Chapter 1

The Problem and its Background

Introduction

Children acquire language since they were born. They communicate

with their parents. Furthermore, children and parents interact with each other

using a language that we often call the first language or mother tongue. At an

early age, children are only learning one language that is the mother tongue.

By age and speech development, children improve to acquire a second

language from the school or the environment around them. In terms of speed

of language acquisition, children are factorized by both the child and the child’s

learning environment. Therefore, it is important to understand how children

acquire second language. 

It is extremely important to encourage children to see the world on a

large scale from many perspectives, because the future of society will depend

on it. If young people are able to “see themselves as not simply citizens of

some local region or group but also, and above all, as human beings bound to

all other human beings by ties of recognition and concern” (Nussbaum, 2008),

they will be more open-minded and willing to accept diversity among people.

Learning a language requires a person to really delve into a culture, to

understand how and why the people of that culture communicate in such ways.

Although learning a language is not equivalent to living in a culture, the former

can undoubtedly afford some insight into the latter. That explains why an

average Filipino can speak 3-4 languages, with the main language English
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and Filipino .Filipino is our various local languages, while English is

introduced as the global language and also use as the medium language of

math, science and technology. The Philippines is in a linguistic situation

where English and Filipino are used predominantly for different functions:

English is used for formal and business type of conversation as well as for the

academic discourse and diplomat purposes. Thus, it become a must to learn

this language, mostly at the expense of the other. Using Bilingualism is the

two languages that the students used at school.

In the past decade, there has been an upsurge of research on

bilingualism. A theme in this work is that the bilingual's two languages are

always active, at times converging with one another to produce benefits to

comprehension and production, but at other times conflicting, with the

requirement to negotiate cross-language competition. A goal in the recent

work has been to characterize the cognitive processes that enable bilinguals

to negotiate the cross-talk between their two languages. The ease with which

highly proficient bilinguals are able to speak each of their languages without

frequent errors or intrusions and, at the same time, switch between the two

languages in contexts in which code switching is appropriate or encouraged,

suggests the presence of a high level of cognitive control. At the same time,

behavioral and neurocognitive studies have shown that bilinguals differ from

monolinguals in their performance on tasks that are purely cognitive, often

showing advantages relative to monolinguals, and clear differences in neural

function and structure. A key question is how we might begin to relate the

findings on language control to the documented cognitive consequences of

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findings on language control to the documented cognitive consequences of

bilingualism. 

Bilingualism is commonly defined as the use of at least two languages

by an individual (ASHA ,2004).It is a fluctuating system in children and adults

whereby use of and proficiency in two languages may change depending on

the opportunities to use the languages and exposure to other users of the

languages.

Background of the Study

The “bilingual” experience is unique to every individual. There is

variability in the amount and quality of exposure to the languages the

individual learns as well as the experiences he or she has using the

languages when interacting with others.

Definitions of bilingualism range from a minimal proficiency in two

languages to an advanced level of proficiency which allows the speaker to

function and appear as a native –like speaker of two languages .A person

may describe themselves as bilingual but may mean only the ability to

converse and communicate orally .Others may be proficient in reading in two

or more languages (or bi –literate) . A person may be bilingual by virtue of

having grown up learning and using two languages (simultaneous

bilingualism ) Or they may become bilingual by learning a second language

sometime after their first language. This is known as sequential

bilingualism .To be bilingual means different things to different people.

Bilingualism encompasses a range of proficiencies and contexts .A

young child entering school maybe called bilingual but it may be that he/she
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uses his/her first or home language for domestic and familial purposes and

that English is his/her preferred language for communication outside home.

Or he/she may be largely monolingual in his/her first language only when

he/she start school. A child who has recently arrived in England from

overseas may have a good level of literacy in English but may be unable to

converse or use spoken English in the classroom context .On the other hand

many pupils describe as bilingual routinely use three languages or more and

thus bilingual would be a better description. In terms of competence, a

bilingual may have very high levels of proficiency in both languages or may

have only limited proficiency in one and be far more proficient in the other.

However there were some problems about the capacity of the students

to code switch .It was unsure if it affected the students competence in the

English subject .Some said that it could affect to the academic competence of

the students because the student’s could be more productive when they code

switching while some said that it couldn’t affect the performance of the

students because the students could perform well using only language and

without being bi-linguist.

This study aimed to find out the effect of bilingualism to the Academic

competence of the Grade VI pupils.

