THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MOTHER TONGUE-BASED

MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION IN GRADE I IN THE PUBLIC

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN PANGASINAN I
Nora T. Cruz, Ed.D
Domalandan Center Integrated School
namaste_db@yahoo.com

Abstract
The purpose of a multilingual education program is to develop appropriate cognitive
and reasoning skills enabling children to operate equally in their community language, the
national language and English. Driving both preservice and inservice teacher training are
sets of standards for setting the qualifications and competencies of teachers. Within MTBMLE these standards should reflect the fact that teachers are prepared to successfully
educate students who speak a mother tongue different from the target language of
instruction. This requires that teachers understand and can implement strategies for using
the mother tongue as the primary road for children to build their initial literacy skills as well
as using it to bridge to oral and written literacy in the targeted second language.
Utilizing a survey questionnaire as well as documentary analysis, the study looked
into the status of the implementation of the mother tongue as a learning subject in Grade I
in the public elementary schools in Pangasinan I.
Results show that the. It has also been found out that majority of the
instructional objectives in the mother tongue as a subject are not being met as indicated by
the areas where they are found weak. It is thereby recommended that the primary teachers
handling the mother tongue as a subject should reinforce the instructional materials they are
provided with and that teacher training on MTBMLE should be furthered.
Keywords: K to 12; learning areas; mother tongue; MTBMLE; strategies

INTRODUCTION
The shift in language policy is part of a

programs
approach.

that

utilize

mother

tongue

While the use of non-dominant

growing trend around the world to support

languages in education is allowed in countries

mother tongue instruction in the early years of

such

a childs education. In Southeast Asia, this is

Vietnam

apparent in a rising number of educational

as

Cambodia,

Indonesia,

Malasyia,

and Thailand, the Philippines is the

single country to institute a national policy

practical issues such as producing home-grown

requiring their inclusion in the early grades. As

and

a result, the implementation of MTB-MLE in the

reading materials, and how to actually develop

Philippines is being looked at as an example for

greater fluency in their own languages.

The broad categories of materials

the rest of the region.

As envisioned by the Education for All
(EFA)

programme

teaching

and

needed to implement an MTB-MLE curriculum

include early literacy materials in the mother

Development Goal (MDG), countries around the

tongue, a variety of on-grade narrative reading

world, especially the developing ones like

materials using the mother tongue, possibly

Philippines, are provided with both financial

subject-area materials in the mother tongue,

and technical assistance from international

materials to transition from the mother tongue

development agencies. The countries have also

into the second language, and then, of course,

attempted various policy changes to ensure

materials as appropriate for the educational

access, equity quality and relevance of primary

system in the second language. In most cases,

education. One of the policy level innovations

appropriate mother tongue materials will be

we can see is the introduction of learners

lacking and will need to be prepared. Other

mother tongues in schools both as a subject

educational materials in the mother tongue will

and the medium of instruction. Various studies

likewise have to be constructed by those

(e.g.

proficient in writing the language and with

2002;

the

sensitive

Millennium

Benson,

and

contextually

Dutcher,

2003)

have

identified that childrens overall educational

appropriate

attainment can be enhanced if they are taught

experience in constructing learning materials.

in their mother tongue in early grades. In

Likely the most technically demanding skills

contrary

in a dominant

will be needed to structure the primary literacy

language, which is different from childrens

materials, since effective materials will require

mother tongue, in early grades invites serious

knowledge of how to present the symbol-to-

challenges in education e.g. high drop-out

sound

rates, low educational attainment and lack of

conventions for writing the language in a way

classroom interaction (UNESCO, 2003). Due to

that aligns with the students' capabilities. In

these problems, as reported by Dutcher (2004),

view of these observations and data pertinent

a large number of indigenous children, who

to

come from different linguistic groups, are still

consequently the teachers and administrators

out of school, and even if they have joined the

knowledge, needs, preparedness and attitude

school

to this,

they

the

implementation

sound-to-meaning

of

MTBMLE

and

towards it that this present study is created. It

their

low

looks into how the Grade I pupils and teachers

competence in dominant language (s) which is

in the public elementary schools in Pangasinan

used as the medium of instruction in schools.

