Philippine Languages Article XIV Sec.

6 & 7 – provide legal basis for the

various language policies that are being implemented
Current Issues
in the country
Philippine Linguistics
 The ratification above-mentioned constitution
 scientific study of Philippine languages resolved the issue on what the national
(relatively very recent) language is, since the 1935 and 1973
 started as an autonomous and distinct field of Philippine Charters were not clear about this
study only after the turn of the 20th century
Article XIV Sec. 6. The national language of the
with the coming of the American to the
Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further
Philippines
developed and enriched on the basis of existing
 its development up to the present time went
Philippine and other languages
through 2 distinct stages: Pre-World War II
period and the Post-World War II period Article XIV Sec. 7. For purposes of communication and
 it did not seem to be very active and did not instruction, the official languages of the Philippines
have made significant progress before the are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law,
outbreak of 2nd world war English
 it was done by five linguists: 3 americans, 1
Philippine Bilingual Education Policy (BEP)
german, and 1 filipino
 the establishment of a Philippine branch of  consistent with the 1987 constitutional
the Summer Institute of Linguistics brought to mandate and a declared policy of the National
the Philippines the modern techniques in Board of Education (NBE) on bilingualism in
descriptive linguistics the schools (NBE Resolution No. 73-7, s.
1973) the Department of Education, Culture
Problems Facing Philippine Linguistics
and Sports (DECS) promulgated its language
External Needs policy
 first implemented in 1974 when DECS issued
1. need for more Filipino linguists who will study Dept. Order No, 25, s. 1974 entitled
Philippine languages and dialects "Implementing Guidelines for the Policy on
2. need fore more research projects on Bilingual Education”
Philippine languages and dialects
Bilingual Education in the Philippines
Internal Needs
 separate use of Filipino and English as the
1. need for a linguistic survey of the Philippines
media of instruction in specific subject areas
2. need for a critical survey of works on the
 DECS Order No. 25, Pilipino (changed to
languages and dialects of the Philippines
Filipino in 1987) shall be used as medium of
3. need for the scientific analysis of many
instruction in social studies, music, arts,
Philippine languages and dialects
physical education, home economics, practical
4. need for more comparative studies (genetic,
ats and character education. English is
areal, typological) of Philippine languages
allocated to science, mathematics and
5. need for a dialect geography of the Philippines
technology subjects
6. need for studies on language contact,
 same subject allocation is provided in the
bilingualism, and borrowing in the Philippines
1987 Policy on Bilingual Education which is
Languages in the Philippines disseminated through Department Order No.
52, s. 1987
Principal languages – English, Tagalog and other
Filipino languages Policies on Bilingual Education

