Mainstreaming Mother Tongue

Based Multilingual Education in the

Philippines: Initial Gains and
Challenges
Maria Mercedes “Ched” Arzadon
University of the Philippines / 170+ Talaytayan MLE

ASIA EDUCATION SUMMIT ON FLEXIBLE LEARNING STRATEGIES

FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN
24-26 February 2016; Bangkok, Thailand
 Mother Tongue Based Multilingual
Education (MTB-MLE)
• The child’s mother tongue (L1) is used (at least 6 years)
o Meaningful communication
o Development of higher order thinking skills
o Early literacy
o Teaching concepts on science, math, social studies
o Bridge to learning additional languages (L2)
o Language of testing

• Systematic introduction of additional languages

Oral fluency L1  Read/Write in L1 Oral fluency L2 –Read/Write

L2
 Unwelcomed, pushed-out and faulted

• 50% of the world’s out-of-school children

live in communities where the language
of the schooling is rarely, if ever,
used at home (World Bank, 2005)

• Recent trends in the US show that

dropping out is caused mainly by
school-related factors (Doll, Eslami, &
Walters, 2013)

• Multiple burden for a young learner –

learn to read and write in a language he
has not fully learned
Dennis Malone
 MTB-MLE reduces repetition and
dropout
• Mali – children in first language classes are 5 times less likely to
repeat the year and more than 3 times less likely to drop out of
school.

• Guatemala - grade repetition in bilingual classes is 50% less than

traditional schools, while dropout rates are about 25% lower
(WB 2005)

• Most Filipino teachers report that MTB-MLE lessens absenteeism

and dropping out
 Philippines’ positive
experiences
• Iloilo experiments 1948-54; 1961-64
• Rizal Experiment: 1960-66
• First Language Component-Bridging
Program (FLC-BP): 1986-93
• Lingua Franca Project: 1999-2001
• Lubuagan MLE Program: 1998 to 2012
• Culture-Responsive Curriculum for
Indigenous People-Third Elem. Educ.
Project: 2003-2007
Results
 Outperformed learners
taught in English only,
in all subject areas
 Learned L2 better
 Active participation
 Facilitated involvement
of the community
 Lessened dropout and
repetition
MTB-MLE in the Phils—bold, daring & rapid
• After about 10 failed policy proposals (1900 – 2008), DepEd
Order # 74 Institutionalizing Mother Tongue Based Multilingual
Education (MTB-MLE) in 2009
• 2013-- RA 10533, MTB-MLE as part of the new K-12
Curriculum
• All 43,000 government schools
• As of 2015, total of 212 languages / dialects used
• 19 languages (small and large) given initial funding
 Structure language & education policies around LEARNING and
INCLUSION not on dated political/post-conquest agenda
 Components of MTB-MLE
• Research
o Analysis of the languages, socio-cultural factors, stakeholders; orthography, programming,
pedagogy, contextualization, bridging L1 to L2, funding/resources
• Advocacy/mobilization – FAQ, top level and grassroots
• Policy – broad and supporting policies (MOE, regions)
• Working orthography (writing/spelling system)
• Training/capacity building - trainers, teachers, school heads
• Materials development – primer, big/small books, teachers guides
• Monitoring and evaluation
non-linear, recursive
Advocacy and multi-
sectoral engagements
Language & education
sectors – policy makers,
higher education, NGO,
Min of Education officials,
local writers, teachers,
private individuals
 Policies
• Includes all the components of MTB-MLE
• Non restrictive “mother tongue” – no limit of number of
languages
• Contextualization and localization of materials
• Supporting policies on teachers training, pedagogy, local
funding, materials , language mapping, monitoring, learning
assessment, teacher’s language skills, contextualization,
Information System
• Weakness – only four years of MT, lack of continuity until
higher education; Privileging of Tagalog (Filipino) and English
 Teachers Training
• Intensive Training of Trainers (40 days)
• Mass training for all teachers
• Simulations
• Workshops on making of primer, big
books, teaching aids
• Training video (SEAMEO)
• Biweekly School Learning Action Cell
(LAC) sessions
Culturally relevant, community generated
big books and other instructional
materials
• Hand printed
• Print on demand (POD) digital technology
• Community – elders; contests on writing stories,
songs, poems, essays
• Quality assurance
 Communicative, affective and
challenging learning environment
Activating multilingual and meta-
learning capacities
• Active participation, better
comprehension
• Meaningful discourse
• Rich vocabulary , complex sentences
• Humor, endearment
• Deeper level questioning
• Spontaneous correction
• Confidence
• Less anxiety
Advocacy – PTA meetings
 MTB-MLE Materials provided to
all schools
These materials should be as much as possible, original, reflecting
local people, events, realities; appropriate to the language, age, and
culture of the learners (DO 74. s2009)
• Curriculum Guide
• Reading Primer
• Teachers Guide – 19 languages
o Daily lessons, Stories, Assessment tools, illustrations

• Learner’s materials / worksheets

• Digital copy to be downloaded from www.lrmds.deped.gov.ph
Reading primer – sounds
are sequenced according to
sound frequency count of a
language

Each sound is taught

through a story – big book
Teachers
Guide –
detailed lesson
exemplars
Online repositories

www.lrmds.deped.gov.ph
 Teacher Education Institutions
• Formulate new courses –
o Teaching in the Mother Tongue
o MA in Multilingual Education

• Create reference materials for

teachers – dictionary, readability
software, primer
• MTB-MLE in laboratory schools
• Organize forums, teachers
training, conferences
• Technical support to the Dept of
Education
• Research projects
 Popularizing local languages
La Union
Provincial
Government’s
“Local Language
Code”
 Concerns
• Advocacy – teachers, parents
• Transition model from grade 4 onwards
• Teachers training/support on
o Teaching science and math in the mother tongue
o Demystifying languages; language analysis
o bridging from L1 to L2

• Classrooms with many languages

• Diversity
• Orthographies
• MTB-MLE friendly pre-service teacher education curriculum
• Research (ex: child’s language mix)
 Mother languages in a multilingual approach are essential
components of quality education, which is itself the foundation for
empowering women and men and their societies.   

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General

…………………………………

Agyamanak! Maraming salamat! Thank you.

mearzadon@up.edu.ph
 Refeences
• Doll, JJ, Eslami, Z, & Walters, L. (2013). Understanding Why
Students Drop Out of High School, According to Their Own Reports
Are They Pushed or Pulled, or Do They Fall Out? A Comparative
Analysis of Seven Nationally Representative Studies. SAGE Open.
DOI: 10.1177/2158244013503834 
• Quijano, Y. (2010). MLE in the Philippines: History and Possibilities.
First National MTBMLE Conference. Capitol University, Cagayan de
Oro City, Philippines.
• World Bank (2005). In their Own Language: Education for Al . New
York: World Bank