Page 1 : Republic of the Philippines, CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS, Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph, , WEEK 4-5:, , Introduction, According to the Merria, Webster Dictionary, “multilingual” is an adjective meaning “of,, having, or expressed in several languages”. For example, a multilingual dictionary is a dictionary, that makes use of several languages. A multiplingual sign has several languages written on it. A, multilingual policy is a policy that allows or deal with multiple languages. A multilingual, institution is an institution that uses or is capable of using multiple languages., Another definition of multilingual, according of WordNet by Princeton Iniversity, is, “using or knowing more than one language”, while multilingualism is “the condition of being, able to speak several language.” A person or group of persons could therefore be described as, multilingual if they know how to use more than one language. This means that bilinguals –, people who have some knowledge or ability in two languages – can be considered multilingual,, too. In other definitions, the term “bilingual” is strictly reserved for two languages, while, “multilingual” is strictly reserved for three or more languages, but linguists prefer the more, general definition of multilingual that includes bilinguals. Multilingualism is a continuum,, ranging from someone who knows only few words of a language besides his native tongue, to, someone who is equally fluent in two or more languages., The various definitions described above show that multilingualism can encompass, society and individual people. In the context of education, a multilingual education system is one, that use multiple languages. Likewise, a multilingual classroom is a classroom is a classroom in, which several languages are represented among its pupils and/or instruction is done in several, languages. A multilingual teacher is a teacher who is able or expected to use several languages., A multilingual child is a child that has some background or knowledge of more than one, language., A multilingual education system caters to a multilingual population, and often aims to, develop multilingual proficiency among its students., , Learning Objectives, At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to:, a) define Multilingualism;, b) explain the Effects of Multilingualism;, c) demonstrate belief in the importance of teachers’ proficiency in the languages of, instruction, particularly the first language of the pupils; and, d) select appropriate medium of instruction ( MOI) for different contexts., Course Code: MTB-MLE, Course Description: Content and Pedagogy for the Mother Tongue, , Instructor, JOHN PETER S. DADO, LPT

Page 3 : Republic of the Philippines, CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS, Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph, , , Classification according to the age of an individual:, o Early Bilingual, This group can be further subdivided into,  Simultaneous Bilinguals, Both languages are acquired simultaneously,  Sequential Bilinguals, The second language (L2) was acquired after the first one (L1)., o Late Bilingual, , , , Classification according to skill:, There are no clearly defined levels of bilingual skills, but it is rather a continuum, ranging, from, o Passive Bilingual, A person who is a native speaker in one and is capable of understanding but not, speaking another language., o Dominant Bilingual, A person being more proficient in one of the two languages (in most cases nativelike)., o Balanced Bilingual, Someone who is more or less equally proficient in both languages, but will not, necessarily pass for a native speaker in both languages., o Equilingual, If somebody passes in any situation in both languages for a native speaker, i.e. he, or she is indistinguishable from a native speaker. This is the strictest kind of, defining bilingualism. Unfortunately it is very often the inherent semantics some, people and even some scientists bear in mind, when they talk about bilingualism., , Multilingualism in Society, In the modern world, multilingualism is a common phenomenon. In fact, the number of, bilingual or multilingual individuals in the world is greater than the number of monolingual, individuals (Paulston and Tucker, 2003, p301). This term, by broad definition, is the use of two, or more languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Even though, there have appeared countless studies and debates along with the prevalence of multilingualism,, it is often agreed that multilingualism can be both a problem and a resource., Problems caused by multilingualism can easily be seen at both the individual and societal, level. People living in multilingual societies who are not monolingual are, daily, faced with the, question of which language to use (Coulmas, 2013, p123). As it is almost impossible to select, Course Code: MTB-MLE, Course Description: Content and Pedagogy for the Mother Tongue, , Instructor, JOHN PETER S. DADO, LPT