Literacy rate – 95%  aims at the achievement of competence in

both Filipino and English at the national level,
Language – in Education Policy Evolution through the teaching of both languages and
Language Provision in the 1987 Constitution their use as media of instruction at all levels
 regional languages shall be used as auxiliary
languages in Grades I and II
  aspiration of the Filipino nation is to have its - president corazon aquino signed executive order no.
citizens possess skills in Filipino to enable 335 enjoining all departments/bureaus/
them to perform their functions and duties in offices/agencies/instrumentalities of the government
order to meet the needs of the country in the to take such steps as are necessary for the purpose of
community of nations using the Filipino language in official transactions,
communications, and correspondence
Goals of the Bilingual Education Policy
-the order was issued on the belief that the use of
 enhanced learning through 2 languages to
Filipino in official transactions, communications and
achieve quality education as called for by the
correspondence in government offices will result to a
1987 Constitution
greater understanding and appreciation of
 propagation of Filipino as a language of government programs, projects and activities
literacy throughout the country, thereby serving as an
 development of Filipino as a linguistic symbol instrument of unity and peace for national progress
of national unity and identity
 cultivation and elaboration of Filipino as a Guidelines
language of scholarly discourse, that is to say
1. Take steps to enhance the use of Filipino in official
its continuing intellectualization
communications, transactions and correspondence in
 maintenance of English as an international
their respective offices whether national or local
language for the Philippines and as a non-
exclusive language of science and technology 2. Assign one or more personnel, as maybe necessary,
in every office to take charge of communications and
Department Order No. 25, s. 1974
correspondence written in filipino
 Filipino and English shall be used as media of
3. translate into filipino names of offices, buildings,
instruction
public edifices, and signboards of all offices, divisions
 regional languages shall be used as auxiliary or its instrumentalities, and if so desired, imprint
media of instruction as initial language for below in smaller letters the English text
literacy
 Filipino and English shall be taught as 4. Filipinize the "oath of office" for government
language subjects in all levels to achieve goals officials and personnels
of bilingual competence
5. make as part of the training programs for personnal
 continuing improvement in the teaching of
development in each office the proficiency in the use
both languages, their use as media of
of filipino in official communications and
instruction and the specification of their
correspondence
functions in Philippine schooling shall be the
responsibility of the whole educational system Language Policy on the Commission on Higher
 tertiary level institutions shall lead in the Education
continuing intellectualization of Filipino
1194, Republic Act. No. 7722, creating the
 DECS shall cooperate with the National
Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
Language Commission, which according to the
1987 Constitution, shall be tasked with the Higher Education Act of 1994
further development and enrichment of
-CHED shall be independent and separate from the
Filipino
DECS and attatched to the Office of the President for
 DECS shall provide the means by which the
administrative purposes only
language policy can be implemented with the
cooperation of government and non- -Its coverage shall be both public and private
government organizations institutions of higher education as well as degree-
granting programs in all post-secondary educational
Guidelines for the Implenentation of the 1987 Policy
institutions, public and private
on Bilingual Education specified in the DECS ORder
No. 54, s. 1987 CHED's Goal
Executive Order No. 335
-to update the General Education Curriculum (GEC) of 6. pangasinan or pangasinense
tertiary courses leading to an initial bachelor's 7. tagalog
degreee covering four curriculum years 8. waray or samarnon

-the requirements of the GEC are embodied in the McFarland 1993 -estimates 120 languages and lists
CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 59, s. 1996. the same 8 with the addition of Maranao and
Listed under miscellaneous of this CMO is its language Maguindanao, which are actually dialects of the same
policy language but are considered different by their users
for political and historical reasons
Bilingual Education Policy underlined in DECS Order
No. 52, S. 1987 Philippine Languages Sub-groups

