tests should not disrupt the

ongoing classes. This condition, along with an already busy school schedule, meant that

the researcher was eventually allowed only one day per school to administer the tests.

Administration of Questionnaires to Parents

Twenty (20) parents were expected to attend from each of the schools. However,

on the scheduled day for School C, only nineteen (19) parents showed up and were met
by the researcher and her assistant (Refer to Appendix I for the schedule of data

collection). The gymnasium was the venue for this session.

Before the questionnaires were distributed, the parents were briefed (in Bisaya)

regarding the study. The questionnaire instructions were explained briefly and read out

loud to them. The parents were then given roughly twenty (20) minutes to answer the

questionnaire. Assistance was provided whenever any of the parents needed help in

reading any of the items, or when they needed answers to be written down for them. The

same procedure was used for the two other schools.

On the day for School A, twenty (20) parents were expected but only thirteen (13)

parents were present during the administration of the questionnaires. A school classroom

was the venue for this session and it lasted about 20 minutes

For School B, only nine (9) parents were present. The teachers had informed the

researcher that they were not able to contact all the parents of the participating students.

The school conference room was the venue used for the administration of the parent

questionnaires in School B and it lasted about 20 minutes.

Focus Group Discussions for the Parents

FGDs for the parents were conducted to validate the data gathered from the

parents’ questionnaires and to gain better understanding on their attitudes regarding the

mother tongue. The research assistant was present during these FGDs to videotape the

proceedings. Guide questions for the FGDs and interviews were submitted to the advisers

for checking and were then translated into Cebuano. Each of the FGDs lasted between 45

minutes to 1 hour. There were thirteen (13) parent participants for the FGDs in School A,

nine (9) for School B, and nineteen (19) for School C. The teachers and principals for

each of the schools were originally planned to be participants of the FGDs. However, due

to scheduling conflicts regarding their availability, they were not able to participate in

FGDs. These parents were the same parents who answered the questionnaires (Refer to

Appendix D).

For each of the three schools, the FGDs were scheduled on the same day as the

administration of the questionnaires. This was done for the convenience of the parent

participants as well as the schools involved. The parents were briefed on the purposes of

the study and the focus group discussions. School C was the first school to be scheduled.

In School C, before the prepared questions were even tackled, parents began asking the

researcher questions regarding the MTB-MLE policy, such as: the rationale behind

teaching the mother tongue as a subject; why the MOI in schools was changed to the MT;

and how this will teach their children to learn English. The prepared questions were re-

organized and revised due to the outcome of the FGD in School C.

 In Schools A and B, three main questions in Bisaya were written on Manila paper

to help prepare the parents for the discussion regarding the use of the mother tongue in

schools. The questions were:

1. What do you understand about the new policy on the mother tongue?

2. What advantages or disadvantages have you observed or perceived regarding

the use of MT in schools? How do you feel about the change in the medium of

instruction?

3. What do you think are the purposes of learning Cebuano/ Bisaya, English and

Filipino in schools? Do you agree with these purposes? Do you feel that it is

important for the students to learn Bisaya?

These questions were then discussed, one by one, with follow-up questions based

on their response to the questionnaires, the prepared questions, and their reactions as the

discussion progressed. The videos for the FGDs were transcribed and translated into

English.

Administration of Questionnaires to Teachers

On the same day that the administration of the listening comprehension tests were

given to the pupils in the school, questionnaires for their respective teachers were

distributed as well, to be answered overnight and collected from the teachers the
following day. The questionnaires were also distributed by one of the teachers to her

colleagues, the answers to which were collected by the researcher after two days.

Interviews

At the first meeting of the teachers, informal interviews were held. Four teachers

from School A were available for this meeting and all were interviewed informally as a

group regarding the curriculum, the use of mother tongue as MOI, and their experiences

regarding its use. They were also asked about their beliefs and perceptions regarding the

mother tongue and their own personal backgrounds (see Appendix D for interview

guides). One of the four teachers from School A was again available after the listening

comprehension tests of the pupils and the researcher used this opportunity to interview

the said teacher.

The principals for Schools B and C were interviewed after all the teachers’

questionnaires had been collected. During the interview of the School B principal, the

Grade 1 teacher became available, and so the researcher talked to both of them. The

principal in School C was also interviewed after the results of the teachers’ and parents’

questionnaires had been gathered. The results of the questionnaires for teachers and

parents were briefly discussed and they were given the opportunity to clarify issues and

elaborate on others. The other teachers were not included in the interview because they

refused to be interviews due to their busy schedules.

 After all the questionnaires for the parents and teachers were collected, the results

were checked to ensure that the respondents answered the questions correctly. For the

parents’ questionnaires, one questionnaire was discarded since the assigned parent did not

answer the 5-point rating scale. One other questionnaire was not returned from the

teachers’ group. All the valid questionnaires were tabulated using the Microsoft Excel

program (2007 version). Averages and mean scores were then calculated to identify the

parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the MT as MOI. The same was done for the

results of the listening comprehension tests.

Data Analysis

The data collected were organized according to two major categories:

Qualitative data, which refer to the information collected from the focus group

discussions and interviews; and Quantitative data which includes information generated

from the attitude questionnaires and listening comprehension tests.

Data on the Parents’ Attitudes toward MT

The results for the parents’ questionnaires were tabulated in the following

manner. The first part of the questionnaires was checked for patterns regarding age,

occupation, and province of origin. They were grouped according to the schools of their

child and their mean scores were calculated to find which school has parents with the

most positive and negative attitude. The scores of the parents on the questionnaire tests
regarding attitudes towards the MT were compared against each other. These results were

also examined against the age, occupation, social status, educational attainment, and

province of origin of the parents, in order to discern if any correlation can be made

between these factors and their answers to the questionnaires.

The second part of the questionnaires dealt with language beliefs regarding the

three languages used in schools: Filipino, Bisaya and English. It is composed of twenty

(20) “fill-in the blank” statements that would convey the parents’ beliefs on language use.

The items were categorized according to their perceived functions of the three languages,

their mastery of the language, desirable language to be learned, and their preferred

language to be used in schools. Frequency counts and percentages were used to interpret

the data gathered in the second part of the questionnaire.

The third part of the questionnaire dealt with the participants’ negative or positive

disposition towards the mother tongue. Twenty (20) statements were given; parents were

asked to check the appropriate boxes on whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, are Not

Sure, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree. Each box has an equivalent point system. The

points were added and the sum divided by 20 to get the parents’ mean score. The total

mean scores of the parents were calculated to find out the general disposition of the

parents. The parents’ scores were also cross-referenced with their age, occupation, social

status, educational attainment, and province of origin to check for any patterns or

correlations.
Data Gathered on the Teachers’ Attitudes towards MT

The results for the teachers’ questionnaires were also tabulated. The first part of

the questionnaires was checked for patterns regarding age, occupation, province of origin,

and educational attainment.

