What is Mother Tongue Education?
Mother tongue education refers to any form of schooling that makes use of the language or languages
that children are most familiar with. This is usually the language that children speak at home with their
family. The ‘mother tongue’ does not have to be the language spoken by the mother. Children can and
often speak more than one or even two languages at home. For example, they may speak one language
with their mother, another with their father and a third with their grandparents.
Although there is overwhelming evidence that children learn best in and through their mother tongues,
millions of children around the world receive education in a different language. This is usually the
dominant language of the country they live in. In the case of former colonies, this may not be the
language spoken in the community at all, but the language of the former colonial power, for example
English, French, Arabic, Dutch and Spanish. Languages that children may hear for the first time when
they enter school.
Bilingual children
Children who speak a different language at home than the language in which they are taught at school
will by definition become bilingual or multilingual. The degree to which they become bilingual may vary
considerably however and depends on the goal of the school programme.
There are bilingual education programmes that aim at teaching children a second language at no
expense to their first language. In such programmes equal importance is given to learning in and through
both languages and children learn how to take full advantage of their multilingualism and biliteracy.
The majority of schools however offer education only in and through one language. Children who are not
fluent speakers of the school language may be offered some form of language support or no support at
all. The latter is also known as ‘sink or swim’. Children lose or leave behind their mother tongues and use
only the language of the school.
A third option, increasingly popular, are schools which offer bilingual education and which are aimed at
bilingualism, but not in any of the languages spoken by the child at home. For example a child who
speaks Somali at home and is enrolled in an English/Dutch bilingual programme.
Rutu’s Mission: Making Mother Tongue Education The Norm
The mission of the Rutu Foundation is to make mother tongue education the norm, rather than the
exception.
By this we do not mean that children should be offered education in their mother tongues only. We
believe that in today’s globalized world, all children benefit from a multilingual education which offers
them an opportunity to become fluent in their mother tongues as well as in the official language of the
state, and one or more foreign languages, allowing them to pursue higher education, to communicate
easily in more than one language, through different media and to contribute meaningfully to society.
Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that the best way to achieve this is by educating children in and
through their mother tongues, alongside a second and/or third language.
Ultimately, mother tongue education is about creating a level playing field, about creating equal
opportunities for all, regardless of economic status, ethnic background or geographic location.
Benefits of mother tongue education
There are many benefits associated with an education that takes into account children’s mother tongues:
Children learn better and faster in a language they can understand (preventing delays in learning)
They enjoy school more, they feel more at home
Pupils tend to show increased self-esteem
Parents participation is increased. Parents can help with homework and can participate in school
activities
Studies have reported that when children take advantage of their multilingualism they also enjoy higher
socioeconomic status, including higher earnings
On average, the schools perform better,reporting less repetition
Finally, schools report children stay in school longer
Is there a perfect model?
There is no one model that fits all contexts in which multilingual children are learning and which meets
all of their learning needs. Mother tongue based multilingual education can take many forms and each
school and each community should determine what works best for them. In general, however, the longer
a child is able to learn in and through his or her mother tongue(s) the greater the educational benefits
that can be expected.
What about multilingual classrooms?
In classrooms where 10 or more different mother tongues are spoken, a situation that is fast becoming
the norm throughout Europe, it would not be practically feasible to provide a full blown bilingual
education programme for each student. The best approach here is not to ignore all languages and opt for
one language only, as is frequently the case. Rather, translanguaging is a new pedagogic strategy and
shows exciting results when all languages are valued, when children are offered opportunities to use
their home languages in the classrooms, to make homework assignments in their mother tongue or to
collaborate at school with students who speak the same language. We look forward to sharing such best
practices with you in the months and years ahead.
Corrales/Osmeña Extensions
Cagayan de Oro City, 9000
Philippines
Telephone No.: (088) 864-8865
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Mother Tongue- Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)
Mother Tongue- Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)
One of the changes in Basic Education Curriculum brought about by the new K-12 program is the
introduction of Mother Tongue- Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) specifically in Kindergarten,
Grades 1, 2 and 3 to support the goal of “ Every Child- A- Reader and A –Writer” by Grade 1.”
MTB-MLE refers to “first-language-first” education that is, schooling which begins in the mother tongue
and transitions to additional languages particularly Filipino and English. It is meant to address the high
functional illiteracy of Filipinos where language plays a significant factor. Since the child’s own language
enables her/ him to express him/herself easily, then, there is no fear of making mistakes. It encourages
active participation by children in the learning process because they understand what is being discussed
and what is being asked of them. They can immediately use their mother tongue to construct and
explain their world, articulate their thoughts and add new concepts to what they already know.
