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ALL CHAPS - Mar 3
ALL CHAPS - Mar 3
A Thesis Proposal
Graduate Program
College of Education
Silliman University
Dumaguete City
Caryl M. Grajo
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
the stagnation of learning outcomes in the schools under the Bilingual Education Policy (Martin,
2015). The pupils will understand what they read if it is in a language that they use and in a
language that they understand (Pado, 2016). To support the goal of the Department of Education
“Every Child- A- Reader and A –Writer” by Grade 1, Mother Tongue is used as a medium of
instruction in the first 3 years of the elementary level in the Philippines (DepEd Order #31s.2013).
It makes the pupils proficient at learning another language and process better and faster learners if
the use of Mother Tongue in the classroom is earlier (Porcalla, 2013). According to the study of
SIL Philippines, the use of Mother Tongue in other lesson outcomes improved math, science and
Studying the primary level pupils of Silliman University Elementary School where there
is a diversity of students learning (different backgrounds), becomes important for improving the
learning process of the pupils. Those pupils who are not proficient in both the Mother Tongue and
English Language are only confused of the curriculum that was implemented in the school. One
reason is that it is difficult to predict at what circumstances the pupils will better adept these
languages because every child is different. These stages are the most crucial in learning that is why
it is better to understand their situation in order to provide possible solution to some problems in
acquiring language.
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Statement of the Problem
The primary level pupils of the Elementary school are all having the Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) but this does not mean that these levels are all best adaptive
or could easily learn both the mother tongue and the English language. In order to pick up a second
and third language more easily, the pupils should learn their first language better but it is difficult
if the pupils are not pliable of the languages. Because of this, there is a need to assess the pupils
from Grades 1, 2 and 3 in their mother tongue and English proficiency to know at what stage is
Thus, this proposed study aims to compare the English proficiency of pupils in grades 1, 2
and 3 in Silliman University Elementary School given variable socio-demographic profile. In this
regard, this study will also examine their socio-demographic profile such as gender of the pupils,
occupation of parents and the usual language used at home. In order to answer the major research
1. Is there a significant relationship between the grade levels and mother tongue language
proficiency of pupils?
2. Is there a significant relationship between the grade levels and English language
proficiency of pupils?
proficiency of pupils?
5. Is there a significant relationship between the mother tongue language and English
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Hypotheses
Generally, it is hypothesized that there are significant relationships exist among socio
demographic and language background, grade levels and English proficiency of pupils. In order to
1. There is no significant relationship between the grade levels and mother tongue
2. There is no significant relationship between the grade levels and English language
proficiency of pupils.
5. There is no significant relationship between the mother tongue language and English
Pupils. The results of this proposed study will be primarily significant to the pupils of
Silliman University Elementary School particularly those having problems with mother tongue
and English language. They may be provided with remedial classes that would help them improve
Teachers. The teachers will also be provided with ideas on how to improve the mother
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Parents. The parents will be provided with ideas on how to help their children to improve
School heads. Similarly, the school head can learn about the factors associated with the
mother tongue and English proficiency of the pupils. It would help the school head to create
This proposed study will focus only on the Mother Tongue and English proficiency of the
pupils and not on the other language that the pupils know. Specifically, it will deal only on the
pupils of grades 1, 2 and 3 in Silliman University Elementary School and their socio-demographic
profile such as gender of the pupils and occupation of parents and the usual language used at home.
Because of that, the other factors that are not mentioned in the research even if they are related in
Definition of Terms
The following terms are the major variables of the study and are defined according to how
they will be gathered, processed and analyzed in order to test the hypotheses:
English language proficiency refers to the ability of the pupils to comprehend and speak the
English Language.
Grade levels refer to the primary level of elementary which are grades 1, 2 and 3 in the Silliman
Socio-demographic profile refers to the gender of the pupils and occupation of their parents.
