Along with the takeoff of the K-12 educational curriculum is the rise of a new learning approach, the Mother tongue-based multilingual education.

In this approach, it is implemented that the mother tongue (or the first language) of a child should be used as the language medium in teaching. In this they believe that the child would learn faster and will understand the lessons easier. The studies regarding this proves that the more comfortable a child to the given language the more it is likely for the child to be interested to the topics the teacher is introducing.  By this the learning shall be a lot more progressive.

Although the aim of the approach is realistic and based on proven facts, like any other method, this method have some loopholes as well.

It is known that there are different kinds of children that can compose a class, different dialects and different speech patterns. In the Philippines there are over 13 indigenous languages, thus making this approach a lot harder than it seems. A teacher can learn all those language if it should come to that term, but it is not convenient and it takes a lot of effort and time to do so.

Secondly, if a child learns faster on the mother tongue it does not guarantee the speed of learning the child can attain in the second language. There are also studies regarding early education. It states that the earlier a child is exposed to a said language the better possibility of a child learning the given tongue. It is on the same concept as the Mother-tongue approach but at the same time it is also contradicting.

But either way, those methods only proves that there is no ‘single’ method in learning. A teacher or the curriculum should take in consideration the differences of each individual student. Thus making it a more hands on approach.

By: Brenda Camero | Teacher II | Limay National High School | Limay, Bataan