The Role of

Multilingual
Context FILIPI
NO

Prepared by: JUANITO M. PAMITANGCO JR.

 Mother Tongue-Based
01
TABLE Multilingual Education

- IN DEPTH

OF - IN DEPTH

CONTEN - IN DEPTH

TS
2
 Based
Multilingual
Education
 Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual Education
(MTB-MLE)

Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual

Education (MTB-MLE) is the government’s
banner program for education as a salient
part of the implementation of the K to 12
Basic Education Program. Its significance is
underscored by the passing of Republic Act
10523, otherwise known as the “Enhanced
Basic Education Act of 2013.”
 Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual Education
(MTB-MLE)

MTBMLE is education, formal or non -

formal, in which the learner’s mother tongue
and additional languages are used in the
classroom. Learners begin their education in
the language they understand best - their
mother tongue - and develop a strong
foundation in their mother language before
adding additional languages.
According to research
Children with a solid
foundation in their mother
tongue develop stronger
literacy abilities in the school
language. Their knowledge and
skills transfer across languages.
This bridge enables the learners
to use both or all their
 Languages in MTB-MLE

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,
Image from Vemaps. Outline Map of Philippines with Regions | Free Vector Maps
 Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual Education
(MTB-MLE)

With the end goal of making Filipino

children lifelong learners in their Li (MT), L2
(Filipino, the national language), and L3
(English, the global language) the learners
are more than prepared to develop the
competencies in the different learning areas.
This will serve as their passport to enter and
achieve well in the mainstream educational
Can contribute to the country as
Multi-Cultural
Multilingual Multiliterate Citizens
They can They can read They can live and work
and write harmoniously with
use these competently in people of cultural
languages in the local backgrounds that are
different from their
various language, the
own, they are
situations national comfortable living and
language, and working with people
and one or more from outside their
interactions languages of community while
maintaining their love
for learning wider
 Two-Track Method

For the
effective
implementat
ion of the
MTB-MLE, it
is suggested
that the two-
 What does MTBMLE provide?
Literac We only learn to read once.
y Learning to read in the L1
develops skills that transfer to
reading any other languages.
Comprehension in reading other
languages only occurs after oral
proficiency has developed such
that vocabulary of the written
 What does MTBMLE provide?
Prior Engaging learners in a
Knowledge discussion of what is already
familiar to them using the
home language and culture
enables better learning of the
curriculum through
integration and application of
that knowledge into current
 What does MTBMLE provide?
Cognitive Development and
Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
Using the learners’ mother tongue
provides a strong foundation by
developing cognitive skills and
comprehension of the academic content
from day one. The knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and values gained through
the mother tongue better support
 What does MTBMLE provide?
Strong MTBMLE provides a good
bridge to listening, speaking,
Bridge reading, and writing the L2s (L2,
L3) of the classroom using sound
educational principles for
building fluency and confidence
in using the other languages for
lifelong learning. Reading in the
L2 is only introduced after basic
 Continuation
Strong Comprehension in reading the
L2 occurs after the
Bridge development of that spoken
L2. Once sufficient oral and
written proficiency in the L2
are developed, a gradual
transition to using the L2 as
medium of instruction can
 What does MTBMLE provide?
In L2 teaching, the L1 is
Scaffoldingused to support learning when
the L2 is not sufficiently
developed to be used alone. The
L1 is used for expression and the
teacher facilitates the
development of the L2 to enable
learners to adequately express
ideas in the L2. In this way, the
 What does MTBMLE provide?
Teaching for meaning and accuracy
Decoding text requires accuracy,
while comprehending texts requires
decoding skills within a meaningful
context. Both meaning and accuracy
are important, but in classrooms that
teach only L2 , there is often primary
focus on accuracy until the L2 is
 What does MTBMLE provide?
Confidence building and proficiency
development.
Confidence building and
proficiency development for
two or more languages along
the following macro-skills
(listening, speaking, reading,
writing, and viewing) for both
K-12 Basic Education Curriculum
 REFERENCES

K-12 Curriculum Guide. Retrieved from

https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mother-Tongue
-CG.pdf
Malone, S. (2018). The Two-Track Method to introduce reading and
writing in Tetum. Retrieved fro,
https://www.silpacific.org/resources/archives/77311
Magistrado, M. (2018). Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education
(MTB-MLE). Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/menchiellagas/mother-tongue-multilingual-
education-mtbmle
Outline Map of Philippines with Regions. Retrieved from
https://vemaps.com/philippines/ph-02
A.Underlying Theories and
Assumptions
(MTB-MLE)
Mother tongue-based
multilingual education is
contextualized within the fold of
HOL Education for All (EFA) which
A requires that new models of
development and language and
education policies that are
integrative in character and
operation be put in place to
ensure sustainability of
education programs (Malone
 Republic Act 10533
The institutionalization of MTBMLE in
the Philippines through Republic Act
10533 is a product of a long process
involving theory building, validation,
and evidenced-based advocacy
driven enough to sustain until a
certain level of recognition is
achieved.
Some
Case Hi!

