GED 201 of attention for you in each subject area?
4. Take Action!
Lesson 1: Goal Setting Activity
Planning Your Study Strategy
When life during this pandemic keeps you busy, or your energy is focused
on a special life project, it is all too easy to find yourself off balance and not
paying enough attention to important areas of your life. For example, while
it is good to be passionate about your study, not having the necessary math
or computing skills for your project can lead to frustration and stress. We
want to quickly and graphically identify the areas in your study to which you
want to devote more energy, and help you understand where you are
doing. We challenge you to transform this knowledge into a positive
program of action.
1. Goal
Before the first semester starts, let us take a "helicopter view" of your life,
so that you can work on bringing things into balance. This is where the goal
setting activity can help; it aids you to consider each area of your life which,
allows you to assess what is off balance. As such, it reveals areas that need
more attention on your study strategy.
2. Assess each area
The goal setting activity assumes that you will be happy and successful in
your career if you can find the right balance of attention to give each of
these dimensions. Different areas of your study plan will need different
levels of attention at different times. So, the next step is to assess how well
you are handling each subject area.
3. Identify where you need to take action
Next, it is time to consider your ideal level in each area of your study. A
balanced study plan does not mean getting a 1.0 in all courses: some subject
areas need more attention and focus than others, at any given time.
Inevitably, you will need to make choices and compromises, as your time
and focus are not unlimited, especially during this pandemic. So the
question is: What would be the ideal level
Now, you have a visual representation of your current study strategy in
different subject areas. Where are the gaps? These are the areas of your
study strategy that need attention. And remember that gaps can go both
ways. There are almost certainly areas that are not getting as much
attention as you would like. However, there may also be subject areas
where you are putting in more effort than you would ideally like. These
areas are sapping your energy and enthusiasm that could otherwise be
directed elsewhere. Once you have identified the areas that need attention,
it's time to plan the actions to work on regaining balance. Starting with the
neglected areas, what things do you need to start doing to regain balance?
In areas that currently sap your energy and time, what can you stop doing or
reprioritize?
Class Policies:
1. No special examinations will be administered unless an excuse letter from
parent/guardian or medical certificate noted by the guidance counselor and
class adviser is presented.
2. Cheating during examination will yield a score of 5.0 after a warning.
3. Attendance will be checked every scheduled meeting. The allowable
number of absences is only three (3).
4. Assignments/projects submitted late will not be accepted. Failure to
submit assignments on time or after the deadline is equivalent to a grade of
5.0.
5. Attendance on a scheduled meeting to track your progress is an
important part of collegial interaction. If you are required to miss part of a
class meeting, it is important that you contact me prior to class. When
possible, alternate assignments may be negotiated (for example, if you are
required to miss class for a family-related event, credit may be awarded for
a brief report out from the event). This modular class is structured to help
you engage with your colleagues in refining your beliefs and knowledge
base regarding the topics we will cover. Without your active verbal and
written participation, your opportunities for development will be limited.
Attendance and class participation will account for 10% each of the course
grade.
6. There will be a significant amount of reading in this modular approach to
learning, and you are expected to complete the readings. Completion of the
paper will make up 50% of the course grade.
Disability Services: Students with disabilities are provided accommodations
upon presenting the proper verification. Just inform your teacher.
Guidelines for Paper Forms:
1. Handwritten papers are accepted. However, you can still submit
computerized paper and assignment. I encourage you to learn to use a
computerized word-processing program. It can save time, aid proofreading,
and improve the appearance of an essay.
2. For computerized and handwritten paper, use one side of the paper only.
3. For computerized paper, use standard 8 1⁄2” by 11” white paper. Use
loose leaf or typewriter paper; no frazzled edges ripped from notebooks.
Use 12-point, Arial font.
4. Use margins of at least an inch of the paper. Leave a 1.5" margin on the
left- hand side.
5. Papers (except for the long report) should be folded vertically with the
following information on the outside cover: name, section, theme
assignment, instructor's name, and date. Place them in a short brown
envelope with your name (surname first) and section. Keep a paper copy of
the final draft in your own files. It is the cheapest insurance you can buy.
Notes:
1. The length of the final project report should be in the range of 8,000-
12,000 words. Please make all your writing relevant and readable.
2. The final project is intended to be a professional manuscript that reflects
scholarly work and effort.
