Arianne Leigh Subion

MC ELT 2
Prof. Jocelyn Ibones

DEPED ORDER
NO. 31 s. 2013

CLARIFICATIONS ON THE POLICY GUIDELINES ON THE

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LANGUAGE LEARNING AREAS
AND THEIR TIME ALLOTMENT IN GRADE 1 AND 2 OF THE
K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

DEPED Order No. 31 s.2013 was issued on July 16, 2013

1. In view of the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, the

Department of Education (DepEd) through the Bureau of Elementary
Education (BEE) issues the following Clarifications on the Policy
Guidelines on the Implementation of the Language Learning Areas and their
Time Allotment in Grades 1 and 2 as stated in the Enclosure Nos. 1 and 2 of
DepEd Order No. 31, s. 2012:

A. Mother Tongue is used as a Medium of Instruction (MOI) for Grades

1 and 2 in teaching Mathematics, Araling Panlipunan (AP), Music,
Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) and Edukasyon sa
Pagpapakatao (EsP);
B. Mother Tongue is taught as a separate Learning Area in Grades 1 and
2;
C. Filipino, as a Learning Area, is first introduced in Grade 1 during the
second quarter (2nd Q)/grading period;
D. English, as a Learning Area, is first introduced in Grade 1 during
the third quarter (3rd Q)/ grading period; and
 E. Time allotment for the Learning Areas is specified below:

2. Sample Report Cards for Grades 1 and 2 are contained in the enclosures.
3. All other issuances related to the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education
Program, such as DepEd Memorandum No. 46, s. 2013 entitled Special Instruction for
Grade 1 Children under the K to 12 Basic Education Program and DepEd Order No. 14,
s. 2013 entitled Strengthening the K to 12 Basic Education Program Delivery System for
Elementary Education, shall be enforced. Likewise, this clarification shall be subject to
possible changes after curriculum finalization.
4. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

GASPS, ISSUES, AND CHALLENGES IN THE

IMPLEMENTATION OF MOTHER TONGUE BASED
MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION

The Department of Education (DepEd) defines MTB-MLE as “the effective use of

more than two languages for literacy and instruction”. In 2009, DepEd released
Department Order No. 74 mandating the use of mother tongue as the medium of
instruction during the first four years of primary education while students learn
Filipino and English as subject areas.
WHAT IS MTB-MLE?

Multilingual Education typically refers to "first-language-first" education, that is,

schooling which begins in the mother tongue and transitions to additional
languages. MLE is the use of more than two languages for literacy and instruction.
It starts from where the learners are, and from what they already know. This means
learning to read and write in their first language or LI, and also teaching subjects
like mathematics, science, health, and social studies in the LI.

THE GASPS, ISSUES, AND CHALLENGES OF MTB-MLE

The implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-

MLE) program is being hampered by a number of challenges.

This was revealed by Jennifer Monje, co-author of the study “‘Starting Where the
Children Are’: A Process Evaluation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education Implementation”

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“The design of the MTB-MLE is that there is only one mother tongue to which the
Filipino and English are added. Even when regions are deemed monolingual.
like for example in the NCR, there were several schools with many languages
because students come from all over the Philippines and they bring with them their
languages,” Monje explained.

The study also found a lack of common understanding and wrong appreciation of
the program among teachers, resulting in their dissatisfaction and unhappiness
because of “additional workload”.

In terms of service delivery and utilization, Monje said that “all elements of the
program had not been in place,” with problems such as lack of learning materials.

“We saw that there were many places where there weren’t any books that teachers
could use. Sometimes, lessons were created on the fly or sometimes the teachers
themselves would have to source out materials and use them for teaching kids.”

Inadequacy of instructional materials

  This is the condition of having no textbooks or dictionaries in the mother
tongue that are needed to accommodate the needs of the learners having
different mother tongues.

 No teacher can teach effectively without appropriate materials.

 Teaching and learning cannot be effective without adequate and relevant

use of instructional materials.

Lack of vocabulary or difficulty in translation

 There is no wide range of the words or phrases used in discussing the lesson
using mother tongue.

 The learners cannot interact well during the discussion because the pupils
are not that fluent in using the same mother tongues.

 The teachers need to be a linguist and/ or polyglot in order to address the

needs of the pupils. This makes their learning interactive and meaningful.