Guidelines vis-a-vis medium of instruction, to wit Northern Philippine Languages

1. language courses, whether Filipino or English -such as ilokano, kapampangan, pangasinense and
should be taught in that language sambal languages are concentrated in northern and
central Luzon.
2. At the discretion of the HEI, Literature subjects may
be taught in Filipino, English or any other language as -some languages in Mindoro such as Iraya and
long as there are enough instructional materials for Tadyawan are included in this group.
the same and both students and
-the Yami language(also known as Tao of Orchid Island
instructors/professors are competent in the language
in Taiwan) is also a member of this group
3. courses in the humanities and social sciences
Meso Philippine languages
should preferably be taught in Filipino
-group with the most speakers
Implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy
-most geographically widespread, covering Central
Current Policies Governing the Use of Language in
Luzon, the Visayas and many parts of Mindanao
Philippine Public Schools
-certain languages spoken in Palawan and Mindoro
-the local languages across the country are numerous
such as Tagbanwa, Palawano, and Hanunoo constitute
and serve the purpose of daily living and interactions
their own respective subgroups
with others within specific country
-largest subgroup are the Central Philippine languages
-the use of many languages in daily life is normal and
which are composed of Tagalog, Bicol language;
widely accepted
Visayan languages such as Cebuano, Hiligaynon and
-Gonzales (2004) noted that the average Filipino is Waray Waray and Mansakan Languages
quadrilingual, and the Philippines is a multilingual
Southern Philippines Languages
society with over a hundred separate language
-Maranao, Maguindanao, Manobo languages and
-the present and by consensus, the Tagalog-based
Subanun languages are concentrated in Mindanao
Filipino is widely understood and used in all domains
of life -many Southern Philippine languages have been
influenced by Malaysian, Indonesian, Sanskrit and
Regional Languages
Arabic words
Ethnologue 2005 -there are 171 living languages
Southern Mindanao Languages
spoken by the different ethno-linguistic groups of the
Philippines -Tboli and Blaan which are spoken in Southern
Mindanao
Belves 2002-eight of these are considered major
languages in the country: Sama-Bajaw Languages
1. bikol -mainly centered in the Sulu Archipelago as well as
2. cebuano parts of Borneo
3. hiligaynon
4. ilokano or iloko
5. Kapampangan
-one language, Abaknon is spoken on Capul island achievement of competence in both Filipino and
near Samar, which is far from the other Sama English
langauges
Bilingual Education – the separate use of Filipino and
-other languages in this group are Yaken and Sama English ad media of instruction in different subject
areas
Sulawesi Languages
DECS Order No. 11 s. 1987 was issued in the
-have two representatives in the Philippines, the
pursuance to Section 3 of Republic Act No. 8190
Sangil and Sangir languages
known as “An Act Granting Priority to Residents of
National Language the Barangay, Municipality or City where the School
is Located, in the Appointment or Assignment of
-president Manuel L. Quezon took the initiative and Classroom Public School Teachers”
leadership in bringing about a national policy decision
on this matter On May 17, 2003, Executive Order No. 210 entitled
“Establishing the Policy to Strengthen the Use of the
-he issued Executive Order 134 in 1937 proclaiming English Language as a Medium of Instruction in the
the adoption, development and use of a national Educational System” was issued by President Gloria
language Macapagal-Arroyo. In pursuance to this Order, DepEd
-National Assembly, the law-making body at that time Memorandum No. 121 s. 2003 was disseminated to
created the National Language Institute in 1936, the field. The order provides that “the English
which after due study recommended that Tagalog be language will be used as a medium of instruction in
the basis of the national language. the educational system to develop the aptitude,
competence, and proficiency of the students in the
-August 13, 1959, the use of “Pilipino” as the official English language to maintain and improve their
name of the national language was declared then by competitive edge in emerging and fast growing local
Secretary Jose E. Romero through the Department of and international industries, particularly in the area of
Education Order No. 7 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
-1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, Implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy
the law mandates that the national language of the
Philippines is Filipino. The change of “P” to “F” was Early Childhood Education
based on the alphabet developed by the Institute of -the two official languages, Filipino and English are
National Language which increased the number of used as the media of instruction for the 5-year-old
letters from 20 to 28 including “F”. Filipino is widely children in the preschool education
used across the country, particularly in the urban
centers Primary Grades

-Arabic is not widely spoken in the Philippines but -Children used Filipino as the medium of instruction
there is a small percentage from the Administrative in learning Civics and Culture (Sibika at Kultura) in
Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) who can Grades I-III, Geography, History and Civics
decode Arabic for the purpose of reading the Qur’an. (Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika) in Grades IV-VI,
But with the institutionalization of the Madaris Makabayan which includes Character Education,
schools by the Department of Education (DepED), Music, Arts and Physical Education in Grades I-VI,
Arabic is now learned and in other areas where it is Home Economics and Livelihood Education
necessary (Edukasyong Pangtahanan at Pangkabuhayan) in
Grades IV-VI, and Filipino as a subject in all grade
Current Language in Education Policies levels. On the other hand, children learned
-1987 Constitution specifically provides that the Mathematics (Grades I-VI) and Science (Grades III-VI)
national language of the Philippines is Filipino in English as the medium of instruction and lean
English as a subject in all grade levels
-it shall be further developed and enriched on the
basis of existing Philippine and other languages