The second part of the questionnaire dealt with language beliefs regarding the

three languages used in school: Filipino, Bisaya, and English. The items were categorized

according to their perceived language function, their preferred language use for teaching,

their students’ language use for self-expression, and their preferred language to be

learned. Frequency counts and percentages were calculated to analyze the data gathered.

The third part of the questionnaire dealt with the participant teachers’ negative or

positive disposition towards the mother tongue as MOI. The teachers were asked to check

the appropriate box if they strongly agree, agree, are not sure, disagree, strongly disagree

with 20 statements regarding their attitudes towards the MT as MOI. Their total scores

were divided by 20. This figure represents the number of statements. The total mean

score per school was calculated and compared with one another to find out which schools

have the most positive or negative attitude towards the MT. A score between 1-2.9

indicates a general negative disposition towards the MT as MOI, a score between 3.9-5

indicates a general positive disposition towards the MT as MOI, and a score between 3-

3.8 means that the teacher’s attitude towards MT as MOI is neither negative nor positive.
The teacher with the most negative or positive disposition was identified using the

teachers’ scores in the third part of the questionnaire.

Pupils’ Listening Comprehension

The results of the tests were tabulated. Total scores as well as percentages were

calculated. Each item for the tests were also tabulated and analyzed according to the level

of comprehension it measures. Mean scores and percentages were calculated.

The Pearson Correlation Coefficient using the SPSS program (0.16 version) was

used to answer the third research question: “Is there a relationship between the parents’

attitudes towards MT as MOI and the pupils’ listening comprehension?”

To answer the fourth research question: “Is there a significant difference between

the scores of the students whose teacher has a negative attitude towards MT and the

scores of the students whose teacher has a positive attitude towards MT?”, Mann-

Whitney U-test was conducted because the sample size was only 10 for each group.

To answer the fifth question, “Is there a significant difference between the

listening comprehension test scores of grade 1 pupils and the listening comprehension

test scores of grade 2 pupils?”, the t-test was calculated to find the significant difference
between the mean scores of the grade 1 pupils’ and grade 2 pupils’ listening

comprehension tests.

Focus Group Discussions, Interviews and Observations

A focus group discussion was conducted to clarify some points and to get a more

in-depth insight into the perceptions and beliefs on the mother tongue. Teachers and

principals of the three schools were also interviewed after the collection of the

questionnaires to clarify some issues in their answers.

The videos for the FGDs were transcribed and translated into English. To analyze

the data gathered from the FGDs and interviews, patterns in the conversations were

identified through coding and theme analysis. The repeated words, phrases, language

situations, sentiment and practices were also identified and extracted. It was then

correlated with the results of their questionnaires especially the results in Part II.

Figure 4 (on page 80) shows the whole process of the methodology described on

this chapter.
 Administration
of Listening
Selection of Comprehension
Locale, Sample Pilot Testing of Tests and
Size, and Observation of
Instruments Students,
Instruments to Preparation
be used and Finalizing Final Revision Administration
Sending of of Instruments and of Parents’
Pertinent Reproduction Questionnaires
Letters and of Instruments Conducting of
Permissions FGDs for
Parents (School
C)

Administration
of Listening Administration of
Comprehension Listening
Tests and Comprehension
Observation of Tests and
Students Distribution Observation of Distribution
Teachers’ Students Teachers’
Administration Administration of
Questionnaires Questionnaires
of Parents’ Parents’
(School B) (School C)
Questionnaires Questionnaires
Conducting of Conducting of FGDs
FGDs for for Parents (School
Parents (School B)
A)

Collection of
Teacher's Conducting of
Distribution Questionnaires Interviews for
Teachers’ from the Three Teachers and
Questionnaires Schools and Principals Data Analysis
(School A) setting of (School A &
appointment for B)
interiews

Figure 4. Process Used in the Methodology.

 CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

The result of this study has both qualitative and quantitative sets of data from all

three groups of participants: parents, teachers and pupils from Grades 1 and 2. Each

group has quantitative data gathered from questionnaires or tests and qualitative data

gathered from interviews, focus group discussions and observations. The presentation of

the data in this chapter will be executed in accordance with the research questions stated

in Chapter 1.

Research Question 1a: What are the parents’ attitudes toward the mother tongue as

the medium of instruction?

To answer the first question, questionnaires, interviews and focus group

discussions were done. The results gathered from the parents and teachers were treated

and analyzed separately. Their responses were grouped into:

1. Language Beliefs and Perceptions on English, Filipino, and Bisaya

2. Attitude toward MOI

3. Perspectives on the MT as MOI

Parents’ Language Beliefs and Perceptions on English, Filipino, and Bisaya

The parents in this study show that they have a clear idea on the function of these

three languages in their child’s development. Bisaya is the language to be used: a) in the

home (41%); b) for the child’s self-expression (32%); and c) to encourage love for their

hometown (39%). Bisaya is also the preferred language of communication by the parents

(41%). The category “Others” was used to indicate answers that do not state any

language.

Table 6

Distribution of Parents by Language Beliefs

Language Beliefs of Parents E F B E,F, B E, B F, B E, F Others TOTAL

1. Pref erred MO I 27 - 29 20 15 5 5 - 100
2. Language for Finding Work 66 2 2 10 10 - 5 5 100
3. Language parents want their children to learn 32 7 5 32 12 2 7 2 100
4. Language to Encourage Love for Country 10 41 10 7 5 2 - 24 100
5. Language to Encourage Love for Home 7 10 39 7 2 7 - 27 100
6. Perceived Hindrance for Learning 22 5 12 - 7 - - 54 100
7. Perceived Language for Educated 46 2 7 10 10 5 - 20 100
8. Preferred Lang at Home 10 2 41 15 7 10 10 5 100
9. Preferred Lang in School 32 2 7 27 15 - 15 2 100
10. Needed Lang for Work 49 2 - 10 20 - 2 17 100
11. Perceived Needed Lang for Abroad 76 - - 7 10 - - - 100
12. Language for Child’s Self-Expression 7 10 32 10 7 5 7 22 100
13. Perceived Lang of Learned 59 - 5 12 7 10 5 2 100
14. Language Not Mastered 85 7 - 0 2 2 - 2 100
15. Preferred Lang of Communication 15 7 41 10 7 10 10 - 100
Figures are in percent

* - means zero

** E = English, F = Filipino, B = Bisaya

 Filipino does not play a major role in the parents participants’ language beliefs or

perceptions. Participants claimed that English could be used to communicate with people

outside the province just as well as Filipino. It is only in the category of developing love

for the country where the Filipino language scored a noteworthy forty-one percent (41%),

as compared to English (10%) and Bisaya (10%).

For the parent participants, English is a desirable language to master. Parents

believe that English: a) will help their children find jobs in the future (66%); b) should be

taught in schools (32%); c) is also the language needed to find work outside the country

(76%); d) will show scholarly knowledge (46%); and e) is used by “educated” people

(59%). However, the English language also poses problems for the parent participants

since eighty-five percent (85%) of them claim to have not mastered English. Twenty-two

percent (22%) also believe that English is a hindrance to learning. It is worth noting that

the only bigger hindrances to learning, according to fifty-four percent (54%) of parent

participants, are other factors such as “barkada” (clique), TV, and teachers.

