Word Play: Support Mother Tongue-Based Learning!

Hilaw.

This is how I would describe the effect of the current mode of instruction on young learners. Instead of encouraging a learning on a two-way street, it causes our classrooms to have more idiot, clueless, passive students. Jacks of all trades, masters of none. Getting by, but not truly there. Mechanical, forced to sit and be silent and left to copy what's written on the manila paper on the blackboard. The average young Juan needs his learning competencies improved, and the simplest, yet most overlooked factor that offers a more proactive and effective learning can be found right at home. Our leaders and lawmakers still believe that an alien language, English, is the superior language to use in the classrooms, yet majority of our young students come from homes where the mother tongue is the predominant language. This is why some children can be tagged as slow, aren't too bright, or yes, an idiot.


Let me tell you a little story. I grew up being talked to in both Filipino and a lot of code-switching, which thus made it easy for me to adjust to learn English. I also studied in a private school from my pre-school to Grade 4, and moved to a public elementary school for my Grade 5 and 6, and boy was it a shocker. I was one of the brightest people in class, simply because I picked up better than they do when my teacher discusses in English.

It is a sad truth, that many times have I witnessed classmates get low marks simply because they're just sitting there, staring, silent, listening but not understanding a thing of what the teacher is saying. In effect, my teacher would often lose her temper, go crazy and be indifferent, and say that these kids are just unbelievable (I swear she could've thought our class was hopeless.) And when the teacher isn't around, the timid, silent students become the total opposites of themselves while in a graded recitation. That class had so much potential.

The scenario was, after enrolling in a public high school, I was in the star section, while my less-fluent classmates joined the 29 other lower sections, where not much is expected of you, just keep a complete attendance and you'll graduate. I observed that most of these students in the lower sections couldn't care less about their subjects, and easily settle for a mediocre classroom performance.

The Philippines has 170 languages scattered all over the archipelago. Languages that vary even in small distances, as for example, the small island of Panay, where six major languages, Ilonggo, Aklanon, Kinaray-a, Capiznon, Hiligaynon and Tagalog are spoken by locals who live only an hour away from each other, as well as minor languages like Malaynon and Inati can be found at tips of towns and borders. It seems that our country is a vast, endless array of a people speaking different languages, so where do we begin at making sure that young Filipinos get the most out of learning, without being intimidated by a language not spoken at home?

This need for a common mode of instruction called for two bills, the Gunigundo and Gullas Bills, respectively also known as the Multilingual Bill (mother tongue-based multilingual education or MLE) and the English-Only Bill. The Multilingual Bill calls for a child's first language to be the primary mode of instruction from pre-school to grade six, for it to be taught as a separate subject in elementary, while the English-Only Bill aims to use the Mother-tongue as MOI up to Grade 3, and ban the use of the Language 1 (mother tongue) thereafter.

Countless countries has used the mother tongue-based multilingual education or MLE, and has proven to be the best language of learning, especially in the early grades. The first language or L1 is defined by UNESCO as the language that a person has learned first, identifies with or is identified with as a native speaker of by others, knows best and uses most. Using the L1 develops a strong foundation in their L1, and are gradually introduced to the official languages, Filipino and English, as separate subjects. When the Filipino child reaches high school, s(he) would have gained proficiency to use Filipino and English as the primary MOI.

By taking away a language that signifies a person's cultural heritage and identity, we dismiss that a local language is inadequate and inferior. Conclusively, we insist to teach in English, which is more costly and inefficient, a language that doesn't carry out functional literacy and hardly encourages critical thinking and offers a mediocre level of thinking.

In other words, the English-only Bill benefits only those who speak English at home who aren't struggling to learn, while those who struggle get poor performance and high drop-out and fail rates. The marginalized learners, in effect, withdraw from opportunities to speak up and participate, to be active, to understand concepts at a most uncomplicated, comfortable method. Cognitively, our young learners easily develops skills and master subjects when they are taught in the L1.

We don't need more English. We don't need to concentrate on the language, what we need to focus on is literacy, Science and Math. We use English as a global language, to belong in the present. But we need our own language to live forevermore.

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