Studies have shown that reading and understanding a simple text is one of the most fundamental skills a child can learn (Pouezevara et. al, 2014). But determining what language will be used to teach children is one of the most important decisions that ministries of education make (Pflefsen, 2011).

This paved way to the introduction of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) programs in various contexts around the world. Walter & Chuo (2012) said that in their research, the outcomes indicate that the use of mother tongue in the 12 experimental schools resulted in significantly improved learning outcomes for the students in grades 1 and 2.

For four years, the researcher observed that reading has been one of the major problems faced by pupils and teachers. In response to the Department of Education’s goal in making every child a reader and a writer, the researcher conducted this study to determine the reading level of Grade One- Pumpkin pupils in Hiligaynon using the Early Grade Reading Assessment, to identify the difficult component level and to design a Specialized Reading Workbook.

MTB education is instruction in a child‘s first language (L1), usually with a planned gradual transition to a second language (L2) or foreign language at a specified time in primary school. MTB instruction usually takes place exclusively in the language most familiar to children. In some cases, it may be provided as part of a bilingual or multilingual education program.

The study aimed to do the following: 1. Determine the pupils’ reading level in Hiligaynon; 2. Identify the difficult component level; and 3. Design a specialized workbook.

EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) READING LEVEL Design a Specialized Reading Workbook DIFFICULT COMPONENT LEVEL

Research Design The study made use of the descriptive design which work primarily on the description, analysis and interpretation of situation in a problem

Locale of the Study The study was conducted at Osita Elementary School of South District II in the City Schools Division of Koronadal. It is located at Osita Subdivision, Barangay Zone II, City of Koronadal. There is one (1) administrator and twenty-nine (29) teachers of which three (3) are Master Teachers, four (4) are Teacher III, five (5) are Teacher II and the rest are Teacher I.

Respondents of the Study The respondents were the thirty six (36) Grade One-Pumpkin pupils.

Research Instrument/ Data Gathering Procedure Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) is an oral student assessment designated to measure the most basic foundation skills for literacy acquisition in the early grades. In this study, EGRA was conducted to obtain the necessary data. The approval of the Principal was sought before the study was conducted. Right after the go signal, the researcher personally administered the assessment

Reading Level MeanPercentage 1.Orientation to Print % 2.Letter name knowledge % 3.a. Letter sound knowledge % 3.b. Initial sound recognition % 4.Familiar word reading % 5.Invented word decoding % 6.a Oral passage reading % 6.b.Reading comprehension %

The table shows that, 64.67% is in the Orientation to Print level, 8.97% is in the Letter Name Knowledge, 6.14% is in the Letter Sound Knowledge, 43.60% is in the Initial Sound Recognition, 3.67 % is in the Familiar word reading, 1.17 % is in the Invented Word Decoding, 1.54 % in the Oral Passage reading and 1.39 % in the Reading Comprehension.

However, it is important to note that pupils had very low average scores. Most of them are only in the first level, which is the Orientation to print,thus, failed to achieve the remaining levels which show that pupils have difficulty in other component levels.

After determining the reading level of the pupils, it was found that the difficult component levels are letter name knowledge, letter sound knowledge, initial sound recognition, familiar word reading, invented word decoding, oral passage reading and reading comprehension. It is therefore concluded that the researcher will design a specialized reading workbook.

Dali na, Tuon ta Basa ! Workbook sa Pagbasa sa Hiligaynon (Una nga Halintang) ni : JOAHNE B. RAMOS Teacher I Osita Elementary School City of Koronadal

s t A k u Ihambal ang ngalan sang mga masunod nga letra o tigbato.

Kilalahon ang mga laragway. Ihambal kon ano ang ila ngalan kag kon ano ang ila una nga tunog.

Based on the preceding observations, the following actions are recommended: 1.Researcher must:  Design a specialized reading workbook composed of activities addressing the needs in the component levels that are found difficult.

 Use the Specialized Reading Workbook during Remedial Instruction Program and even during Summer Reading Camp to ensure that pupils are already readers when they enter the next grade level 2. Administrator must:  Support the use of the Specialized Reading Workbook in the Remedial Reading Instruction and Summer Reading Camp of Grade One- Pumpkin.

3.Learners must:  Use the Specialized Reading Workbook in reading