MTB­ 

MLE
(Mot her Tongue-Based
Mult i Lingual
Educat ion)
MTB­ 
MLE
(Mot her Tongue-Based
Mult i Lingual
Educat ion)
The Philippines is an
ar chipelago in t he Pacif ic wit h r
ich linguist ic and cult ur al
diver sit y.
Accor ding t o t he
Et hnologue, t her e ar e
171 living dialect s spoken
in t he Philippines t oday.
Making English and Filipino t he of f icial
languages of t he Philippines is a
pr act ical move, seeing as t her e needs t
o be language t hat can be used t o do
business and t r ade as well as t o
communicat e on bot h nat ional and
int er nat ional levels.
The linguist ic
discr iminat ion is
pr esent in t he
educat ional syst em in
par t icular .
bot h psychologically 
and culturally  
damaging
On t he psychological level, a child’s sense of
ident it y is gr ounded in his or her mot her t
ongue. I f childr en ar e condit ioned t o pair
English wit h success, t hey will incr easingly
view t heir own nat ive language as ir r
elevant . They may not see t he need t o pass
it on t o t he next gener at ion, causing event
ual language endanger ment f or minor it y
languages, a signif icant cult ur al loss.
Ther e ar e t wo maj or
component s of t he bill t
hat
dr amat ically change t he f or mat
of Philippine schools, st ar t ing in
2012.
1
ext ension of secondar
y school (K-
12)
The Philippines adopt ed a K-12 cycle
t o ensur e t hat st udent s ar e pr epar ed
t o go t o univer sit y by t he t ime of
gr aduat ion f r om gr ade 12.
2
addr esses t he linguist ic discr
iminat ion t hat occur s in
emphasizing English educat ion, by
implement ing Mot her Tongue
Based, Mult ilingual Educat ion
(MTB-MLE)
This model pr omot es language of
inst r uct ion in t he mot her t ongue
of t he scho l dist r ict , r at her t
han Filipino or English.
However , t hese ot her languages
will be t aught and incor por at ed
int o t he cur r iculum gr adually.
Advocat es of t his appr oach point t o
pilot pr ogr ams in t he Philippines t hat
have been successf ul in helping
st udent s gain f ull pr of iciency in t he
mot her t ongue, t he nat ional language
Filipino, and t he global language,
English.
Mot Tongu – Mult ilingual
her
Educat ion e (MTB-MLE) Based is t
gover nment banner pr ogr
he f
’s
educat ion as amsalient par t of tor
a
implement at ion of the
he K t o 12 Basic Educat
ion Pr ogr am. I t s signif icance is under scor
ed by t he passing of Republic Act 10533, ot
her wise known as t he “Enhanced Basic
Educat ion Act of 2013.”
Eight (8) maj or languages or Lingua Fr anca and
ot her s as cit ed below shall be of f er ed as a
lear ning ar ea and ut ilized as language of inst r
uct ion f or SY 2012-2013:
(DO 16, s. 2012 - Guidelines on t he I mplement at ion of t he Mot her Tongue-Based- Mult ilingual
Educat ion )

a. Tagalog; g. Hiligaynon;
b. Kapampangan; h. W ar ay;
c. Pangasinense; i. Tausug;
d. I loko; j . Maguindanaoan;
e. Bikol; k. Mar anao; and
f . Cebuano; l. Chabacano
7 dialect s r ecent ly added by t he
DepEd:

I banag (Tugegar ao Cit y, Cagayan and I sabela)

I vat an (Bat anes gr oup)
Sambal (Zambales)
Aklanon (Aklan, Capiz)
Kinar ay-a (Capiz, Aklan)
Yakan (Aut onomous Region of Muslim Mindanao)
Sur igaonon (Sur igao)
MTB-MLE is educat ion, f or mal or non
-f or mal, in which t he lear ner ’s mot
her t ongue and addit ional languages ar
e used in t he classr oom.
This br idge enables t he lear ner s t o
use bot h or all t heir languages f or
success in school and f or lif elong lear
ning.
Wit h t he end goal of
making
Filipino
childr en lif elong lear ner
s in t heir L1
(MT), L2 (Filipino, t he
nat ional language), and
L3 (English, t he global
language) t he lear ner s
ar e mor e t hat pr epar
ed t o develop t he
compet encies in t he dif
f er ent lear ning ar eas.
MTB-MLE pr ovides:
Lit er acy
.Pr ior
knowledg
e.
Cognit ive
developmen
t and
HOTS.
St r ong Br
LI TERAC
PRIOR  
KNOWLEDG
E
Cognitive development 
 and higher order
thinking skil s
Strong Bridge
Scaf f 
olding
Teaching f 
or  meaning 
and  
Conf idence 
building  and prof 
iciency  
development
“Weshouldbecometri-lingualasacountry.
LearnEnglishweland connecttotheWorld.
LearnFilipinowelandconnecttoourcountry.
Retainyourdialectandconnecttoyourheritage.”
-Benigno Aquino I I I