Thesis Revision Chapters

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
CHAPTER I
PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Children who do not comprehend or speak the official school language when
they start school are placed in the MTB MLE educational program (Malone, 2016).
Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is a program described as
formal or non-formal education in which the young learners use their mother tongue
as their first language (Villacruz & Perez, 2020). In addition, MTB-MLE started its
implementation in all public Elementary schools at Mariveles, Bataan that cater
Kinder to Grade 3 as part of the K to 12 Basic Education Program in 2013
(Department of Education, 2012). Likewise, the MTB-MLE program was created
because of Republic Act 10533 which mentioned that the curriculum should assess
students starting from their prior knowledge to new contexts with alignment to MTB-
MLE concepts and frameworks. Moreover, the curriculum should provide access to
learning materials, educational resources and characteristics of qualified MTB-MLE
curriculum teachers (Republic Act No. 10533, 2013). The Department of Education
(DepEd) asserted the efficacy of employing a first language or the mother tongue for
imparting knowledge in 2009. Importantly, mother tongue is a key factor for inclusion
and quality learning which improves learning outcomes (UNESCO, 2022) and
students may acquire other academic competencies more quickly, particularly in
science and math (Castillo, 2018).
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Despite the positive effects, there are also downsides in the implementation
of MTB-MLE. A research study mentioned that the implementation was affected
because of the lack of relevant training for teachers, lack of instructional materials
and the inconsistencies between and among the curriculum guide (Maralli, 2019).
Likewise, Martha & Ndemupondaka (2022) stated that teaching students from
various ethnic backgrounds may have difficulties in learning because of lack of
culturally created learning materials and limited proficiency with the language of
teaching in math programs. At this point, students experience challenges because of
the shortage of textbooks written in the language of teaching and with the concepts
being translated. According to Baquiller & Abellon Jr (2021), teachers are having a
serious problem in translating certain terminologies because some mathematical
words have no translation in the mother tongue. Whereby, students also claimed
that there was no mathematical vocabulary available in the instruction languages,
thus young learners were unable to apply mathematics to solve common problems.
Furthermore, literal translations caused by the instruction language's lack of
mathematical vocabularies affected the meanings of mathematical concepts. In
addition, teachers' main issues in teaching Mathematics were students' attitudes and
time constraints. Hence, the negative variables found to stand in the way of teaching
and studying Mathematics were time-consuming classes and students' negative
mentality and perception of Mathematics skills and competences (Mojica, 2019).
Uayan (2017) found out that willingness in attending seminars about the MTB-MLE
instructions are treated as one of the main challenges of Mathematics teachers in
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implementing the said program. In line with this, other foreign countries mentioned
that there is a direct impact on students if teachers have inadequate training, thus
resulting in them not acquiring the solid foundations they need to attain in primary
education (ProFuturo, 2021).
Statement of the Problem
The primary concern of this study is to determine the teaching practices and
challenges in implementing Mother Tongue Based Instruction for Mathematics as a
basis for teacher development programs.
To acquire the necessary data and information the study aims to address the
following questions.
1. What are the teaching strategies employed by Math teachers in using MTB-
MLE in the classroom? How do teachers describe their teaching strategies?
2. What are the problems encountered by Math teachers in employing the MTB-
MLE?
3. What possible training programs could be developed based on the findings of
the study?
Theoretical Framework
Sociocultural Theory by Lev Vygotsky (1896) was used as the theoretical framework
for this study.
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The Sociocultural Theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky in 1962 explained that
language acquisition occurs in social interaction. Likewise, the theory emphasizes
that social interaction has a fundamental role in the cognitive development of the
child, whereby learning happens inside the community which acts the central role of
the developmental process. Thus, children acquire knowledge and expand their
understanding with the help of collaborating with others (Mcleod, 2022) and
incorporate by adding personal values to their learning (Topciu & Myftiu, 2015). Also,
Vygotsky declared that children cannot replicate what has been offered by teachers
to effectively learn concepts. Indeed, this theory proved that there is a dynamic
nature and learning between teachers and students through interaction. Hence,
social interaction has profound implications for classroom learning where it is
particularly relevant in teaching diverse learners and teachers' effective strategies to
obtain learning (Topciu & Myftiu, 2015).
Accordingly, sociocultural theory is relevant in the current study. In the study,
teachers employed different teaching strategies to support students’ learning and
encourage them to have an active engagement with the help using mother tongue
instruction. In particular, teachers are required to use language that students can
comprehend since this allows students to express their thoughts freely in their
mother tongue. Within a sociocultural perspective, students who discuss their ideas
to others, listen to others and explain their thoughts acquire knowledge of culturally
recognized mathematical practices. Moreover, teachers utilize this theory as it
supports students in developing their vocabulary and literacy, enabling them to
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proceed to internalized learning. Thus, students create their own knowledge and
develop mathematical meanings as they learn to explain and justify thinking to
others. Notably, students' comprehension of mathematical concepts changes as
they learn to speak the mathematical languages. Concisely, the mathematical
language comes from society, and the thought (concept) comes from the individual.
Through this, language proficiency will be easier attained and students can easily
cope up with the lessons. Moreover, the comprehensible level of the students will be
maintained no matter what language they will use in communicating (Alkhudiry,
2022). Hence, learning should not be limited because children learn best when they
are involved in peer activities or tasks. Indeed, teachers and parents also take part
in giving guidance and encouragement among young learners for imparting
knowledge and mastering new skills. In this study, teachers employ various
strategies to make sure that the intended learning outcome will be achieved.
Whereby, strategies may be focused on interacting with the students through
discussion or activities with peers.
Conceptual Framework
This study is conducted to describe and collect data regarding the strategies
and challenges encountered by teachers in teaching mathematics.
Figure 1 shows the paradigm of the study. It consists of 5 boxes namely: 1)
Teaching practices implemented by teacher, 2) Teacher -the center of this present
study, 3)The themes that involves strategies and challenges of teachers, 4) The
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effective outcomes of strategies and challenges employed by teachers, and
lastly, 5) The developed trainings and seminars for faculty development.
Teaching Practices
Teachers
Strategies Challenges
Accumulate effective
strategies and Develop trainings
challenges and seminars for
encountered by faculty development
teachers
This process was performed in gathering data, through conducting face-to-face
interviews.
Assumptions
The following assumptions served as a catalysts to the qualitative observation
1. Grade 3 teachers in teaching mathematics will participate in the study.
2. Study participants will be able to verbalize their personal, and sociocultural
experiences through insights, thoughts, and impressions.
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3. Study participants would provide truthful and accurate accounts of their
individual experiences.
Significance of the study
Teachers are the important beneficiaries of the study. This study can benefit the
teachers as it determined the practices and challenges in teaching mathematics
which would serve as their reference to effectively implement mother tongue
instruction. This study could help other teachers know what effective strategies they
can employ to impart knowledge and foster better learning for students. Indeed,
future educators would manage to improve themselves as early as possible before
taking the teaching profession. Likewise, Education policymakers may use the study
as a basis in crafting programs to refine the implementation of the MTB-MLE such
as training and seminars. Indeed, such opportunities to attend relevant training
programs for teachers can help them acquire additional knowledge about the
implementation and enhance their competencies in teaching the subject matter.
Moreover, this study may serve as a guide or reference for students who are
undertaking the similar study. Other student researchers will be guided throughout
the research process in their seeking of more suitable output for their work. This will
be an important contribution to studies which aim to bring competent and effective
social researchers.
Scope and Delimitation
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This descriptive study aims to determine the teaching practices and
challenges in implementing Mother Tongue-Based- Multilingual Education in
Mathematics in Mariveles, Bataan.
The participants of the study were composed of grade 3 elementary public
teachers in Cabcaben Elementary School and Ipag Elementary School. These two
(2) Schools were chosen because they are categorized as big Schools in the
District of Mariveles. Furtheremore the schools are composed of diverse learners.
Hence, the Mathematics teachers themselves would employ a variety of strategies
that suited each learner. Also,
the researchers could identify that few of them might attended some training
session.
Moreover, the participants were described in terms of their teaching plans and
strategies in teaching Mathematics subjects. This study was also envisioned to
explore the challenges affecting the implementation of mother tongue instruction. In
addition, the insights of the Math teachers from the elementary school will be
thoroughly examined. The researchers will conduct a face-to-face interview and
documentation to gather information. Hence, researchers secured all the letters and
permits to conduct the study and were all sent to the concerned people and officers.
However, the unavailability and unwillingness of the participants are the possible
hindrances to conduct the study. Researchers provided options among all the
participants whether to be interviewed online or in a face to face set up.
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Definition of Terms
Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education(MTB-MLE). It is an education,
formal or non - formal, in which the learner's mother tongue and additional
languages are used in the classroom.
Mother Tongue. The language which a person has grown up speaking from early
childhood.
Multilingual. People or groups who are able to use more than two languages for
communication, or (of a thing) written or spoken in more than two different
languages.
Language Proficiency
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
This chapter presents the related literature, related studies, synthesis review
of related literature and studies are used in the study.
Related Literature
MTB-MLE was implemented
MTB-MLE was started to be implemented when the Department of Education
released nationwide guidelines that all public schools should use the student mother
tongue as medium of instruction, specifically Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2 and 3 under
the DepEd Order No.16, S. 2012. Likewise, mother tongue as a subject area and
mother tongue as medium of instruction are the two modes of the implementation.
The Mother Tongue (MT) as a subject will support the children's development of
beginning reading, and fluency from grades 1 to 3. While the mother tongue as a
medium of instruction has been used in all learning areas from Kindergarten through
Grade 3 except Filipino (L2) and English (L3) (DepEd, 2012). This program was
supported by Section 9 of the Senate Bill No. 3286 which states that the mother
tongue of the language also known as first language, home language, or native
language can help teachers get much better ideas of what their students learned
(Senate of the Philippines, 2012). According to Ugwu and Ogunremi (2019), Mother
Tongue is defined as a local language which an individual possesses consciously or
unconsciously. Indeed, MT is an indispensable cultural legacy of people wherein all
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forms of interactions are carried out. Learners begin their education in the language
they understand best, which is their mother tongue and need to develop a strong
foundation in their mother language before effectively learning additional languages.
Besides, MTB-MLE strengthens the development of the appropriate cognitive and
reasoning skills enabling children to operate equally in different languages starting
with the mother tongue (Deped, 2016). Teachers should start assessing the
student’s learning levels and prior knowledge in order to impart new knowledge.
Also, students will be able to think and perform better in class if they are taught in
their mother tongue (Medilo, 2018). Whereby, countries who successfully
implemented the MTBE have a higher rate of literacy (96.7%) than other countries
which only proves that MTBE facilitates literacy development as UNESCO claimed
(Wa-Mbaleka, 2015).
Implications of using Mother Tongue as Instruction
According to a South African study that gathered national data from 9000
schools between 2007 and 2011, students who are taught in their mother tongue
throughout the first three years of their education tend to perform better on
examinations in their intermediate grades (Taylor & Von Fintel, 2016). In particular,
there are various ways of teaching other subjects using mother tongue instruction,
for instance, directly teaching mathematics and science where teachers can use
familiar grammatical structure and vocabulary that is comprehensible by the
students. Clegg and Simpson (2016), claim that by transferring particular literacy
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skills between languages, the knowledge acquired during mother tongue literacy
lessons may indirectly improve performance in English and other subject matters. In
South Africa, schools have begun to become multilingual with students from
linguistically diverse backgrounds and teaching is going to have a strong chance of
being effective if teachers and the school itself embrace the multilingualism concept
(Xeketwana, 2021). In addition, the reading materials in the MT languages were
already available when the MTB was started to be implemented. Even so, according
