1. USING THE MOTHER TONGUE AS A BRIDGE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN TWO SCHOOLS IN LA PAZ, AGUSAN DEL SUR A Case Study
YOLANDA S. QUIJANO, Ed.D
Director IV, Bureau of Elementary Education
Department of Education
PHILIPINES

2. Background Information
La Paz, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao
Municipality with annual income of Php850,000.
20,800 population with 15 barangays, 3,754 households
90% population is Manobo remaining 10% are either Cebuano and/or Cebuano/Manobo
livelihood activities are farming, fishing and driving single motorcycle

3. Linguistic Information
Logpond 3 IP Experimental School and Langasian Elementary School are subjects of case study
Minanubu is used at home by school children
Cebuano-Bisayan, the 2nd language (L2) used when they go out of the locality
Filipino and English are the 3rd and 4th languages learned in school
Langasian Elementary School
Logpond 3 IP Experimental School

4. Culture Responsive Curriculum for Indigenous People (CCIP): Preparatory Work
Local initiatives to support indigenous people (IP) and address specific concerns of pupils
Aimed to improve school’s academic performance
Basic components of program:
use of mother tongue in learning concepts and skills
teacher training
preparation of indigenous instructional materials
community participation
Survey to gather data on number of indigenous people in the area
Active leadership by officials led to organization of classes

5. Methodology and Implementation Process
Logpond 3 IP Experimental School and Langasian Elementary School are multigrade schools
Teacher-pupil ratio is approximately 1:33
Objectives of the program
use mother tongue in instruction for indigenous pupils who do not easily cope with Filipino and/or English language
develop and inculcate spiritual and civic values among indigenous pupils and take pride in one’s culture, tradition and virtues
provide teachers with skills, strategies and teaching aids and materials in integration of indigenous education in Basic Education Curriculum
write and preserve local folklores, poems, songs, riddles, proverbs and other reading materials and artifacts

6. Community Mobilization and Support
Consultations and meetings with community stakeholders to discuss opportunity of implementing the program
Advocacy of Manobo teachers
Support provided by community stakeholders: sharing local knowledge about Minanubu language and culture, attending school’s important activities, acted as resource speakers, helped in preparation of instructional and reading materials
Participation of elders, parents, other stakeholders together with school staff in preparation of School Improvement Plans

7. Funding Teacher Training Number of sources
- Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP) of the Department of Education
- Division of Agusan, Department of Education
- Local Government Units of the province of Agusan and the municipality of La Paz
Teacher Training
Division and local trainings for teachers and school heads conducted by Division Office with experts on education of IPs and local people who spoke the language
National trainings conducted by central office in which national experts on IP education gave lectures or acted as facilitators in workshops

8. Curriculum Development
Curriculum followed Department of Education’s Basic Education Curriculum in terms of learning areas and time allotment
Medium of instruction differed, mother tongue (Minanubu) was used in Grades 1 and 2 in different learning areas
Medium of instruction in Grades 3 to 6 was either Filipino or English depending on learning area but teacher used mother tongue when pupils did not understand concepts
Integration of local culture, values and traditions in lessons
Instructional materials and reading books were translated in Minanubu language
Inclusion of weekly minutes lesson on Manobo culture with local resource speakers

9. Reading and Other Instructional Materials
Program started with few reading materials purchased from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and permission was granted to reproduce them
Funding from TEEP provided schools with enough instructional materials and books
Lesson Guides for English, Math, Science, Filipino and Makabayan were provided and enabled teachers to enrich learning processes for pupils coming from cultural communities

10. Methodology
Development of reading skills in mother tongue started with pupils’ exposure to sounds, words, songs, poems, and short stories with pictures
Minanubu words with pictures were written down in charts and pupils practice reading them
Formal reading was taught through the Minanubu books, teachers observed that pupils easily understood stories due to familiarity with situations and vocabulary used
Pupils were comfortable in answering and asking questions, describing and retelling important events, and writing words and sentences called for in classroom activities
Active interactions between the teacher and pupils, pupils and pupils and pupils with the reading materials were observed
Phonics approach, sight word approach, experience charts and basal reader approach were strategies utilized by teachers

11. Methodology and Implementation Process
Filipino subject in grade 1 used same strategies utilized in teaching of reading in Minanubu language
Pupils’ skills in phonics and in phonemic awareness facilitated learning English sounds and sight words
Big books and picture stories in English were narrated by pupils in their mother tongue, teachers later on read to them the stories
Pupils practice reading the basic sight words for three languages through a chart which has basic words in Minanubu with pictures and their translations in Filipino and English

12. National Achievement Test Results Division Achievement Test Results
Impact and Challenges
Assessments : Pupils learning achievements as measured
Schools
National Achievement Test Results
Gain SY SY
Logpond 3 IP Experimental
School
Not tested
Not Tested
Langasian Elementary
65.72
75.86 1
0.14
Schools
Division Achievement Test Results
Gain SY SY SY
Logpond 3 IP Experimental
School
42.24
72.71
77.21
34.97
4.5
Langasian Elementary
49.40
64.13
Not tested
14.73

13. Impact and Challenges Logpond 3 IP Experimental School
Schools Performance Indicators
Performance Indicators
Logpond 3 IP Experimental School SY SY SY
Number of Enrollees 68 51
Drop Out Rate
0.01%
0.24% 0%
Repetition Rate
0.09%
0.4%
Performance Indicators
Langasian Elementary School SY SY SY
Enrolment
192
172
178
Drop Out Rate
1.25%
2.67% 0%
Repetition Rate
12.45%
Completion Rate Grade VI
83.3%
89.60%
90%

14. Impact and Challenges
Mobilization and community awareness: hesitations and unwillingness to participate
Staffing: newly hired teachers are non-speakers of language
Curriculum Development: need to review and revise the competencies (content and skills) in Filipino and English (Grades 1 to 6) when first language is used in first two grades
Development of instructional materials and reading materials: availability, quality and appropriateness of instructional materials

15. Conclusion
Neither Filipino or English is the mother tongue of most pupils
A gap exists in order to deliver expected results in education
Effectiveness on use of mother tongue continues to be explored
Use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in first two grades needs to be sustained

16. Thank you