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Mother tongue language proficiency refers to the ability of the pupils to comprehend and
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CHAPTER II
THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
Related Literature
REVISE THE SUBSECTION TITLES. USE THE VARIABLES YOU NEED AND INDICATED
IN THE HYPOTHESES. DO NOT STATE THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE. REFER TO THE
Philippines. Language proficiency. The MTBMLE in the Philippines has an effect on the English
language teaching and learning (Martin, 2015), however, there are also a lot of beliefs about the
disadvantages of MTBMLE. One of it is that it will lower the proficiency level of the pupils on
the English language. This belief is known to be not true because many international studies prove
that understanding of the own language will effectively help in understanding other languages.
on MTBMLE is not all agreed by teachers in the Luzon part of the Philippines. There are many
factors that needs to be considered in implementing the curriculum. Teachers, students and the
instructional materials were the factors associated with the MTB-MLE in Baguio and Benguet
foreign language should be started in the early age because it will be more difficult to learn another
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language on the older age (Gencer; Sahin; Selcuk; Onur, 2011). The student will also have a hard
time in learning another language if he/she is not proficient in their mother tongue.
Gender and Linguistic Proficiency in Mother Tongue and a Foreign Language: A study
on English Proficiency of Sidamuafo speakers in Sidama Zone. Ten students of boys and girls
were compared in a study in Sidama Zone on their Sidamuafo and English proficiency. Results
found out that males on average scored higher than girls in English. Compared to English, their
Sidamuafo grades are higher. Overall, both genders performed well in the two languages (Menuta;
Wubshet, 2019).
pupils in Ibadan, Nigeria. Age and gender are factors that associated with the cognitive
development of the pupils (Olusola, 2011). The mixture of English and mother tongue as a mode
Theoretical Framework
There are two common approaches about the language acquisition: Behaviorist and
Nativist. The behaviorism by Skinner (1957) explains that the environmental factor is important
in language development. It is through the caregivers' positive reinforced in which a child can learn
the properties of language. In contrast with this theory, the nativist, Chomsky (1965, 1975)
believes that there is innate language knowledge of the child. This is known the Universal
Grammar where the entire language development and processing is an inborn capacity of a child.
These two theories show that the exposure of the child to the language is important in developing
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their learning. BE CONSISTENT ON DOUBLE SPACING. PUT ZERO IN “BEFORE AND
There are many theories about the second language acquisition of a child. One of it is the
acculturation model of Schumann (1976, 1978). According to his model, a person will be less
proficient in the second language if he/she has less contact to it. His study was primarily focused
on immigrants, migrant workers and the children of such groups. Furthermore, the acquisition of
the second language is through the acculturation process and if a learner is expose to the target
language culture, and then he/she will be successful in learning the second language.
Another theorist that believes that the first language and second language are actually
tasks are common to the two languages. These tasks include literacy, content learning, abstract
thinking and problem solving. According to his Threshold Hypothesis, if a person has a low
Therefore, if a child is not proficient in the first language, then the child will also not be
proficient on the second language. Based on the theories, there are many factors in language
proficiency. However, these factors contribute a lot in the language development of the child.
Conceptual Framework
There are three different groups in this study: Grade 1, 2 and 3 pupils. These 3 groups have
different kinds of family background and gender. Although these 3 groups have different kinds of
level, their proficiency in Mother Tongue and English will be compared as to which stage performs
better.
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Parents or guardians have the strongest influence in the child's language development
especially in the early years. The parent's occupation will tell about their approach of the language
proficiency of the child. If the child's parents are unemployed, it means they have more time to
take in the control of the developmental process, on the other hand, if the parents are busy in their
job, they have lesser time with their child. Because of this, if the parent is employed, enrolling the
child to a tutorial class or teaching them at least an hour would help the proficiency of the child.
Gender of the pupil is also an important part of the language acquisition. In an early stage,
the gender differences are evident. Girls usually use language in their emotional context while
boys use language in their description of things. Because of this, it is said that girls perform better
in language proficiency.
These variables are helpful in knowing the factors that would affect the Mother Tongue
and English proficiency of a child. This model is helpful in designing and implementing remedial
program for children who have low proficiency in mother tongue and English language (see Figure
1).
1. There is no significant relationship between the grade levels and mother tongue
2. There is no significant relationship between the grade levels and English language
proficiency of pupils.
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5. There is no significant relationship between the mother tongue language and English
GIRL BOY
GRADE 1
PUPILS
GENDER MOTHER TONGUE
LANGUAGE
GRADE 2 PROFICIENCY - ----
PUPILS REMEDIAL
PARENTS’
PROGRAM
OCCUPATION
GRADE 3
ENGLISHLANGUAGE
PROFICIENCY
- -----
PUPILS
EMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED
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BE CONSISTENT ON DOUBLE SPACING. PUT ALL ZERO IN “BEFORE AND
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This is a descriptive research about the Mother Tongue and English Proficiency of the
grades 1, 2 and 3 pupils of Silliman University Elementary School. It will describe the existing
factors that are associated with the mother tongue and English proficiency of the pupils especially
Research Environment
The study will be conducted in Silliman University Elementary School. The school is
composed of diverse students from different places around the province of Negros Oriental. The
school is located in the capital of the province which is the Dumaguete City.