The preferred language of communication of parents was Bisaya (41%). Fourteen

percent prefer English and 7% prefer Filipino. Ten percent showed no preference among

English, Filipino, and Bisaya.

 The participants are almost equally divided when it comes to their ideal MOI:

twenty-nine percent (29%) claim it is Bisaya, twenty-seven percent (27%) claim it is

English, twenty percent (20%) claim that the ideal MOI is all three languages (Filipino,

Bisaya, English).

Medium of Instruction Preferred by Parents

35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
English Bisaya English, English & Filipino & English &
Filipino, & Filipino Bisaya Bisaya
Bisaya

Figure 5. Distribution of the MOI Preferred by Parents.

The Parents’ Attitudes toward MOI

In general, the attitude of parents towards the mother tongue as the medium of

instruction is positive. Using the scoring system in the previous chapter (5 points for

Strongly Agree, 4 for Agree, 3 for Not Sure, 2 for Disagree, and 1 for Strongly Disagree),

each parent’s total score was extracted. The overall total mean score of the parents was
calculated. The parent participants from all three schools have an overall mean score of

4.28, which is higher than 3, signifying a positive attitude towards the MT as MOI.

Table 7

Mean Score for Parents’ Attitude toward MT as MOI

Mean Standard
SCHOOL A B C Score Deviation

Parents’ Attitude Score 4.05 4.50 4.29 4.285 0.225

Of the three schools, the parents of School B showed the most positive attitude,

with a score of 4.50; School C showed the second most positive attitude toward MT with

a score of 4.29; and School A has the lowest score with 4.05. When mentioned to the

principal of School B, she explained that at the start the parents opposed the idea of using

the mother tongue. However, the school, along with the district office, held seminars (at

the start of the school year and after the first semester) to disseminate information and to

help the parents get used to the idea of the mother tongue as MOI. As a teacher

mentioned before,

“Naa man ta natural aversion sa change.” (We all have a natural aversion to

change)

To help in the transition of the change in curriculum, the Grade 1 teacher in

School B held meetings with individual parents after every grading period. These

seminars and meetings, apart from allowing them to witness the change and improvement
in their child, helped the parents look at the policy in a more positive light. For the other

two schools, the respective principals or teachers did not mention any seminars held for

the information dissemination for the parents.

Parents’ Perspective on the Mother Tongue as Medium of Instruction

The apparent positive attitude of parents seen in the questionnaires is reflected in

the Focus Group Discussions. Parents, especially mothers, would most often begin the

discussion with praises for the new curriculum. These praises would be based on their

observations of their child’s literacy development.

In some cases, however, more vocal parents – usually the male participants –

would cite their objections to the use of MT as MOI. In School C, a male parent

commented,

“Mam sample mam, kining mga bata, kita naggikan pud ta pagkabata. Nagtuon

pud ta, nag-eskwela pod ta. Kung sa una wala gigamit ang pinulungan nga

Ilonggo og Bisaya sa pagtudlo. Kanang water kasabot na na sila, kasabot na na

sila unsay water kay nagamit na na nato sa atong adlaw adlaw maong makasabot

na na sila. Kanang mga bata pareha na na nato nga nakasabot ta sa una, kana

sila makasabot na na sila”. (“For example, ma’am, we were also children. We

studied too, we went to school like our children. In our time, teachers didn’t use
 Ilonggo or Bisaya to teach us. We understood water. Our kids understand what

water is too because we use it everyday. These kids are just like us, we

understood –English- then, they understand it too.”)

When the parents were asked why they thought the MOI was changed to Bisaya, a

mother quickly replied,

“Ang mga bata man, kabalo na sila sa English dili lang na sila kabalo mu

express, mao nay gipasabot.” (“Kids know English, they just don’t know how to

express themselves in English.”)

Oral fluency development in the mother tongue is one of the domain of early

literacy that MTB-MLE is trying to develop. Further in the discussion, a female parent

asked why Bisaya had to be taught in schools. It was then explained that the three

objectives for using the mother tongue as MOI as stated in the DepEd Order 16, s.2012.

The parents reacted to this positively too. Even the male parent, who questioned the need

to use Bisaya in schools, agreed that Bisaya should be preserved. In the end, they

expressed a certain pride in their own language.

This pride in their own heritage was also reflected in School B. During the course

of discussion a parent remarked,

 “May mga taga-Maynila nga na hindi marunong mag-Bisaya, pero ang mga

Bisaya kabalo mo Tagalog. Kay kita magtuon man ta. Sila pod kay magtuon pod

unta na sila’g Bisaya.” (“There are some people from Manila who can’t

understand Bisaya, but us Bisaya, we know Tagalog. That’s because we learn it. It

would be a good idea if they also learned Bisaya.”)

During the FGDs, it was observed that the female participants had a tendency to

have a more positive disposition towards Bisaya as the MOI than the male participants.

The female participants were usually the ones to point out the positive behavior such as

reading quickly and understanding the lessons they have observed in their child. The

male participants in a group were more vocal regarding their concern or apprehensions on

whether their child will learn English if they were taught in Bisaya. They emphasized the

importance of learning how to speak in English in order to get a job in the future. As a

parent said,

“Mao na’y importante. Labi nag mangita sila’g trabaho.” (“That’s the most

important thing - being fluent in English- especially when they are looking for

jobs”).

Another male parent from School B explained the need for the all three languages

by saying,
 “Kinahanglan man pod gamiton ang Filipino og English, pero mas nindot jud

nang pagmata nimo nga unsay inistoryahan ang gamiton. Pero ug dili pod ta

magtuon ug English og Filipino ug mag-istorya sa laing lugar dili ta makasabot.

Mag-nganga ra ta.” (“We also need to use Filipino and English, but it would be

preferable to use the language you know. But, if we don’t study English or

Filipino and we go to a different place, we won’t understand their language. We’ll

just stare at them blankly.”)

The female participants were concerned with how fast their children were able to

learn how to read when Bisaya is used as MOI. One mother said,

“Ang ako lang, kadtong wala pa gigamit ang Bisaya, galisud ko ug tudlo sa

akong anak sa pag-basa. Karon kay dali na lang siya nakabasa.” (“What I

observed was, when Bisaya wasn’t used in schools, I had a hard time teaching my

child how to read. Now my child learned how to read so quickly”).

The parents’ hesitation with using Bisaya as the MOI in schools seemed to stem

from their misconception that children will not be taught English or Filipino anymore.

Thus, in their view, the possibility of their children becoming fluent in English will be

compromised. This was particularly true for the parent participants in School C. When it

was clarified to them during the discussions that English and Filipino will not be removed

from the curriculum, the participants responded positively.

 In the other two schools, particularly in School B, parents openly praised the new

system saying that their children were able to learn more quickly and that they

understood the lessons more.