to Perez (2020), teachers' knowledge and background in teaching MTB-MLE is not
enough for them to perform effectively in teaching their learners, thus, this further
implies teachers are not yet completely capable of utilizing the language and
teaching the subject. Countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines
have experienced insufficiency of instructional materials which hinder the
transmission of content in local languages, that is why community members in each
country were involved in the production of materials (Perez, 2020). According to
Sasse (2016), teaching mathematics can pose linguistic challenges, including the
mastery of mathematical vocabulary because some mathematical terms can be
challenging to comprehend and teachers must be proficient in the technical
language to teach mathematics effectively in a second language (L2). Additionally,
Dewi,Usman, & Muslem (2019) asserted that vocabulary can take on a different
meaning when used in a mathematical context, thus, teachers must be aware of
these challenges and be equipped to provide students with the support they need to
comprehend mathematical concepts and vocabulary in the L2. Notably, DepEd
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Order No. 28 s. 2013 stated that the macro-skills in L2 and L3 shall continuously be
developed from grade 2 to grade 6 because the use of L2 and L3 is limited to the
translation of specific terms and is not completely employed in activities that assess
the macro skills in these languages (Gempeso & Mendez, 2021).
Related Studies
Strategies employed by teachers
According to Maralli (2019), there are many problems that may be
encountered in the implementation of Mother Tongue Based Education specifically
in Math subject namely: the lack of preparation prior to its implementation
particularly in terms of conducting relevant training and seminars for the teachers in
developing localized instructional materials and vocabulary development; lack of
instructional materials; and the inconsistencies between and among the curriculum
guide, learning, and instructional materials and the teaching guides were also
considered challenges in the implementation of MTBE. Thus, challenges and
difficulties have challenged the teachers to rely on their abilities and strategies to
address the needs of the young students and to always make meaningful lessons.
One of the common strategies employed by MTB-MLE teachers is the
translation method to promote comprehension in class. According to Kolman (2018),
students' understanding of the teachings is improved when teachers use borrowed
and translated resources although translation lies in its capacity to help educators
satisfy the demands of pupils who speak a range of languages. Likewise,
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Mažeikienė (2019) and Parba (2018), this strategy provides a solution to all
teachers' problems when delivering MTB-MLE lessons which help to connect the
students to the subject, therefore, translation is advantageous in teaching students'
native language.
Notably, teachers should also establish a positive relationship toward his/her
students to facilitate effective teaching and learning process which is supported by
Ayuwanti, Marsigit, & Siswoyo (2021) wherein Student-Teacher positive interaction
can build and improve students' understanding of math concepts that helps them
learn and efficiently perform their school activities. Likewise, positive interactions
could stimulate enthusiasm and motivations to students that affects their
understanding of the lesson. Positive reinforcement performs to a significance for
the teachers to motivate the learners to enhance their learning. As cited by Ismail
(2023) and Acharya (2017), positive reinforcement is a teaching method that
encourages the learners' attitudes and enhances their emotional intelligence to
participate and keep them interested in learning something. Therefore, positive
reinforcement brings the classroom more engagement, productivity and performs
positive interaction between teacher and learners. Moreover, Students' academic
performance will improve if they are taught using the Mastery Learning Approach
(MLA) because they can easily assimilate what has been taught by their teachers.
Moreover, these strategies guarantee that students can collaborate with themselves
and provide more active engagement that helps them easily comprehend concepts.
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Thus, utilizing MLA can help students have a higher retention abilities in learning
math concepts (Oginni, Akinola, Fadiji & Amole, 2022).
Another, integrating instructional materials in teaching is one of the effective
strategies into the MTB-MLE program. According to Shabiralyani, Hasan, Hamad,
and Iqbal (2015), visual aids encourage students in the learning process, make the
lesson more interesting and comprehensible, increase the vocabulary and provide
an active engagement for students.because they can visualize what is being
discussed (Cockert & Kilgour,2015). Likewise, various visual tools such as symbols,
pictures, charts, gestures, finger counting, drawings and so on have the potential to
facilitate effective numeracy learning which Smith & Cekiso (2020) claimed that
these tools have a power to transform the abstract nature of numeracy to concrete
objects. Thus, visual aids become crucial in education. Since students may
demonstrate a deeper understanding of the subject matter and display interest in
their discussions, teachers may employ storybooks that are published in their mother
tongue. Raiyn (2016) mentioned that visual aids bring the real thing closer to the
students where the learning process becomes more natural and realistic as well as
easy for students to form mental images of abstract ideas. Likewise, teachers are
encouraged to continue utilizing concrete examples as it helps the students increase
their knowledge of mathematical concepts (Jones & Tiller, 2017). Hence, problems
in educational materials have to be addressed as both teachers and learners rely on
these to learn. MTB-MLE teachers have observed the effectiveness of their medium
of instruction through the use of storybooks (Balacano, 2020), the use of other books
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for classroom activities or exercises (Kolman, 2018), the use of references and
dictionaries (Trujillo, 2020), and the use of various technique such as singing or
praying at the start of class in MTB-MLE language (Abrea, Ortua, & Robles, 2020).
In the past decades, books have been the fundamental primary source of teaching
and which have played a significant role for students as they enhance their own
learning process of development. However, Fan, Cheng, Xie, Luo, Wang and Sun
(2021) asserted that textbooks are currently considered as least effective strategies
employed by the mathematics teacher. Meanwhile, utilizing the spoon-feeding
approach is also considered as least effective because it does not support student’s
learning as it only promotes dependency on others, lack of engagement and
undoubtedly facilitates effective learning. Chhem (2000 as cited by Samah et al.,
2009), spoon-feeding can do harm to students because it does stimulate active
participation and only foster rote learning. Likewise, this could also affect the
initiative and problem solving skills because they are not trained to search for data
for themselves.
Another, a repetitive approach in teaching mathematics can be beneficial for
students to deepen their understanding of the subject. By engaging in multiple
problem-solving trials, students can grasp different techniques to solve mathematical
problems, leading to long-term knowledge retention and practical application
(Boikina, 2021). According to Lomibao & Ombay (2015) repetition is vital in
student's learning and through repetition approach the learners are able to enhance
their capability to explain, comprehend and apply mathematical concepts. Therefore,
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repetition is effective in teaching mathematics to improve the students' performance,
the concept of comprehending and developing learners’ retention.
In addition, students' engagement and learning are guaranteed in MTB-MLE
lessons mainly to the utilization of instructional technology. According to
Abdulrahaman, Faruk, Oloyede, Surajudeen-Bakinde, Olawoyin, Mejabi, Imam-
Fulani, Fahm, and Azeez (2020), interactive elements in technology, particularly
multimedia, enable people to communicate through digital and printed media which
can also be used in teaching and learning where Jackson (2017) assert that this can
have a significant impact on student progress. In comparison with traditional
teaching methods, Nawzad, Rahim and Wakil (2018) stated that technology
engages students to study, boosts grades, and makes it easy for them to do tasks
more quickly. This strategy helps the students to easily comprehend ideas and
concepts which only proves that students gain positive impact because this
enhances their learning ability, eagerness and participation in the math class (Bam,
2021).
Moreover, teachers can also engage his/her students in various peer
activities that help them to easily cope in their lesson. Additionally, this strategy
helps the students’ increases their confidence and self-esteem wherein they are not
hesitant to give their explanations and give more time discussing their math thinking.
Knowing how to explain their thinking and being able to share their thoughts with
others help students enrich their learning to another level (Kane, 2018). Intan et al.
(2023) stated that this could provide a positive influence to the students' learning
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because they could assist one another to achieve the same success. Learners have
the same level of thinking since they are the same age that helps them to easily
deliver the information to their friend compared to their instructor. As cited by
AbdulRaheem et.al (2017), peer activity offers the opportunity for each learner to
become aware of their weaknesses as well as learners perceived to enhance their
own learning. Hence, peer activity showed profoundly that the quality of learners’
interactions with their peers improved significantly both academically and socially.
Meanwhile, teachers can also collaborate with their co-workers because Geeraerts,
Tynjälä, and Heikkinen (2018) asserted that every teacher absorbs information from
their peers differently that they can utilize in teaching to address such difficulties in
the teaching process. Apart from practical knowledge, classroom management
skills, self-organization and community building which are attained from older
colleagues, innovative teaching approaches and ICT abilities are also learned from
younger colleagues and give teachers viewpoints on instruction and instructional
strategies. Conversely, according to Lacy & Guirguis (2017), the academic
components of students' education may be neglected by teachers in their first year
of teaching due to stress, a lack of adequate support, and anxiety. Through the help
of older colleagues, beginning teachers overcome challenges, that is why consulting
is quite important to reduce hesitancy and worries related to teaching MTB-MLE.
Challenges encountered by teachers.
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Despite the many benefits cited for MTB-MLE, it also presents drawbacks that
cannot be ignored in this discussion.
According to Cruz (2015), the majority of the instructional objectives in the
mother tongue as a subject are not being met, particularly in the areas of grammar
awareness, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. Thus, teachers
use another language as an accessory to the mother tongue in teaching. Teachers
are facing serious problems with the implementation of MTB MLE whereas attending
relevant training and provision of evaluation instruments are included. Likewise,
Shuukwanyama, Long, Nkosi, and Maseko (2022) declared that there are some
teachers who do not speak any of the vernacular language offered in school and
deprived them to fully understand the subject matter and gain pedagogical
knowledge of MT instruction if they are taught in English.Although translanguaging
can promote the use of a mother tongue that helps the students understand new
concepts during their discussion, there are some teachers who are skeptical in
translating words because students’ mastery of the macro skills can be affected
(Macawile & Plata, 2022).
According to Lopez, Castaneda, Castillo, and Victoria (2020), instructional
materials provided by the Department of Education received negative feedback from
teachers whereby research found that if the teacher has enough materials, the
teacher can maximize his/her potential as a facilitator of knowledge and will project
better results of learning. Although, teachers are unsure if the instructional materials
they present can accommodate the learning and support the MTB-MLE because of
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the unavailability of localized translated instructional materials. Araza (2018),
asserts that the presence of books in the teaching and learning process is vital and
that absence of books from the process could hinder the attainment of effective
learning outcomes.Hence, MTB-MLE implementation also gets affected by
numerous problems such as the fact that the instructional materials have not been
translated into the students' native or regional tongue (Valerio, 2015). As a result of
these problems, MTB-MLE Policy is being antagonized by the teachers because
they believe that there will be no obtained material value toward the use of Mother
tongue instruction in teaching and learning it. Some teachers believe that English
has dominant benefits that may lead to economic success (Parba, 2018).
According to Tonio and Ella (2019), pre-service teachers agree that the use of
mother tongue in Grades 1-3 is good in principle and may be used as a medium of
instruction that enables them to express themselves clearly. Moreover, mother
tongue instruction helps them to make the lessons more interesting and
comprehensible to the students. Hence, pre-service teachers believe that the use of
the mother tongue can be a way so that parents can also take part in the learning of
the students. However, making use of a mother tongue is not possible considering it
is challenging to translate all the technical words and expressions in the students'
subject matter to their mother tongue, along with the challenge of producing
textbooks in the mother tongue that might help in teaching. In Ghana, research
found out that 31.6% of their respondents stated that lack of adequate vocabulary
was a major hindrance in the use of L1 in teaching mathematics. Hence, Karikari,
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Kumi, Achiaa, and Adu (2022) stated that teachers find it difficult to get exact
vocabulary for the mathematical words which are written in the English Language.
In addition, Hafiz and Farik (2016) revealed that pupils in Nadi in Fiji lower
primary school classes showed poor performance in their mathematics examination
due to inability to cope with language used to teach mathematics in the classes,
alternatively stated that students managed to get more higher scores orally and
written if they are taught with home language and materials from their cultural
environment. Although, the problem emerged because teachers are not multilingual
in MTs, nor competent to practice translingual teaching, that is why, they speak their
own MT, struggle to teach in an unfamiliar language and use learning materials in a
foreign language. Though it appears unjust and inequitable to both students and
instructors, the practice required of Grade 3 Mathematics teachers in South Africa's