The respondents of the study include grades 1, 2 and 3 pupils of Silliman University
Elementary School consists of different gender and occupation of parents. They will be identified
A list of grades 1, 2 and 3 pupils will be identified from which they will be randomly
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Research Instrument
The study will be conducted through self-administered survey. The survey questionnaire
contains the socio-demographic profile of the pupils as well as their quarterly grades in mother
The data gathering will be personally administered by the researcher after it is approved by
the school principal. The researcher will give a questionnaire to the teacher of the pupils. The
questionnaire contains two different types: the pupil’s profile and grades in English and Mother
Tongue.
Since the research has different kinds of variable, the researcher will use two kinds of
statistical tools. The first variable is the socio-demographic profile which is nominal (WHAT
EXACTLY ARE THE VARIABLES FOR CHI-SQUARE?), so chi-square will be used to test the
null hypotheses. The next variables are the proficiency of pupils in English and mother tongue
through grades so will be measured through Pearson correlation coefficient. If the value is greater
than 0, it means there is a positive association between the two variables. NOT CORRECT.
REFER TO SIGNS AND SHOULD NO BE MORE THAN ONE. REVISE THIS. AT WHAT
LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE?
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Ethical Considerations
Letter will be sent to the principal of Silliman University Elementary School if she will
allow the conduct study with the pupils. It is only approved by the principal that the identification
of the potential pupils. The parents of the identified pupils will be also requested through letters if
With the help of the teachers, the sampled pupils will be informed about the study and they
will be requested if they are willing to participate. Those pupils who will refuse will be replaced
accordingly. The scores of the pupils will be treated with outmost confidentiality and their identity
will be anonymous in processing and interpreting the data. After the data will be processed and
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Timetable of the Study
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Budgetary Requirement
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REFERENCES
Dumatog, R., & Dekker, D. (2003). First language education in Lubuagon, Northern Philippines.
Conference on language development, language revitalization and multilingual education
in minority communities in Asia. Bangkok.
FOLLOW ABOVE FORMAT FOR THE REST OF THE TITLES.
Gencer, E., Sahin, K., Selcuk, A.,& Onur, T. (2011). The Role of Mother Tongue
Proficiency in Foreign Language Proficiency. Kafkas University.
Gorio, D., Galino, A., Morales, J.,& Palileng, J. (2014, May). FACTORS AFFECTING
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MOTHER TONGUE-BASED
MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION AS PERCEIVED BY TEACHERS IN BAGUIO.
Retrieved from
https://sites.google.com/site/languageandmothertongue/home/research-on-mtb
Martin, I. P. (2010). Periphery ELT: The politics and practice of teaching English in the
Philippines.Ó InThe Routledge Handbook of World Englishes, ed. A. Kirkpatrick.
UK: Routledge.
Martin, I.P. (2015). English in Mother Tongue based Multilingual Education (MTBMLE)
in the Philippines. Retrieved from:
https://www.academia.edu/13489256/English_in_Mother_tongue
based_multilingual_education_in_the_Philippines_2015_?fbclid=IwAR0Bw0v0
ZH8fhQANz1kaGa1ddPcZMqZlpVKm7vIEZR3Uuf3djXPIO4L8yQ
Menuta, F.,& Wubshet, H. (2019). Gender and Linguistic Proficiency in Mother Tongue
and Foreign Language: A study on English Proficiency and Sidamuafo speakers
in Sidama Zone..IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science.
16
Olusola, F (2011). Evaluation of Effectiveness of Mother Tongue and combined Mother
Tongue-English Language Pedagogical strategies in enhancing academic
performance among Primary School pupils in Ibadan, Nigeria. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/11916913/EVALUATION_OF_EFFECTIVENESS_
Schuman, H., & Johnson, M. P. (1976). Attitudes and behavior. Annual Review of
Sociology, 2, 161-207.
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APPENDICES
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