USING THE MOTHER TONGUE AS A BRIDGE LANGUAGE

USING THE MOTHER TONGUE AS A BRIDGE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN TWO SCHOOLS IN LA PAZ, AGUSAN DEL SUR A Case Study YOLANDA S. QUIJANO, Ed. D Director IV, Bureau of Elementary Education Department of Education PHILIPINES

Background Information La Paz, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao Municipality with annual income of Php 850, 000. § 20, 800 population with 15 barangays, 3, 754 households § 90% population is Manobo remaining 10% are either Cebuano and/or Cebuano/Manobo § livelihood activities are farming, fishing and driving single motorcycle §

Linguistic Information Logpond 3 IP Experimental School and Langasian Elementary School are subjects of case study § Minanubu is used at home by school children § Cebuano-Bisayan, the 2 nd language (L 2) used when they go out of the locality § Filipino and English are the 3 rd and 4 th languages learned in school § Logpond 3 IP Experimental School Langasian Elementary School

Culture Responsive Curriculum for Indigenous People (CCIP): Preparatory Work § Local initiatives to support indigenous people (IP) and address specific concerns of pupils § Aimed to improve school’s academic performance § Basic components of program: – use of mother tongue in learning concepts and skills – teacher training – preparation of indigenous instructional materials – community participation § Survey to gather data on number of indigenous people in the area § Active leadership by officials led to organization of classes

Methodology and Implementation Process Logpond 3 IP Experimental School and Langasian Elementary School are multigrade schools § Teacher-pupil ratio is approximately 1: 33 § Objectives of the program l use mother tongue in instruction for indigenous pupils who do not easily cope with Filipino and/or English language l develop and inculcate spiritual and civic values among indigenous pupils and take pride in one’s culture, tradition and virtues l provide teachers with skills, strategies and teaching aids and materials in integration of indigenous education in Basic Education Curriculum l write and preserve local folklores, poems, songs, riddles, proverbs and other reading materials and artifacts §

Community Mobilization and Support § Consultations and meetings with community stakeholders to discuss opportunity of implementing the program § Advocacy of Manobo teachers § Support provided by community stakeholders: sharing local knowledge about Minanubu language and culture, attending school’s important activities, acted as resource speakers, helped in preparation of instructional and reading materials § Participation of elders, parents, other stakeholders together with school staff in preparation of School Improvement Plans

Funding § Number of sources - Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP) of the Department of Education - Division of Agusan, Department of Education - Local Government Units of the province of Agusan and the municipality of La Paz Teacher Training § Division and local trainings for teachers and school heads conducted by Division Office with experts on education of IPs and local people who spoke the language § National trainings conducted by central office in which national experts on IP education gave lectures or acted as facilitators in workshops

Curriculum Development § Curriculum followed Department of Education’s Basic Education Curriculum in terms of learning areas and time allotment § Medium of instruction differed, mother tongue (Minanubu) was used in Grades 1 and 2 in different learning areas § Medium of instruction in Grades 3 to 6 was either Filipino or English depending on learning area but teacher used mother tongue when pupils did not understand concepts § Integration of local culture, values and traditions in lessons § Instructional materials and reading books were translated in Minanubu language § Inclusion of weekly 30 -45 minutes lesson on Manobo culture with local resource speakers

Reading and Other Instructional Materials § Program started with few reading materials purchased from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and permission was granted to reproduce them Funding from TEEP provided schools with enough instructional materials and books § Lesson Guides for English, Math, Science, Filipino and Makabayan were provided and enabled teachers to enrich learning processes for pupils coming from cultural communities §

Methodology § Development of reading skills in mother tongue started with pupils’ exposure to sounds, words, songs, poems, and short stories with pictures § Minanubu words with pictures were written down in charts and pupils practice reading them § Formal reading was taught through the Minanubu books, teachers observed that pupils easily understood stories due to familiarity with situations and vocabulary used § Pupils were comfortable in answering and asking questions, describing and retelling important events, and writing words and sentences called for in classroom activities § Active interactions between the teacher and pupils, pupils and pupils with the reading materials were observed § Phonics approach, sight word approach, experience charts and basal reader approach were strategies utilized by teachers

Methodology and Implementation Process § Filipino subject in grade 1 used same strategies utilized in teaching of reading in Minanubu language § Pupils’ skills in phonics and in phonemic awareness facilitated learning English sounds and sight words § Big books and picture stories in English were narrated by pupils in their mother tongue, teachers later on read to them the stories § Pupils practice reading the basic sight words for three languages through a chart which has basic words in Minanubu with pictures and their translations in Filipino and English

Impact and Challenges Assessments : Pupils learning achievements as measured National Achievement Test Results SY 2004 -2005 SY 2006 -2007 Schools 1. Logpond 3 IP Experimental School Not tested 2. Langasian Elementary Schools Gain Not Tested 65. 72 1 0. 14 75. 86 Division Achievement Test Results SY 2003 -2004 SY 2004 -2005 SY 20062007 1. Logpond 3 IP Experimental School 42. 24 72. 71 2. Langasian Elementary School 49. 40 64. 13 77. 21 Gain 34. 97 4. 5 Not tested 14. 73

Impact and Challenges Schools Performance Indicators Logpond 3 IP Experimental School SY 2003 -2004 SY 2004 -2005 68 SY 2005 -2006 51 Drop Out Rate 0. 01% 0. 24% 0% Repetition Rate 0. 09% 0. 4% 0% Number of Enrollees Performance Indicators Enrolment Drop Out Rate Repetition Rate Completion Rate Grade VI Langasian Elementary School SY 2003 -2004 192 1. 25% 12. 45% 83. 3% SY 2004 -2005 172 2. 67% 0% 89. 60% SY 2005 -2007 178 0% 0% 90%

Impact and Challenges Mobilization and community awareness: hesitations and unwillingness to participate § Staffing: newly hired teachers are non-speakers of language § Curriculum Development: need to review and revise the competencies (content and skills) in Filipino and English (Grades 1 to 6) when first language is used in first two grades § Development of instructional materials and reading materials: availability, quality and appropriateness of instructional materials

Conclusion Neither Filipino or English is the mother tongue of most pupils § A gap exists in order to deliver expected results in education § Effectiveness on use of mother tongue continues to be explored § Use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in first two grades needs to be sustained §

Thank you