Page 4 : Republic of the Philippines, CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS, Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph, , only one language or another, such polyglots usually find themselves in situations where they, switch back and forth between the languages (this phenomenon is also known as codeswitching). This resulting admixture usually makes it hard for outside observers to understand,, therefore, it tends to be considered a bastardized blend of languages. Such consideration is, known to not only hinder social interaction but also cause social distress to multilinguals., Another challenge multilinguals encounter is individual language loss, or the decrease in, incompetence of a language less used. Holmes (1993) illustrated this idea with the example of a, 20-year-old Annie who was a young speaker of Dyirbal (an Australian Aboriginal language)., She used this language only with older people in her community, including her grandmother. At, school, however, she only used English. Due to different circumstances, Annie became less, competent in her native language. Annie was indeed experiencing language loss, which could, lead to less interaction with the speech community she lived in and a possible miscommunication, with the community s elders., Beside the number of languages, a country’s multilingualism can be described by the way, the languages are used in the society. A multilingual society could be either polyglossic,, omnilingual, or multipart-lingual., 1. Polyglossia refers to functional distribution of language use. Different languages are, used for different purposes. For example, one language might be used in the home, domain, another language in the religious domain, and another in formal education., 2. Omnilingualism refers to equal or near-equal use of languages. Most people are, multilingual and use the languages interchangeably for multiple functions. The, language of the society, therefore, are not domain-specific. For example, Catalan and, Spanish can be used for practically any function in Catalonia., 3. Multipart-lingualism refers to the side-by-side existence of multiple languages, whose speakers represent distinct populations. There is little overlap between the, speakers of the languages, with each group using their own language for nearly all, their needs. In multipart-lingual society, many languages may occur but individuals, are mostly monolingual, preferring to use their respective mother tongues., Multilingual Behaviors, There are several speech behaviour commonly demonstrated by multilingual individuals, due to, the contact of two or more languages:, 1. Code Switching is a common behaviour of people who live in multilingual societies., Code-switching refers to the process of mixing languages in speech. Multilingual people, may say a few sentences in one language, then switch to another language without much, disruption. Sometimes they may use two or more languages within the same sentence., Code switching is common among Filipinos., Course Code: MTB-MLE, Course Description: Content and Pedagogy for the Mother Tongue, , Instructor, JOHN PETER S. DADO, LPT

Page 5 : Republic of the Philippines, CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS, Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph, , 2. Borrowing refers to the use of individual words originating from another language. The, language whence the borrowed word originally came from is called the “donor, language”, while the language into which it is imported is called the “recipient language”., Borrowing might involve words that are still recognized as foreign, such as the use of the, English word “follow-up” in the sentence, “i-fa-follow-up ko bukas.”, Benefits of Multilingualism, 1. Sharpens the mind. According to a study out of Spain’s University of Pompeu Fabra,, multilingual people are better at observing their surroundings. They can easily detect, anything that is irrelevant or deceptive. They’re also better than their monolingual peers, at identifying misleading information., 2. Improves the first language. As Geoffrey Willans said, “You can never understand one, language until you understand at least two.” Learning a new language actually sharpens, your knowledge of your primary language by making you more conscious of its rules and, subtleties. When terms such as conjugation, grammar, and sentence structure become, everyday phrases while learning a new language, we begin to apply these terms to our, primary language and think about our language’s underlying structure. While we learn, the majority of our first language through intuitive absorption, learning a new language, requires active learning. As we learn a new language, we may begin to think about our, first language in new ways., 3. Increases networking skills. The journey of learning a new language isn’t just about, learning the language — it’s very much about learning the culture associated with that, language. As we open up to a new culture, we begin to appreciate others’ opinions and, actions. As a result, multilingual people are better equipped to see the world from, different perspectives, therefore enhancing their ability to communicate in today’s global, economy., 4. Enhances the ability to multitask. Multitasking is an extremely stressful task for those, who don’t have practice doing it or have never learned how to do it well. It requires, disengaging from one activity, switching to a new mindset, and then fully engaging in a, different activity. A study performed by Pennsylvania State University found that, multilingual people who are proficient at slipping from one language to another are, practised at multitasking. Those who have developed the ability to think in different, languages and can move from one to the other become much better multitaskers, compared to monolingual people, thereby reducing stress levels., 5. Improves memory. It’s undeniable: the more you use your brain, the better it performs., Learning a new language not only requires familiarity with an unfamiliar set of, vocabulary and rules, but also the ability to recall this information. Absorbing and, , Course Code: MTB-MLE, Course Description: Content and Pedagogy for the Mother Tongue, , Instructor, JOHN PETER S. DADO, LPT