3. It should be typed, double-spaced on standard long bond paper.
4. Use 12-point Arial font.
5. Use 1.5-inch margin at the left; 1.0-inch margin at the top, right and
bottom page.
6. Remember, you are required to submit your own ORIGINAL work. Where
other material is used, you must state the sources from which the
information is derived. Any act of plagiarism or intellectual dishonesty will
result in a grade of
5.0. If some of you are unclear about plagiarism or some other breach of
academic integrity, you are advised to ask your teacher for more
clarification on the matter.
Now that you are a member of the Bulacan State University family, it is also
important to discuss the Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives of the
university. Generally, BSU has the following VMGO.
Vision
Bulacan State University is a progressive knowledge-generating institution,
globally recognized for excellent instruction, pioneering research, and
responsive community engagements.
Mission
Bulacan State University exists to produce highly competent, ethical, and
service- oriented professionals that contribute to the sustainable socio-
economic growth and development of the nation.
Goals
In the pursuit of its mission, the initiatives and efforts of the University are
geared towards the attainment of the following goals:
Quality and excellence. Promoting quality and relevant educational
programs that meet international standards.
Relevance and responsiveness. Generation and dissemination of knowledge
in the broad range of disciplines relevant and responsive to the dynamically
changing domestic and international environments.
Access and equity. Broadening the access of deserving and qualified leadership, and responsible membership in society.
students to educational opportunities.
Bachelor of Secondary Education
Efficiency and effectiveness. Optimizing of social, institutional, and
1. To provide high quality academic instruction for personal development.
individual returns and benefits derived from the utilization of higher
education resources. 2. To provide career and professional readiness to the advancing
information technology.
Objectives
3. To equip the learner with relevant knowledge and skills for a life of
• Provision of graduates competitive with international standards of quality
service to humanity.
and excellence;
4. To culminate the spirit of inquiry so that prospective secondary teachers
• Generation and transmission of knowledge in the discipline, relevant and
may become effective agents of change, both in the school and in the
responsive to dynamically changing domestic and international
community.
environment;
5. To become familiar with the different principles, philosophical outlooks,
• Provision of equitable access of education opportunities to deserving and
theories, methods, and techniques that will equip the learner in his area of
qualified clienteles; and
specialization.
• Optimization of social and individual returns and benefits derived from
Bachelor of Technical Teacher Education
utilization of resources.
1. To provide relevant specialized education and training to develop
However, for each college, there are distinct objectives to accomplish. competencies in the chosen field of concentration in the academic, work-
oriented or industrial- vocational course.
Specifically, the College of Education provides its own objectives for each
program 2. To provide broad general education that would enable students to
develop critical thinking, research capability, creativity, and desirable work
offering.
habits.
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PROGRAM OBJECTIVES Bachelor of Elementary
3. To equip students with knowledge and skills necessary for successful
Education entrepreneurial activities.

1. To provide general education for students to appreciate human ideas and 4. To promote co-curricular activities that will enhance the development of
values, develop in them critical thinking, research capability, creativity and personal and family life and responsible citizenship.
good work habits.
5. To develop a new breed of educators sensitive to the technological
2. To provide professional education to develop students’ skills in applying changes and effect global competitiveness.
methods and techniques in teaching, vital for effective and efficient delivery
of instruction.

3. To promote co-curricular activities for the development of personal

discipline,
 LESSON 2: Multilingual Education: Structure of Languages and
Developmental Learning Theories
Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is a policy in the
Philippine curriculum. It involves the implementation of local mother
tongues as the language of instruction in Kindergarten to grade three (K -3),
with the official languages (Filipino and English) being introduced as the
language of instruction after grade three. Previously, the early years of
schooling used Filipino and English as the language of instruction, with local
languages being used to assist teachers and students in the classroom.
Nowadays, MTB-MLE is being implemented across the country from the
2012-2013 school year. While a very small number of schools previously
implemented MTB-MLE, many schools as well as teachers are now learning
how to use local mother tongues as the language of instruction. In the
coming years, this will be taken up by more schools, teaching a wider variety
of languages.
In the study of the subject, you shall also be provided with knowledge on
the structure of languages and developmental learning theories such as that
of Piaget’s theory, schema theory of learning, social learning theory,
cognitive theories of bilingualism: balance theory, iceberg analogy and
threshold theory.
