Globally, there are 50-75 million ‘marginalized’ children who are not enrolled in school. Children whose primary language is not the language of instruction in school are more likely to drop out of school or fail in early grades. Research has shown that children’s first language is the optimal language for literacy and learning throughout primary school (UNESCO, 2008a). In spite of growing evidence and parent demand, many educational systems around the world insist on exclusive use of one or sometimes several privileged languages. This means excluding other languages and with them the children who speak them (Arnold, Bartlett, Gowani, & Merali, 2006).
Before President Aquino’s tenure ends, he signed into law the legislation covering the K to 12 program.
Based on a Department of Education (DepED) order, the mother tongue (MT), or vernacular in the region, should be taught as a subject from Grades 1 to 3 and used as a medium of instruction from kindergarten to the first three years of grade school. The program embracing the global 12-year education cycle was rolled out in Grades 1 and 7 in public schools across the country last year, leaving Angola and Djibouti as the only holdouts of the 10-year cycle the Philippines had followed since the Commonwealth era.
In Grade 1, subjects in the native language include Math, Araling Panlipunan (AP), Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (Mapeh) and Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (Values Education).Bahasa Sug, Bikol, Cebuano, Chabacano, Hiligaynon, Iloko, Kapampangan, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, Pangasinense, Tagalog and Waray-Waray were the 12 languages introduced last year.
Aside from establishing a “universal kindergarten” and adding Grades 11 and 12 (senior high school) to basic education, the newly enacted Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, or the K to 12 Act, mandates the use of mother tongue-based multilingual education.
Citing local and international studies, the DepEd has said that “the use of the learner’s mother tongue or the language used at home is the most effective medium of learning.”
Teaching new skills in an unfamiliar language is a “double burden” for children, because they are “learning both the language and the content all at the same time,” said Mercedes Arzadon, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ College of Education.
Around 75 percent of Filipino children speak their native languages, like Kankanaey or Bikol, she said. Children need to feel secure and comfortable in school because they are faced with new learning tasks, like raising their hands to be allowed to speak, counting and participating in class discussion, she said.“If you want children to learn such skills and be able to be functional immediately you use the language they know well,” said Arzadon, an advocate of the mother tongue system of instruction.
What happened then was that everything became a language subject, including Math and Science, No wonder it became rote learning, the teacher asked the class to mimic the teacher and memorize stuff without understanding it at all.In the old curriculum, children just sat and listened. But now, they are the ones discussing the subject.
First graders were not hesitant to grab the class microphone and even raced for the opportunity to speak, she recalled. At Krus na Ligas Elementary School, teachers used lapel microphones to be heard by their nearly 60 students. Each class had a microphone. Teachers were equipped with lapel microphones.
Natividad Nacino, the principal, said using the native language as the medium of instruction “erases the notion that being good at English makes you brilliant.”
“If you speak English well, you must do better using your own language,” she said.
Easing pressure
Using the language that children speak at home lessens the “pressure” of being in school.
Because most pupils at the public school have been accustomed to speaking in class, they remain confident even when they are required to recite in English. Their oral skills have been developed during the first and second grading period using the mother tongue. When the English subject was introduced in the third grading period, they were still able to express their thoughts and were not afraid of making mistakes.
But some of the public school teachers wondered why the Filipino subject and mother tongue had to be taught as separate subjects when Tagalog, spoken in Metro Manila, is the base of Filipino, the national language.
In my opinion, MT is more applicable in regions with a different mother tongue like Waray-Waray or Bisayasuggesting that teaching MT and Filipino as one subject could lengthen the time for discussions.
In the old curriculum, first graders were expected to read and write in English before they started Grade 2. But in K to 12, the children only need to be fluent in the local language.The time allotment for subjects in the elementary level had been reduced to 30 to 50 minutes from the 40 to 90 minutes in the old curriculum. The recommended time in class for Grade 1 is four hours in the first semester and four hours and 30 minutes in the second semester.
Each student should be given a chance to recite; pointing out that Grade 1 in the K to 12 program was aimed at improving oral communication skills.Reading and writing are not yet a priority at this grade level.Pupils are able to master the lessons because you build a strong foundation and add to their previous knowledge.
If you feel your students are intelligent, then give them additional activities. We should learn to go outside the box. You should not limit yourself to what is prescribed by K to 12.”
The teachers were optimistic about the new curriculum but admitted that its first year was a struggle because the instructional materials came late and they were only given a weeklong mass training.
But before the start of classes, they were given a Teacher’s Guide and Learner’s Guide, which contained topics and suggested activities for every lesson. The guides had portions in another language so they had to be translated.But because the materials came late, the teachers had a hard time translating mathematical terms into Tagalog.
Pupils found Math difficult because they were more familiar with the English numbers, she said. They often mispronounced the numbers but by counting regularly in class, they managed to memorize them and solve mathematical problems.
On the other hand, Lucas said music and art were the favorite subjects of most pupils because they got introduced to Philippine games, like “sungka” and “chimpoy champoy,” and old songs, like “Ugoy sa Duyan.”
But music was challenging for teachers who were not used to teaching rhythm, tempo and dynamics.
“Music was discussed briefly during the seminar. If you’re an ordinary person, you wouldn’t immediately know the high and low notes. I even drew a ladder to guide them
.
Tales from treasure chest
For the subject mother tongue, the DepEd suggested a list of stories to be read in class.Most stories were “pulled out from a treasure chest” and not readily available in bookstores, like “Si Gong, Galuglong,” so the teachers had to improvise and create their own books, Lucas said. The constant need to produce materials “sharpened my imagination.The teachers either drew the characters or downloaded pictures from the Internet.
I believe that there should not be a law prescribing teachers how to teach. Teachers should be given the freedom to introduce changes when a child is ready.
It should not be seen as a mere bridge to master Filipino or English. If I fell in love with my language, say Ibanag, and I want to continue using it and maybe grow up to be a radio commentator in Ibanag or a novelist in Ibanag, then I should be given the chance to use Ibanag as long as I want to.
References:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/420033/k-to-12-teaching-in-local-language-a-hit-among-kids#ixzz49Fuh82Rt
http://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/children-learn-better-their-mother-tongue
By: Mr. Ulysses Gabriel | Teacher III | Sta. Isabel Elementary School | Dinalupihan, Bataan
