MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN

THE PHILIPPINES
* English
* MTB-MLE

Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
 English has always been one of the
official languages of the Philippines and is
spoken by more than 14 million Filipinos. It is
the language of commerce and law, as well
as the primary medium of instruction in
education.
English in Philippine Education: Past to Present

1. The English Language Policy (1900-1957)

2. The Revised Philippine Education Program (1957-1974)

3. The Bilingual Education Policy (1974-2006)
4. Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (2009-Present)
Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
 1. The English Language Policy (1900-1957)
 On April 7, 1900, President William McKinley of the United States issued a
Letter of Instruction, which declared that English would be the medium
of instruction at all levels of the public educational system in the
Philippines.
 Prior to the declaration, the English language had already arrived at the
Philippine islands, during the war between Spain and the US. From 1898
to 1901, over 70,000 American soldiers came under the supervision of
Admiral John Dewey.
 On August 21, 1901, the USS Thomas arrived, carrying 540 teachers who
were assigned to teach in public schools set up by the civilian
government (p.1). Later, these teachers were called “Thomasites” after
the army ship that they arrived in.

Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
With the coming of the Americans, English replaced
Spanish as the language of instruction in schools.
However, for many years, until around the late 1960s,
Spanish was still taught as a language in colleges and
universities.
The declaration of English as medium of instruction is
reported to be based on practical considerations.
During those times, there were no teachers and
teaching materials in the Philippine languages.
English was considered then as the unifying language
that could bring together the Filipinos from various
regions, who used different languages and dialect.
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When the country became a self-governing commonwealth in
1935, and up to the time it gained full independence in 1946,
English was the language used in Philippine education.
The policy has been criticized, both by American and Filipino
scholars, who said that Filipino students had learning difficulties
associated with using English as the language of instruction.
After conducting an assessment of public education in the
country, Najeeb Mitry Saleeby (1924) suggested that together
with English, three regional languages should be used in
education at the elementary level.
Meanwhile, based on a longitudinal experiment using
Hiligaynon as the medium of instruction in Iloilo grade schools,
Jose Aguilar (1967) reported that Filipino students leaned more
successfully when they are taught in their native tongues (in
Bernardo, 2009, p.30).
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In 1953, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization or UNESCO proclaimed that
there was a need to begin schooling students in their
mother tongue “because they understand it best and
because to begin their school life in the mother
tongue will make the break between the home and
school as small as possible” (Bernardo, 2009, p.31).
Meanwhile, in 1950, Clifford Prator suggested the idea
of teaching English as a second language (p.31).
Based on all of these recommendations, a new policy
regarding the medium of instruction to be used in
schools was conceived.
Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
 2. The Revised Philippine Education Program
(1957-1974)
 In 1957, the Bureau of Public Schools introduced the Revised Philippine
Education Program, which stated that for the first two grades of
elementary school, students should be taught in the vernacular.
 from the third grade up to college, there would be a shift to English as
medium of instruction, with the vernacular as an ‘auxiliary medium’ of
instruction in Grades 3 and 4, and Filipino (the national language) as an
auxiliary medium in Grades 5 and 6.
 Though the new program introduced the use of the vernacular and
Filipino, English was still clearly the dominant language of instruction.
Eventually, during the rise of the nationalist movement and anti-imperialist
sentiments in the late 1960s, English came under much criticism once
more.

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Nationalist scholars argued that the use of English
helped to perpetuate a “colonial / imperialist
agenda” that educated Filipinos “in ways that
Americans wanted them to think, not in ways that
were good for Filipinos.

3. The Bilingual Education Policy (1974-2006)

In 1974, the Department of Education introduced
the Bilingual Education Policy (BEP), which
mandated the use of both English and Pilipino as
mediums of instruction in elementary and high
school.
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 In this new policy, the curriculum was divided into two major domains:

1. English domain: English communication arts, mathematics, and science; and

2. Pilipino domain: Pilipino communication arts, social studies, and history.

 In 1987, the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) restated the
same provisions as the BEP, plus a recasting of the roles of the two languages:
Filipino was to be “the language of literacy and of scholarly discourse,” and
English was to be maintained as “the international language and the non-
exclusive language of science and technology.”

 On 17 May 2003, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued EO No. 210

“Establishing the Policy to Strengthen the Use of the English Language as a
Medium of Instruction in the Educational System” in recognition of the “need to
develop the aptitude, competence and proficiency of our students in the
English language to maintain and improve their competitive edge in emerging
and fast-growing local and international industries, particularly in the area of
Information and Communications Technology.” Thus the president ordered the
establishment of the following policies:
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Section 1. Declaration of Policies
a. English shall be taught as a second
language, starting with the First Grade.

b. As provided for in the 2002 Basic

Education Curriculum, English shall be used
as the medium of instruction for English,
Mathematics and Science from at least
the Third Grade level.

