Use of Mother-Tongue in Teaching Proves Effective

Pasig City – Learners begin their education in the language they understand best—their mother tongue—and need to develop a strong foundation in their mother language before effectively learning additional languages.

This is where the Department of Education (DepEd) gets inspiration in its inclusion of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) as a feature of the Enhanced Basic Education Program. It mandates the use of the language that students are familiar with (their first language) as medium of instruction to allow them to grasp basic concepts more easily.

At first, Teacher Regina of Pasig Elementary School, who has been teaching Grade 3 Mathematics for 17 years, was apprehensive to use the mother tongue. She was mainly worried about how mathematical concepts and terminologies could be translated to the mother tongue.

However, this concern was negated by the more active participation of the children when they started using the mother tongue in her classes.

She noticed that the children became more confident in conceiving and explaining content, and more articulate in expressing their ideas. She saw how using the mother tongue enables her learners to immediately construct ideas, explain without fear of making mistakes, and add new concepts to those they already know.

Teacher Nemia, a Grade 3 Science teacher of 12 years, had the same apprehensions. “It was a very unwelcome idea to use the mother tongue in teaching Science. It seemed difficult. I also thought of the extra effort I might need to exert in using terms that would match the exact translation of scientific terms in the mother tongue,” she said.

“However, when we started teaching in the mother tongue, we were surprised by how effective it was. The pupils were more attentive in class discussion. They are also able to explain their answers well when responding to questions. Furthermore, it makes them more confident to converse,” added Teacher Nemia.

Currently, DepEd uses 19 languages in MTB-MLE: Tagalog, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Iloko, Bikol, Ybanag, Sinugbuanong Binisaya, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bahasa Sug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, Chavacano, Ivatan, Sambal, Akianon, Kinaray-a, Yakan, and Sinurigaonon. The MTB-MLE is implemented in two modules: 1) as a learning/subject area and 2) as medium of instruction. (DepEd/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)