Black townships is a fact (Moshaba, 2020).
MTB-MLE developed training programs
Aligned to this, DepEd Order 42, series of 2017 issued the National Adoption
and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST),
recognizing the importance of professional standards in continuing professional
development and advancement of teachers (DepEd, 2017). Likewise, PPST is an
enhanced version of the National Competency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS)
that sets performance indicators classified in appropriate domains and strands that
guide teacher professional development. Moreover, the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC) also referred to the NCBTS in designing the Licensure
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Examination for Teachers (LET). Thus, the competencies mentioned in the NCBTS,
which is now PPST, are emphasized in the training of would-be teachers. Tertiary
Education Institutions (TEI) audit their curriculum using the PPST since their primary
objective is to produce high-quality teachers for a high-quality teaching force. and
make sure that the competencies prescribed by the national agency are given
emphasis in the program preparing teachers and that the pre-service language
teachers (PSLTs) will be familiar with the established competencies (Gutierrez &
Espique, 2020).
Countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines
describe teacher’s training as imperative in instruction. Dutcher (2004 as cited by
Perez, 2019), teachers need training in using the learner’s first language in the
classroom because they have to learn the methodology to exploit the advantages of
using a mother tongue where learners can easily comprehend their instructions.
Moreover, Wedell (2005 as cited by Perez, 2019) claimed that teacher’s training
affects the implementation of Mother Tongue-based Instruction in the classroom.
Hence, the programs were to aid the problems experienced by the MTB-MLE
teachers in the country. For instance, DepEd South Cotabato implemented a
Memorandum entitled “Pre-work Conference For Trainers on the Conduct of
DivisionTraining-Workshop for MTB-MLE teachers (DepEd, 2019) and the Division
Memorandum in Region-III about 5-day Region-Wide Training on the Enhancement
of Pedagogical skills in Teaching Reading in the Mother Tongue and Bridging
Process for Grade 1 teachers in Pampanga (DepEd, 2017). Additionally, the ''
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Conduct of Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines (ABC+) Project
Professional Development Programs Upscaling'' from Iloilo City was conducted for
all teachers in the country. In particular, the activity aims to capacitate the
participants on the content and platforms to be used in their respective regions, draft
research-based and data-driven project initiatives that will improve the learning
outcomes of K to 3 learners in their respective regions and form linkages and share
with other regions, schools divisions, and schools noteworthy practices aligned with
Instructional Learning Training (ITL) principles (DepEd, 2022). Moreover, the
Department of Education Region-III executed a regional memorandum about
“Regional Participatory Orthography Development Workshop for Indigenous
People’s Languages” in Pampanga. Whereby, the training-workshop aims to orient
the participants on the principles of orthography development and its four minima.
Most importantly, it will develop the spelling guides of the identified indigenous
peoples’ (IP) languages. Likewise, the orthographics of the different indigenous
peoples’ languages will be the basis for developing teaching materials and
assessment in the mother tongue of the learners (DepEd, 2017).
Synthesis of Review of Literature and Studies
The study showed that there is a factor and strategies that address the
challenges in teaching mathematics in the implementation of MTB-MLE. Teaching
mathematics is not as easily taught as it seems, as a result, they encountered some
major challenges such as lack of teachers’ training, lack of instructional materials,
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and translation challenges. Despite this, such difficulties encourage them to create
more meaningful lessons and employ alternatives to remove the barriers while
providing students the knowledge and skills they need for the curriculum's intended
learning outcomes. Teachers can employ strategies such as translation of
terminologies, utilization of other instructional materials, use of technology in
teaching, and consultation with another teacher. Utilizing mother tongue as
instruction is advantageous for both teachers and students as it facilitates effective
learning and assists in the development of comprehensible lessons for the teachers.
Likewise, mother tongue instruction affects the students' level of performance in the
classroom, which builds their interest and enthusiasm to listen, learn and participate
in the classroom.
Hence, teachers have to essentially attend specific training programs in using
the first language of the students to learn the methodology and exploit advantages in
teaching instruction. Such programs help to ensure that MTB-MLE will be
successfully implemented for the development of teaching instructions, faculty and
curriculum. Moreover, this will benefit the teachers to improve their teaching
practices, widening their horizon to properly implement the MTB-MLE and may
adapt strategies that they can use in a classroom setting. All of these reflect on the
advantages of teacher training in developing effective teaching practices that
incorporate the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in mathematics subjects.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter represents and describes the research methodology. It contains
an explanation of the research design, research locale, participants of the study,
sampling, the research instrument, data gathering procedure, ethical consideration,
and data analysis.
Research Design
The purpose of this study was to determine the teaching practices and
challenges encountered by the teachers, Thus, this study employs descriptive-
qualitative study research design. According to Bradshaw, Atkinson, and Doody
(2017), qualitative descriptive design may be deemed most appropriate as it
recognizes the subjective nature of the problem, the different experiences
participants have. Additionally, it present the findings in a way that directly reflects or
closely resembles the terminology used in the initial research question. Furthermore,
the Descriptive qualitative method is a type of research that focuses on collecting
and analyzing data to explain an existing phenomenon, the goal of this approach is
to gain a deeper understanding of the subject being studied. Likewise, the
descriptive-qualitative method was used to determine the teaching practices and
challenges in implementing MTB-MLE in mathematics subject at Cabcaben
Elementary School and Ipag Elementary School. As defined by Kim, Sefcik, and
27
Bradway (2017), qualitative-descriptive research generates data that describe the
who, what, and when of events or experiences from a subjective perspective.
Participants
The research participants were the Grade 3 Math teachers in Cabcaben
Elementary School and Ipag Elementary School; this school was chosen because of
the larger population they have. A total of 3-8 teachers were selected and invited to
answer the one-on-one interviews that were distributed to them personally. The
identified participants were interviewed and asked pertinent questions about the
research topic.
Research Instrument
Semi-structured interview researchers conduct intensive individual
interviews with a small group of respondents to explore the perspectives of grade 3
Math teachers of Cabcaben Elementary School and Ipag Elementary School on a
particular idea, program or situation. For instance, researchers may ask the
participants, staff, and others associated with a program about their experiences and
expectations related to the program, the thoughts they have concerning program
operations, processes, outcomes, and about any changes they perceive in
themselves as a result of their involvement in the program.
Documentation audio recording, taking notes and taking pictures are
presented while conducting observation in the classroom.
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Data- Gathering Procedure
To begin semi-structured interview and documentation, the researchers sent
a request letter to the School principal of Cabcaben Elementary School and Ipag
Elementary School to ask permission to conduct an interview with the selected
participants. After the permit was secured, the researchers also presented a letter to
the participant. After seeking their permission and willingness to participate, the
researchers personally administered the questionnaire to the participants and
conducted an orientation to discuss and explain the purpose of the study. If they
agreed to be part of the study, an appointment was scheduled for a one-on-one
interview based on their availability. Researchers used notes, audio recording, and
taking photos with their consent took place. Throughout the process, researchers
ensured that ethical considerations were met, protecting the privacy and
confidentiality of the participants. Anonymity was maintained through the use of code
names instead of real names.
For data-gathering, the researchers used an instrument which is the semi-
structured interview and documentation to gather information of teaching practices
and challenges in implementing MTB-MLE in the mathematics subject. The interview
consisted of both closed and open-ended questions to allow the researchers to
follow up points that are based on the problem raised in the study.The responses of
the participants will be the primary data that researchers used to make conclusions
and recommendations. Moreover, the researchers explained the objective of the
29
study which generally appraises, after preparing and assessing the sets of questions
for the respondents, then the researchers may proceed to conduct the interview.
Additionally, documentation was presented in order for researchers to gather
information, likewise, audio recording, taking notes and taking pictures with their
consents are presented while conducting observation in their classroom. Including
their teaching styles, teaching strategies and how they use the language preferred
by the students in teaching math subjects. Hence, after the questionnaire is
answered and collected from the respondents, the data was analyzed, and
interpreted using appropriate statistical tools, this was made primarily to help the
researchers to determine the teaching practices and challenges encountered by the
Grade 3 Math teachers.
Ethical Consideration
It is vital to protect the participants’ privacy and confidentiality, therefore, the
researchers will adhere to Republic Act No. 10173, known as the Data Privacy Act of
2012, it is a law to protect the fundamental human right of privacy while ensuring
free flow of information, the state’s inherent obligation to ensure that personal
information and communications is secured and protected (National Privacy
Commission, 2012). Data collected from this study will be for research purposes
only and will be treated with anonymity and confidentiality specifically the
researchers will be using code names instead of their real names, likewise the
participants will surely receive the results of the study by distributing a soft copy of
30
the study. After the data has been collected and analyzed, researchers will typically
delete all the data that was used for the study, this means that any identifying
information that could potentially link the particip ant to the data will be removed.
Respondents have the right to withdraw or stop at any time. Moreover, respect will
be shown, additionally foul language or expressions will be avoided.
Data Analysis
Data analysis involves using statistical and logical methods to summarize,
illustrate, and evaluate the data. It is a systematic approach to understanding and
interpreting the data. Data gathered from the respondents were analyzed using the
thematic analysis, According to Braun and Clarke (2006), (as referenced in Maguire
& Delahunt 2017), thematic analysis is a method for analyzing qualitative data that
entails searching across a data set to identify, analyze, and report repeated
patterns.The goal of thematic analysis is recognize significant themes and patterns
within the data, which can be utilized to examine the research question or draw
conclusions about the subject matter. Thematic analysis is a good approach that
seeks something about people's views, opinions, knowledge, and experiences. Its
ultimate aim is to gain insight into people’s experiences and perceptions. Likewise,
in thematic analysis, personal experience is the starting point. Once the researchers
have gathered textual sources, the next step is to begin the process of interpretation
and the process of identifying meaning units through a research plan or proposal. It
is a balance of explicit statements on the methodological process and an openness
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that allows for choosing directions and exploring techniques, procedures and
sources that are not always foreseeable at the outset of a research project.
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CHAPTER IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data were presented.
Tables and its interpretation were discussed comprehensively.
Profile of the Participants
A. Profile of respondents in term of Educational Attainment
1.1 Educational Attainment
Educational Attainment Mean Percentage %
Doctoral Degree 0 0%
With Doctoral Degree Unit 0 0%
Master's Degree 2 25%
With Master's Degree Unit 3 37.5%
Bachelor's Degree 3 37.5%
Total: 8 100%
B. Profile of respondents in terms of Year/s of Teaching Mathematics.
1.2 Years of Teaching
Years of Teaching Mean Percentage %
Less than 4 years 1 12.5%
4 - 6 years 6 75%
7 - 9 years 1 12.5%
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10 and above 0 0%
Total: 8 100%
Theme 1. Strategies employed by teachers
The following are the strategies that employed by the teachers:
1.1 Contextualized Materials. As cited by Shabiralyani et al. (2015), visual
aids encourage students in the learning process, make the lesson more interesting
and comprehensible, increase the vocabulary and provide an active engagement for
students, thus visual aids become crucial in education. Likewise, various visual tools
such as symbols, pictures, charts, gestures, finger counting, drawings and so on
have the potential to facilitate effective numeracy learning which Smith & Cekiso
(2020) claimed that these tools have a power to transform the abstract nature of
numeracy to concrete objects. In regards to this, students are more engaged and
seem to enjoy it because they are able to visualize what is being discussed that
helps them be more efficient in their activities, great understanding of their task and
has a feeling of enjoyment throughout the learning process (Cockett & Kilgour,
2015). Whereby Raiyn (2016) asserted that visual aids help to bring the real thing
closer to the students where the learning process becomes more natural and
realistic as well as easy for students to form mental images of abstract ideas which
enable the students to increase their participation level in their Math class.
Moreover, teachers are encouraged to continue utilizing this approach as it helps the
students increase their knowledge of mathematical concepts (Jones & Tiller, 2017).
34
According to Teacher 4, ” For example, yung based sa kanilang
experience, dun ako kumukuha ng example na idra-draw para madali nila