Components of Multilingual Education (MLE)
MLE has at least two important components. They are:
1. Strong Foundation - Research shows that children whose early education
is in the language of their home tend to do better in the later years of their
education.
2. Strong Bridge – means that mother tongue is used in learning another
tongue. Multilingualism is the ability to speak more than two different
languages fluently. For us to fully understand MLE, it is also important to
discuss the structure of language. Every language is unique. For example, in
English, an adjective comes before a noun (beautiful lady, red rose),
whereas in Spanish, the adjective comes after (casa [house] roja [red]). In
German, you can put a noun after noun
together to form compound words (der Geburtstag [birthday] + das
Geschenk [present] = das Geburtstagsgeschenk [birthday present]); in
Chinese, the pitch of your voice determines the meaning of your words. But
all languages have structural underpinnings that make them logical for the
people who speak and understand them. Basically, there are five main
components of language. These are phonemes, morphemes, lexemes,
syntax, and context.
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that may cause a change of
meaning within a language but does not have meaning by itself.
A morpheme is the smallest unit of a word that provides a specific meaning
to a string of letters. There are two main types of morpheme: free
morphemes and bound morphemes. Free morphemes are those that move
around without being connected to other form of morphemes. Example is
OR in the word SUPERVISOR. OR can stand alone. Bound morphemes are
those that need to be connected to other forms of morphemes in order to
provide meaning. Example is MENT for the word GOVERNMENT. MENT
cannot stand alone.
A lexeme is a set of all the inflected forms of a single word. In linguistics, a
lexeme is the fundamental unit of the lexicon (or word stock) of a language.
It underlies a set of words that are related through inflection. A lexeme is
often—but not always--an individual word. A single dictionary word (for
example, walk) may have a number of inflectional forms or grammatical
variants. Example is the word walk. It has inflectional forms such as walks,
walked, or walking.
Syntax is a set of rules by which you construct full sentences.
Context is how everything within language works together to convey a
particular meaning.
Developmental Learning Theories
Psychologists and other theorists have proposed a number of different
theories centered on how children develop. But you may ask: “Why is it that
in the study of multiculturalism and multilingual education, developmental
learning theories come into the picture”? The answer is plain and simple.
Some of these theories are known as basic theories that attempt to explain
almost every aspect of how people change and grow over the course of
childhood. Additionally, these theories describe and explain the processes
and stages that children go through as they develop. Some tend to focus on
the developmental milestones or specific achievements that children reach
by a certain age, while others focus on specific aspects of child development
such as personality, cognition, and moral growth.
This time, we are going to focus on the theories that attempt to explain the
development of language among children. These theories include Piaget’s
theory such as Schema theory of learning, social Learning theory as
popularized by Albert Bandura, as well as other theories such as cognitive
theories of bilingualism— balance theory, iceberg analogy and threshold
theory.
It is construed that students progress from novices to experts and,
eventually, they become masters of their field or specialty who, in turn, will
mentor the next generation.
Piaget’s Theory
Jean Piaget was a psychologist who was born in Switzerland in the mid-
1890s. His research on human development significantly contributed to the
understanding of human cognition. He is well known for his theories on
cognitive and moral development. Piaget believed that development
occurred in stages that are based on the child’s age and maturity level.
According to his theory of cognitive development, children go through a
series of stages of intellectual growth. He likewise introduced the term
schema. In Piaget's theory, a schema is both a category of knowledge as
well as the process of acquiring that knowledge.
Schema Theory
Now, what is a schema? Piaget popularized the idea that people are
constantly adapting to the environment as they take in new information and
learn new things. As experiences happen and new information is presented,
new schemas are developed and old schemas are changed or modified.
Therefore, a schema is a category of knowledge as well as the process of
acquiring that knowledge. It refers to the mental representation, pattern,
structure, or conceptual framework.
A schema (plural is schemas or schemata) provides the basis by which we
relate to the events we have experienced. This is what we develop while
interacting with the world. We may develop many schemas while we grow
and develop. Each of these schemas will change with time. The changes
happen while we receive new information about how the world works. In
order to be able to process and understand the new information, we must
be able to change our schema to fit the new information.
