“The Importance of Mother Tongue-Based Schooling for Educational Quality”

licenced study for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005 Carol Benson, Ph. D. Centre for interrogation on Bilingualism Stockholm Univer simulatey 14 April 2004 Part A Overview While in that location ar many factors bear upond in delivering quality basic breeding, phrase is clearly the key to communication and understanding in the classroom. Many exploitation countries are characterized by individual as well as societal multilingualism, yet continue to all(prenominal)ow a single extraneous wrangle to dominate the education sector.Instruction through a actors line that coners do non speak has been called concentration (Skutnabb-Kangas 2000) because it is analogous to sticking learners under water without commandment them how to swim. Compounded by chronic difficulties such as low levels of instructor education, poorly designed, inappropriate curricula and lack of adequate civilise facilities, ducking makes both(prenominal) versedness and teaching extremely difficult, p articularly when the linguistic communication of instruction is alike foreign to the teacher.Mformer(a) expression- ground bilingual architectural plans use the learners archetypal linguistic process, cognize as the L1, to teach beginning packing and writing skills along with academician content. The morsel or foreign language, kn let as the L2, should be taught systematically so that learners can gradually transfer skills from the old(prenominal) language to the un acquainted(predicate) with(predicate) genius. Bilingual models and practices vary as do their results, scarcely what they rush in common is their use of the fret tongue at least in the early years so that students can acquire and turn literacy skills in addition to understanding and participating in the classroom.Bilingual as opposed to monolingual schooling offers significant pedagogical advantages which have been reported consistently in the academic literature (see reviews in Baker 2001 Cummins 2000 CAL 2001) Use of a familiar language to teach beginning literacy facilitates an understanding of sound-symbol or meaning-symbol correspondence. Learning to read is most efficient when students know the language and can employ psycholinguistic guessing strategies likewise, students can communicate through writing as concisely as they understand the rules of the orthographic (or other written) system of their language.In contrast, submersion programs may succeed in teaching students to decode words in the L2, but it can take years before they discover meaning in what they are reading. Since content area instruction is provided in the L1, the discipline of unseasoned concepts is not postponed until children become competent in the L2. Unlike submersion teaching, which is a lot characterised by lecture and rote response, bilingual instruction allows teachers and students to interact by nature and negotiate meanings together, creating participatory learnedness environments that are conducive to cognitive as well as linguistic development. Explicit teaching of the L2 beginning with verbal skills allows students to learn the new language through communication rather than memorization. In submersion schooling teachers are a great deal forced to translate or code-switch to convey meaning, making concept encyclopaedism uneffective and even impeding language learning, while bilingual programs allow for systematic teaching of the L2. transplant of linguistic and cognitive skills is facilitated in bilingual programs.Once students have basic literacy skills in the L1 and communicative skills in the L2, they can begin reading and writing in the L2, efficiently transferring the literacy skills they have acquired in the familiar language. The pedagogical principles behind this absolute transfer of skills are Cummins (1991, 1999) interdependence theory and the concept of common underlie proficiency, whereby the knowledge of language, literacy and concepts lea rned in the L1 can be accessed and used in the second language once oral L2 skills are developed, and no re-learning is required.Consistent with these principles, it is viable for children schooled totally in the L2 to transfer their knowledge and skills to the L1, but the process is highly inefficient as well as existence unnecessarily difficult. reckon-switching and code-mixing involve alternation between languages, and are common communication strategies in bi- and multilingual contexts. Code alternation functions best when all parties are competent speakers of the languages involved, but in submersion classrooms it is more of a coping scheme for dealing with a foreign instructional medium and does not necessarily contribute to second language learning.As specialists Lanauze & Snow explain, transfer means that language skills acquired in a first language can, at least if developed beyond a accepted point in L1, be recruited at relatively early stages of L2 acquirement for r elatively skilled performance in L2, thus shortcutting the normal developmental progression in L2 (1989 337). Student learning can be accurately assessed in bilingual classrooms. When students can express themselves, teachers can diagnose what has been learned, what dust to be taught and which students need further assistance.In submersion schooling cognitive learning and language learning are confounded, making it difficult for teachers to determine whether students have difficulty understanding the concept itself, the language of instruction, or the language of the test. The affective domain, involving confidence, self-esteem and identity, is strengthened by use of the L1, increasing motivation and world-class as well as creativity.L1 classrooms allow children to be themselves and develop their personalities as well as their intellects, unlike submersion classrooms where they are forced to sit silently or repeat mechanically, leading to frustration and ultimately repetition, ill and dropout. Students become bilingual and biliterate. Bilingual programs encourage learners to understand, speak, read and write in more than one language. In contrast, submersion programs attempt to promote skills in a new language by eliminating them from a known language, which may actually limit learner competence in both.All of these advantages are based on two assumptions one, that basic human needs are being met so that schooling can take place and two, that induce tongue-based bilingual schooling can be properly tooled. Simply