maintindihan yung lessons namin.” (For example, based on their experience, I’ve
been using that as an example to draw their attention and to easily comprehend the
lesson.), which also supported by Teacher 8, ” Concrete example, kasi mas
maintindihan ng bata , especially kapag may nakikita, may nahahawakan,
yung parang psychomotor yung ginagamit nila diba po. Sa pagtuturo kasi
kung words lang at puro lang si teacher ang nagsasalita.. at kung puro
recitation lang si bata without visuals or pictures, hindi ka naman siguradong
100% na they can understand but 50% of them, hindi kasi ganun. Diba most of
those students are visual students so they understand more kapag nakakakita
sila ng pictures or text, pero mas maganda kapag may pictures especially
kapag medyo complicated yung mga subjects natin.” ( Concrete example
because the learner can understand better especially when they see something,
touch something, it's like a psychomotor that they use, right? In teaching, if only
words and the teacher only speaks.. and if the learner only recites without visuals or
pictures, you are not 100 percent sure that they can understand but 50 percent of
them, it is not like that. Most of the learners are visual so they understand more
when they see pictures or text, but it is better when there are pictures especially
when the things are a bit complicated in our subjects). Similarly, Teacher 5 also
mentioned that, “Mathematics? Sa strategy kasi iba-iba, may mga batang
marunong sa visuals, madali sila matuto using real objects kasi kaya nila i-
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visualize. Halimbawa, 8+5, ivi-visualize nya yun, 8 dadagdagan ng 5. May mga
batang hindi makakuha kaya kukuha ka ngayon ng bata o dahon. Mayroon
naman na mahilig sa drawing, so it’s either na madra-drawing ka ng 8 stars at
5 stars, so magegets na nila.”(Mathematics? In terms of strategies it varies. There
are children who excel in Visual Learning, they easily learn using real objects
because they visualize them. For example, 8+5 they would visualize it as 8 adding
to 5. Some children did not understand this approach so you need to provide
examples. There are also children, who enjoy drawing, so you can either draw 8
stars and 5 stars for them to understand.),
The above statements indicate the importance of utilizing contextualized
materials in teaching because it provides support for students' effective learning.
Likewise, this approach helps the teacher meet the needs of the students when they
are confused in terms. Thus, concrete examples are vital in teaching the subject
because this helps the students easily cope up with the lesson especially if the topic
is too complex for them. Moreover, contextualized materials aim to make learning
more engable, meaningful, and would help the students to have a deeper
understanding of the context. However, teachers should also take into consideration
the learning style of the students because some strategies may and may not work
for them. Although, the majority of the participants claimed that contextual materials
is the best and common way to teach math subjects.
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1.2 Student-Teacher Positive Interaction. According to Teacher 7, “Kaya
sa tingin ko ang strategies kailangan may connection ang teacher sa bata.
Yung nakaka connect sila sa sinasabi mo tapos ikaw, nagagawa mo din yung
part mo as a teacher kasi nga may naiintindihan sila. Kasi kung i-spoon feed
mo lang sila, oo lang sila ng oo. Hindi mo alam kung naintindihan nila, hindi
mo alam kung okay ba sa kanila, talagang alam na nila. Kaya kailangan
connection, may application, merong interaction yung bata between the
teachers and students.”(I think the strategy needed was the connection between
teacher and students. They should be able to connect with you, and you as the
teacher, the learners understand the lesson. Because if you spoon feed them, they
will always agree. Definitely, you're not sure if they already knew the lesson or
understood the lesson. So connection is vital, there should be an application as well
as interaction of one student between the teacher and among his/her peers.), which
is supported by Teacher 8 who mentioned one of the ways to establish positive
interaction between teachers and students, “Positive reinforcement, pinaka
importante, kapag po kayo ay nagtuturo o kaya ay nagbibigay ng mga
activities, always remember dapat lagi kayong may positive reinforcement.
Good job, a simple good job and ang pinakapagawa ko para ma-appreciate
nila yung test laging may reward sticker. Nung una ayaw nila ng ganun pero
nakita nila na ang binibigyan ko lang ay yung matataas ang grade, nagsta-
study hard na sila. Kaya positive reinforcement is very important.” (Positive
reinforcement is most important when you are in teaching or giving activities, always
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remember you must always have a positive reinforcement. Good job, a simple good
job and the best thing I can do for them is to appreciate the test always with a
reward sticker. At first they didn't want that, but they saw that I only give them to
those with high grades, therefore they are now studying hard. So positive
reinforcement is very important.)
The statement emphasizes the importance of establishing a positive
relationship with your students because it helps create a learning environment where
your students can feel safe and comfortable, thus they can freely express
themselves. The participant pointed out that this strategy can benefit them in
assessing their students because they can immediately know to what extent does
his/her students learned in a discussion. One of the ways that teachers can employ
to establish positive relationships is by promoting positive reinforcement. Utilizing
positive reinforcement such as rewards and praises will help the students to
encourage desired behaviors which significantly help teachers to motivate his/her
students. Thus, this could encourage the students to work harder and improve their
performance. As cited by Ayuwanti et al. (2021), establishing student-teacher
positive interaction can improve students' understanding of math concepts that helps
them learn and efficiently perform their school activities. This could stimulate
enthusiasm and motivations to students that affects their understanding of the
lesson because it encourages them to participate and keep interested in learning
something (Acharya, 2017;Ismail 2023).
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1.3 Mastery of the concepts. As stated by Teacher 3 "Sa mastery lang,
parang mina-master ko lang sila simula umpisa ng klase. Halimbawa yung
Math, ang tagalog ng math ay sipnayan yung mga ganun. Dagdag at bawas
diba, kasi ang nakasanayan dati addition at subtraction ‘yan iyong mga alam
nila. And Teacher 3 added, At consistency siguro. Sa mga grade 3 kasi
kailangan consistent ka, halimbawa, kapag pinagawa mo ito sa umpisa ng
klase dapat hanggang matapos ganun pa rin. (In terms of mastery, I've been
mastering them since the beginning of class. For example Math, the Tagalog word
of math is “Sipnayan”. So, I’ve been exposing them to something that is far from
what they’ve familiar with. And Teacher 3 added, perhaps, consistency. In grade 3,
you need to be consistent, for example if you do it in the beginning of the class it
should be the same until the end), which is connected to Teacher 7 that detailed
discussion and application can help their students master concepts and skills,
"Kapag nagtuturo ako ng Math, dapat detalyado lahat. Walang mawawalang
information kasi once na may nawalang information hindi na nila yun mage-
gets. So una, e-explain mo and then gagawin nila ng sila lang para mayroong
application don sa mga bata. Kung hindi kasi nila magagawa ng sa kanila lang
parang naka-asa pa sila sayo. Hindi nila yun maiintindihan throughout the
lesson, so kailangan may application sila, na nagagawa nila, nape-perform
nila ng sila lang. May individual activity, may group activity ganun”. (When I’m
teaching Math, everything must be detailed. No information should be missed,
because when one piece of information is missing, they won't understand it. So first,
39
you explain it and let them do it on their own, if they can't do it it's like they are still
relying on you. They won't understand it throughout the lesson, so they need to have
an application that something they can do and they can perform it on their own.
There is individual activity and there is group activity.)
The statement above indicates that the students’ mastery of the concept
helps them to grasp long-term knowledge and may be able to acquire necessary
skills that they can apply in other concepts, specifically problem solving and
reasoning skills. Likewise, employing detailed discussion enables the students to
have the information they need to know and engage them in various activities where
they can practice the skills to improve their performance in school. Thus, students
can easily cope up and apply what they've learned if teachers thoroughly explain the
concepts although teacher’s guidance is crucial before letting them do the tasks on
their own. According to Oginni et al. (2022), students' academic performance will
improve if they are taught using the Mastery Learning Approach (MLA) because they
can easily assimilate what has been taught by their teachers. Moreover, these
strategies guarantee that students can collaborate with themselves and provide
more active engagement that helps them easily comprehend concepts. Thus,
utilizing MLA can help students have a higher retention abilities in learning math
concepts.
Similarly, Teacher 8 stated that, “Importante yung repetition, kasi po
kapag ganitong section hindi na nila alam yung inaral nyo nung nakaraan
kaya ang gagawin mo ituturo mo ulit tas review.. kapag namaster na nila tsaka
40
ka nag-momove, hindi ka magmomove kapag hindi pa nila master kasi
mawawalan lang ng silbi yung turo mo. Isa pa, spelling, favorite ko to simula
ng nagturo ako.. lagi ako nagpapa-spelling sa bata ‘ke mahina ang bata,
matalino ang bata. Spelling sa math, nakapila sila sa labas at hindi papasok
hanggat hindi nakakapag-spell kapag lahat sila mali, papapasukin mo na.”
(Repetition is important, because in this section they don't know what you studied in
the past, so what you do is teach it again and then review. When they have
mastered it, you will move, but don't move when they haven't mastered it because
your teaching will be useless. Also, spelling, it's been my favorite since I started
teaching. I always make the learner spell even if the learner is weak or the learner is
smart. In math spelling, they fall in line outside and won't come in until they spell it
all wrong, just let them in. Now you will teach them one by one, what it means, like
that.) A repetitive approach in teaching mathematics can be beneficial for students to
deepen their understanding of the subject. By engaging in multiple problem-solving
trials, students can grasp different techniques to solve mathematical problems,
leading to long-term knowledge retention and practical application (Boikina, 2021).
According to Lomibao & Ombay (2015) repetition is vital in student's learning and
through repetition approach the learners are able to enhance their capability to
explain, comprehend and apply mathematical concepts. Therefore, repetition is
effective in teaching mathematics to improve the students' performance, the concept
of comprehending and developing learners’ retention. This statement only proves
that repetition is important because it allows students to reinforce their
41
understanding of the subject matter, especially in areas where they might have gaps
in their previous knowledge. Also, by repeating lessons, it helps the students
develop essential skills, discover more various problem-solving approaches, and to
have a more lasting grasp of the subject. Likewise, a repetitive approach can
effectively facilitate students and help them master complex concepts. This will
benefit the students because it provides numerous practice for them to be
familiarized in different formulas and math concepts so that they can already apply
the knowledge on their own without the guidance of their teachers.
1.4 Peer activity. As cited by AbdulRaheem et.al (2017), peer activity offers
the opportunity for each learner to become aware of their weaknesses as well as
learners perceived to enhance their own learning. In regard to this, Intan et al.
(2023) stated that peer activities can give a positive influence among students
because they can assist each other to achieve the same goal. Students can
establish a great connection because they have the same level of thinking since they
are at the same age. This means that it is easier to deliver the information to their
friend compared to their instructor. Additionally, this strategy helps the students’
increases their confidence and self-esteem wherein they are not hesitant to give
their explanations and give more time discussing their math thinking. Knowing how
to explain their thinking and being able to share their thoughts with others help
students enrich their learning to another level (Kane, 2018).
As stated by Teacher 4, “I think yung cooperative learning, para
naipapahayag nila yung mga idea nila then nararanasan nila makipag interact
42
sa ibang kaklase nila.” (I think cooperative learning, to be able to express their
ideas then they could experience interacting with the class.), which is also supported
by Teacher 5, “Mas maintindihan ng bata kapag sa language ng ka-age nya
lang. Minsan kasi sa’kin, naguguluhan pa sila. Kahit anong gawin mo kung
hindi magets ng bata, wala narin. Kaya ire-resort mo, "sino ba ang tropa ng
batang ito? ikaw nga, turuan mo muna tropa mo, ikaw muna ang teacher nya
ngayon", ganun.”(Children will understand it better when they learn in the
language of their peers. Sometimes they are confused when learning from me. No
matter what you do, if the child doesn't understand, it's senseless. That's why I
resort to saying "Who is this child's friend? His friend could act as his mentor just
like that.) This statement indicates that teachers' utilization of cooperative learning
can benefit and improve student’s performance in their math class. Students can be
able to express their own ideas and reach out to their classmates who experience
difficulties in certain concepts. Hence, peer tutoring has the process of equal
participation resulting from mutual help between the learners and peers, allowing to
transmit the knowledge and help them enhance their own learning in the subject.
Therefore, peer activity is considered as one of the effective strategies employed by
the teachers which improves the performance of the students.
1.5 ICT Integration. As stated by Teacher 6, "Gumagamit kami rito ng ICT,
visual aids, Powerpoint Presentation, gumagamit din kami ng
board/chalkboard and then IM's na yung mga tarpatel din po kami, flashcards,
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depende sya sa subject for example sa English pag reading ang pinapagawa
mo sa kanila usually flashcards ang mabisa sa kanila.Sa Math naman drill ang
pinakamabisa sa kanila, drill yung papupuntahin sa harap ganun po. (I used
ICT, Visual aids, Powerpoint Presentation. Also, I used Chalkboard, Instructional
Materials and Flashcards. Additionally, she added that it also depends on the
subject. For example, in English, I used flashcards as my strategy to enhance their
reading comprehension. On the other hand, in Math I could say that Drill is the most
effective strategy for them, like demonstrating it in front of the class), which also
mentioned by Teacher 8, “At syempre, ICT integration, importante yan para
hindi na kayo mahirapan sa print, di na uso yun. Kailangan lang wag masyado