“Mas makatabang ma’am. Kay ug sa Bisaya wala na na siya tudlui, mas

makamao na siya, ug iyaha rang paningkamot. Pagka-entra ug Grade I, wala na

nako siya tudlui, iya-iya rang paningkamot. Sa in-Ingles ug Tagalog kamao na

na siya mubasa. Magbasa ka kung gusto mo, siya na lang.” (“It’s more helpful. In

Bisaya, I didn’t have to teach her, she knows how to do things on her own. Upon

entering Grade 1, I didn’t have to teach. In English or Tagalog, she knows how to

read. If she wants to read, she reads on her own.”)

A different parent from the same school confirmed this by saying,

“Mas nindot jud nang ug unsay ilang nasabtan didto jud magsugod.” (“It is

definitely much better to start with the language that children understand.”)

This observation in the FGDs is reaffirmed by the observations in the study of

Duguiang and Dekker (2010). In that study, the initial reaction of parents towards the use

of MT as MOI was one of apprehension, but as soon as they observed the positive results,

they were able to look at the change in a positive light.

 Each language has a specific purpose for the parents: English is a language to

aspire for because it is seen as a language that will provide opportunities for financial

security; Bisaya is also valuable – though at times it seemed not as valuable as English –

as their shared experiences have shown that children learn best and express themselves

better in this language. In the MLE study in Andrah Pradesh and Odisha, India, the same

sentiment was expressed by the parents where they preferred the dominant language for

the same reasons.

The participants showed no apparent dislike for Filipino, it is viewed as a

language to be used to foster love for the country and for communicating with other

Filipinos who cannot speak Bisaya.

Research Question 1b: What are the teachers’ attitudes toward the mother tongue

as the medium of instruction?

Teachers’ Language Beliefs and Perceptions on English, Filipino, and Bisaya

The teachers believed that English: a) should be taught in schools (36%); b) is a

language that should be mastered (71%); c) is a scholarly language (64%); d) used for

formal communication only (57%); and e) is needed for finding work (86%). However,

like the parents’ responses, English also posed problems to the teacher participants.

Thirty-six percent (36%) of the teachers perceived English as a hindrance to learning

while 50% cited other factors such as “barkada” (clique), computer, absences, and
television as a hindrance to learning which is similar to that of the parents’ responses.

None of the teacher participants believed that English is used as a language of self-

expression by the children, nor do they view English as the ideal language for learning.

Table 7 summarizes the teachers’ language beliefs as stated on the second part of the

questionnaires.
Table 8

Distribution of Teachers by Language Beliefs

E, B, F, Other TOTA
Language Beliefs for Teachers E F B E,F, B B F E s L
1. Preferred MOI 29 14 29 14 14 - - - 100
2. Language to be Taught in
Schools 36 - - 36 - 7 - 21 100
3. Language for finding Work 86 - - 14 - - - - 100
4. Language to Encourage Love
for Home - - 64 7 - 7 7 14 100
5. L. to Encourage Love for
Country - 57 14 7 - 7 - 14 100
6. Perceived Language of
Educated 64 - - 7 - - 21 7 100
7. Perceived Hindrance for
Learning 36 7 7 - - - - 50 100
8. Perceived Language for
Learned 29 - - 36 - - - 36 100
9. Aspirational Language for
Students 36 - - 21 - - 7 36 100
10. Aspirational Language for
Mastery 71 - - 7 - 7 14 - 100
11. Language for Self-
Expression of Students - - 86 14 - - - - 100
12. Preferred Language Use 21 14 7 29 14 - 7 7 100
13. Preferred Language Use for
Teaching 7 29 7 36 14 - - 7 100
14. Ideal Language for
Students' Learning - - 43 14 36 - - 7 100
15. Perceived L. for Formal
Communication 57 - - - - 7 14 21 100
Figures are in percent

* - means zero

** E= English, F= Filipino, B= Bisaya

 Just like the parents’ response, Bisaya was viewed by eighty-six percent (86%) of

the participants as the language the students use to express themselves; while, sixty-four

(64%) of the respondents perceived Bisaya as the language to encourage love for their

hometowns. Forty-three percent (43%) of the respondents believed that Bisaya alone is

the students’ ideal language for learning, while thirty-six percent (36%) of them believe

that it is both Bisaya and English.

Teachers from School B, during the interviews, mentioned that when Bisaya was

used the students actively participated in the lessons and that they were able to grasp

concepts more easily than before. As seen in Figure 6, 86% of the teacher respondents

believe that Bisaya is the language used by students to express themselves.

Language Used by Students for Self-Expression

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Bisaya English, Bisaya, &
Filipino

Figure 6. Perceived language preference of the students to express themselves

The observations of the teacher from School B along with the results shown in

Figure 5 are consistent with the results of the Lingua Franca Project that found students
being active and responsive when the mother tongue is used for teaching. Ocampo et. al.

(2006) also mentioned that learning takes place quickly, almost on the first day of school.

The teachers also believed that English and Bisaya are the ideal MOI for the

students. Twenty-nine (29%) of them preferred English and twenty-nine (29%) also

preferred Bisaya as the MOI (seen on Figure 6). The teachers were equally divided in

their belief whether to use Bisaya and English as the MOI, regardless of their view that

students express themselves best in Bisaya.

Teachers' Preferred MOI

35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
English Filipino Bisaya English, English &
Filipino, & Bisaya
Bisaya

Figure 7. The Preferred MOI of Teachers

As seen in Figure 7, English is seen by almost 30% of the teacher participants as

the ideal MOI. Even in the interviews, teachers from School A decided to teach English

before the specified grading period (which was in the 3rd grading period). Teacher from

School A expressed her apprehensions thus,

 “Lisud man gyud ug maulahi ang among mga estudyante sa uban eskwelahan.

Mao nang gitudluan na namo sila ug English bisan wala pa unta.” (“It would be hard if

our students are left behind by other schools. That’s why we decided to teach English

before the prescribed time.”)

The apprehensions felt by teachers lead them to prefer English as MOI, even if

they do recognize that their students express themselves in Bisaya and that their students

learn best in Bisaya as seen in Figure 7 and 8, where almost 45% of teacher respondents

agree that the ideal language for students’ learning is Bisaya.

Ideal Language for Students' Learning

45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Bisaya English, Filipino & English & Bisaya
Bisaya

Figure 8. Teachers’ beliefs on the ideal language conducive for children’s learning

A disparity can be seen between the teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the

languages used in schools. Some teachers preferred English as MOI rather than Bisaya

when their students clearly are unable to express themselves in this language.
 During the interviews, many of the teachers’ objections with using Bisaya as MOI

are rooted on the technical aspect of teaching, such as lack of materials and textbooks

which use Bisaya, unfamiliarity with the terms used in Cebuano (which is their assigned

MT), lack of curriculum preparation and lesson planning. Among the three schools, there

was a general sentiment of unpreparedness to efficiently implement the use of the mother

tongue as MOI. The teachers, particularly from School A, explained that they were only

given a one-day seminar when they watched a CD to orient them on the policy, during

which time they could not grasp the whole policy’s scope. They were also given a CD for

the sample materials; however, they were unable to open the CD files in time for class

due to their lack of skills in using a computer. The teacher from School A also mentioned

how the assigned workbooks (on a particular subject) for the 1st and 2nd grading arrived

at the beginning of the 3rd grading when they did not need them anymore. As a result, the

teachers themselves had to come up with their own materials by translating some of their

old textbooks, or by asking for help from other teachers. A teacher from School B also

expressed difficulties in their schools regarding the lack of materials and guidance. She

said that they would often consult with teachers from the other schools.