Actually, schema theory falls under the concept of Piaget’s adaptation,
along with equilibration, assimilation, and accommodation. For example, we
understand that triangles (according to size and angles) are classified as
right, acute, and obtuse triangles. Then, our mother (who is a Math teacher)
teaches us that not all triangles are classified as such. Some triangles may
also be classified according to the length of the sides of triangles. Some
examples are equilateral triangles, isosceles triangles, and scalene triangles.
We must change our schema about triangles to include the new information
given to us.
Social Learning Theory
The basis of social learning theory is simple: We learn by watching other
people. We can learn from anyone—teachers, parents, siblings, peers,
friends, classmates, YouTube influencers, athletes, and even celebrities. We
observe their behavior, and we imitate that behavior. In short, we do what
they do. This theory is also known as social cognitive theory developed by
the renowned Stanford psychology professor Albert Bandura. The theory
provides a framework for understanding how people actively change and
are influenced by their environment. In particular, the theory details the
processes of observational learning and modeling, and the influence of self-
efficacy on the production of behavior. In other words, in this theory, the
environment plays a large part in learning. We model the behavior of the
people around us, especially if we find these models similar to ourselves or
if we want to emulate them. An example is a celebrity endorsing a product.
If we like a particular celebrity and if we see that she enjoys a certain brand
of shampoo, then we may well imitate her by purchasing that brand. Aptly
put, social learning theory is the idea that we learn from observing others.
This learning can either be acted on, as when we see a classmate who is
given a recitation chip for an answer; or not acted on, as in a teenager who
hears a friend talking about picking a lock. They learn something new, but
do not try it themselves. Especially when it comes to the acquisition of
language, social learning theory plays a big role in how all people and
especially children learn.
There are at least four essential elements of social learning. These include
attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.
Attention. Students cannot learn if they are not focused on the activity.
Thus, it is important to get their interest and attention so that they will
more likely focus on it.
Retention. Students learn by internalizing information. They can then recall
that information later when they want to respond to a situation in the same
way. In order to learn from what they see, they have to retain that
information.
Reproduction. We reproduce our previously learned behavior or knowledge
when it is required. Practicing our response in our head or in actions can
improve the way we respond to situations.
Motivation. Motivation is required in order to do something. Usually, our
motivation comes from seeing others rewarded or punished for something
they have done. This can motivate us to do or not do that same thing.
Cognitive Theories of Bilingualism
Here, we shall discuss at least three theoretical frameworks on the
relationship between bilingualism and cognition. These are balance theory,
iceberg analogy, and threshold theory.
Bilingualism is the idea that speaking more than one language fluently
brings with it cognitive advantages. The bilingual advantage hypothesis
states that bilinguals excel at cognitive control also known as executive
function. It means that bilinguals find it easier to suppress "reflex"
responses and focus on the task at hand. The theory is that whenever they
are speaking or listening to one language, their brains have to use cognitive
control to actively suppress the other language to avoid getting mixed up.
Because they are constantly practicing cognitive control, bilinguals are
better at it.
Cognition is thinking. Aptly put, in cognition, we have what we call cognitive
control. Cognitive control works this way. For example, in front of you is a
mouthwatering cheeseburger. But you are on a diet. You are tempted to
grab it immediately because you have not had breakfast. This cheeseburger
is your only hope for breakfast in the office. You imagine how good it is
going to taste. You can almost feel the smooth, sweet goodness in your
mouth. Almost of its own accord, your hand reaches out and grabs the
cheeseburger. It is just the right time for you to eat. You promised yourself
to eat this one last time. then you will get right back to your diet tomorrow.
Just as you are about to give in, however, a small voice at the back of your
mind asks if you are really willing to give up your hard-earned progress in
exchange of 90 calories of sugar and fat. It paints images in your mind of
your slim, happy figure next to your overweight, dissatisfied self. You see
yourself sweating and laboring on the treadmill to burn off the calories. So
you put down the cheeseburger.
Cognitive control is the ability of your mind to actively create an information
picture that will guide your behavior. It is what allows you to select a certain
behavior that you have accepted as appropriate and reject a behavior that
you have decided to be inappropriate. It also clarifies your long-term goals
and purposes, helping you change what you are doing in order to reach
these goals. Therefore, cognitive control is at the center of your self-
awareness, your highest level of consciousness, and your willpower. So,
what happens when cognitive control takes over in the use of language?