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c. The English language shall be used as the primary
medium of instruction in all public and private institutions
of learning in the secondary level, including those
established as laboratory and/or experimental schools,
and non-formal and vocational or technical educational
institutions. As the primary medium of instruction, the
percentage of time allotment for learning areas
conducted in the English language is expected to be not
less than seventy percent (70%) of the total time
allotment for all learning areas in the secondary level.

On 22 August 2006, Secretary Jesli A. Lapus issued

Department of Education Order No. 36 (DepEd Order No. 36)
to implement the provisions of EO No. 210.

Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
4. Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education (2009-Present)
 On July 14, 2009, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued DepEd
Order No. 74, which institutionalized Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education or MLE (Education For All: UNESCO Bangkok website, 2009).
 The new policy was based on earlier studies that indicated the
effectiveness of using the mother tongue in education.
 It was also based on the success of the Lubuagan First Language
Experiment, conducted by the Summer Institute of Linguistics in close
collaboration with the DepEd in 1998 at Lubuagan, Kalinga (Martin, 2008).
The experiment revealed that students taught in their native tongue
“performed much better in Math, Science, English, and Filipino
achievement tests” (para. Because of the success of the experiment, the
Lubuagan community decided to adopt the use of their first language as
the norm in education (Martin, 2008).
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 With the implementation of the RA 10533, which is the Enhanced
Basic Education Curriculum or the K to 12 Curriculum, basic education
shall be delivered in languages understood by the learners as the
language plays a strategic role in shaping the formative years of
learners. For kindergarten and the first three (3) years of elementary
education, instruction, teaching materials and assessment shall be in
the regional or native language of the learners. The Department of
Education (DepED) shall formulate a mother language transition
program from Grade 4 to Grade 6 so that Filipino and English shall be
gradually introduced as languages of instruction until such time when
these two (2)languages can become the primary languages of
instruction at the secondary level. For purposes of this Act, mother
language or first Language (LI) refers to language or languages first
learned by a child, which he/she identifies with, is identified as a
native language user of by others, which he/she knows best, or uses
most.

Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
3 Types of Development in the MTB-MLE
Program
Students will establish strong
foundation in hearing, speaking,
Language Development reading, and writing the language
they know best; from that foundation,
they will bridge confidentially and
successfully to learning the school
language 2.

Students will achieve DepEd

Academic Development competencies in each subject and
at the end of the program, they will
be prepared to continue their
education and achieve their long
term educational goals.
Socio-Cultural Students will be proud of their
Development heritage language, culture and
respect the languages and cultures
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of others.
Progression Plan for Bridging MTB-MLE
(Philippines)
Kinder - L1 ( LSRW )
Grade One – L1 (LSRW); L2 and L3 (L & S)

Grade 2 – L1 and L2 (LSRW); L3 (L & S )

Grade 3 – L1, L2 and L3 (LSRW)

Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
 In a recent roundtable discussion organized by the British
Council, key stakeholders from the government, academe,
private, and non-government sectors acknowledged that even
if the Philippines is doing fine in terms of English competency,
concerns on how much of a competitive advantage it is still for
the country were raised. The stakeholders agreed that the
country needs to step up its efforts in improving the teaching
and learning of English, developing it as a vital skill of the
workforce. This is an initiative that could potentially
strengthen the Philippines’ distinct advantage in this part of the
world, particularly with the ASEAN economic integration.
Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay
The Department of Education focuses on the needs of learners and ensures
that they learn the English language holistically, as specified under the K to
12 basic education framework. According to Nicholas Thomas, Country
Director of the British Council Philippines that developing a wider
knowledge of the English language is one of the British Council’s founding
purposes. Part of their work is to share best practice in the teaching and
learning of English with partner countries all over the world. Furthermore,
English has a distinctive place in the Philippine education system, and
retaining high standards of English is critically important for the country’s
economy and future development. Mr. Thomas and the British Council
looked forward to working with partners on more initiatives to support the
teaching and learning of English in the Philippines.
References:

http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorders/2003/executiveorderno210-2003.html
https://www.britishcouncil.ph/teach/state-english-philippines-should-we-be-concerned-2
http://www.academia.edu/24202460/English_as_a_Medium_of_Instruction_in_Philippine_Ed
https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2013/ra_10533_2013.html
Maritcha M. Ubay-ubay