Theoretical Framework

Theories help us to understand and study things that are not common

and cannot be explained thoroughly. Guided by these theories, we will able to

know why some things exist. This review begins with an overview of theory

and research on first and second language acquisition in childhood. Some

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children are born into home and environments in which they are exposed to

more than one language and they begin to acquire two primary languages

simultaneously (e.g., McLaughlin, 1984). It shows that the environment we

are living has an impact to us as we grow. Our environment is also a factor for

us to be able to learn. We can adopt the language they are supposed to say

in their everyday lives.

George Saunders (1988), mentioned that there are many parents in

the world today who have the opportunity to raise their children in two

languages, but who are discouraged or dissuaded from doing so, either

because they are not sure how to go about it or because of the often

conflicting advice they receive from relatives, friends, etc.,.

Through this statement, it only tells that our parents are our first

teacher at home. George Saunders shows that although parents may

encounter difficulties in bringing up their children in two languages, these

difficulties are by no means because knowing two or more language is not

new nowadays.

This study will anchored on Myers Scotton’s Markedness Model theory

that suggest that code-switching is a marked or unmarked language choice.

Unmarked code-switching denotes that the language used is one that “would

be expected in that context” while marked code-switching refers the language

choice which “would not be expected in that context.” For instance, code-

switching is an unmarked language choice because it is the expected variety

in this particular context. However, code-switching is mostly a marked choice.

In this study, code-switching is an unmarked linguistic activity for many

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students. This study is supposed to be an unmarked language. This only

means that it is expected language to be used by the students because there

are many ways for the students to acquire not just two languages easily

nowadays.

Students nowadays became more comfortable in chatting and talking

with the people in society using code-switching.

Conceptual Framework

This study utilized the independent variable and dependent variable

model to illustrate the interaction of the independent variables and dependent

variables of the study. This model represents the effect of the two variables.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Students Competence
Bilingualism
 Knowledge
 Comprehension
Code-Switching  Application

Figure 1: Research Paradigm of the Study

Research paradigm consists of two variable, the independent and

dependent variables. Frame 1 consists of independent variable code-

switching which influenced the Students Competence. Frame 2 consist of

dependent variable contain the students competence affect by the use of

code-switching. The arrow between frame 1 and frame 2 represent the effect
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of code-switching to the students in terms of Knowledge, Comprehension and

Application.

Statement of the Problem

The main focus of the study is to find out the student’s competence

towards Bilingualism.

1. What is the mean level of Bilingualism towards student’s competence

with respect to:

1.1 Code Switching?

2. What is the mean level of Student’s Competence in English with

respect to:

2.1 Knowledge

2.2 Comprehension

2.3 Application?

3. Is there a significant effect of Bilingualism towards student’s

competence?

Research Hypothesis

There is no significant effect of Bilingualism towards Student’s

competence of Grade VI pupils in Pinagbayanan Elementary School Pila,

Laguna.

Significance of the Study

This study would help to benefit the following group of individuals.

Administrators

They will help to determine the educators needs most especially the

students.
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Educators

They are qualified to understand their student’s, focus on the subject

matter and give more emphasis with the performance of the students.

Parents

They are the one who are responsible in molding their children’s future

and also guiding them in the right path of life.

Students

They will be able to face any kind of problems without giving affection

to their studies.

Future Researchers

This study will serve as a reference for their future researcher’s ,

which they find relevant to the present study.

Scope and Limitation of the study

The respondents of the study were the sixty (60) Grade VI pupils in

Pinagbayanan Elementary School Pila, Laguna.

It was limited to three areas of investigation 1) The mean level of

bilingualism towards students competence. 2) The mean level of students

competence in terms of knowledge, comprehension and comprehension. 3)

The significant effect of Bilingualism Towards student’s competence of Grade

VI pupils in Pinagbayanan Elementary School Pila, Laguna

Definition of Terms

Application. Ability to understand concept in a new situation. Solve problems

to new situation by applying acquired knowledge, fact techniques and rules in

the different way.

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Bilingualism. Ability to speak two language

Code-Switching. It is the switching between two or more languages or

varieties, in the content of a single conversation. Multi-lingual speakers of

more than one language sometimes use elements of multiple languages in

conversing with each other. Thus, code*switching is the use of more than one

linguistics variety in a manner consistent with the syntax.

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To

be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to

decode what they read, make connections between what they read and what

they already know and think deeply about what they have read.

Knowledge Is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone or

something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is

acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering,

or learning.

Student’s Competence. Students use to develop competencies when they

encounter unfamiliar or challenging situation. Competencies help student

draw and build upon what they know, how they think and what they can do.