-Department Order No. 53, s.1987 entitled “The 1987

Policy on Bilingual Education” It aims at the
Lingua Franca Education Project - MTB-MLE was institutionalized through the DepEd
Order No. 74
-was first implemented in 1999 with the issuance of
DECS Memorandum No. 144 s. 1999, “Lingua Franca -more recently, a new law broadened the coverage of
Project” until 2003 MTB-MLE through a legally binding “Enhanced Basic
Education Act of 2013”, signed by President Benigno
-aimed at defining and implementing a national
Aquino III
program to develop initial literacy
Tagalog and Linguistic Self-Determination in the Early
Multilingualism in the Classroom
20th Century Philippines
-it is a classroom with learners having more than one
-Tinio (2009) argues convincingly that much has been
languages at their disposal (irrespective of level of
written about armed struggle against American
competence), including learners from migrant
colonialism, “but of linguistic self-determination
background, such as first-and-second-generation and
during this coercive period, little is known”
newly-arrived immigrants
-the policy of bilingual education in the Philippines,
Benefits of Multilingualism in a Classroom
which was institutionalized in 1974 was a political
-creation and appreciation of cultural awareness crisscrossing of different agendas in the nation-
building project of the country
-adds academic and educational values
-it also aimed to dismantle these infrastructures
-enhances creativity through the rhetoric of nationalism or anticolonialism
-adjustment in society and the deployment of Tagalog (later called Filipino),
the national language, as MOI
-appreciation of local languages
Contributions, Problems, and Challenges
Impact of Multilingualism on Students Achievements of Bilingual Education
-boost students’ confidence • it was through bilingual education that
-help achieve learning goals Tagalog-based Filipino consolidated its
position as the most dominant local language
-enhance academic performance in the country (Gonzalez 1980).
-contribute to a greater awareness of other languages • It drew on the early rhetoric and practice of
and cultures in the wider community by celebrating linguistic self-determination of Tagalog-
diversity and inclusion speaking speakers who resisted the imposition
of English (Tinio 2009)
Multilingual Philippines
• It also drew on the more anti-colonial
“Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education”
discourse of the 1960s and 1970s (Tupas
(MTB-MLE) was institutionalized through the 2007)
Department of Education Order No. 74 “Enhanced
• one of the accomplishments of bilingual
Basic Education Act of 2013”
education in the Philippines has been the
-it stipulates the use of the mother tongue as the insertion of Tagalog-based Filipino (from
primary medium of instruction (MIO) in kindergarten hereon to be referred simply as “Filipino”) in
and the first 3 years of elementary education. English educational provision across all levels of
and Filipino are to be introduced through a transition schooling
program from the 4th to the 6th grade until such time
• By limiting English to the teaching of
that these two languages may be used as primary MOI
Mathematics and Science, it helped Filipino to
in secondary education
generate and legitimize indigenous knowledge
-Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia and worldviews, resulting in the
today which has a national policy institutionalizing and intellectualization of the national language
enacting as law the “Mother Tongue-Based
• the spread of the language as the national
Multilingual Education” (MTB-MLE) in mainstream
lingua franca beyond the Tagalog-speaking
formal education 2009
 region. One example was the propagation of Pangasinense, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tagalog,
the concept and intellectual movement of Tausug,Waray, Yakan, and Ybanag
Pantayong Pananaw (“From-us-for-us
• A successful MTB-MLE policy rests on the
perspective”) which deployed various terms
existence and acceptance of an orthographic
culled from the Filipino language through
system for the mother tongues to be used in
which history and the social sciences could be
schools.
understood through the lens of the Filipino
people Tool for the Development of Beginning Reading and
Fluency from Grades 1-3
Problems and Criticisms of Bilingual Education
• The implementation of the MTB-MLE starting
• global and local socioeconomic and political
school year 2012-2013 is based on the
formations continued to perpetuate the
Department Order No. 16, series 2012
symbolic dominance of English in the country
• It shall be implemented in all public and
• Among many things, this meant deploying the
private schools, specifically in kindergarten,
infrastructures of bilingual education to train
Grades 1, 2 and 3 as part of K to 12 Basic
young
Education Program that supports the goal of
• Filipino bodies to become export-ready labor “Every Child-A- Reader and A- Writer by Grade
commodities to help keep the fledging One”.
economy adrift.
• MTB-MLE implementation is endorsed by
• During this period, school texts were President Benigno Simeon Aquino III
“supervised and financed by the World Bank
• Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education
• the content of bilingual education was is education, formal or non formal, in which
essentially ideologically suspect, if not flawed. the children’s mother tongue and the national
language(s) are used in the classroom.
The Implementation of MTB-MLE
• The purpose of a multilingual education
• The promotion of MTB-MLE and its eventual
program is to develop appropriate cognitive
institutionalization through a DepEd Order
and reasoning skills enabling children to
were bolstered by the findings of a
operate equally in different languages –
longitudinal-experimental study on the use of
starting in the mother tongue with transition
the mother tongue in an elementary school in
to Filipino and English.
Lubuagan, Kalinga Province.
• MTB-MLE is a structured program of language
• the Lubuagan study also found some negative
learning and cognitive development providing:
feedback in the implementation of MTB-MLE,
specifically from the teachers who reported 1. A strong education foundation in the first
their difficulties in preparing instructional language
materials in the mother tongue.
2. Successful bridging to one or more additional
• Parents also shared their anxieties about the languages
teaching strategy as hampering English
3. Enabling the use of both/all languages for life-
language teaching and learning
long learning.
• Other than the concern for lack of
MTB-MLE Learning Theories
instructional materials, stakeholders have also
criticized the DepEd for excluding some 1. The Developmental Learning Theory by Jean
languages in the MTB-MLE policy. Piaget, a Swiss Scientist(1896-1980) noticed
that children learn by passing through a
• Guidelines issued by the DepEd identifies 19
consistent series of stages in cognitive
local languages to be used in schools, namely,
development
Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano, Chabacano,
Hiligaynon, Iloko, Ivatan, Kapampangan, 2. The Schema Theory which represent ones
Kinaray-a, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, understanding of the world;
 3. The Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura • Cognitive Development. School activities will
asked the question, “How are societies so by engage learners to move well beyond the
R.C. Anderson, a respected educational basic questions of who, what, when, and
psychologist organized knowledge as an where to cover all higher order thinking skills
elaborate network of abstract mental in the learners’ language of thought. These
structures successful in transmitting their higher order thinking skills will: (1) transfer to
ideas of what is good and bad behavior, of the other languages once enough Filipino or
what is valued, and of what skills are most English has been acquired to use these skills in
important?” The learners in these societies thinking and articulating thought; and (2) be
often seem unaware that they have been used in the process of acquiring English and
“taught” these behaviors; Filipino more effectively.

