MOTHER TONGUE

BASED-MULTILINGUAL
EDUCATION
 UNESCO'S PRINCIPLES ON
LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION

•DEVELOPING A WRITING SYSTEM FOR A

HITHERO UNWRITTEN LANGUAGE OFTEN
HAS AN EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE -WHETHER
TO RECORD AND TRANSMIT LOCAL HISTORY
AND KNOWLEDGE TO THE NEXT
GENERATION, TO USE THE LANGUAGE IN
FORMAL SCHOOLING, OR TO FACILITATE
ADULT LITERACY ACQUISITION.
• THE EDUCATIONAL USE OF A
LANGUAGE DEPENDS, EXCEPT IN THE
MOST INFORMAL SETTINGS, ON A
WRITTEN FORM WHICH CAN BE
EMPLOYED IN LEARNING.

• UNESCO'S THREE PRINCIPLES OF

EDUCATION IN A MULTILINGUAL WORLD
UNDERLINE THIS NECESSITY. MOTHER-
TONGUE INSTRUCTION, BILINGUAL/
MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION AND
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION.
 PRINCIPLE 1 :

•UNESCO SUPPORTS MOTHER

TONGUE INSTRUCTION AS A MEANS
OF IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL
QUALITY BY BUILDING UPON THE
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF
THE LEARNERS AND TEACHERS.
 PRINCIPLE 2 :

•UNESCO SUPPORT BILINGUAL AND/OR

MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION AT ALL
LEVELS OF EDUCATION AS A MEANS OF
PROMOTING BOTH SOCIAL AND GENDER
EQUALITY AND AS A KEY ELEMENT OF
LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE SOCIETIES.
 PRINCIPLE 3 :

• UNESCO SUPPORTS LANGUAGE AS AN

ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN ORDER TO
ENCOURAGE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS AND
ENSURE RESPECT FOR FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS. (UNESCO 2003: 30)
 WHAT IS MOTHER TONGUE-BASED
MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION ?
• MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION TYPICALLY REFERS TO “FIRST-LANGUAGE –
FIRST EDUCATION, THAT IS SCHOOLING WHICH BEGINS IN THE MOTHER
TONGUE AND TRANSITIONS TO ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES MLE IS THE
USE OF MORE THAN TWO LANGUAGES FOR LITERACY AND INSTRUCTION.
• TYPICALLY MLE PROGRAMS ARE:
- “STRONG FOUNDATION” – RESEARCH SHOWS THAT CHILDREN
WHOSE EARLY EDUCATION IS IN THE LANGUAGE OF THEIR HOME TEND TO
DO BETTER IN THE LATER YEARS OF THEIR EDUCATION (THOMAS AND
COLLER, 1997).
- “STRONG BRIDGE’’ - AN ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MLE
PROGRAMS AND RURAL “MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION” PROGRAMS IS
THE INCLUSION OF A GUIDED TRANSITION FROM LEARNING THROUGH
ANOTHER TONGUE.
STAGES OF AN MLE PROGRAM
A WIDESPREAD UNDERSTANDING OF MLE
PROGRAMS (UNESCO, 2003, 2005) SUGGEST THAT
INSTRUCTION TAKES PLACE IN THE FOLLOWING
STAGES.
1. STAGE I – LEARNINGTAKES PLACE ENTIRELY IN THE
CHILDS HOME LANGUAGE.
2. STAGE II – BUILDING FLUENCY IN THE MOTHER TONGUE
INTRODUCTION OF ORAL L2.
3. STAGE III – BUILDING ORAL FLUENCY IN L2.
INTRODUCTION OF LITERACY IN L2.
4. STAGE IV - USING BOTH L1 AND L2 FOR LIFE LONG
LEARNING.
• MLE PROPONENTS STRESS THAT THE SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION COMPONENT IS SEEN AS A
“TWO-WAY” BRIDGE, SUCH THAT LEARNERS GAIN
THE ABILITY TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN
THEIR MOTHER TONGUE AND THE OTHER
TONGUE(S), RATHER THAN SIMPLY A TRANSTIONAL
LITERACY PROGRAM WHERE READING THROUGH
THE MOTHER TONGUE IS ABANDONED AT SOME
STAGES IN THE EDUCATION.
 WHEN WILL CHILDREN START
LEARNING FILIPINO AND ENGLISH?
• AS THEY DEVELOP A STRONG FOUNDATION IN THEIR L1,
CHILDREN ARE GRADUALLY INTRODUCED TO THE OFFICIAL
LANGUAGES,FILIPINO AND ENGLISH , AS SEPARATE SUBJECTS.
FIRST ORALLY, THEN IN THE WRITTEN FORM.
Continue building fluency and confidence in using
L1,L2 and L3 for everyday communication and for
learning new concepts