matagal kasi nakatitig na lang ang bata.” (And of course in ICT integration, it is
important so you don't have trouble with print anymore, because that's not a trend
anymore. Just don't take too long, because the learner just stares.)
Bam (2021) reveals that the integration of ICT in teaching Mathematics
subjects demonstrates a great impact in comprehending ideas and concepts during
the discussion of mathematics lessons.This also affects the students view towards
ICT integration because it enhances the students' learning ability, eagerness and
participation in the class. Likewise, this strategy helps the teachers establish
integrative teaching methods that motivate students’ learning, make them more
active and independent and supports them to have deeper understanding of the
mathematical ideas. The above statement indicates the potential and importance of
ICT in teaching. Teachers’ readiness is also important to ensure that they can
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properly utilize ICT tools. However, not all the topics in mathematics can be aided by
ICT tools because there are some topics that require other strategies, that is why,
teachers should know when it is appropriate to use the ICT integration.
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However, 3 out of 8 Math teachers also shared the least strategies they employed.
1.6 Chalk and Talk. Kumar (2018 stated that chalk and talk also has
limitations because this only provides one-way flow of information. When teachers
are discussing, students are just passive listeners that give them a boring
discussion. The statement asserts that Chalk and talk provide least interaction
because teachers are the only one who speaks and writes throughout their class
although this is considered as one of the traditional teaching methods. Teachers are
unable to properly assess their students, which is why it is important to have an
interactive discussion to determine whether the students understood what you
covered. Teachers should employ a variety of strategies which suit students' style of
learning since not all students can learn efficiently through a chalk and talk
approach. As Teacher 5 mentioned, “ Least.. yung chalk and talk lang. Kasi
halimbawa, pag ako yung nagsagot-sagot, ako lang mag-isa. Yung parang
spoon feed na, kasi alam mong hindi kakayanin ng 50 minutes discussion sa
math ng 1 day lang kasi nga mga module babies sila mahirap ang transition.
(Least.. chalk and talk. For example, if I've been answering my question and there
are instances that many students couldn't participate in the class. So spoon feeding,
because you knew that 50 minutes is not enough to discuss the lesson of Math in a
day, since they are "module babies" so I've been struggling on transition.)
1.7 Spoon feeding. As Teacher 7 mentioned that, “Never mag-spoon feed
lalo na kapag ikaw teacher bato ka lang ng bato ng information at hindi
napapakinggan yung ideas nila. Kasi kapag nanghihingi ka ng ideas sa bata,
46
ikaw din may natutunan. Pero kung nag s-spood feed ka, yun lang din ang
alam mo tas yun lang din alam nila. Kasi once na magtanong yung bata,
nagiging interactive yung klase, diba. So syempre magkakaroon ng mga
questions, kung walang ganun magiging boring yung klase kasi ikaw lang ang
nagsasalita. Disadvantages sayo yun kasi mapapagod ka at hindi mo alam
kung may natututunan ba yung mga bata. (Never spoon feed, especially when
you're the teacher handling them information without concerning their ideas.
Because when seeking information from students, you as the teacher also learned
from them. But, if you spoon feed them, your knowledge and their knowledge will be
limited. However, if one of your students calls out for a question then the class will
become interactive. So questioning is vital, if there aren't any questions, the class
will become boring because you're the only person who is talking. That's your
disadvantage, you get tired and you don't know if the children are learning.) The
statement emphasizes that spoon feeding does not support student’s learning
because this only promotes dependency on others, lack of engagement and
undoubtedly facilitates effective learning. Chhem (2000 as cited by Samah et al.,
2009), spoon-feeding can do harm to students because it does stimulate active
participation and only foster rote learning. Likewise, this could also affect the
initiative and problem solving skills because they are not trained to search for data
for themselves.
1.8 Book Approach. Similar to Chalk and talk, the book approach is
considered as the most old and traditional method that is consistently raised as one
47
of effective strategies of teaching. In the past decades, books have been the
fundamental primary source of teaching and which have played a significant role for
students as they enhance their own learning process of development. Until today,
the book approach is still used as teaching instructional resources in which
manifested the student interest such as student’s readiness, interest and learning
profile. Textbooks are highly regarded by teachers because it helps them better
facilitate the students, thus attain better learning outcomes. Although textbooks are
only perceptible in the process of transformation and comprehension but considered
as least effective in terms of evaluations like summative and formative assessment
(Fan et al., 2021). That is why, Textbooks are asserted to be the least effective
approach in facilitating students as explained by Teacher 8, “Yung nakalagay sa
book, yun na lang di-discuss, hindi mo na isusulat, hindi mo na iintindihin,
ayoko ng ganun.. Ang gusto ko, gagamit lang ako ng book kapag orientation
ng book at pagination, yun lang ituturo ko sa kanila. Yung pinaka importante
lang like remember pero yung pinaka-aral, hindi ko dun kinukuha kasi may
mga bata na hindi masyadong mahilig sa book, meron din namang mga
bookish. Kasi parang obsolete na, yung mga bata kahit papaano, nakakabasa
na yan ng magagandang books sa internet pati activities. Matatamad sila pag
dyan na, antok na. Hindi naman din gumagalaw yan, yung attention span ng
bata hindi mo talaga pwedeng iasa dyan. For me, yan yung pinaka-least
talaga.” (What is written in the book is what will be discussed, you will not write it,
you will not understand it, I don't want that. What I want, I will only use a book for the
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orientation and pagination, that's all that I'll be taught to them. The most important
thing is like "remember", but the most important lesson I don't take because there
are learners who are not very fond of books while there are also bookish ones.
Because it seems to be obsolete, the learner somehow, they can read good books
on the internet as well as activities. They will be lazy when they are sleepy. It's not
even moving, you can't really rely on the learner's attention span. For me, that's the
least effective).
Theme 2. Challenges Encountered by Teachers
2.1 Translanguaging. According to Perez (2020), teachers’ knowledge and
background in teaching MTB-MLE is not enough for them to perform effectively in
teaching their students, that is why, some teachers are not yet completely capable of
utilizing the language and teaching the subject because teaching mathematics can
pose linguistic challenges (Sasse,2016). Although translanguaging can promote the
use of a mother tongue that helps the students understand new concepts during
their discussion, there are some teachers who are skeptical in translating words
because students’ mastery of the macro skills can be affected (Macawile & Plata,
2022). As mentioned by Teacher 1 “Difficulties, wala naman na bukod sa yun
nga MTB nga, dahil dito sa bataan kailangan tinuturo natin sa Mother tongue
nila ay Tagalog. In tagalog, in filipino eh mostly naman sa kanila ay bisaya
naman, yun yung mga challenges na minsan kailangan mong itanong sa
kaklase niya na ano ba yung tagalog ng ganito? Ano ba yung sinasabi niya
49
kasi di ko din siya maintindihan. (I didn't encounter any difficulties aside from
MTB, because here in Bataan we need to teach in their mother tongue which is
tagalog. In Filipino most of them are bisaya, that's the challenge that sometimes you
have to ask their classmates, what is the tagalog of this? What is he saying?
Because I didn't understand.), which also supported by Teacher 3, “Siguro may
difficulties lang kapag halimbawa may estudyante ka na nagtransfer na galing
Bisaya pupunta dito yun edi (inaudible 5:14) kaming mga teacher tagalog kami
hindi namin ma tatranslate sa kanila. (Maybe it has difficulties when, for example,
you have a student who transferred here (inaudible 5:14) us teachers, we are
tagalog speakers, we may not translate it to them). The statement indicates that
teachers cannot avoid translanguaging difficulties because they encounter some
students with diverse backgrounds. Since not all teachers are diverse speakers, they
really experience hindrance in communicating with their students effectively.
Likewise, students can definitely experience a lack of understanding of contents
because L1 is not included in their classrooms which affects the attainment of
learning outcomes. Thus, teachers’ readiness in teaching the subject is important.
2.2 Inconsistency of words and vocabulary. Most of the teachers
considered it as a challenge especially when they need to translate other
mathematical terms from English to its mother tongue and vice versa. Besides, there
are math terminologies that may not have equivalent terms in their mother tongue
that cause them confusion. Wherein, these inconsistencies may lead to
misinterpretations of the students to the unfamiliar words they’ve encountered, they
50
might create trouble for them to know the exact meaning of the concept they
encountered that affects their understanding of the subject matter. Hence,
inconsistency is considered as one of the challenges as it hinders the teaching style
of the teachers to effectively employ their strategies. According to Cruz (2015), the
majority of the instructional objectives are not being met especially in the areas of
grammar awareness, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.
Teachers find it difficult to get exact vocabulary for the mathematical words which
are written in the English Language (Karikari et al., 2022) thus, struggle to teach
Math subject and utilize learning other resources written in foreign language.
However, they are unjust and not equitable to facilitate all students and achieve
learning outcomes (Moshaba,2020).
As mentioned by Teacher 8, “Ah yon, inconsistency of terms, sa mga
wordings, and vocabulary. Ikaw naman hahanap ka ng alternative synonyms
na pwede mong ipamalit dun. Nung nagka K to 12 naging mother tongue na
yung medium of instructions sa Grade 1-3 kaya napakahirap dahil may mga
mathematical problems and words na hindi mo pwede isalin sa tagalog talaga,
sobrang hirap. Isa pa, difficult words, masyadong malalim. Mahihirapan
talaga, hindi katulad nung elementary days natin english ang turo, mas madali
kasi yun na yung nakasanayan lalo na yung mga magulang ngayon, iniaasa sa
teacher kasi sasabihin nila na mahirap intindihin at masyadong deep yung
words. (The inconsistency in terms of wordings and vocabulary. Then you have to
find alternative synonyms that you can use. When the K to 12 was implemented, the
51
medium of instruction to Grade 1-3 became the mother tongue. That's why it's
difficult because there are mathematical problems and words that you cannot
translate in Filipino. Another is, difficult words, it's too deep. It's really hard, unlike in
our Elementary days, English was taught. It's easier because it is familiar to them,
especially the parents nowadays, they rely on the teacher because they say it's hard
to understand and the words are too deep).
2.3 Insufficiency of learning resources. According to Lopez et. al (2020),
most of the participants have negative feedback on the instructional materials
provided by the Department of Education because this has not been translated into
the students' native or regional tongue (Valerio, 2015). In regards with Araza (2018),
the unavailability of learning resources hinders the attainment of students’ learning
outcomes which supported by Teacher 4, “Siguro, minsan talagang mahina yung
bata, yung mga instructional materials, dati kasi kulang ngayon na lang na-
okay-okay ksi nakakapag provide na yung mga LGU ng mga TV, speaker, may
ginagamit na kami. Pero dati, siguro mga instructional materials, kulang.”
(Sometimes the child is really weak, in terms of Instructional Material, back then the
IM's was not enough, however, rightnow with the sponsor of LGU such as TV,
speaker we have available tools to use). The statement indicates that learning
resources is vital because it plays an important role in the attainment of learning
outcomes. That is why, schools should really need to assess what are the things
they need to provide to address this matter. In regards to the insufficiency of
52
materials, teachers should be flexible and resourceful so that she formulate
alternative ways to facilitate his/her students.
Theme 3. Trainings and Seminars
All of the participants did not attend any kind of training/seminars regarding
MTB-MLE. Teacher 8 answered, “ Ay wala pa. Wala pa kaming ganun e pero meron
kami sa Science ganyan pero sa MTB, wala pa. Ang ginagawa ko dyan para mas
malaman yan ay sa internet lang.” Though 3 out of 8 teachers have suggested that
training/seminars should be implemented to improve the MTB program.
As cited by Teacher 1, “Pagdating sa mtb, siguro pwedeng mag pokus
sila ng translation. Halimbawa english-tagalog, kasi medyo alang ganun eh
yung mga vocabulary. Para magkaroon na rin ng comprehension yung mga
bata." (When it comes to MTB, maybe they could focus on translation. For example
English-Tagalog, because we don’t have these resources available in terms of
vocabulary. Also to have the learners depth comprehension in learning.) This
statement indicates that today's learning resources are still not sufficient to facilitate
effective learning because somehow there are some materials that are still not
translated. Thus, teachers perceptibly suggest providing learning resources that
focus on the vocabulary and translation of words which they think will increase the
comprehension of the students in the subject.
Teacher 3 stated, “Training din kami, i-train din kami kung paanong..
Halimbawa, tagalog, hindi naman namin lahat ng tagalog alam ng isang guro..
53
yung mga mathematical terminologies, hindi pa namin alam lahat kasi wala
namang training.” (We have training on how to... For instance, Tagalog, we don't
know all of Tagalog as a teacher about the mathematical terminologies, we don't
know all yet because there is no training.) The statement indicates the willingness of
teachers to participate in training regarding MTB-MLE. Likewise, it was emphasized
that training should be more focused on discussing unfamiliar math terminologies
which can help them easily explain complex topics.
Teacher 6 stated, “ When it comes to program naman, siguro, bawat
teacher magkaroon ng talagang focus and training pagdating sa MTB para sa
ganun mai-adopt din nila sa students nila kunware may mga ibang language
sila or dialect yung isang bata, alam nila kung paano nila mai-address yung
salita po.” (When it comes to the program, maybe, every teacher should have a real
focus and training when it comes to MTB so that they can adopt it among their
students, even if the learner has a different language or dialect, they know how the
word can be addressed.) The statement indicates that MTB-MLE training is essential
to primary school teachers to help teachers have background knowledge about
various dialects so they can know how they're going to address language difficulties.
54
Statement of Findings Conclusion Recommendation