The difficulties mentioned above with the technical aspects of using Bisaya as

MOI are challenges that will be overcome with more planning and preparation and was

not anticipated by neither teachers nor principals in the area as a reason to stop using

Bisaya as MOI.
 There were also issues raised regarding the declaration of Cebuano as the mother

tongue in the area, when there are some terms in Cebuano with which locals are

unfamiliar with. At the initial interview, when the term Cebuano was used to refer to the

MOI, the teachers corrected this straight away, saying,

“Dili man gyud Cebuano ang sinultuhan diri. Lahi-lahi man ang Binisaya.” (“We

don’t really speak Cebuano here. Bisaya is different in every place”).

A principal pointed out that Cebuano is not really the language used and cannot

be considered as the mother tongue of the students. According to her,

“Ang atong binisaya diri kay saksak sinagol man.” (“Our Bisaya here is a

mixture of different languages”).

In the end, the teachers used their own resources and used the words their students

are most familiar with.

Filipino was the preferred language for teaching by twenty-nine percent (29%) of

the respondents and thirty-six (36%) of them preferred to use all three languages for

teaching. Filipino is also perceived as the language to encourage love for country, this

result is consistent with the results in the parents’ questionnaires. Aside from Filipino

being prescribed by the DepEd as one of the target language and the teachers who come
from a non-Bisaya province, Filipino does not seem to have much relevance for the

teacher participants and is not held to be as equally important as English

The teachers’ attitude towards MT as MOI shows that they are conflicted between

embracing the new curriculum and holding on to the old ways. It is apparent from the

questionnaires and interviews that the teachers have taken notice of the benefits of using

Bisaya as MOI to their pupils’ development. However, the difficulties they encountered

in implementing the policy has made them think twice whether these benefits are worth

the challenges they encountered. Towards the end of the school year, (when the

questionnaires were administered and the teachers were interviewed), the teachers also

experienced apprehensions for the coming school year and whether they can overcome

the same challenges with more success than before. The teachers’ attitudes toward Bisaya

as MOI was affected by the difficulties they encountered in using Bisaya as MOI. A

similar scenario was seen in Garcia’s (1988) study regarding the use of Filipino as MOI

in La Trinidad, Benguet. Elementary teachers encountered difficulties in the

implementation of the policy and as a result had negative attitude towards the MOI

(which was Filipino at that time).

To remedy the problems encountered in using the mother tongue as MOI, teachers

used Bisaya instead of the prescribed Cebuano. However, teachers still encountered

difficulty with using Bisaya in teaching specific concepts, especially in Math. According

to a Grade 1 teacher in School A, they had difficulty teaching rote-counting past 10

because children learned initially how to count in English (since they were taught at

home by their parents or guardian). In fact, when it came to counting 1-100, English was

more prominently used by parents and teachers alike. Although the teachers have made a

conscious effort to teach children to count in Bisaya, English numbers having less

syllables proved more convenient for them to use than the Bisayan counterpart. For

example, “twenty-one (21)” is more often used than “duha pulo ug usa (21)”. Counting

using Bisayan numbers finds more value in churches, in reference to the Bible verse and

chapter numbers (John 3:16 - Juan Kapitulo tulo, Bersikulo napulo ug unom). Even

simple words such as “axe” or “star” are better known in English rather than Bisaya

since, as with the numbers, the English words are more often used in everyday life than

the Bisayan counterpart. This was also observed by the researcher during the unlocking

of difficult words; the pupils would translate the words into English rather than give its

meaning in Bisaya.

The teachers also had difficulty teaching concepts in the English language like

compound words (e.g. rainbow, flyover, doughnut, etc.,) since the teachers found few

examples of compound words in Bisaya. Instead of teaching strictly in Bisaya, they also

borrowed English words especially in math to explain concepts. As one teacher

mentioned,

“Sagul-sagol na lang ang among gamiton. Basta makasabot ang bata. Kay lahi

man ang atong Binisaya diri sa Valencia, dili man gyud makasabot ang mga bata

sa lawom nga sinultihan. Kita gani nga tigulang na. Samot ang mga bata.” (“We
 just use a mixture of different languages as long as the children understand. Our

language is different here in Valencia, the children cannot understand the unusual

and deep words from our language. Even adults like us have a hard time

understanding these words. It will be more difficult for the children to do so”).

The Principals’ Perspectives on the mother tongue as medium of instruction

From the interviews with the principals in School B and C, it appears that the

students’ overall grades (Mean Percentile Score), with the exception of math, were higher

this year than in the previous years. The passing mark is seventy-five percent (75%) and

this year twenty-six (26) out thirty-five (35) students got a seventy-five percent (75%)

and higher for Reading in the Mother Tongue. Comprehension of concepts was also

easier with the use of Bisaya. The interaction between the students and teachers during

lessons has also improved. According to the interviewed teachers and principals, the

students participated more to the discussions in class when Bisaya was used as the MOI

as compared to the previous year when the MOI was Engish. These results partly affirm

the results of the study by Panda et. al. (2011) in India whereby the students from the

MLE schools have higher test scores (in Language, Math, and Environmental Studies)

than that of their counterparts from the non-MLE schools.

Although the interviewed principals all admit that switching to the mother tongue

did achieve good results, they also echoed the difficulties encountered by the teachers. As

one of the teachers mentioned,

 “Murag kalit lang kaayo ang change. Wala mi ka-andam ug mayo.” (“It seems

like the change of MOI was sudden. We weren’t able to prepare well”).

The teachers were unprepared for the big change in the medium of instruction.

The lack of preparation, materials, orientation, and training in the new curriculum only

added to their general feeling of apprehension in the change of MOI. Thus, they feel

undecided towards the MT as MOI.

Teachers’ Attitude toward the MT as MOI

The third part of the questionnaire dealt specifically with the teachers’ attitude

toward the mother tongue as medium of instruction. For the third part of the

questionnaire (outlook towards Bisaya as MOI), the mean score of the teachers from all 3

schools was 3.45. This score shows their uncertainty in the use of the MT as MOI. It is

lower in comparison to the parents’ mean score of 4.28.

In general, the teachers do not have a positive attitude nor a negative attitude

towards the MT as MOI. Their mean score shows their apprehensions regarding the use

of the MT in schools. This seems understandable since the teachers had to deal with the

effective operation of the policy. The parents, on the other hand, observe the positive

results of using the mother tongue as the medium of instruction and are not directly
involved in the implementation of the use of MT as MOI and do not experience the

difficulties expressed by the teachers.