When you have an experience of any kind, neurons communicate with your
brain by altering chemicals in the synapses, or gaps, between the
connections that lead from your body to your brain. Cognitive control assists
you in the process of deciding which strategies to implement in speaking
that language. In hindsight, cognitive theory of bilingualism argues that
linguistic skills revealed in bilingual learners are based on their ability to
control different aspects of language processing, and it can be easily applied
and transmitted to other areas of study.
Balance Theory
Balance theory refers to the idea that you tend to prefer elements held in
your thoughts to be congruent with your behaviors. Balanced systems are
construed to be more stable and psychologically pleasant than imbalanced
systems. Fritz Heider, a social psychologist developed the balanced theory.
For example, your internal experience (attitudes) must be congruent with
your external experience (behaviors). In other words, his idea is that if you
want to maintain psychological stability, and you form relationships, you
must balance your likes and dislikes. The more similarities that exist
between each element, the more likely psychological balance will occur. You
may think of people as belonging together if they belong to the same family,
attend the same school, or have some other common bond because they
share common similarities.
Iceberg Analogy
Iceberg analogy is an analogy related to bilingualism. In Sigmund Freud’s
psychoanalysis, he used iceberg as an analogy for the human mind. He
stated that the mind, like an iceberg, has a small visible conscious part and a
large, hidden unconscious part that guided our actions and thoughts. The
unconscious includes sexual urges and impulsive behavior that we tend to
repress. For Freud, our mind is likened to an iceberg; only the tip of an
iceberg is visible. The tip symbolizes the observable behaviors and current
thoughts. However, the biggest bulk of the iceberg that is submerged in the
water is hidden from view. This proverbial part represents our non-
observable behaviors in a culture as well as the things we can hear and
speak privately such as language.
Threshold Theory
Threshold theory is a hypothesis that is related to bilingualism. It is an idea
that attempts to explain the cognitive effects of bilingualism. The threshold
hypothesis is one of the most influential theoretical frameworks on the
relation between bilingualism and cognition. But what do we mean when
we say “threshold”? The word threshold refers to the magnitude or
intensity that must be exceeded for a certain reaction, phenomenon, result,
or condition to occur or be manifested. In language learning, threshold is
the point at which learning is of sufficient intensity to produce a remarkable
effect. This hypothesis suggests a bilingual cognitive disadvantage at a low
proficiency level and a cognitive advantage at a high proficiency level in
both languages. In a study conducted by Daller and Ongun (2017), they have
demonstrated how the
threshold theory can easily be used as an evaluation tool for the importance
of cognitive development through various stages of bilingualism and
bilingual education programs. Their study shows a bilingual advantage for
those children whose parents use more L1 at home and have higher
dominance scores for L1. These children outperform the monolingual
control groups in the study in terms of non-verbal intelligence scores (Daller
& Ongun, 2017).
A theory is a set of ideas intended to explain something especially one that
is based on general principles. It helps us explain our actions and behaviors
towards learning and using the language. Despite criticisms, theories are still
applied by psychologists seeking to understand the roots of behavior and
cognition and language.
In the same manner, it is important to understand that opportunities are
open for us to learn academic content with high cognitive effects through
additive bilingual programs that support the linguistic and cultural
awareness of our new education programs.
Lesson 3 – Multilingual Education Research Review
Defining Concept Multilingual Education Research Review
Most of the studies conducted in multilingualism are done in Australia,
Canada, Europe (Sweden, UK, Germany) and the United States. The culture,
competency, policy, and other factors have to be considered. These external
influences may affect the conclusions from the research in relation to
multilingualism and school learning.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) at the 30th Session General Conference in 1999 adopted a
resolution that established the notion of ‘multilingual education’.
Accordingly, the choice of the language is a recurrent challenge in the
development of quality education. Speakers of mother tongues, which are
not the same as the national language, are often at a considerable
disadvantage in the educational system. Studies on the use of mother
tongue have received much attention after World War 2, giving emphasis on
the preservation of minority languages and culture. The world has evolved
since then. Industries have changed. After the post-
colonial era, globalization became the mainstream target in economics,
politics, and education. The migration of people has brought languages to
continents. In addition, the internet has changed the use of language for
communication and learning. Hundreds of languages all over the world have
disappeared; many remain endangered. (UNESCO, 2003).
