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THE PHILIPPINE-INFORMAL READING INVENTORY 2016: PUPILS'

PERFORMANCE IN FILIPINO AND ENGLISH ACROSS MOTHER TONGUES*

Conference Paper · November 2017

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 THE PHILIPPINE-INFORMAL READING INVENTORY 2016: PUPILS’ PERFORMANCE IN FILIPINO AND
ENGLISH ACROSS MOTHER TONGUES*
Fe’ Josefa G. Nava, Ph.D., Felicitas E. Pado, Ph.D., Leonor A. Diaz, Ph.D.,
Ma. Hazelle P. Ongtenco, MA., Yvette C. Alcazar, M.A.,Maita S. Salvador, M.A.
College of Education, University of the Philippines – Diliman
The Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) is a program first implemented in school year 2011-
2012 by then Bureau of Elementary Education (now Bureau of Learning Delivery) of the Department of Education,
that aims to determine reading skills and difficulties of Filipino school children from Grades 3 to 5. The Inventory
consists of sixteen texts, eight in Filipino and eight in English, designed in keeping with the use of Filipino as
medium of instruction from Grade 3 onwards, and English from Grade 4 onwards. The Phil-IRI Filipino Oral
Reading tests are conducted starting Grade 3 since in the new Language and Literacy Curriculum, Filipino literacy
is introduced in the first semester of Grade 2; the Reading tests in English are carried out starting Grade 4 as
English literacy is initiated in the second semester of Grade 2.

Prepared by experts in Reading Education and Teaching in the Early Grades, the texts are followed by 6 to
7 questions measuring literal, interpretive and evaluative reading comprehension skills. The Silent Reading Texts
are given to entire classes and scored by teachers as a general assessment of pupils’ reading skills. Oral Reading
assessment, on the other hand, is administered to diagnose more specific reading problems such as miscues,
poor reading speed, and difficulties in listening or reading comprehension. This presentation shows “transfer” of
reading skills from mother tongue to Filipino and to English, using scores in the Phil-IRI assessment.
A total of 1,894 pupils (468 Grade 3 and 469 Grade 4 pupils tested in Filipino, and 468 Grade 4 and 489
Grade 5 pupils tested in English) were given the Phil-IRI Silent Reading tests; another 238 (about 60 pupils for
each test, Grade 3 Filipino, Grade 4 Filipino, Grade 4 English, and Grade 5 English) were administered the Oral
reading tests in 2016. Pupil participants represented nine regions and twelve mother tongues. On the national
level, results indicated that, in general, there was better language transfer in both Silent and Oral reading from
mother tongues to Filipino than to English. Across all nine regions and twelve mother tongues, higher means in
Filipino than in English in both Silent and Oral texts suggested greater comprehension in the national language
than in English. Based on overall performance of pupils, Filipino texts could be considered “appropriate” for
grade levels for which they were intended. On the other hand, the English texts, whether Silent or Oral, were
more suitable for grade levels higher than those for which they were originally developed.
A trend of decreasing means in Filipino was observed for regions that were far from the center of
national development where both Filipino and English have been predominantly used. Using the National Capital
Region (NCR) as the geographical point of reference, regions and provinces that were farther north or south of
the NCR had lower means in both Silent and Oral reading. Regions like Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR),
Region I, VII and VIII showed better performance in English in some grade levels. These results reflected the
dominance of the English language over the National Language in these provinces and/or regions despite the
introduction of Filipino prior to English in primary school. Since children were most likely exposed to the English
language both at home and in the community at an early age, it would not be unlikely for them to have a better
grasp of the English language even if they were formally taught the language at a later year in school. Similarly,
the lack of exposure to the Filipino language (both at home and in the community) in some regions could explain
lower performance in the language despite its being introduced early in school.

*Presented at the National Conference on Research in Teacher Education (NCRTE) 2017, November 9-11, 2017, Quezon City, The
Philippines; based on the report written for the Philippine Department of Education. Researchers wish to thank Director Marillete R.
Almayda of DepEd for granting us permission to present part of the results of Phil-IRI 2016, and Ms. Joy Tuguinayo of DepEd also for the
assistance she provided the team of consultants. Inquiries about the report may be sent to fjgnava@yahoo.com.

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