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Mother Tongue based multilingual Education in the Philippines. Thomas E. Payne University of Oregon and SIL International.
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Mother Tongue based multilingual Education in the Philippines Thomas E. Payne University of Oregon and SIL International
A person’s “mother tongue”, or “L1”, is the language learned in the home. It is the language that the child knows best, and in which most cognitive, and sociocultural development occurs; it is the matrix within which the human personality is formed and learns to thrive. What is the “Mother tongue”?
Official languages (languages of school): Filipino and English. • Number of Philippine Languages spoken in the Philippines: 170 (Ethnologue.com) • Percentage of Filipino children who speak Filipino or English as their Mother Tongue when entering school: <30% Language Diversity in the Philippines
It involves the use of two or more languages of instruction in the classroom; • MTB-MLE is grounded in a large and respectable body of research in cognitive and socio-cultural development (research summarized in Thomas and Collier 2018). • It represents the best language setting for ALL students to fully realize their intellectual, social, and economic potential. What is Mother-tongue based Multilingual Education?
Builds on the L1 for teaching of Filipino and English. • Aims to produce deep levels of mastery in all three languages, and all subject areas. • Promotes learners’ integration into the national society without forcing them to “subtract” their linguistic and cultural identity and heritage. MTB-MLE In the philippines:
“UNESCO supports mother tongue instruction as a means of improving educational quality by building upon the knowledge and experience of the learners and teachers.” • “UNESCO supports bilingual and/or multilingual education at all levels of education as a means of promoting both social and gender equality and as a key element of linguistically diverse societies.” UNESCO (2003) MTB-MLE In the philippines:
Three experimental class schools implementing the Mother Tongue based MLE approach were compared with three control class schools implementing the traditional method of immersion in two new languages. • One school had two sections where students were randomly placed in experimental or control classes. • All schools served students of the same socio economic status, and same L1 (Kalinga). Walter & Dekker 2011 The Lubuagan Mother Tongue First, MLE Program
The Lubuagan Mother Tongue First, MLE Program, Comparison of English and Filipino Scores:
The Lubuagan Mother Tongue First, MLE Program, Comparison of Math and Reading Scores:
The Lubuagan Mother Tongue First, MLE Program, Overall Comparison of Scores:
MLE is notsimply changing the language that comes out of the mouth of teachers. • MLE is not translating into the L1 what the teacher says in the LOI or visa versa. • MLE is not reprinting textbooks in the mother tongue. • MLE is not fast and easy. • MLE is not a quick fix. What MLE is NOT:
Conclusion: Does making a foreign language the exclusive medium of instruction improve students’ skills in that foreign language? No. This popular belief is increasingly being proven untrue. Large scale research over the last 30 years provides compelling evidence that the critical variable in L2 development in children is not the amount of exposure, but the context in which exposure occurs.
Conclusion: An L1 foundation is a much more effective context for L2 learning than is “submersion" in a foreign language. MTB-MLE is the best option for achieving educational equality in a linguistically and culturally diverse society. See: https://en.unesco.org/international-days/international-mother-language-day
References: Thomas, Wayne P. & Virginia P. Collier. 2018. Why dual language schooling? Albuquerque: Fuente Press (References therein refer to research articles and monographs). UNESCO 2003. Education in a Multilingual World. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001297/129728e.pdf Walter, Steve, & Diane E. Dekker. 2011. Mother tongue instruction in Lubuagan: A case study from the Philippines. International Review of Education 57(5–6):667–683.