Studies
 Iloilo Experiment
In the First Iloilo Experiment (1948-
1954), the test results showed that the

01
experimental group using Hiligaynon as the
language of instruction was significantly
superior in proficiency in language and
reading tests and in tests on arithmetic and
social studies subjects compared to the
control group using English for the same tests
among Grades 1 and 2 pupils. For Grades 3 to
6, the experimental group obtained higher
proficiency in reading and higher
 Lubuagan
In a similar experiment that spanned ten
Experiment
02
years known as the Lubuagan
Experiment in Lubuagan, Kalinga
Province, test results showed significant
and consistent advantage for children in
the experimental group using Lilubuagen
across all subjects in the curriculum
compared to the performance registered
by children in the control group using the
prevailing bilingual instruction in English
 The Case of School
Leaving
African countries, the use of the
mother tongue has positive Additionally, a longitudinal
implication for social study spanning 11 years
development as more girls are involving a total of more than
able to enter school, repeat 210,000 students in both
classes less frequently, and stay urban and rural schools in the
longer in school (Benson 2010). United States showed results
A local study lends credence to that students with the longest
this as it finds that accessibility exposure to their mother
to the medium of instruction by tongue outperform the
the learners contributes to average native English
minimization of a phenomenon speaker.
 Operationalizing MTBMLE
Kosonen made a comparative study of Kosonen’s assertion
language- in-education issues in echoes a Unesco study
South-East Asia and China. Drawing whose findings of case
observations about general trends, he studies in Southeast Asian
noted that community-based countries reveal that
implementation with a sense of community-based and
local ownership is the community-managed
SALUT
inexpensive, efficient and mother tongue literacy
sustainable way to implement program that is led by
MTBMLE.) External stakeholders a team of local
including local or foreign linguists, implementers and
educators and academics, NGOs and managers selected by
BONJOUR
funding agencies must link with the the community is the
MTBMLE Strength from
Research
Malone holds the view that a strong MTBMLE
program draws much of its strength from
research where baseline information such as
language and education situation are
ascertained and factors such as challenges
and difficulties in program implementation
are obtained and carefully analyzed. In a
study that examined why reforms in the
Department of Education did not transform, it
was determined that previous language-in-
education policies failed because these were
Orthography development

Bow noted that the trend worldwide in

the development of writing and spelling
system of a particular language community is
moving away from an expert or linguist driven
process. The preferred mode is a community-
based participatory process where the
linguist serves as a ‘midwife’ in a
workshop that discusses linguistic and
non-linguistic issues associated with
orthography development (standardization,
Orthography development
The study in Zambia shows
that such model may be
challenging and complicated yet
community participation can still
happen as what people did in
Region XII and in other areas where
orthography development is being
undertaken. This process
Curriculum and
Instructional
Materials
 The materials
should be The Orisa
intervention is holistic,
responsive, culturally situated and
contextualized historically informed of
and localized and culturally embedded
social, mathematical,
enable learners to literacy and science
improved practices, taking into
performance and account the everyday
practices and knowledge
achieve education of the communities that
goals, as the case of inform the classroom as
the MLE+ well as community-based
activities such as training
intervention in given to parents (Panda
Curriculum and Instructional Materials

The learning materials should also be

appropriate, interesting, challenging,
and engaging. It must be noted that
communities have diverse socio-
economic patterns that must be
considered in determining levels of
literacy development and in designing
appropriate programs to improve
Monitoring and Evaluation Component

It is necessary to allow implementers

and key program stakeholders to
make adjustments and to draw
lessons and best practices from the
implementation. In many cases, it is
through monitoring and evaluation
that some flaws inherent in program
Participatory
Governance Among the key elements in
participatory governance are people’s
mobilization and training and
awareness raising on participatory
mechanisms (Lucas and Tolentino
2006) that provide space for civil
society organizations (CSOs) to engage
with government agencies together
with other key stakeholders. It must be
noted that CSOs play an important role
in public policy making and program
 The rationale for participatory
governance has always been to exact
accountability, transparency, and
responsibility from government as was the
case in the years after EDSA which saw the
rise of CSOs as a reaction to the opaque
Marcos regime. Training and awareness, as
viewed by Malone and Ball, are pursued to
encourage better citizen participation and
good leadership and governance in local
bodies, such as in the Local School Board, the
Collaborative
GovernanceDefined as a governing
arrangement where public
agencies directly engage with
non-state stakeholders in a
collective decision making
process that is formal,
consensus-oriented and
deliberative for the purpose of
 Echoing Ansell and Gass, Emerson,
Nabatchi and Balogh define collaborative
governance as the processes and structures
of public policy decision making and
management that engage people
constructively across the boundary of public
agencies, levels of government, and public,
private and civic spheres to carry out a
public purpose that could not be
accomplished otherwise (Emerson, Nabatchi
Six important criteria
The Ansell and Gash definition, meanwhile, highlights
six important criteria:
1. The forum is initiated by public agencies or
institutions, Criteria
2. Participants in the public forum include non-state
actors,
3. Participants engage directly in decision making and
are not merely consulted by public agencies,
4. The forum is formally organized and meets
collectively,
5. The forum aims to make decision by consensus,
6. The focus of collaboration is on public policy or
public management.
 Civil Society Organizations
(CSOs)

