Establishing a Filipino mother tongue program in Reykjavík An action research project Kriselle S. Cagatin Final Project for B.A. Degree on International Studies in Education Supervisor: Robert Berman, PhD

Aim of the project: To briefly: describe and reveal students‘ language environment Unfold parents‘ views on their children‘s bilingualism Find out the teachers‘ views on the program Analyze my courses of action and strategies for an effective mother tongue program

Literature Review A.The target group: Filipinos o 181 living languages in the country (Ethnologue) o Migrants of the world (9.45 million live outside the Philippines) B.Mother tongue education o “Bilingual paradox” or “the perception that very early bilingual language exposure is both good and bad for a child” (Petitto, et al., 2001, p. 489) o Ronjat (1913) and Leopold ( ) Having mixed-language family does not delay child‘s language development o Grammont‘s rule: One-parent-one-language rule C. Issues o Heritage language: “Because the home or family language is a minority language, not all heritage language children have access to education in their heritage language.” (Montrul, 2010, p.4) o “Linguistic human rights should be considered basic human rights.” (Philippson et al., 1994, p. 2)

Methodology Researcher‘s role in the group Anonymity of the participants Action research Gather data, plan, implement, reflect and improve With the help of critical friends

Timeline

Findings 1.Children‘s language environment

Findings 2.Parents‘ language ideologies Parent 1: “I don’t want to confuse my child with more than one language at once.” Parent 2: “Icelandic should be my children’s mother tongue but I also want them to understand my language.” Parent 3: “I learn Icelandic through speaking with my children.”

Findings 3.Teachers‘ views  It‘s gratifying for them to teach Filipino and Bisaya  They had more difficulties with parents rather than children Student attendance could be better 12 out of 28 students had perfect attendance 70-80% of parents they talk to would NOT enroll their children Reasons: no access to a car, child custody, other activities, etc.  Organize more fun cultural events – positive image of Filipino language and culture  More teacher seminars, and more collaboration with other teachers

Next steps 1.More organized Filipino Mother tongue teaching program - We teach from 1 – 16 year old children 2.Increasing awareness of parents about bilingualism and importance of their mother tongue - Ongoing project now funded by the Developmental Fund 3.Teacher training workshop -Two workshops in January -Professional Learning for World Language Teachers in California, June 4.School year Hope for more recognition in the Filipino community as professional teachers - Possibility of travelling Filipino mother tongue teachers?

THANK YOU! Don‘t worry, it‘s on Skemman!