changing the language of instruction without resolving other pressing social and political issues is not likely to result in significant improvement in educational services. However, because language cross-cuts race, ethnicity, gender, and poverty, even minimally implemented bilingual programs have the strength to reach those who have traditionally been left behind by L2 submersion schooling.This paper will discuss how choosing an appropriate language of instruction has cocksure implications for education in terms of both increasing access and modify quality. Education for All Building Strong Learning Foundations thru the acquire spit * Philippine basic education is now at a captious crossroad. It now calls for the revisiting of our commitment to Education for All (EFA) 2015. All stakeholders have to be vigilant and involved. Otherwise, education will just be a sick transformative power in our society.Instead of education for all, it will be education for the hardly a(prenominal) instead of seeing Filipino youth become critical thinkers, pellucid communicators, and productive citizens we will see a generation of unreflective and bonny mouthpieces of languages not their own. We affirm the need to improve learning competencies in all subject areas, including English. Our educational system has to move forward following a roadmap drawn by experts in language and education based on empirical proofs. Experiences of other multilingual countries all point to the mother tongue as the best language of learning, especially in the early grades.The mother tongue is the most effective bridge to and metrical unit for the learning of other languages like English. At this stage, however, many of our lawmakers and national leaders still hold on to the unfounded but long-held belief that an English-dominated initial basic education will produce superior learners. We submit that such educational strategy will only benefit a very small heel of Filipinosthose who belong to families where English is the home language. But the truth is that the majority of our school children come from homes where the mother tongue is the predominant language.This explains their marginalization in the classroom. such marginalized learners, as pointed out by scientific evidences causa the double substance of learning. They are struggling to learn the 3Rs on top of the big commit of learning an alien language in which they are taught. This predicament is one of the major culprits of poor performance and high drop-out rates. All of these imply the undeniable approach teach the yet unknown 3Rs through the already familiar local language and culture, build the learners capacity to learn and introduce a second language with the correct phasing.With such mother tongue-based multi-lingual education (MLE) framework, the mastery of all the learning areas including English is effectively attained. It is a basic truth that language embodies a persons cultural identity and heritage. To have-to doe with this truth, even international law guarantees and directs states educational system to develop look upon for the childs own cultural identity and language (Article 29-c convention on the Rights of the Child). Thus, we reject any assertion that a local language may be inferior, inadequate and poses an obstacle to learning.We also reject the coarse argument that MLE is costly and, therefore, very hard to implem ent in the face of limited financial resources. Papua New Guinea, a poor Asian untaught of more than 800 languages, has demonstrated that reliance on local initiatives and resources for MLE is highly viable and substantially saves on much costs of developing and producing learning materials. Recently, our own DepEds Agusan Pilot MLE Study corroborated the practicality and merits of local self-reliance and initiatives.Thus, we submit that ultimately, to verify on teaching with an alien language is more costly and inefficient when children do not become functionally literate and hardly develop higher order thinking skills and whose English competencies are mediocre. Mother Tongue-Based trilingual Education Many Filipino learners face barriers in education. One of these barriers is that our learners often begin their education in a language they do not understand. Because they do not understand the language of education, many learners become demoralised and tend to drop-out from s chool.Content of material is often culturally distant or foreign to the learners. The limited education that learners receive does not prepare them for lifelong learning. Mother tongue-based multilingual education (MLE) is a formal or nonformal education, in which the childrens mother tongue is used in the classroom as a bridge in learning Filipino and English. Children begin their education in a language they understand, their mother tongue, and develop a strong foundation in their mother language.The purpose of a multilingual education program is to develop appropriate cognitive and reasoning skills enabling children to operate every bit in different languages starting in the mother tongue with mutation to Filipino and then English. It is a structured program of language learning and cognitive development which provides learners with a strong educational foundation in the first language. If the mother tongue is not used, we create people who are illiterate in two languages.Chil dren do not become sufficiently fluent in their mother tongue (L1) in both oracy and literacy if their vocabulary in L1 is limited, thus restricting their ability to learn a second language (L2). A strong foundation in L1 is required for learning L2. Childrens understanding of concepts is limited or confused if leaning is only L2. The benefits of MLE include the following Reduced drop-out Reduced repetition Children are go to school. Children are learning. Parents and community are involved. It is more cost effective to implement mother tongue programs.A region wide training was conducted last spend in formulation for this school years pilot implementation. A Regional association of supervisors, school heads and teachers was organized during that training. Feedback gathered from the pilot implementers revealed that teachers go out the use of the MTB-MLE very useful. Pupils are very participative and most of them have learned to read by this time. Although some teachers f ind it tiresome, especially in the preparation of materials, but they feel rewarded by seeing the enjoyment among the pupils in their learning experiences.