Dodge contends that civil society

organizations have a role to play in policy
formulation and deliberative democratic decision
making through what she calls ‘storylines.’
Storylines are narratives used to shift the
dynamics of the deliberative system and to
advance the CSO’s own interpretation of issues
and policy making processes to set the agenda,
to construct the content and form of public
deliberation to change the rules of the game in
MTBMLE
Institutionalization
 In the Philippine experience, the
MTBMLE institutionalization is very
much a product of narratives that
were brought to the national
consciousness by advocates who
documented the splinter initiatives in
various communities of practice and
transform these into one compelling
action agenda for decision-making,
eventually bringing MTBMLE into the
educational mainstream by
 Margerum asserts that
meaningful and effective
planning must be based on a
two-way communication flow
between the public and the
planning agency, in this case
the DepEd or its specific
implementing unit, emphasizing
communicative and interactive
nature of planning practice
 Collaborative
planning
Collaborative planning,
HOL from the perspective of
A project or program
management, ensures
half the success; the
other half being the
proper implementation.
 Collaborative Planning
For an inclusive program such as MTBMLE,
collaborative planning would come in
handy as it involves interaction in the form
of partnerships in the course building
consensus, development planning, and
implementation. Because collaborative
planning means collaborative decision making, it
is imperative that the key stakeholders are
involved in all its three phases: in the problem-
setting phase, in the direction-setting phase, and
The Struggle of
MTBMLE
 MTBMLE & K_-12
A number of issues associated with K12, of
which MTBMLE is a major component, is linked
much to the very policy design of the K12 Law
itself. As noted by Howlett, policy design
process is complex, often internally
orchestrated between bureaucrats and target
groups and usually much less accessible to
public scrutiny than many other kinds of policy
deliberations (Howlett 2014). As established in
this research, the implementing rules and
 Nolasco echoed the sentiments of
Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo, the
MTBMLE champion in the House of
Representatives since the 13th k12
Congress until RA 10533 was passed in
the 16th Congress, who parried
attempts to thwart MTBMLE in
favor of an English Only Bill
championed in the same chamber by
Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, whose
known motive was to support then
 English as the Medium of
Instruction
House Bill No.
311
k12
In fact, as recently as
the 16th Congress, Mrs.
Arroyo, now representative of
the 2nd District of Pampanga,
filed House Bill No. 311
seeking to enhance the use
of English as the medium of
instruction in Philippine
Policy Making
 In moving to a new policy design
thinking, Howlett suggests starting with
the basic reality that there are a
variety of different actors
interacting with each other for a N EW

long period of time within the

confines of political and economic
institutions governed by norms and
standards, each of them with different
interests and resources, yet all operating
within a climate of uncertainty caused
both by context and time-specific
Policy Design Making Involves the Public and
the Planning Agency
It is in this light that civil society
organizations and other stakeholders
maximize their participation in the policy
making processes where allowed to guarantee
that the outcome reflects the negotiated form
and substance of a given policy. Needless to
underscore, social mobilization and
awareness play an important role in
maximizing such participation.
 RESOURCES
Aguilar, J. (1961). The language situation in the Philippines: facts and
prospects. Philippine Journal of Education, Vol. 46 (6), 412-470.
Calinos, T. (2016).Policies, Practices, and Prospects in Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education: Synergies for Sustainable and Inclusive Basic Education in the Philippines.
Cruz, P. & Mahboob, A. (in press). Mother-tongue based multilingual education in the
Philippines: Perceptions, problems and possibilities. In J. Choi & S. Ollerhead (Eds.)
Plurilingualism in Teaching and Learning: Complexities Across Contexts. New York:
Routledge.
Malone, S (2003). Education for multilingualism and multi-literacy in ethnic minority
communities: the situation in Asia. Plenary Presentation at the Conference on Language
Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Bangkok Thailand,
November 2003. http://www-01.sil.org/asia/ldc/plenary_papers/susan_malone.pdf
Nolasco, Ricardo Ma. D. (2013/09/13). ‘Castrated MTBMLE. Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Retrieved from http://opinion.inquirer.net/61025/castrated-mtb-mle
Republic Act 10533, An Act Enhancing the Philippine Basic Education System by
Strengthening its Curriculum and Increasing the Number of Years for Basic Education,
Appropriating Funds Therefor for Other Purposes
Republic Act 10533, Implementing Rules and Regulation
UNESCO (2005). First Language First: Community-based Literacy Programmes for
Minority Language Contexts in Asia. UNESCO, Bangkok
Walker, Stephen L., Dekker, Diane E. (2011). Mother Tongue Instruction: A Case from the