Currently, there are twelve (12) major languages or lingua franca that shall be language of instruction.
The major languages are a) Tagalog b) Kapampangan c) Pangasinense d) Iloko e) Bikol f) Cebuano g)
Hiligaynon h) Waray i) Tausug j) Maguindanaoan k) Maranao; l) Chabacano.
With this challenge posted about MTB- MLE, Capitol University, College of Education plans to institute
the MTB-MLE Teacher Development Program through its Center for Professional and Continuing
Education (CPCE) with focus on teaching reading in the mother tongue and the production of reading
materials. Local stories, poems, biographies, folktales, legends, jokes, riddles as well as the traditional
oral literature will be put into writing that will become part of the leaching-learning repertoire. The plan
is to localize the Cebuano/Visayan materials to Cagayan de Oro context and linguistic use. Next focus will
be the production of materials of the Indigenous Peoples found in the region.
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Philippine Association for Teacher Education • Philippine Association for Technological Education •
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Philippine Association of Secretarial Educators • Association of Philippines Colleges of Arts and Sciences
• College English Teachers Association • Northern Mindanao Association of Colleges and Schools
•University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific • Cagayan de Oro Association of Secondary Schools and
Colleges Association of Accredited Maritime Education and Training Institutions in Asia Pacific
DepEd implements mother tongue-based learning to make lessons more interactive, easier for pupils
By Ashley Manabat - October 16, 2016
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Department of Education (DepEd) is now pushing for inclusion of the
Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) as a feature of the Enhanced Basic Education
Program.
In a statement, the DepEd said the MTB-MLE mandates the use of the language that schoolchildren are
familiar with or their first languages as a medium of instruction to allow them to grasp basic concepts
more easily.
The DepEd said learners begin their education in the language they understand best—their mother
tongue—and need to develop a strong foundation in their mother language before effectively learning
additional languages.
Currently, the DepEd uses 19 languages in MTB-MLE: Tagalog, Capampangan, Pangisinan, Iloko, Bikol,
Ybanag, Sinugbuanong Binisaya, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bahasa Sug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, Chavacano,
Ivatan, Sambal, Akianon, Kinaray-a, Yakan and Sinurigaonon. The MTB-MLE is implemented in two
modules: as learning or subject area and as medium of instruction.
As a subject, mother-tongue education focuses on the development of speaking, reading and writing
from Grades 1 to 3 in the mother tongue. As a medium of instruction, the mother tongue is used in all
learning areas from Kindergarten to Grade 3, except in the teaching of Filipino and English subjects.
Filipino is introduced in the second quarter of Grade 1 for oral fluency (speaking). For reading and
writing purposes, it will be taught beginning in the third quarter of Grade 1. The four other macro skill—
listening, speaking, reading and writing in Filipino—will continuously be developed from Grade 2 to
Grade 6, the DepEd said.
The purpose of a multilingual education program is to develop appropriate cognitive and reasoning skills
enabling children to operate equally in different languages—starting in the mother tongue, which is the
first language of the child.
“Researchers have proven even during our education with the Thomasites that the child’s first language
really facilitates learning, as emphasized by Dr. Monroe, that we should be educated in our mother
tongue,” said Rosalina Villaneza, chief of teaching and learning division of the DepEd.
Instruction in a Multilingual Classroom. IAFOR Journal of Language Learning, 1(1).
https://doi.org/10.22492/ijll.1.1.04
Abstract
The use of mother tongue in teaching in a multilingual setting affects the way pupils learn. A melting pot
and the educational center of the North, Baguio City, Philippines demands teaching strategies that not
only adapt to the interplay of the different cultures and languages but give importance to them, too.
Specifically, this paper analyzed the strategies of teachers in implementing Mother Tongue - Based
Instruction in a Multilingual Classroom and identified some problems that teachers encounter in
implementing them. The study used qualitative analysis with interview as the main data gathering tool.
The respondents were teachers purposively selected from the suggested pilot schools of Mother Tongue
- Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in Baguio City. From the phenomenological analysis of the
data, the findings showed that the teachers used strategies such as translation of target language to
mother tongue, utilization of multilingual teaching, utilization of lingua-franca, improvization of
instructional materials written in mother tongue, remediation of instruction, and utilization of literary
piece written in mother tongue as motivation. Some problems encountered by the teachers in
implementing mother tongue - based instruction include absence of books written in mother tongue,
lack of vocabulary, and lack of teacher-training. Nevertheless, the study indicated that major attention
and effort are still necessary to be given to the approach.
Keywords
practices, mother tongue - based instruction, multilingualism, multiculturalism