Interestingly, the only teacher without a BEED diploma had the most positive

attitude towards the MT as MOI, which is 4.8. The teachers with the lowest score were

Grade 2 teachers from School B with a score of 2.4, which means a general negative

disposition towards the MT as MOI. Both of these teachers handle the Grade 2 classes

and do not use the MT as MOI as stated in the K-12 Curriculum. In the study of Panda et.

al.(2011), teachers from the non-MLE schools were also undivided in their opinion

regarding the MT as MOI.

Teachers from School B have the most negative outlook towards the mother

tongue since their score for the third part of the questionnaire is 2.98; School C’s score is

slightly higher with 3.61 mean score, showing that the teachers there have a more

positive attitude towards the mother tongue. School A has the highest score with 3.77,

which means that in comparison with the teachers in the other school, the teachers in

School A have a more positive disposition towards Bisaya as MOI. Even though all the

teachers encountered difficulties in implementing the policy, the teachers, especially

those from School A and School C, maintained an open enough attitude towards the

mother tongue with a score not going below 2.

It is surprising that the teachers’ attitudes from each school do not match the

attitude of the parents in the same school. The parents from School B expressed the most
positive attitude towards Bisaya, yet the teachers from this school had the most negative

attitude towards Bisaya. It is also surprising that the teachers from School B that garnered

the lowest scores (each having the lowest score of 2.4) were in the grade 2 level who

have not experienced Bisaya as the MOI. Their negative disposition towards the MT may

stem from their province of origin which may not be Negros Oriental since they spoke

Ilocano as well. Their negative attitude towards MT could also be rooted on their general

fear of the unknown. In the previous studies, Duguiang & Dekker (2010) and Panda et.

al. (2011), teachers who have not experienced using the MT as MOI showed a general

aversion towards using the MT as MOI. The score (4.15) of the teacher in Grade 1 for

School B indicated a positive attitude.

Parents from School A had the lowest score among the three groups of parents

(from School A, B, and C) with 4.05; however, the teachers from this school had the

highest score of 3.77. The teacher from School A with the highest score teaches Grade 2.

This may be due to the observed advantages of using the MT as MOI as mentioned

before. The lower scores of the parents as compared to the other two schools could be

rooted to the lack of seminars and information dissemination experienced by the other

two schools (B and C). It could also be rooted to the general lack of communication

between the parents and the teachers. The teachers in School A did not invite the parents

of the pupils who participated in the listening comprehension tests. Their reason being

that they could not get in touch with the parents because most of them were busy and

rarely go to school events.

 By the end of the interview, the principal from School C concluded that the

transition stage is always difficult. She elaborated, saying that it was too early to

determine the actual long term effects of the MTB-MLE. However, the commitment of

the teachers to the policy and success of their students will ultimately play a big role in

the success of the policy.

Research Question Number 2: What are the listening comprehension skills of the

Grade 1 and 2 pupils?

Grades 1 and 2 Listening Comprehension Skills

Before reading the story, when the pupils were being questioned regarding their

experiences and when they were asked to predict what will happen in the story, the pupil

participants were eager to take part in the discussion and would volunteer answers

without being prompted. This was also true when the story was being read and they were

asked to predict what will happen or how a character in the story feels. This was because

the pupils can fully express themselves in the MT. They also gave correct answers during

the discussions most of the time. This is consistent with the findings in the Lingua Franca

Project, which showed that students were active and responsive to the lessons.

During the administration of the tests, the test administrator read the questions

and choices to the students so that they could all answer simultaneously. However, it was

noticed that some of the children could phonetically read the questions, as well as the
answers to most of the items. Hence, some of them would sound off the letters and

answer ahead of everyone. A few asked questions, and there were times when they were

reminded not to look at their seatmates’ work. The test administrator would sometimes

move their chairs farther apart so as to discourage them from looking at each other’s

paper. When it was not possible to move their chairs because of the lack of space, the

pupils were asked to exchange chairs with another pupil.

Table 9

Students’ Mean Listening Comprehension Scores

School A School B School C Mean Score

Grade 1 9.3 (62%) 10 (67%) 10.63 (71%) 9.91 (67%)
Grade 2 11.78 (70%) 10.43 (70%) 10.43 (70%) 10.85 (72%)
Mean Score/
school 10.5 (70%) 10.21 (68%) 10.43 (70%) 10.38 (69%)

As seen on table 9, the average score for the pupils in School A was 10.5 out of a

perfect score of 15 (70%). For School B, it was 10.21 (68%); for School C, it was 10.43

(70.2%). In general, the Grade 2 pupils had a higher average score (10.85) than the grade

1 pupils (9.91).
 Table 10 shows the scores of the pupils in the different levels of comprehension.

Table 10

Students’ Mean Scores for Different Levels of Comprehension

School School School

OVERALL SCORES A B C AVERAGE
Literal 38.67 37.84 38.65 38.39
77% 76% 77% 77%
Inferential 20.835 22 20 20.94667
69% 73% 67% 70%
Critical 22 20.99 25.99 22.99333
55% 52% 65% 57%
Application 21.67 19.5 21.67 20.94667
72% 65% 72% 70%

The pupils had the highest average score for questions on the literal level, 38.39

out of 50 (77%). Their lowest score mean score 22.99 out of 40 or 57% was on questions

at the critical level. For questions touching the inferential and application level of

comprehension, the pupils received an average score of 20.95 out of 30 (70%). The

participants had an easier time answering the items which dealt with the Literal level of

comprehension, which is the first level of comprehension. The items dealing with the

Inferential and Application level were fairly easy for them. However, the third level of

comprehension (Critical), which dealt with different characters and different points of

view, was a little more challenging for the participants. This is to be expected, since the

difficulty increases with each level of comprehension. (Appendix H).

In general, the pupils understood the general theme of the story and the main

events, but had difficulty identifying the traits of the main character, the setting, title,
supporting characters and the sequencing more than 3 events from the story. The pupils

had difficulty answering questions on the characteristics of the main character and on the

title of the story. These tackled the first two levels of comprehension (Literal and

Inferential). Their difficulty with these might stem from the pupils’ lack of experience

with these exercises.

They also had difficulty with some vocabulary terms from the story and the

listening comprehension tests. Vocabulary development is one of the issues raised by the

teachers from all three schools. It is no surprise that the pupils were observed having

difficulty in understanding some vocabulary words. Making inferences with the

characters’ feelings based on their action is one of the skills credited to the oral language

development in the K-12 Mother Tongue Curriculum of DepEd. Making inferences and

predictions, though a difficult task, is one of the competencies expected of Grade 1 and

Grade 2 pupils. The pupil participants were able to do this. They were also able to relate

the story events to their personal experiences and feelings; this is also another

competency expected of them. The third level of comprehension dealing with Critical

Thinking is also part of the competencies mentioned in the Curriculum. The students

have not gained proficiency in this area which can be seen in their results in Figure 9.

Research Question Number 3: Is there a relationship between the attitudes of

parents’ towards the MT and the listening comprehension skills of children?