the Problem
(SOP)
1.What are the Most of the grade 3 The Grade 3 The researchers
teaching teachers use various Teachers in recommend
strategies teaching strategies Cabcaben improving their
employed by such as contextualized Elementary School teaching strategies
Math teachers materials, student- and Ipag which are more
in using MTB- teacher positive Elementary School focused to address
MLE in the interaction, mastery, are employing a diverse learners
classroom? peer activity, use of variety of effective for better
How do ICT, and psychomotor strategies to implementation of
teachers activities in facilitate MTB in teaching
describe their implementing Mother mathematics mathematics
teaching Tongue in learning, the subject. Since
strategies? Mathematics. researchers learners have
Contextualized conclude that the diverse needs, it is
Materials. It is one of participation of the important to utilize
the tools of the students is differentiated
teachers to provide considered as one instructions and
clearer examples while of the factors to embrace a
teaching mathematics succeed in the student-centered
concepts. There are implementation of approach which
learners who will learn Mother Tongue. helps them to
more when they see Hence, the focus on the
the visual involvement of the specific needs and
representations or the learners is interests of the
concrete examples. essential for the learners. Likewise,
Student-Teacher proper execution teachers should
positive interaction. It of teaching regularly reflect on
is one of the ways to strategies. their employed
build relationships with strategies and
the learners. By the should be open to
use of these strategies feedback from
the Teacher will know students, co-
the students better as teachers and
well as their administrators to
background, strengths, know whether the
and weaknesses. employed
Moreover, the Teacher strategies are
will employ teaching effective and
strategies that are appropriate to the
55
suited to the learners to students.