With MTB-MLE comes the growing

I take to the implementation of the mother

the

with

and

or

low

on

marred

the

rules

backgrounds

the

performance

are

teaching

educational

ground

of

apprehension from the teachers that teaching

in a mother tongue-based program requires a
vastly different set of skills, many of which they
apparently do not have at the moment. The
teachers

are

particularly

concerned

with

tongue as a learning subject and as the

medium of instruction.

in its second year of implementation. It is a

METHODOLOGY

clear
This

study

utilized

the

manifestation

of

the

significant

descriptive

learnings they have of the mother tongue

method of research. It describes the status of

in their grade one. Still, the data imply a

the implementation of the mother tongue as a

further doubling up of efforts to improve

learning subject and medium of instruction in

the

Grade I in the public elementary schools in

development, and in the process, manifest

Pangasinan I.

pupils
mastery

required

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section presents the findings of
the study as well as the data gathered and
arrived at from the documents studied and
analyzed by the researcher on the mother
tongue as a subject and medium of instruction
in Grade I in the public elementary schools in
Pangasinan I.

Table 1
Performance Level of the Grade I
Pupils in
the Mother Tongue-Based

in

Scores

14
59
04
Total

Average

25

24

79
0
104

76
0
100

10

Average

Achievement
High

87
11
104

84
10
100

14
59
04
Total

Average
Low

transition
and

learning

the

medium

content

into

of
the

phases

of

confusion

and

difficulty. This is made apparent in the data in

pupils usually have in grammar is made more

complex and clear with the transition to the

l fared in the

diagnostic

pupils

in

the

particularly

in

the

mother
area

of

vocabulary development. The results show

of

in

to grammar awareness. The difficulty that the

schools in Pangasinan

majority

their

obviously found wanting in the area pertinent

Grade I pupils in the public elementary

how

of

Frequency

instruction

The data in the table disclose how the

tongue,

development

Table 2 where it shows how the pupils are

Average
Low

test

the

skills/competencies

mother tongue as a subject is without its

Frequency

Achievement
High

10

the

vocabulary

Level of

corresponding
Level of

of

in

vocabulary.
B. Grammar Awareness

The

A. Vocabulary Development
Scores

score

them

have

achieved

average in the said area, with 76 percent

of the total number of students scoring in
the range 5-9 out of the fourteen questions
under vocabulary development. This result
is encouraging as it shows a positive
progress of the mother tongue as a subject

mother tongue. Grammar still remains to be an

area where the pupils face difficulty. The results
reveal how only six percent of the total number
of

pupils

achieved

high

in

grammar

awareness and ten percent achieved low.

Still, the results is encouraging as majority of
the pupils achieved average in as far as their
grammar awareness is concerned. The results
call for an improvement in their scores as well
as a further focus and attention in the said area
so as to improve the pupils achievement and
turn it to high. Obviously, the teachers and
the school heads need to come up with
measures to address this area as it is usually in

grammar, along with reading comprehension,

comprehension call for beefing up of resources

that the pupils find the most difficulty

used in aid of the mother tongue as a subject

as well as a review of the strategies employed

C. Reading Comprehension
Scores
10

Level of

Frequency

Average

Achievement
High

11

10.6

73
20
104

70.2
19.2
100

14
59
04
Total

Average
Low

by the teachers in carrying out instruction

Table 2
Other Languages/Dialects Used as
Accessories to the Mother Tongue
Languages
Pangasinan
Ilocano
Filipino
English
Total

One of the objectives of MTBME is

%
9.58
20.54
54.79
15.06
100

cognitive development which focuses on the

This table shows how the teachers

higher order thinking skills. The skills expected

make use of other languages or dialects in

and required of the learners in the 21 st century

aid of the mother tongue as instructional

call for the development of critical thinking

base.

skills.

