ELE 16

Content and Pedagogy in Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education

Questions:

* What is mother tongue all about?

* What are the legal bases of MTB-MLE?
* Is there any problem that happened during
the implementation of the language policy in
the Philippines? If yes, what are those?
Language policy is what a government does
either officially through legislation, court
decisions or policy to determine how
languages are used, cultivate language
skills needed to meet national priorities or to
establish the rights of individuals or groups
to use and maintain languages.
Language Policy Flip-Flop
in the Philippines!!!
Spanish Era
On March 16, 1521,
Portuguese navigator
Ferdinand Magellan,
attempting to sail around
the world for Spain,
reached the Philippine
archipelago. Magellan and
his expedition were the
first Europeans to reach
the Philippines, a stop on
the first circumnavigation
of the globe, though
Magellan’s portion of that
journey would soon end.
The Educational Decree of 1863

Established formal education in the

Philippines, and declaring the use
of Spanish in school.
1896 CONSTITUTION OF
BIAK-NA-BATO SPANISH

1898 MALOLOS
CONSTITUTION
 He ordered the
teaching of local
languages in schools
but later decide to
require the teaching
of teaching of
English in school for
Filipinos to be taught
about democracy
and the American
system.
U.S. PRES. WILLIAM MCKINLEY
 In 1935, the Philippine Constitution
mandated the adoptation of a national
language. Tagalog was adopted as
the national language.

 National Language Institute was

established in 1937, formulated a
language policy that established a
national language.
 But in 1939, after years of heated
debates, Tagalog was officially
proclaimed as a national language.

 The teaching of Tagalog as a subject

became a must in all schools in 1940,
but English remained to be the
primary language of instruction.
JAPANESE PERIOD
1942-1946
 From this period, the use of English was
prohibited after the Japanese forces
invaded the Philippines in 1942.
 Despite this prohibition, English and
Tagalog were still taught in schools but
Japanese became a mandatory foreign
language until the end of World War II in
1945.
THE PHILIPPINES AFTER THE WAR
 In 1948, the Bureau of Public Schools
started experimenting with local languages
to put an end to language issue.

“ILOILO EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION

THROUGH VERNACULAR”

(1948-1954)
USE THE LOCAL LANGUAGE AS MEDIUM OF
INSTRUCTION SPECIFICALLY IN GRADE ONE
AND TWO.

ENGLISH SERVED AS THE LANGUAGE OF

INSTRUCTION STARTING GRADE THREE AND
WAS TAUGHT AS A SEPARATE SUBJECT
STARTING GRADE ONE.
MARTIAL LAW REGIME
1974 -1986
 Bilingual Education Policy (BEP) was implemented in
1974 under DECS Order No. 25 entitled “Implementing
Guidelines for the Policy on Bilungual Education”, where
the use of Filipino and English language were used as a
medium of instruction.
Pilipino English

Social Studies, Work Math, Science and

Education, Character Technology
Education, Music,
Health and Physical
Education.
The 1987 Constitution retained and
further strengthened the policy on
bilingual education through
Department Order No. 53, s.1987,
entitled “The 1987 Policy of Bilingual
Education”.

In 1991, the Congressional

Comission for Education (EDCOM)
was formed. They advice was all
subjects must be taught in Filipino, of
course except for English. However,
the recommendation was not
implemented.
* Under Pres. Arroyo administration, English became the
primary language of instruction in schools. She issued an
order EO No. 210 on May 17, 2003 stating a policy to
strengthen Englis as a second language in the educational
system.

* In 2008, Rep. Gunigundo proposed a multilingual

education bill which call for the use of local language in
teaching subjects in schools from Grades 1 to 6.
 DepED Order No. 74, s. 2009 entitled “
Institutionilizing Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) “ stating
to use more than two languages for literacy
and instruction effectively. This was
strengthen by the declaration of President
Benigno C. Aquino,Jr. during his term.
What do you think is the reason,
why should the early graders be
taught (in all their subjects) in
their Mother Tongue first?
 Let's read this:
May 9 na gamgam sa sanga kan bayawas.
Naglupad si 6 na gamgam. Pirang gamgam
an natada sa sanga kan bayawas?

There are 9 birds on the branch of a guava

tree. 6 birds flew away. How many birds
were left on the branch of the guava tree?
My Belief:
All children CAN learn to READ with
understanding within the first few years of
schooling.....
...... in a language that they use
........in a language that they
understand
In short, mother tongue enables the
learners to:

LISTEN
SPEAK
READ WITH
UNDERSTANDING

WRITE
VIEW
 Major Languages or Lingua Franca in
the Philippines
• Tagalog * Maguindanaoan
• Kapampangan * Maranao
• Pangasinense * Chabacano
• Iloko
• Bikol
• Cebuano
• Hiligaynon
• Waray
• Tausug
Does Catanauan or Bundok Peninsula
Area have their own Lingua Franca?
Let's have an activity!
Make an inventory of the words in the mother
tongue that you hear and read and are commonly
used in your community.Do this using this format.
Mother Tongue Words English Filipino
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
For Deepening and Mastery!

In one half sheet of yellow paper, discuss

why in the Philippines there has been flip-
flopping in language of instruction. What
factors contributed to the many shifts?
Answer the questions sussinctly.
 Take Home Activity!
Interview a teacher in the public school who is
teaching mother tongue (Kindergarten to Grade 3).
Use the interview form.

* Submit the paper on August 29, 2018.