5. The Socio- Cultural Learning Theory by Lev • Academic Development. Students will
Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist (1896-1934) achieve the necessary competencies in each
states that everything is learned twice: first subject area and, at the end of the program,
socially (that is, with the help of other human they will be prepared to enter and achieve
beings), then privately (internalized). All well in the mainstream education system.
knowledge is socially constructed; that is, all
• Socio-Cultural Development. Students will be
learning is group learning.
proud of their heritage language and culture,
POINTS TO UNDERSTAND and respect the languages and cultures of
others; they will be prepared to contribute
• As a subject, mother tongue education
productively to their own community and to
focuses on the development of speaking,
the larger society.
reading, and writing from Grades 1 to 3 in the
mother tongue. As a medium of instruction,
the mother tongue is used in all learning areas
from Kinder to Grade 3 except in teaching
Filipino and English subjects.

• Filipino is introduced in the second quarter of

Grade 1 for oral fluency (speaking). For
reading and writing purposes, it will be taught
beginning in the third quarter of Grade 1.

• The four other macro skills which are

listening, speaking, reading, and writing in
Filipino will continuously be developed from
Grades 2 to 6.

• The purpose of a multilingual education

program is to develop appropriate cognitive
and reasoning skills, enabling children to
operate equally in different languages –
starting with the first language of the child

Four Aspects of MTB-MLE Development

• Language Development. Students will

establish a strong educational foundation in
the language they know best; they will build a
good “bridge” to the school language(s), and
they will be prepared to use both/all of their
languages for success in school and for life-
long learning.