respondents

The

data

pertinent

to

the

pupils

It

shows

that

most

of

the

(54.79%) use Filipino as

comprehension compel them to make use of

accessory

skills reflective of their critical thinking ability. It

dialect that is next to this is Ilocano

is

of

totaling to 20.54% of the respondents. Only

comprehension, both listening and reading,

15.06% say that they make use of English

majority of the pupils need further assistance.

while a few (7%) indicate that they make

The data also imply a review of the strategies

use of Pangasinan. It can be inferred here

that teachers employ in the mother tongue as

that there are terms that are not familiar to

a subject as well as the instructional materials

the students and so the respondents resort

they utilize in carrying out instruction. The data

to the use of other language or dialect that

in the table show that 19.2 percent of the total

will

number

apparent

of

that

pupils

along

area

mother

tongue.

The

better translate or explain such

low

in

the

unfamiliar terms to the students. It is

10.6

percent

encouraging to note that they make use of

achieved high. Just like the other two tables,

other languages or dialects as accessories

the achievement of the majority of the pupils is

to the mother tongue.

comprehension

achieved

the

to the

while

only

average as marked by a percentage of 70.2.

Table 3
Problems Encountered by the Grade I

The average achievement of the pupils is

indicative of the pupils difficulty in their level

Teachers

of comprehension. What is more alarming here

is that the results point to where the pupils are
currently

at

in

terms

of

their

reading

Mean
1. relevant
trainings

comprehension. It is a reflection of the level of

their

comprehension

improvement.

which

needs

further

All in all, the results in the

attended
2. provision of
instructional

specified areas of vocabulary development,

grammar

awareness,

and

reading

3.

materials
provision of

2.7
8

Description
Serious

2.5

Moderatel

y Serious

2.6

Rank
1

Serious

evaluation

proficiency in the mother tongue(2.21) should

instruments

4. variety of
teaching
strategies
5. proficiency in
the mother
tongue
Overall

be addressed. The overall mean may indicate

2.4

Moderatel

y Serious

2.2

Moderatel

y Serious

2.52

the results to be moderately serious but still,

these are areas of concerns that need to be

looked into and attended to by the people

concerned.

CONCLUSIONS

Moderatel

The findings of this study reveal how the

y Serious

Grade I pupils in the public elementary schools

This table shows what the respondents

in Pangasinan I have been average in their

perceived as problems in the implementation

level of performance in the mother tongue as a

of the mother tongue as instructional base and

subject, particularly in areas that target the

a learning subject. This table affirms the

vocabulary

restraints that the Grade I teachers have to

grammar analysis, and reading comprehension.

reckon with in the implementation of the

Moreover, the Grade I teachers make use of

mother tongue in the said level. Topping their

other languages or dialects such as Filipino or

list as serious are the(1)

relevant trainings

Ilocano

attended,

(2)

2.78,

and

the

provision

in

and

aid

of

concept

the

development,

mother

tongue

as

of

instructional base. Consequently, attendance

evaluation instruments, 2.60. These two point

to relevant trainings as well as the provision of

to the pressing concerns that they face in

evaluation

carrying out instruction and assessment where

serious problems encountered by the Grade I

attendance to relevant trainings and provision

teachers

of evaluation instruments are concerned. This

mother

implies a need to organize, if not send the

learning subject.

instruments
with

tongue

the
as

are

perceived

implementation
instructional

as

of

the

base

and

Grade I teachers to periodic trainings and

evaluation which will better equip them in the
use of mother tongue as instructional base and
learning subject. This will consequently address
the

problems

that

teachers

face

in

the

proficiency in the mother tongue. Moreover,

sending the teachers to relevant trainings will
empower them to make their own instructional
materials and will no longer have to rely on
what will be provided them. A problem, though
perceived as moderately serious is still a

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study has been made possible by
the assistance extended by the Division of
Pangasinan I through the leadership of Dr. Alma
Ruby C. Torio, CESO V, Division Superintendent
and the Assistant Superintendents, Dr. Teodora
V. Nabor, D.A. and Dr. Shiela Marie Primiscias.
Graetful acknowledgment is also extended to
the District Supervisor of Lingayen II, Dr. Nita
C. Caolboy.

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