learn effectively. Additionally,
Mastery. It focuses on through the use of
ensuring that learners these
have a deep recommendations
understanding of the can help the Grade
concept/subject matter. 3 teachers in
Using their mother improving their
tongue they will teaching
understand the instructions.
mathematical concept
more effectively since
they are learning in the
language they are
comfortable with.
Peer Activity. Engage
learners to express
themselves, to share
their understanding
and own ideas
regarding specific
concepts. Additionally,
it fosters clear
communication, as
students can freely
express their ideas and
clarify doubts in their
proficient language.
Use of ICT. Nowadays,
ICT is considered as
one of the best
strategies in teaching
as it can make the
learning process more
lively and engaging.
This strategy will make
learning more relatable
and realistic.
Psychomotor
Activities. Learners
learn through physical
actions and real-life
experiences, This
56
strategy will help the

learners to apply their
knowledge and
understanding in real-
life situations
However, some of
the teaching strategies
that they employed are
considered as least
effective strategies in
implementing Mother
Tongue such as chalk
and talk , never spoon
feed, and book
approach.
Chalk and talk. Chalk

and talk is considered
as least effective as
this results in limited
interaction of the
students to the teacher.
Moreover, it may not
cater the individual
needs of the learners
Never spoon feed.
This strategy will not
help the learners to
grow rather it will
hinder them to
enhance their own
learning, capability to
think critically and
learning experience
outside the school.
Book approach. Is
one of the traditional
materials in teaching
2. What are The grade 3 Teacher’s The researchers The researchers

the problems struggles in concluded that recommend that
57
encountered implementing the these challenges the policymakers

by Math mother tongue in affect the provide material
teachers in mathematics subjects. effectiveness of resources such as
employing the such as lack of employing Books especially
MTB-MLE? instructional materials, strategies in aligned in learners'
inconsistency of words teaching Mother Tongue.
and vocabulary, and Mathematics. The purpose of the
translanguaging. Likewise, the books is to serve
challenges as a basis for the
Lack of instructional presented are teachers who are
materials. Without described as struggling in
enough learning hindrances of teaching
resources it becomes implementation of mathematics using
challenging for the Mother tongue in their mother
teachers to teach teaching the tongue. It will have
Mathematical concepts subject. a significant role
in a language that they for the teachers
are familiar with. who will have
Hence, this one of the insufficient
challenges may hinder knowledge of the
students other mathematical
comprehension that terminologies that
leads to students will be used in the
difficulty to connect in learning process.
the subject matter.
Inconsistency of
words and
vocabulary. It is
considered as
challenges in the
implementation of
Mother Tongue as it
affect
Translanguaging.
Could be considered
as challenges if it is not
used effectively. Thus,
it can hinder the
development of both
language; mother
tongue and the second
language.
58
3. What Based on the findings, Few of the The researchers

