1. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
Reduce repetition and dropout
Raise Literacy and numeracy rates
Raise education and labor market relevance

2. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
“It is estimated that more than 70% of Philippine children enter the classroom unable to speak and unable to understand the languages of instruction.”
– Dr. Ricardo Nolasco

3. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
Lubuagan children already know their own language.
We do not need to teach them a language they already know.
We need to teach them English especially, so they can get jobs and…
We need to teach them Filipino, so they can be part of the fabric of the nation, the Philippines.
They also need to learn English immediately, and well, in order to perform well in subjects which utilize the English language, like math, and science.

4. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
For 2nd language learners (of English and Filipino), what model of education comes the closest to achieving educational parity with 1st language English and Filipino children at the end of their educational experience?

5. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
Since 1998 the Lubuagan district hosts an educational innovation in language of instruction known as the First Language Component (FLC).
children receive instruction via their first language grades 1-3
children also receive instruction in oral English and oral Filipino as preparation for learning to speak and read in these languages later.

6. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
The assumption: the more a child is exposed to English in school, the better he or she will learn English.
If some of something is good, more of that something has to be better.

7. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
The critical variable in second language development in children is not the amount of exposure, but the timing and the manner of exposure.
Cf. Thomas and Collier, 1997

8. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
To the surprise and consternation of many educators (and parents), those children who received ALL of their education in English learned the least amount of English and scored the most poorly on nationally normed and standardized tests of academic achievement finishing, as a group, at the 11th percentile nationally (the bottom ten percent).
They were also the most likely to drop out of school before finishing

9. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment
Conversely, children participating in one of the 6-year programs actually completed their secondary education scoring well above the national norm established for their native English speaking peers.

10. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment

11. The Lubuagan First Language Experiment