 To answer the third question, the parents’ total score in the third part of the

parents’ questionnaires were matched with their child’s mean score in the listening

comprehension tests. The program SPSS (16.0 version) was then used to determine the

correlation between the pupils’ test scores and the parents’ attitudes towards the MT as

MOI.

A Pearson Correlation Coefficient was computed to assess the relationship

between the parents’ attitude towards MT as MOI and the pupils’ listening

comprehension scores. In this study r = 0.321, p=0.102. Where r=0.321 which is closer to

0, showing a weak correlation between the variables of the parents’ attitudes towards the

mother tongue the pupils’ listening comprehension skills. Probability is greater than 0,05

which is alpha. Therefore, the correlation between is the parents’ attitude towards MT as

MOI and the pupils’ listening comprehension skills is not significant, showing that there

is no statistically significant relationship between the two variables.

Hypothesis 1 which states that “There is a strong relationship between the

parents’ attitude towards the mother tongue and the Grade 1 and Grade 2 pupils’ listening

comprehension skills” is rejected.

This result could be attributed to the number of samples, a bigger sample might

yield a more accurate result regarding the relationship between the two variables. A

smaller sample such as the one used in this study may not reach significance.
Research Question Number 4: Is there a significant difference in the listening

comprehension of students whose teachers have a positive attitude towards MT and

students whose teachers have a negative attitude towards the MT?

Due to the small sample (10 pupils per group) a non-parametric test was used to

test the difference in the listening comprehension test scores of pupils whose teachers had

a positive attitude towards MT as MOI and the listening comprehension test scores of

pupils whose teachers had a negative attitude towards MT as MOI. The Mann-Whitney

U-test was conducted. For the listening comprehension test scores of pupils whose

teachers had a positive attitude towards MT as MOI (positive group) N= 10, Mean Rank

= 13.70. For the listening comprehension test scores of pupils whose teachers have a

negative attitude towards MT as MOI (negative group) N = 10, Mean Rank = 7.60.

The results of this study showed a significant difference (U = 21.00, p = 0.028,) at

alpha =0.05. This implies that teachers’ attitude towards MT is related to the scores of the

listening comprehension skills of their pupils.

Research Question Number 5: Is there a significant difference in the listening

comprehension of grade 1 pupils who used MT as Medium of Instruction and grade

2 pupils who did not use MT as Medium of Instruction?

An independent sample t-test was done to compare the listening comprehension

scores of the grade 1 pupils and the listening comprehension scores of the grade 2 pupils.

The Grade 1 had a Mean Score of 29.93 while the Grade 2 had a Mean Score of 32. It

shows that there is no significant difference between the scores of the grade 1 pupils who

have experienced using MT as MOI and the grade 2 pupils who have not experienced

using MT as MOI. The null hypothesis is not rejected at α = 0.05 (Z = ___, p = 0.21).

The third hypothesis stating that: “There is a significant difference in the listng

comprehension skills of Grade 1 pupils in the mother tongue and the listening

comprehension skills of Grade 2 pupils in the mother tongue” is rejected.

The result of this study implies that using MT as MOI does make a difference in

the listening comprehension skills of early graders. The results showed that the

performance of the grade 1 pupils –who had experienced using MT as MOI - in the

listening comprehension tests had no significant difference with the performance of the

grade 2 pupils who had more formal schooling experience as well literacy experiences.
 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of Findings

This study sought to find out the attitudes of parents and teachers towards the MT

as MOI. It also intended to find out the listening comprehension skills of grades 1 and 2

pupils. It also sought to find out if the parents’ and teachers’ attitude towards MT as MOI

is related to the listening comprehension skills of grades 1 and 2 pupils and if the

listening comprehension test scores of the pupils’ whose teachers have a positive attitude

towards MT as MOI has a significant difference with the listening comprehension test

scores of the pupils’ whose teachers have a negative attitude towards MT as MOI.

Further, this study tried to find out if there is a significant difference between the scores

of the grade 1 pupils who used MT as MOI for one year and the scores of the grade 2

pupils who have not used MT as MOI.

This study used Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory which states that all

learning takes place within a social context and Bandura’s Social Learning Theory which

claims that adults play a significant role in a child’s development. It also used the

differing opinions of parents and teachers in the use of the MT as MOI as observed in

seminars and seen in previous studies of Duguiang & Dekker (2010), Garcia (1988),

Panda et.al. (2011), UNESCO (2010) to name a few.

 To answer the first part of Research Question 1: The parents’ attitudes towards

the mother tongue as medium of instruction were positive. During discussions and

interviews, their beliefs and pride towards their language heritage were apparent. They

seemed to have a desire to preserve their language but were conflicted with the demands

of the society for their children to learn English to ensure a more secure future. English

continued to be perceived as the language of social, educational, and financial

advancement. Learning how to speak English seemed to be of utmost importance for

parents because of these.

To answer the second part of Research Question 1: The teachers’ attitudes

towards the mother tongue were neither positive nor negative since their scores (3.45) in

the questionnaires regarding MT as MOI was between 2.9 -3.8. Through interviews, it

seems clear that they see the value in using the mother tongue to teach children. They

have observed that their students are able to grasp concepts more easily when taught in a

familiar language. However, due to the lack of guidance, training, materials and

preparations, they encountered problems with the implementation. All the teacher

participants gave the same feedback that the transition from mainly English medium of

instruction to the mother tongue was too quick, abrupt. Most admitted that they do have a

natural aversion to change, it was especially difficult to teach in the mother tongue

without the necessary guidance and materials. As shown in Appendix G, the results in the

questionnaire garnered a less positive attitude than that of the parents.

 The pupils’ listening comprehension skills showed that the students understood

the story and can recall the main idea as well as some details from the story told.

However, they had difficulty with the vocabulary in the stories which may have affected

their comprehension of the stories. They also had difficulty understanding some of the

words in the listening comprehension tests such as the different traits. Their scores for the

questions on the literal level of comprehension were quite high (77%). However, they

had difficulty answering questions on the critical level of comprehension. These

observations were also reinforced by the researcher’s observations as well as the

teachers’.

The parents’ attitude towards the MT as MOI had no statistically significant

relationship with the pupils listening comprehension skills.

With regard to the teachers’ attitudes towards the mother tongue as medium of

instruction, this study shows that there is a significant difference between the scores of

the pupils whose teachers have a positive attitude towards the MT as MOI and the scores

of the pupils whose teachers have a negative attitude towards MT as MOI.

On the other hand, the grade 1 pupils scores on the listening comprehension tests

did not have a significant difference when compared to the scores of the grade 2 pupils’

listening comprehension tests.

Conclusion

This study shows that:

1. The teachers’ attitudes also had an effect on the students’ test scores as

shown by the significant difference between the scores of the pupils with

teachers having a positive attitude towards MT as MOI and the scores of

the pupils with teachers having a negative attitude towards the MT as

MOI.

2. Grades 1 and 2 students had an easier time answering literal, inferential, and

application questions than with answering question in the critical level of

comprehension.