Foreign Studies on Bilingualism and Multilingualism
According to Malone (2007), the educational problem of the ethnolinguistic
communities are twofold: First is no access to education at all, and second is
those who have access are unable to speak the official language when they
enter school. He reiterated that learning and problem-solving experiences
and their knowledge Of “how things work” in their own culture and social
setting do not serve students because the culture of the classroom, the
teachers, and the textbooks is that of dominance.
The 1968 Bilingual Education Act of the United States stipulated that the
government recognizes “the special educational needs of the large number
of children of limited English-speaking ability in the United States,” and the
main goal is to provide access to bilingual programs for children of limited
means. Training of teachers, implementation, and program maintenance
were funded by the government. However, this did not materialize as
English is still the preferred language used in schools. The No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) of the United States made mandated students who have low
proficiency in the English language to meet the same standards of English-
speaking students in all other subjects. Latinos, Asians, and other migrants
have to cope with the English fluency demanded by the state in school and
in national assessments. When a student is taught in his or her MT but
eventually takes the national test in English, theory and ideology could be at
war. Colin Baker in his book Foundations of Bilingual Education and
Bilingualism (2011) notes that bilingual students scored lower in IQ tests
than monolinguals. He further stated that the type of test contributes to the
result and how intelligence is defined.
Studies in India show that many children in English-medium private schools
know better English than children in mother tongue-based learning or
regional language government school up until grade 7. Studies further show
that at the end of grade 8, those English-medium privately schooled
students scored lower in various subjects and their English is no better. This
is partly due to the competence of English teachers and also because
children did not develop the Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency
(CALP).
Thailand is one country that has about 70 ethnic groups, each with its own
language. This diversity hampered the access of school age children in
remote areas to “normal” government education due to low ability in the
Thai language. The Thai government, academics, non-governmental
organizations, and language communities launched a Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) to address this need. Eight years of
student testing showed that students on MTB-MLE program outperformed
academically the “normal” Thai-only learners in all subjects, including the
Thai language (Premsrirat & Person, 2018).
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the only country which institutionalized
into law the Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education. Children enrolled
in kinder to grade 3 will use their mother tongue (MT) as a medium of
instruction (MOI). (Tupas & Martin, 2017). Using bilingual as MOI has
undergone a number of debates and discourse among academes and
politicians. DepEd has cited studies that provide evidence that using mother
tongue in the early years of schooling has positively contributed to the
academic and life-long learning skills of a person. The Iloilo experiments that
first took place in 1948-1954 and in 1961-1964 showed that pupils taught in
their first language, Hiligaynon, were significantly superior in proficiency in
language and reading tests and in arithmetic and social studies subjects.
The Rizal experiment in 1960-1966 highlighted that the Tagalog-based
teaching rated highest in arithmetic at the end of Grade 4. The experiment
included a Tagalog version of the tests and both groups of students with the
English and Tagalog medium of instruction have the same proficiency level
in reading, but the mother tongue-based group have the highest
achievements in social studies, health and science and arithmetic. (DepEd,
2016). The 1980s to 1990s have been the decade in which politics and
education merged at some point. The trend of producing “workers of the
world” mandated that English be the priority MOI to prepare students to
the reality of job competition. These studies show different concepts and
results of the MTB-MLE program. This means that there is no systematic
coherence to the subject.
Preserving minority languages can only be possible if there are well-trained
teachers and policies that would also support changes in the language used
in national assessments.
Factors Affecting the Success of Multilingualism
Michael Evans (2018) of the University of Cambridge published
Transforming Society Through Education in which he posited the following:
❏ Literacy in the home language has a positive effect on students’ learning
of other languages and other subjects.
❏ For communities with a variety of language, the use of the “lingua franca”
at home is an advantage when the child enters school.
❏ Socio-economic background of students affects the success of the
medium of instruction policy implementation, with students in rural and less
affluent communities responding less well to teaching of the curriculum in a
language other than their mother tongue, due to limited resources, home
support, and early literacy practices.
❏ Where students’ home language is other than their school’s medium of
instruction, as in the case of migrant-background or students from
indigenous minority language communities in developing countries,
effective integration of the use and learning of the home languages leads to
improved academic achievement. Espinosa (2009) presented 10 key factors
that influence successful bilingualism and multilingualism:
Policy Implications
1. Aptitude- it is a person’s natural ability to do something. Linguistic
aptitude is to learn language without difficulty.
