Use of Mother Tongue in Teaching

Local Dialects Key to Global Success

As I attended the RAP seminar on April 6-8, 2011 the idea of teaching students in Mother Tongue for  grades  I – II startled me. First and foremost, I am not accustomed with the idea. The other reason is that “How will that be possible for students in private schools wherein most students speak in English even before they get to school?”  It was Prof. Liwanag who spoke on the topic and as she presented the slides on the studies undertaken in Lubuagan, Cordillera Region, I was getting the idea.  So for the meantime, only the public schools will adopt the curriculum as mandated by DepEd order #74.  This has been institutionalized because researchers have proven that learning the second language will not be possible unless foundational skills are attained and these skills lie in the mastery of the Mother Tongue (2). As this was experimented, positive results were revealed but then the problem is that there are more than a hundred (before it was just more than 70, now it’s more than a hundred as narrated by Dr. Liwanag)  of dialects in the Philippines, now  how  could and where should teachers begin considering that the second language will depend upon the Mother Tongue? Should this be implemented how could the following factors be affected?

Materials Development – For those places wherein the Mother Tongue is Tagalog, material preparation will not be very difficult because students are already accustomed to Tagalog and English at the same time. Thus, translation may no longer be needed except for those students who really have difficulty in speaking and learning the English language. Private schools may not encounter problems in regard to availing the materials to be needed in schools but for public schools, certainly, this will pose the teachers and administrators great challenges for funds may not be outrightly available. There’s no need for the translation of all the textbooks, reference books and others for DepEd permits code switching and using the language in the material presented as the concepts or ideas are taught, especially, those which are considered to be technical words. These can be adopted in Luzon and other Tagalog speaking places but for those students who live, for example, in Nueva Vizcaya this will be hard. The Division Office in this place will really have to review the materials provided to them, sit with the staff and provide time for the translation of the materials’ content.  Obviously, the process will require time and money from the people involved.

Teacher Training – No difficulty will be encountered if all the teachers in a certain school are from the same place and speak the same language. Nevertheless, not all teachers in certain schools speak the language of the students who attend classes there. For example, I happen to be speaking Tagalog and I am given an assignment to teach grade I students in Cagayan Valley. How will I teach in Mother Tongue if that is the case? This usually happens in Public schools. Teachers are brought to places far from their residences. Financing the teacher’s training would be another issue. This would mean an additional budget from the government. Clarification of the program must be done so that misinterpretations will not be experienced. I remember when Biligual Education was implemented, most teachers were not properly oriented so their tendency is to use both languages, Filipino and English,  in teaching the subjects. The Filipino teacher speaks in English as long as she wishes whereas the English teacher speaks Filipino comfortably during English discussions.  The misuse of both languages results to students who cannot speak

fluently in English nor in Filipino. When a student is asked : What is a verb? The student answers : Pandiwa po. If asked : Ano ang Pandiwa? The answer : Verb po. Ridiculous!

As for the Assessment : Preparation would be multiplied because one achievement test

will be translated to the total number of languages in the country.  So one subject would mean 100 different translations and suppose the number of pages is three for each test, just imagine the number of papers to be used for one subject alone. Another is, the accuracy of translation. Materials must not be translated by anybody but by experts.

What a taxing program it may be!

Reference :

Tubeza, Philip. “Local Dialects Key to Global Success.” I-Team Report. Philippine Daily

              Inquirer. 6/22/10.