3. Parents and teachers alike have specific attitudes towards the different

languages used in schools.

4. The following are the attitudes of parents:

a) English is a desirable language to master for gaining financial

security

b) English is not seen as a hindrance to learning

c) Filipino is used mainly to encourage love for the country

d) MT and English are the preferred MOI

5. The following are the attitude of teachers towards English, Filipino, and MT:

a) Filipino is used mainly to encourage love for the country

b) English is not a hindrance to learning

 c) Mother tongue is used for self-expression and is the ideal

language to use for learning new concepts

d) MT and English are the preferred MOI

6. Teachers were unprepared for the implementation of the MTB-MLE, but were

able to adapt and make adjustment to develop listening comprehension skills

in their students.

Implications and Recommendations

For policy implementers:

The issues teachers raised regarding the lack of guidance, trainings, and materials

in implementing the policy suggest a need to clarify their understanding of the policy.

The following are recommendations for policy implementers:

1. Regular seminars, FGDs, and workshops in the area could help the

teachers become more effective in the use of the MTB-MLE as well as

sway them to be more positive. The support of teachers who are the

main implementers in using the mother tongue is vital for the MTB-

MLE policy.

2. Easy access to materials and curriculum guides for the teachers.

 3. Tap into outside resources such parents and the community to help

teachers in their lesson planning and execution.

The results of the teachers’ questionnaires and interviews raise issues that need to

be addressed immediately by the policy implementers. Teachers, as the primary

implementers of the policy, need to believe in the rationale of the policy. Despite their

acknowledgment that their slightly negative disposition may come from their natural

aversion to change, the difficulties they faced this school year need to be addressed. The

results of their MPS is encouraging enough for them to know that using MTB-MLE can

be more effective, workshops (especially in teaching Math concepts) could help them be

more motivated and positive in using the MT in schools.

The results showing the parents’ apprehensions regarding the students’ learning of

English imply that the policy may not have been understood well by the parents and

could perhaps be the root of the negative disposition towards the use of MT as MOI. The

questions raised by parents to the researcher during the FGDs are also indications that

more clarification is needed.

Regular seminars, which would involve the parents in their child’s schooling. The

parents’ positive attitude towards Bisaya is an asset that should be tapped by the policy

implementers to gain more support for the policy through open forums and discussions

with teachers.
For the parents and teachers:

The results of the parents’ questionnaires show their positive inclination and pride

in their mother tongue. For the parents, the following are recommended:

1. Story reading and other literacy activities at home such as the ones mentioned

in Carreon’s study (p.18) will help their children develop a positive attitude

towards the MT and pride in their heritage.

2. Help develop their children’s vocabulary through constant use of the mother

tongue at home. This would also help in further developing their listening

comprehension skills.

3. Relate their views and observations to the teachers: A sense of fulfillment can

alleviate frustration with the difficulties encountered at the start of the

implementation of the policy.

The results of the teachers’ questionnaires imply that their difficulties in

implementing the policy has affected their regard and attitude towards the MT. The

following are recommended for the teachers:

1. Involve the parents in their lessons, they would also be fostering a more

productive parent-teacher relationship.

2. Attend seminars and workshops to help better understand as well as clarify

details in the policy. Workshops on the use the MT and strategies to

 develop oral fluency and listening comprehension will also help the

teachers in implementing the policy and motivating them.

3. Reflect and be more aware of their attitude. Knowing that their positive

attitudes garnered a higher mean score for the listening comprehension of

students shows that, as teachers, they need to be aware of their views and

attitudes they might be transferring to their students.

4. Encourage the parents to use the MT at home could help minimize their

problem regarding the vocabulary development of the children. Through

open forums or discussions, teachers could inform parents what they can

do at home to help in its implementation. Literacy activities using the

home language and not English could also be suggested. In this way, the

disparity between home-school practices can be minimized.

5. Hold seminars or discussions with parents to address the different issues

or concerns they have. Home and school partnership is vital in the

development of positive attitude towards MT as MOI among the parents.

6. Provide more activities for their students to develop literacy skills. The

results of the students’ listening comprehension tests and the researchers’

observations denotes the need for book and print awareness, critical

thinking and deeper comprehension skills to be developed.

For the school administrators/ educators:

The parents’ positive attitude in this study is promising. It implies that they are

satisfied with their child’s education in the school so far. The FGDs, however, reveal that

for some parents more information needs to be circulated regarding the MTB-MLE, its

purpose, rationale, and objectives. The following are recommended for school

administrators/ educators:

1. Hold FGDs and seminars that will clarify the purpose, rationale, and

objectives of the MTB-MLE to parents. If this is done well then the school

administrators can count on the parents’ support in their endeavor.

2. Constant dialogue, such as the ones held by the principals and teachers in

School B of this study, will also reassure parents of the benefits of using MT

as MOI and assure them that the learning of English will not be compromised

by the implementation of the MTB-MLE.

The teachers’ attitude towards the MT serves as an eye opener since it implies that

they need the support and encouragement from the school administrators. The students’

scores in their listening comprehension tests signify that the teachers have developed the

comprehension skills but would need the materials to provide more meaningful literacy

activities for the students to develop higher order thinking skills.

Vocabulary development in the children, teachers, and parents seem to be an issue

in the use of the mother tongue in schools. As mentioned in Wu’s study (2005), family

factors are the most positive force in helping maintain heritage language or in this case
the mother tongue. Constant use of the MT at home and in the community will help

children and teachers alike in developing their vocabulary in the MT. This, in turn, will

help in the growth and preservation of the MT which is one of the objectives of the MTB-

MLE policy too.

This study was localized in 3 schools in a small town in Negros Oriental.

However, its impact should not be limited to that locale. It can be duplicated and

improved to provide a bigger picture of the Philippine educational system as it stands

now. Future researchers and educators could use this study as a jump-off point for other

research based on the mother tongue.

With the community’s support, there is a more positive atmosphere for them to

work together and build on their strength to conquer the difficulties encountered.

For Future Research

This study was done on small scale of participants, perhaps with a larger

population for the study a stronger relationship may be seen between the parents’

attitudes and the listening comprehension of students.

Other researchers can also look at the relationship and even effects of the attitudes

of parents and teachers on other aspects of the pupils’ development such as the pupils’
attitudes on the language, their self-esteem, identity, etc., For higher grades, it would also

be interesting to find out how the attitudes of students towards the mother tongue affect

their learning of the language and their learning in general.

This study seemed to tap on another issue regarding the differing attitudes of the

male parent participants and the female parent participants. Other researchers could also

investigate the gender factors in relation to language attitudes.

The implementation of MTB-MLE in the Philippines lies on a delicate wire

without the support of stakeholders in children’s education. The policy needs the

cooperation of parents, teachers, and the community in influencing the development of

young children.

Considering the big challenges facing the educational system right now, studies

such as this could greatly help towards finding solutions for the future. And that future

must include an educational system that is open to all and an education that allows each

child reach their full potential.

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