Page 6 : Republic of the Philippines, CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS, Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph, , retaining more information can significantly shorten your learning curve because you can, spend more time learning new information instead of re-teaching yourself., Multilingualism in the Philippines, The Philippines is a very multilingual country. A large number of languages (180+) are, spoke within its area. At an individual level, it is also muktilingual, because most Filipinos speak, two or more languages. The number of languages a person knows how to speak depends on his, or her birthplace, home, community, education, travel, and work. A typical Filipino born outside, Metro Manila grows up speaking a regional language as a mother tongue and learns, Tagalog/Filipino and English at school. He/she will also be exposed to Tagalog and English, through media. Local minorities (groups who make up less than 50% of the population even in, their home province) tend to speak the most language, including their mother tongue, regional, lingua franca, the national language, and English (to various degrees). Some may also have, learned another language (local or foreign) from relatives, marriage, or moving to a new, location. The Filipinos who only speak one language are definitely a minority., In some areas of the Philippines, a particular language dominates, whereas other areas are, more mixed and have no majority language. For example, in Ilocus Sur, Ilocus Norte, and La, Union provinces, the large majority of people speak the Ilokano language. In Batanes, most, speak Ivatan language. In Pampanga, people mostly speak Kapampangan. In Rizal, Laguna, and, other Southern Tagalog provinces, Tagalog is the majority language. Similarly, in Cebu, Bohol,, and a number of other provinces, the Cebuano language clearly dominates. In Samar, the, majority speak Waray. In Antique, mostly speak Kinaray-a, while in Aklan, most speak Akeanon, – and so on and so forth. Other areas are divided into two major languages, like Tarlac province, (Kapampangan and Ilokano), Pangasinan provibce (Pangasinan and Ilokano), Aurora province, (Tagalog and Ilokano), Camarines Norte (Bikol and Tagalog), Lanao Del Norte (Bisaya and, Maranao), Davao Oriental (Bisaya and Mandaya), Tawi-Tawi (Sama and Tausug), and more., Finally, other areas have many languages groups, such that no language comprises more than, 40% of the population. This applies to Palawan, Surigao del Sur, North Cotabato, Sultan, Kudarat, and many of the Cordillera provinces., Selecting a Medium of Instruction (MOI), The multilingual nature of the country poses a challenge for administrators and teachers, in selecting and learning. The Philippines Depeartment of Education proposes two models for, selecting the medium of instruction (MOI) in the mother tongue-based grades (DepEd Order No., 16, series 2012):, Model 1: In classes in which the majority of pupils have the same mother tongue,, then this language should ideally be used as the main language and learning., Course Code: MTB-MLE, Course Description: Content and Pedagogy for the Mother Tongue, , Instructor, JOHN PETER S. DADO, LPT

Page 7 : Republic of the Philippines, CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE – PASACAO CAMPUS, Sta. Rosa del Norte, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph, , Model 2: In classes in which there are many mother tongues (3 or more), the, predominant community language (e.i. lingua franca), typically a regional language, shall, be used. This solution assumes that lingua franca is the language familiar to the most, number of pupils, even though it might not be the first language of the majority., , Discussion Board, Directions: Read and answer the question. Write your answer below., 1. What kind of multilingual are you? Review the different types of individual, multilingualism and their defintions. Which of the definitions describe your, multilingual characteristics?, , Post-Competency Checklist, Directions: Build your multilingual awareness. As a teacher, you will need to be aware of the, language background of your pupils to know how to teach in a comprehensible way and to, predict linguistic difficulties. Ask 10 people (whether pupils in a nearby elementary school, your, classmates, instructors, or neighbors) what languages they understand, what languages they, know how to speak, what languages they know how to read/write, and what language(s) they use, in the home. Also ask what the mother tongue of their parents are. How many languages are, represented among the people you asked? What is the most common mother tongue? On the, average, how many languages does one person speak? These kinds of questions will train you to, be more aware of the multilingual character of our society, schools, and classrooms. Write your, answers and insights to these questions in any word processing software (MS Word or Google, Docs) and send it in our VLP., , Course Code: MTB-MLE, Course Description: Content and Pedagogy for the Mother Tongue, , Instructor, JOHN PETER S. DADO, LPT