Commentary
The right to learn in one’s own language
By Magtanggol Gunigundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:03:00 09/06/2008
Filed Under: Language, Education, Legislation
“Education is power. And language is the key to accessing that power.”
When a child receives an education in a language that he or she does not understand, this violates the child’s right to be literate and be educated. Articles 28 and 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provide that all children have the right to an education and to learn and use the language of his family.
A few months ago, I authored a bill (HB 3719) in the House of Representatives calling for the use of the first language as the primary medium of instruction from preschool to Grade 6. I also advocated for the strong teaching of English and Filipino in the elementary grades, but only as separate subjects and not as media of instruction.
I refer to the first language, or L1, as that language first learned by a child, which (s)he identifies with or is identified by others as a native speaker of, or which (s)he knows best or uses most. To me, any language after the first is a second language, or an L2.
By using the child’s L1 for basic education, we start from what they already know and build on this. Since the child is already familiar with L1, learning to read and write in that language will be easy. The child can immediately use this language to add new concepts to what (s)he has already learned. Rote memorization where children know how to “read” but do not understand can be avoided.
The strategy is to develop the children’s cognitive, academic and linguistic skills in their L1 and gradually transfer this knowledge in the nationally prescribed languages, English and Filipino. These two L2s can and should be systematically taught as separate subjects throughout the elementary level. By the time the Filipino child reaches high school, (s)he would have learned enough English and Filipino to use them as media of instruction.
Research has shown that the single most important predictor for academic success in an L2 is formal schooling in the L1.
The 1991 Ramirez et al. report in the United States indicates that Latino students who received sustained instruction in their home language fared academically better than those who studied under an all-English program.
The 1997 Thomas and Collier’s study confirms these findings. Non-English speaking children in America who received a full six years of L1 education before being mainstreamed into an all-English curriculum were found to score above the national norms, at the 54th percentile. Those receiving one to three years of L1 instruction or no L1 support at all finished on the average between the 11th and 33rd percentile.
A study on mother tongue and bilingual education in Africa found out that:
• L1 literacy from Grades 1 to 3 helps but is not sufficient. The beneficial effects of short-term mother tongue instruction (one to three years) wear off after the fifth year.
• The full benefits of long-term L1 instruction (six to eight years) will only be seen after the 10th year. By then, L1 instruction has promoted academic learning in L2.
• Interrupting the L1 education of the child is bad for his or her cognitive and academic development.
• The premature use of L2 leads to low achievement in literacy, mathematics and science.
The use of the local languages in education will not undermine the national language but will reinforce and strengthen it. In fact that is exactly what our Constitution says on how to develop Filipino. It says that the national language should be developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages. The multiple use of the local languages, Filipino and English will intellectualize those languages so that they may be used for higher-order thinking and wider domains.
Mother tongue based-multilingual education will require a re-thinking of the curricula and process of teaching Filipino and English subjects. They should include more local content such as indigenous knowledge systems, folklore, local grammars and literatures. The change should also impact on non-formal education and the learning modules of the alternative learning systems. Since the medium of instruction in basic education is in the L1, it necessarily follows that the language of testing should also be in that language.
It is noteworthy that the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Education, the Unesco National Commission of the Philippines, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and the Linguistic Society of the Philippines have all expressed their support for this bill’s enactment into law.
Hopefully, the change can help Filipinos to finally catapult themselves from being low-skilled individuals into high-skilled achievers and professionals.
Magtanggol Gunigundo is the representative of the second district of Valenzuela City in the House of Representatives and is a member of the House higher education committee.
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