possible the researchers teachers recommend to
training observed that the recommended to provide training
programs Education policy the policymakers and seminars for
could be makers do not provide to take action grade 3 teachers
developed any training/seminars providing training regarding the MTB
based on for teachers regarding and seminars in The purpose of
findings of the the implementation of Implementing these training
study? mother tongue in MTB-MLE. The sessions is to
Mathematics subjects. research impart the teaching
concluded that , strategies more
Both Grade 3 Math effectively, they
Teachers from will use those
Cabcaben and training as a
Ipag school primary guide on
showed their the proper
eagerness to have implementation of
training and MTB in teaching
seminars for the mathematics
implementation of subjects. Hence,
Mother Tongue. training/seminars
Both schools have is a program in
the willingness to which they assist
explore and adopt to broaden their
new strategies and knowledge,
teaching styles expertise, and
especially about expose
mathematical themselves in
terminologies. various strategies
and random
activities they
could use and
employ in their
teaching.
Therefore,
employing various
strategies is vital in
teaching diverse
learners in the
classroom.
59
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the general summary of the study, summary of findings
obtained from the gathered and interpreted data, conclusions and recommendations
made.
Summary
The primary concern of this study is to determine the Teaching Practices and
Challenges in Implementing Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education for
Mathematics as a basis for Teacher Development Programs.
Based on the data gathered from the study, the following are the findings;
I. Strategies in implementing MTB-MLE in teaching Mathematics
subjects.
- The strategies that were implemented by the Grade 3 Teachers in Ipag
Elementary School and Cabcaben Elementary School are contextualized
materials, students-teacher positive interaction, mastery, peer activity, use
of ICT, and psychomotor activities. However, there are strategies that are
considered as least effective such as chalk and talk, never spoon feed, and
book approach.
60
II. Problems encountered in employing MTB-MLE in teaching
Mathematics subjects.
- The Grade 3 Teachers in Ipag Elementary School and Cabcaben
Elementary School struggle in implementing MTB-MLE because of some
reasons such as lack of instructional materials, inconsistency of words and
vocabulary, and translanguaging.
III. Possible training programs.
- Ipag Elementary School and Cabcaben Elementary School Grade 3
Teachers have not experienced any training/seminars regarding the
implementation of MTB-MLE in Mathematics.
Conclusion
On the basis of findings, the researchers found out that there are existing
challenges and practices encountered by the mathematics teachers. Therefore, the
researcher concluded that:
I. Strategies of Grade 3 Teachers in implementing MTB-MLE .
Employing effective strategies is crucial for the Teachers to properly
implement the MTB in teaching Mathematics subjects. Based on the result of the
study about strategies that are implemented by the Grade 3 Teachers, there are
ways to keep the participative interaction of the learners in Mathematics subject.
61
Each teachers’ employ their unique strategies that result in their learners to learn the
complex lessons iin Mathematics. As a result, the strategies of Grade 3 Teachers
make learners' participation level high.
Furthermore, there are strategies that are considered as least effective for the
Teachers. It is reflected that some strategies that are employed by the Teachers are
not suited for the lesson or learning style of the learners. These strategies that are
considered as least effective would limit the students' exploration, learning,
participation, and thinking skills of the learners.
II. The Grade 3 Teachers, both at Ipag Elementary School and Cabcaben
Elementary School encountered some problems/difficulties in the implementation of
MTB-MLE in teaching Mathematics subjects. These difficulties affect the learning of
the students as well as hinder the successful implementation of the MTB-MLE in
teaching Mathematics subjects.
III. Based on the findings, the DepED did not provide training/seminars
regarding MTB-MLE. Training/seminars are vital in the development of teachers,
hence, the researcher concluded that Grade 3 teachers in both schools of Ipag and
Cabcaben demonstrate their willingness to have training sessions and seminars for
the implementation of Mother Tongue.
62
Recommendations
In light of the findings and conclusion drawn, the following recommendations
were offered;
I. The findings regarding the strategies employed by the Grade 3 Mathematics
teachers.
- The researchers recommend improving their teaching strategies which are more
focused to address diverse learners for better implementation of MTB in
teaching mathematics subject.
Since learners have diverse needs, it is important to utilize differentiated
instructions and embrace a student-centered approach which helps them to
focus on the specific needs and interests of the learners. Likewise, teachers
should regularly reflect on their employed strategies and should be open to
feedback from students, co-teachers and administrators to know whether the
employed strategies are effective and appropriate to the students. Additionally,
through the use of these recommendations can help the Grade 3 teachers in
improving their teaching instructions.
II. Given the difficulties encountered by the Grade 3 Teachers in implementing
MTB-MLE in teaching Mathematics subjects, it is recommended that the DepEd
official provide books that were written in the Mother Tongue. In that case the
teacher will not struggle to translate other words, especially the mathematical
terminologies.
63
III. The researchers recommend that the policymakers provide professional
development opportunities and training sessions regarding the implementation
of MTB-MLE in teaching Mathematics subject in order to help the teachers
handle the implementation of Mother Tongue. This training would provide an
opportunity for the teachers to receive feedback, likewise, train them on how to
handle conflicts regarding this matter.
64
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71
Appendix A Letter of Intent
72
Appendix B Letter of Principal
1.1 Cabcaben Elementary School
73
1.2 Ipag Elementary School
74
Appendix C Research Instrument
Questionnaire on
Practices and Challenges in teaching Mother Tongue: A basis for Teacher
Development Programs
Dear Participants,
The purpose of this study is to solicit information and determine the practices
and challenges that are encountered by the teachers in implementing MTB-MLE in
Mathematics. Please fill out the questionnaire with the needed information and be
objective with your responses. Rest assured that your responses will be held
confidential and be treated objectively. Thank you!
Part I. TEACHERS' PROFILE
1.Name (Optional): ______________________________________
2. Highest Educational Attainment
( ) Doctoral Degree
( ) With Doctoral Degree Unit
( ) Master’s Degree
( ) With Master’s Degree Unit
( ) Bachelor’s Degree
( ) Others ( please specify)____________
3. How long have you been in public school?
● Less than 4 years
● 4-6 years
● 7-9 years
● 10 years and above
4. How long have you been teaching Mathematics?
● 4-6 years
● 7-9 years
75
Part II.
1. How long have you been using the MTB-MLE as a medium of instruction in
teaching the subject?
● 4-6 years
● 7-9 years
2. How often do you use translanguaging in teaching mathematics?
● Always
● Seldom
● Never
3. What are the teaching practices that you do to implement Mother tongue in
teaching Mathematics?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. How do you describe these practices?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. Identify which are the best effective strategies that you employed in the
classroom.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6.Identify which are the least effective strategies that you employed in the
classroom.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
76
7. What problems / difficulties do you encounter while implementing Mother tongue

in Mathematics?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
8. How do you manage to cope with the challenges in the implementation of Mother
tongue?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. What training/seminars with regards to MTB-MLE have you attended?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10. What did you learn in the training that you have already used in your MTB-MLE
classes?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
11. What other teaching programs for MTB-MLE that you may suggest?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
77
Appendix D Certificate of Validation
78
Curriculum Vitae
79
80
81
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POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is a program described as

implementation in all public Elementary schools at Mariveles, Bataan that cater

Kinder to Grade 3 as part of the K to 12 Basic Education Program in 2013

(Department of Education, 2012). Likewise, the MTB-MLE program was created

learning materials, educational resources and characteristics of qualified MTB-MLE

students may acquire other academic competencies more quickly, particularly in

science and math (Castillo, 2018).

of MTB-MLE. A research study mentioned that the implementation was affected

various ethnic backgrounds may have difficulties in learning because of lack of

teaching in math programs. At this point, students experience challenges because of

serious problem in translating certain terminologies because some mathematical

that there was no mathematical vocabulary available in the instruction languages,

Furthermore, literal translations caused by the instruction language's lack of

mathematical vocabularies affected the meanings of mathematical concepts. In

and studying Mathematics were time-consuming classes and students' negative

mentality and perception of Mathematics skills and competences (Mojica, 2019).

instructions are treated as one of the main challenges of Mathematics teachers in

education (ProFuturo, 2021).

Statement of the Problem

challenges in implementing Mother Tongue Based Instruction for Mathematics as a

basis for teacher development programs.

MLE in the classroom? How do teachers describe their teaching strategies?

3. What possible training programs could be developed based on the findings of

for this study.

The Sociocultural Theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky in 1962 explained that

language acquisition occurs in social interaction. Likewise, the theory emphasizes

social interaction has profound implications for classroom learning where it is

particularly relevant in teaching diverse learners and teachers' effective strategies to

obtain learning (Topciu & Myftiu, 2015).

Accordingly, sociocultural theory is relevant in the current study. In the study,

teachers employed different teaching strategies to support students’ learning and

recognized mathematical practices. Moreover, teachers utilize this theory as it

supports students in developing their vocabulary and literacy, enabling them to

develop mathematical meanings as they learn to explain and justify thinking to

others. Notably, students' comprehension of mathematical concepts changes as

they learn to speak the mathematical languages. Concisely, the mathematical

maintained no matter what language they will use in communicating (Alkhudiry,

in giving guidance and encouragement among young learners for imparting

Whereby, strategies may be focused on interacting with the students through

discussion or activities with peers.

and challenges encountered by teachers in teaching mathematics.

Figure 1 shows the paradigm of the study. It consists of 5 boxes namely: 1)

Teaching practices implemented by teacher, 2) Teacher -the center of this present

effective outcomes of strategies and challenges employed by teachers, and

lastly, 5) The developed trainings and seminars for faculty development.

This process was performed in gathering data, through conducting face-to-face

The following assumptions served as a catalysts to the qualitative observation

1. Grade 3 teachers in teaching mathematics will participate in the study.

2. Study participants will be able to verbalize their personal, and sociocultural

experiences through insights, thoughts, and impressions.

3. Study participants would provide truthful and accurate accounts of their

Significance of the study

teachers as it determined the practices and challenges in teaching mathematics

which would serve as their reference to effectively implement mother tongue

future educators would manage to improve themselves as early as possible before

as a basis in crafting programs to refine the implementation of the MTB-MLE such

as training and seminars. Indeed, such opportunities to attend relevant training

implementation and enhance their competencies in teaching the subject matter.

be an important contribution to studies which aim to bring competent and effective

Scope and Delimitation

This descriptive study aims to determine the teaching practices and

challenges in implementing Mother Tongue-Based- Multilingual Education in