Art Events in Manila and Beyond

USE THE MOTHER TONGUE IN BASIC EDUCATION
A Proposal to the Presidential Task Force in Education
November 27, 2008

By Dr. Jose V. Abueva
PTFE Member, President of Kalayaan College
and Co-Founder of Kadugong Bisaya

Most nations use their own major language as the language of education,
business and governance. This makes it easy for all citizens to learn and
communicate with one another nationwide in a common language. This common
language enables them to build and sustain a cohesive nation and to
participate in governance if they really want to and are empowered to do so.

As a multilingual and multicultural nation, Filipinos have adopted Tagalog
(called Pilipino, then Filipino under the 1987 Constitution) , as the
national language and an official language, and English as the second
official language. Both Filipino and English are used as languages of
instruction from the earliest years of schooling but these can become
obstacles to learning if the children are unfamiliar with either, and the
teachers are not proficient in them. Thus some teachers use the mother
tongue or regional language unofficially.

The Constitution regards non-Tagalog or non-Filipino languages as
"auxiliary" languages," whatever this means. This actually marginalizes them
by making them inferior to Filipino and to English as official languages
widely used in teaching, business and governance. Some non-Tagalogs fear
that if this policy and practice persists their mother tongue will
eventually become extinct.

To ensure effective learning among our students that will also strengthen
nation-building and democracy, the Presidential Task Force in Education
recommends the use of the mother tongue or regional language as the basic
language of instruction in the first six years of schooling. This is the aim
of the Gunigundo Bill, R.A. 3719, also known as the Multilingual Education
and Literacy Act. The mother tongue facilitates the students' learning of
all subjects, especially science and mathematics, the national language, and
English as a global lingua franca. Professional linguists attest to this.

A paramount concern of the Presidential Task Force in Education is to make
education, particularly higher education and technical-vocationa l education
and training, relevant and responsive to the actual needs and demands of
"the market," i.e., business and industry, the professions and the labor
force.

The proposed use of "the mother tongue" or regional language as the language
of learning in basic education is to focus on learning for effective
education, nationhood, and citizen participation in democratic governance
and national development. It is desirable that Filipinos are enabled to
speak, read and write in their mother tongue and thereby help sustain the
nation's linguistic and cultural diversity and identity as a democratic
nation.

Dr. Jose V. Abueva
President, Kalayaan College at
Riverbanks, 1803 Marikina, Philippines
Telefax (632)934 4865
Website: www.kalayaan. edu.ph
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The Secretariat
Linguistic Society of the Philippines
Linguistics Office, De La Salle University-Manila
2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 1004
Telefax No. (632)526-1402
www.lsphil.org