Landscaping the Philippine Languages: The Implementation of Multilingual Education Policy

Abstract

The institutionalization of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in the Philippines through the Department of Education order no. 74. series of 2009 outlining aspirations for a culture-centered mother tongue-based instruction is positioned to focus on the acquisition of language content and allow the learners to experience a theoretically based, well-planned educational program that provides a strong foundation for literacy using the cognitive skills and comprehension of academic content from day one. However, the dynamic process of teaching and learning brought many factors contributing to the implementation of the program as the key language policy of the Philippines. With this, the researcher examined the extent of program implementation through the use of qualitative and quantitative data. The study employed validated and standardized survey instruments and used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze the gathered data, and it applied descriptive analysis to determine the level or degree of implementation. Also, the perspectives of language teachers were taken into account to ensure a better view of the panorama as they are the end-users. Findings suggested that (1) the policy has been implemented to a great extent by the teachers; teachers have a good grasp of the program. Also, (2) teachers are providing relevant and responsive delivery of instruction in order to capitalize the learner's capability.