2. Timing- language acquisition has stages, and teaching strategies are
important. There are three windows of opportunity for learning language
(Nelson, 2000)
a. birth to 11 months is when the brain connections to language acquisition
peak.
b. between four to eight years old is due to lower inhibition levels.
Playground language is used.
c. Eight years onwards when the brain reach its full size (not the
neuroconnections)
3. Motivation- the individuals who are motivated to learn a new language,
learn easily. (Palumbo, 2019). Helping a child to learn a language is better
than forcing him or her to learn. Internal and external factors
4. Strategy- making a conscious decision to learn the language and to teach
using the language.
● Visualization
● Cooperative learning
● Inquiry-based instruction
● Differentiation
● Use of technology
● Behavior management
● Professional development
5. Consistency- Involve the child and the parents to stay true to the learning
strategy agreed upon. For primary pupils, the consistency of strategy
extends to the language used in assessment.
6. Opportunity and Support- Monitoring on the use of language in school,
home, or in community.
7. Linguistic and historic relationship between languages- the child learns
easily if the mother tongue is linguistically connected to the L2. The
transition to learning the second language is most likely smooth.
8. Siblings- preschoolers with more than two siblings seem to develop
language skills a bit slower than other kids. Positive influences of older
siblings help in language acquisition of kids (Horton, 2014). Positive
influence is when there is constant communication using the mother tongue
(consistent with the language used at school). However, language
development will be affected if one of the other siblings dominates the
conversation.
9. Gender- in most cases, female babies acquire language skill earlier than
male babies although they come close to proficiency during adulthood.
10. Wiring of the brain
Hemispheric dominance has to do with learning a new language:
● the dominant hemisphere of the brain is associated with language and
logical thinking
● the dominant hemisphere of the brain typically is the opposite of your
dominant hand. For right-handed individuals, their dominant brain is the left
hemisphere (Vega, 2020).
● At least 95% of right-handed people and 70% of left-handed have the left
hemisphere dominance. Criticisms Against MTB-MLE
R.A. No. 10533 states that, “To achieve an effective enhanced basic
education curriculum, the DepEd shall undertake consultations with other
national government agencies and other stakeholders including, but not
limited to, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the private and public schools
associations, the national student organizations, the national teacher
organizations, the parents-teachers associations, and the chambers of
commerce on matters affecting the concerned stakeholders.” Based on the
study of Tupaz and Martin (2017), the emphasis of the Department of
Education has shifted to learning and teaching the mother tongue,
neglecting the preservation of the identity of the language and cultural
factors of the program. They provided the following areas to look into the
program:
1. The difficulty of teachers in the preparation of instructional materials;
2. The design of the program does not connect with local community and
culture;
3. Language marginalization- exclusion of other mother tongues did not live
up to DepEd’s objective: Socio-cultural awareness which enhances the pride
of the learner’s heritage, language and culture. The department identified
19 official mother tongue languages only; the country has more than a
hundred languages.
4. The resurgence of mother tongues as languages of instruction promises
to be a pedagogically sound and politically inclusive vision of education. It is
not anti- English and anti-Filipino in the sense that it continues to promote
the teaching of both languages in all levels of education; it ultimately
addresses different forms of inequities in Philippine society.”
5. Teachers were not thoroughly prepared by the DepEd before the
program was implemented (Burton, 2013). Language of instruction policy
should also be accompanied with teacher capacity and deployment,
thoroughly reviewed learning materials and curriculum (Trudell, 2016).
Other studies provided the following challenges on the implementation of
the program. Most studies are done outside the metro where Tagalog is not
the L1 of the student.
6. Results of the study by Dumatog and Dekker (2003) and Skoropinski in
2013 revealed that parents were wary of the use of MT, that it might affect
the English proficiency of their students. The same concern was raised by
the parents in Bicol in the study conducted by Burton (2013) as part of her
dissertation: Mother tongue-based multilingual education in the Philippines:
studying a top-down policy from the bottom up.
7. The absence of effective transition created a gap in learning (Lopez,
Coady, & Ekid, 2019). The top-down policy has not addressed the diverse
situation of education especially in remote areas of the country. Large-scale
implementation of MLE results in confusion, tension, and errors that are
difficult to undo if there is no sufficient piloting and preparation. (UNESCO
Language Planning, 2003).