Continue building oral and

written L1 and L2 introduce
oral L3.
• THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THIS PROCESS ARE THAT:
• 1. EDUCATIONS BEGINS WITH WHAT THE LEARNERS ALREADY KNOW.
BUILDING ON THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. LANGUAGE AND
EXPERIENCE THAT THEY BRING WITH THEM WHEN THEY START
SCHOOL.

• 2. LEARNERS GRADUALLY GAIN CONFIDENCE IN USING THE NEW

LANGUAGE, BEFORE IT BECOMES THE ONLY LANGUAGE FOR
TEACHING ACADEMICS SUBJECTS.

• 3. LEARNERS ACHIEVE GRADE LEVEL COMPETENCE IN EACH

SUBJECT BECAUSE TEACHERS USE THEIR OWN LANGUAGES, ALONG
WITH THE OFFICIAL SCHOOL LANGUAGE TO HELP THEM
UNDERSTAND THE ACADEMIC CONCEPTS.
 DOES MLE ONLY INVOLVE CHANGING THE
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND
TRANSLATING THE MATERIALS INTO THE
LOCAL LANGUAGES.
• MLE IS AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO LEARNING. APART FROM
PROGRAMMING THE USE OF SEVERAL LANGUAGES,IT ALSO INVOLVE THE
FOLLOWING.

• (A.) THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOOD CURRILA (I.E. COGNITIVELY

DEMANDING)

• (B.) THE TRAINING OF GOOD TEACHERS IN THE REQUIRED LANGUAGES,

CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY.
• ( (C.) THE PRODUCTION OF GOOD TEACHING MATERIALS (I.E. ERROR
FREE AND CULTUURALLY RELEVANT)

• (D.) THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE COMMUNITY (I.E. SCHOOL BASED

MANAGEMENT) MLE WILL NOT WORK WHEN ONE SIMPLY CHANGES
THE LANGUAGE BY TRANSLATING EXISTING MATERIALS INTO THE
LOCAL LANGUAGES.
 WHAT KIND OF LEARNERS DOES MLE INTEND
TO PRODUCE?

MLE AIMS TO PRODUCE LEARNERS WHO ARE:

• MULTI-LITERATE-THEY CAN READ AND WRITE COMPETENTLY IN THE LOCAL
LANGUAGE, THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE, AND ONE OR MORE LANGUAGES OF
WIDER COMMUNICATION, SUCH AS ENGLISH.

• MULTI-LINGUAL-THEY CAN USE THESE LANGUAGE IN VARIOUS SITUATION AND

INTERACTION FOR LEARNING IN SCHOOL.

• MULTI-CULTURAL -THEY CAN LIVE AND WORK HARMONIOUSLY WITH PEOPLE OF

CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS THAT ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR OWN, THEY ARE
COMFORTABLE LIVING AND WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM OUT SIDE THEIR
COMMUNITY WHILE MAINTAINING THEIR LOVE AND RESPECT FOR THEIR
HOME CULTURE AND COMMUNITY.
 WHAT SPECIFIC WEAKNESSES IN THE
PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
DOES MLE SEEK TO ADDRESS ?
• MLE SEEKS TO SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS THE HIGH FUNCTIONAL
ILLITERACY OF FILIPINOS WHERE LANGUAGE PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT
FACTOR. BASED ON THE 2003 FUNCTIONAL LITERACY , EDUCATION AND
MASS MEDIA SURVEY ( FLEMMS ), OUT OF 57.59 MILLION FILIPINOS AGED
10 TO 64 YEARS OLD, THERE WERE:

• 5.24 MILLION FILIPINOS WHO COULD NOT READ AND WRITE ;

• 7.83 MILLION FILIPINOS WHO COULD NOT READ , WRITE , AND COMPUTE

• 18.37 MILLION FILIPINOS WHO COULD NOT READ ,WRITE , COMPUTE AND
COMPREHEND.
WHY USE THE OTHER TONGUE OR THE
FIRST LANGUAGE