MOTHER TONGUE
The “Mother Tongue-based Multi-lingual education” (MTB-MLE) shall be applied from kindergarten to Grade 3 in both public and private schools. It shall be part of the new curriculum for incoming Grade 1 pupils.
The 12 languages as mediums of instruction are: Tagalog, Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, and Chabacano.
DepEd Undersecretary Yolanda Quijano explains that the MTB-MLE will help students understand their lessons better, at the same time infuse a sense of nationalism that she adds is still lacking among the youth.
“Eto talaga ay para naman ma-aware ang bata kung saan siya galing, ang roots niya, ang cultureniya, ang sarili niyang kwento at songs, ang pagka-Pilipino niya,” Quijano says.
Studies show that students learn better when taught in their native language than in a foreign tongue.
Diane Dekker and Walter Stephen of the Summer Institute Linguistic International in 2007 studied 240 elementary students in Lubuagan, Kalinga to gauge whether they learn better when taught in their native language or in English.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/260658/news/specialreports/k-to12-lessons-to-be-taught-in-mother-tongue-to-help-students-learn-better-and-stay-in-school
