Philippines

Year Conducted: 2012

Summary

Some 175 languages are spoken in the Philippines. Most languages have writing systems, and there is some literature written in more than 100 of them. English and Filipino are the official languages of education and literacy for the nation. Local languages have been used as “transitional” or “auxiliary” languages for initial instruction in early primary grades for decades. The Department of Education Order 74 of 2009 established “mother tongue-based multilingual education” as the policy platform for an increased use of di­­fferent languages as the languages of instruction (LOI). According to MLE mapping exercise, twenty-six (26) Philippine languages are currently used in classrooms, some as mediums of instruction. These classes are provided in both formal and non-formal sectors as well as in private and public schools and community learning centers managed by government and civil society organizations. 

*Remarks:

Data is from past experiences covering the period of 1995 – 2010. The modes of interactions with these organizations were seminar-workshops, training programs in the First Language Component-Bridging Program (FLC-BP) including provisions of FLC-BP grade I series books, and preschools. Today, I am still actively involved in the advocacy of the FLE-BP, as an approach to effectively implement MTBMLE.

**Legend: 

The FLC-BP is a bridging program to better implement the Bilingual Education Policy of 1974. The First Language Component is just one part of the teaching-learning program and was never isolated from the teaching-learning experiences in the two primary medium of instruction as specified in the BEP of 1974 which are Filipino and English. Since Filipino children speak languages other than Filipino and English in their homes, this program was based on the pedagogical principle that teaching should proceed from the known (Tuwali, Ifugao / Ilocano) to the unknown (Filipino, English) and was therefore designed to build a bridge between what a child knows and what he doesn’t know. Several experiments have been undertaken in various languages and in all levels of basic education that proved, that using the child’s mother tongue as bridge to learn science, math and English which use English as the mode of instruction is effective.

Explanations

Name of organisation / institution: 

Give the name of the organisation(s) (NGO, local association, etc) or institution (church, pagoda, temple, university etc.) which is initiating and supporting the action. This can include government agencies and institutions. Please specify type of involvement, e.g. initiator, lead actor, funder and implementer.

Level of schooling:

Identify whether action is at the pre-primary level (PP) or at the primary /elementary level (PR). The mapping is focusing only on these two levels of education.

Formal or Non-formal:

Identify whether action is:

1. in the formal (FE) or non-formal (NFE); and
2. in the government education system (Govt) or outside the government system by non-state providers (NSP).

Public or private:

Identify whether the action is happening in the public education (PUB) system or private (PRI). If this does not apply to your country, write n/a.

Which language:

Give the name of the local or minority language(s) which the action includes. If possible, see your country’s section on the Ethnologue.com (http://www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp?place=Asia) and find the relevant 3-letter ISO language code for these languages.

Number of children:

Give the number of children reached by school level (pre-primary and primary/elementary). Please disaggregate by gender (i.e. M: and F:),

Location of action:

Give sub-national location of action(s) either province or district

Use of language in classroom:

Identify how language is used in the classroom by using the descriptors below. Choose the most appropriate one. You can choose more than one.

1. Language of instruction (LOI) is the learners’ mother tongue (MT or L1)  and their second language (L2) .
2. Language of instruction is the mother tongue only.
3. The second language is officially the language of instruction.
4. Language of instruction is the second language with MT as subject.
5. Mother tongue is used orally, no written materials – officially.
6. Mother tongue is used orally, no written materials – unofficially.
7. Second language (L2) is taught as second language.

Materials in classroom:

Are there teaching and learning materials in MT in classroom? Yes or no. If yes, estimate the number of titles in MT.