MOTHER TONGUE

POLICY
 The Department of Education has recently passed
numerous regulations that are relevant to the current state of
education policy. The Deped order No. 74, which was
published in 2009, established mother tongue-based
multilingual education throughout the country and required
the use of the learner's mother tongue in enhancing academic
outcomes from kindergarten through third grade (Deped,
2012). All public schools were required to adopt it as part of
the K–12 Basic Education Program under the terms of Deped
Order No. 16, which was issued in 2012. The
implementation's starting school years were specified as
2012–2013.
The Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) component of the Enhanced Basic
Education Program was added by the Department of Education (DepEd) to help students understand
fundamental ideas more easily with the use of their first languange. In order for students to enhance
their skills such as critical thinking, skills to learn a second language, and literacy skill, teachers must
use mother tongue as a medium of instruction and as a subject. On the integration of mother tongues or
minority languages in school (e.g., primary school) to be used as mediums of instruction, there is an
observable contribution of multilingualism practices, such as the implementation of a multilingualism
policy that lets a learner learn more than two languages in the classroom, to the preservation of
language and the avoidance of the language being neglected and devalued. The learners are more than
ready to develop their competencies in the various learning areas with the end goal of making Filipino
children lifelong learners in their Literacy 1 (MT), Literacy 2 (Filipino, the national language), and
Literacy 3 (English, the global language). They will be able to enter and succeed in the mainstream
educational system with this as their passport, and they will become multilingual, multiliterate, and
multicultural citizens of the country who will eventually make valuable contributions to their
community and the larger society.
Additionally, MTB-MLE fosters the development of the brain and higher order thinking abilities
(HOTS). Utilizing the mother tongue of the students builds a solid foundation by fostering cognitive
development and early understanding of the academic material. The knowledge, abilities, attitudes,
and values acquired through the mother tongue better support later language learning and language
learning through other languages. Both language and critical thinking are strengthened as students
express their ideas and broaden them. By discussing concepts in everyday language, MTBMLE
develops critical thinking. When teachers orally introduce students to different languages through
engaging and non-threatening activities, MTB-MLE aids in the construction of "a good bridge." It
emphasizes writing and reading in different languages by building on the knowledge that students
have acquired through oral language instruction and their first-language literacy foundation. Finally, it
develops students' eloquence and confidence in using the verbal and written language for everyday
communication and academic learning (Lang-ay, P.L and Sannadan, J.G.
We conclude that in this study, the goal of multilingual education programs is to help children acquire the
cognitive and reasoning abilities necessary to function equally in various languages, starting with their
mother tongue, which is their first language. Children can easily understand and interpret a particular text
from various languages by using their mother tongue, as it is suggested by Cummins (2001), and that "the
stronger the children's mother tongue is, the easier it is for them to learn new languages" (Savage, 2019),
which results in a much better understanding of the curriculum and a more positive attitude toward learning.
Due to the implementation of MTB-MLE in education and the use of mother tongue as a medium of
instruction in primary levels, there is a high level of motivation and participation of students in the different
classroom activities, as it is said by Dr. Isabel Martin, the ADMU Gokongwei Brothers School of Education
Coordinator for Research, that students become more motivated to participate in the classroom discussions
for the obvious reason that they can understand the teacher who talks to them in a language they know.
Additionally, according to Rosalina Villaneza, head of the DepEd's teaching and learning division,
"Researchers have shown even during our education with the Thomasites that the child's first language
really facilitates learning, as stressed by Dr. Monroe, that we should be educated in our mother tongue."