Translate Science in Mother Tongue

Reaction Paper

Translate Science in Mother Tongue

“We know of many teachers who translate Science lessons in Mother Tongue so that  students can better understand the concepts, For young  learners, it is easier for them to understand why water boils and why it turns into ice when subjected to varying temperature using the language they use at

home,”   

 Mother tongue from pre-school to grade three is called bridge program because the mother tongue or first language of the learner is being used as a bridge to learn a second or third language, like Filipino or English.   “If a child fully understands what is being talked about, he can make sense of

things and participate intelligently in discussions because a familiar language is used, thus, his thinking process is unencumbered,” Labrador explained.  Director Paraluman Giron of DepEd Region IV-A and another strong advocate of MTB-MLE said mother tongue- based education should cover both the teaching of and the teaching through of the child’s first language.   “It is not enough that we teach the mother tongue particularly in the early years but we use it in teaching other subjects which are  equally rich ground for developing higher order thinking skills among our young learners. The question

like“ Bakit nawawala ang  “bakit” pag ang bata ay nasa paaralan na?” can be answered by using the mother tongue in the classroom,” Giron expounded. Educators believe that If a child cannot fully express himself, he is inhibited to ask more why’s and tend to just keep quiet or just agree with what the teacher says. Notable international studies (Thomas and Collier)  and local studies (The Lubuagan Project) clearly showed the benefits to children who are educated under a   MTB-MLE method and pedagogy. Director Yolanda Quijano of DepEd’s Bureau of  Elementary Education confirmed that based on   studies the use of mother tongue in learning allows students to learn, read and write more quickly. She added that learners learn a second and a third language more quickly when learning is first conducted in their first language.  “These studies proved that learners who begin in their first language have more efficient cognitive development and are better prepared for more cognitively demanding subject matter. In other words, a learner tends to be smarter if he starts his education using the mother tongue” Quijano stressed.

 

Thus, DepEd continues to invest in training teachers in mother tongue-based multilingual education where it has already trained an initial 53 teachers in Grades 1, 2 and 3. The teachers who were selected based on their proficiency in their students’ mother tongue, Filipino and English came from Luzon and the Visayas.  DepEd provided teachers with clear understanding of the principles and practices as well as their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education.

     

DepEd has partnered with the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Teacher EducationInstitutions,

Talaytayan, Inc., a non-government organization, and the Translators Association of the Philippines for a stronger institutional support in implementing MTB-MLE. At present there are 104 schools nationwide implementing MTB MLE in the 60 DepEd divisions of the country’s 16 regions. Eight major languages as mother tongue are being used for instruction. These are Tagalog, Ilokano, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Bikolano, Waray, Cebuano and Hiligaynon. Recently, a newspaper reported that students in Titulok Elementary School in Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao have lost interest in going to school

because they are taught in a language they do not understand. Speaking mostly in  T’boli and Ilonggo, the schoolchildren, the report said, have started to troop back to school as their teachers began teaching lessons in Ilonggo, their nativetongue. Thanks to Save the Children- Philippines which introduced the mother tongue multilingual education in the area.   “With more than 150 dialects or first language spoken by learners all over the country, we really welcome non-government organizations who want to pitch in to make education truly inclusive especially in multi-lingual education,” Valisno

said.     

                Now , if MTB will be implemented I think this can minimized the dropout rate  of the students for they will enjoy the class means that they will have more fun in school in learning different areas, they will be free from asking on the topics there will be more comprehension on the part of the students and pupils. They will learn more because they can already express  their  own views .This will be the time where in the pupils can stay in school all day long for they will be enjoying their subjects.

                Good luck K to 12 program.