By DR. FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID, More to the Point, Manila Bulletin, July 22, 2011, 10:54pm
Source: http://mb.com.ph/articles/327895/learning-with-mother-tongue
MANILA, Philippines - If House Bill 3719 authored by Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo eventually gets passed into law, the mother tongue will be the primary medium for pre-school to Grade 6. English and Filipino will be taught but only as separate subjects not as the primary medium of instruction.
Earlier, former DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus had issued DepEd Order 74 which changed the language of instruction from bilingual to a trilingual one to include the mother tongue.
These initiatives support UNESCO's policy advocacy based on numerous research findings which cite the positive impact of MTBMLE (Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education) on learning and cognition.
I thought that the essays contained in the collection of essays, Starting Where the Children Are, edited by Ricardo Ma.Duran Nolasco, Francisco Andes Datar, and Arnold Molina Azurin, should be brought down to various multisectoral venues where they can be more widely discussed and dissected.
This, before public consultations on the proposed law are conducted.
On the use of the first language as a primary medium of instruction, here is a sampling of comments from some educators: "The pupils were clearly engaged in the learning process;" "It is not only the students that are animated and energized, but the teachers as well;"
"Students learn better with the mother tongue and are better able to apply what they learn;" "L1 (first language) facilitates the learning of a second and a third language and more;" "Countries that use the mother tongue usually garner comparatively better scores in mathematics and science."
But I find linguist and L1 proponent Gloria Baguingan's critique the most compelling argument for the use of the mother tongue. She notes: "Because the mother tongue is a primary vehicle for the development of our sense of "self" within a socio-cultural community, if the first language is silenced, something of the self is choked deep within the person."
She prefaces this with the explanation that "there is a hidden message in the non-use of other languages except Filipino and English." This, she relates to the concept of powerlessness.
"The Filipino with power is a Filipino or an English speaker. The people with the least power and stature are the farmers, janitors, waiters, and cleaners who do not speak English; they may speak the silenced languages.
The language to learn to be in power is the language of the powerful, the prestige language... First language (L1) communication aims to be meaningful, authentic, and relevant to the child's need - not contrived, tightly controlled, and repetitive, the way that English is taught."
Even more forceful is her view about the role of the first language in the development of the value system, the mind and higher mental functions. She
states:
"Since language verbalizes the concept we carry in our head, isn't it likely that the first language is the repository of the value system which then serves as a critical thinking filter for all other value systems introduced, particularly those introduced in another language? Only when a language is sufficiently mastered is the mind capable of high level, divergent, and critical thinking, as well as control of the mind."
The three experimental schools in Lubuagan, Kalinga, all successful, demonstrate how the use of the mother tongue was able to transform learning institutions into becoming top performers. On the learning process, the lessons must be drawn from the daily lived experiences of the learners and reflecting their culture and lifestyle.
With the use of the mother tongue, the pupils must be able to write their own ideas into simple stories or songs. Literature professor Merle Alunan adds what she describes as her own "creative" approach to the legal, conventional, radical, and revolutionary recommendations of advocates in their efforts to "save the mother tongue." She says:
"Tell our stories in the old tongue. Let them be told, or written in the languages we learned at the knees. Teach the young to dream, to speak, to sing in the language of the mother. Let the stories and the poems be in everyone's tongue, the songs in everyone's throats. Give them to every man, woman, and child in every village... Thus will our languages live." (To be continued)
