I. INCREASING COMPREHENSION OF MATHEMATICS CONCEPTS OF GRADE 1 PUPILS
THROUGH MOTHER TONGUE
Nora Doroja Japzon
Master Teacher-I
Balugo Elementary School, San Sebastian District
nora.japzon@deped.gov.ph/09152407624
II. Abstract
This study investigated how to increase comprehension of mathematics concepts of Grade 1 pupils
through the mother tongue of Balugo Elementary School, San Sebastian District. With the use of pre-test
and post-test results conducted on both controlled and experimental groups, it was revealed that using the
other tongue as a way of improving comprehension of mathematics concepts became an effective tool for
better understanding. The result also suggested that Grade 1 pupils acquired a better grasp of mathematics
terminologies when taught in their mother tongue, thus contributing to their overall performance in
mathematics subjects.
III. Acknowledgement
The researcher would like to express her heartfelt thanks and gratitude to those who have been
instrumental in the completion of this action research namely:
Dr. Cristita T. Marabut, District-in-charge of San Sebastian District for giving the approval to
conduct this research and for her belief that the researcher could finish the manuscript;
The Parents of Grade 1 learners of Balugo Elementary School for allowing their children to be
part of this research endeavor after knowing the benefit that it would have to the school and to their children;
The Grade 1 learners of Balugo Elementary School for being so cooperative during the course of
this study;
The researcher’s family for the understanding ad patience they poured during the late hours that
the researcher would have to deal with while conducting the research and for some other changes in the
improvement of the final copy of the manuscript;
To the Almighty God, above all, for the wisdom and strength he bestowed on the researcher and
the His unending guidance.
IV. Context and Rationale
In 2009, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued Department Order (DO) number 74
institutionalizing Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE). It mandates the use of the
mother tongue as the medium of instruction within the first four years (Kindergarten & Grades 1 – 3) of a
child’s education. The order is strongly founded on the representation that 1) learners will be more equipped
through their mother tongue, 2) learners who first learned to read and write in their first language can adapt
and engage quickly in the second or third language taught, and 3) that these learners are more competent at
the cognitive level. It is plainly expressed that the education system of the Philippines significantly wants
to raise the bar of the quality of education and be aligned with contemporaries who have proven that the
use of the mother tongue is an indicator of successful education policies. This is likely a response as well
to the report (PDP 2017 – 2022) to the difficulty in improving the quality of education in the Philippines
persists. The plan puts emphasis on the need to focus on specific areas that failed to keep pace in order to
consequently narrow down disparities. All these are aligned with the UNESCO definition of mother tongue
instruction as the use of the learners’ mother tongue as the medium of instruction. Meanwhile, it can also
refer to the mother tongue as a subject of instruction and is considered to be an important component of
quality education, particularly in the early years.
Monje et al. (2019) amidst the issues and concerns found in their study, maintained the unrivaled
pedagogy of the first language as the medium of instruction. Among the challenges mentioned is on multiple
languages that a child and a society face apart from the twelve originally considered languages which could
impact on localization concerns of the schools; on learners facing dialectical variations for every language;
the under appreciation of the concept and goals behind the MTB-MLE; and the lack of funding for the
localization and for teaching materials and facilities. Looking at the same sentiments from international
partners, Monje et. al (20190 enumerated recommendations toward successful implementation of the MTBMLE which include: cascading information on its efficiency, exploring simultaneous bilingualism and
improve service delivery, look into the relationship between knowledge of various languages and education
outcomes, how to take advantage of technology and social media platform, and capacity building of
educators.
This action research focuses on the subject area of mathematics which is mandated to use the
mother tongue as a medium of instruction. Although all other areas are instructed to the same, the researcher
believes that mathematics has a peculiar demand in terms of methods and interventions owing to its
quantitative and objective nature. The area has to be taken seriously as well with the claim that mathematics
leads to a nation’s advancement (SEI- DOST 2011) being the foundation of science and engineering and
other equally relevant courses. Hence, learners should start young to be adept at the subject and should be
able to eloquently communicate its language. In support to this is what is the study mentioned in DO 74
regarding the study of DEPED-MIMAROPA on the Double Exposure in Mathematics: A Glimpse of
Mother Tongue First which locally validated the basic observation that achiever countries in the Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are the same countries whose medium of instruction
for math and science is the first language.
The motivation of the researcher is the observation that Grade 1 pupils of Balugo Elementary
School, Bgy. Balugo, San Sebastian, Samar has significant difficulty in engaging in the mathematics class
through the mother tongue as MOI. It is very challenging for them to visualize and understand numbers and
operations resulting in mathematical statements that would least make sense to them. Because of these, the
students are strained to progress to other lessons that are relatively more complicated than the previous
ones. The students are quite and irresponsive. More so they are indifferent as to the scores they get in the
quizzes. The teacher’s encouragement to participate and be proactive do not come out as fruitful yet. Thus,
there is a dominant feeling of alienation towards the terms and the class in general thereby serving as a bad
indicator in assessing the performance of the class towards achieving critical thinking and problem-solving
skills.
Teaching mathematics engenders a number of techniques and strategies in order to hone an
inclusive teaching experience. The content itself is already very challenging and demanding. In this research
what adds to the toil is the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction. The best initiative is to
construct first a vocabulary of terminologies: the English term and its equivalent (and if its borrowed or
not) and also a glossary of terms1. These will serve as a guide for the students. This method is assumed to
be effective if thereby implemented alongside the use of visual and images, repetition, timed testing, pair
works and games2. For this study, the mother tongue is waray-waray.
V. Intervention and Strategy
The Grade 1 pupils of Balugo Elementary School was divided into two groups. The first group
(control group) had eight males and seven females and the second group (experimental/intervention group)
had eight males and six females. The assignment of groups was random, the pre test scores were equally
distributed to the two groups so it cannot be claimed that one group has higher or lower pre test scores that
the other. The design of the pre-test and the interventions, and post-test were catered on the first four
fundamental contents of mathematics in the Philippines as pronounced by SEI-DOST namely: numbers and
number sense; measurement; geometry; patterns; functions and algebra; and data, analysis and probability.
The pre-test was conducted on May 17, 2019. The intervention was not applied to control group
for the period June 4, 2019 to February 8, 2020. They went ahead with English as the medium of instruction.
Simultaneously, the interventions were applied to the experimental group. The vocabulary and glossary of
mother tongue terminologies and were introduced to the experimental group for two weeks prior to June 4
so that they pupils will be relatively familiar and comfortable with it during the actual discussion and to
bring them on the same page with the control group. Both groups will use visual and images, repetition,
timed testing, pair works and games. The use of visuals and images will allow the pupils to get hold of what
is being taught and will provide them an opportunity of association; repetition will allow students to recall
lessons with speed; timed testing will assess the pupil’s mastery; pair works will enable pupils to be exposed
to another learning strategy: through a buddy which may help him/her express and explore more considering
that pupils have different learning curves; and of course games. The inclusion of games will give the
1
2
Adopted from Kazima (2008)
Basic Math Teaching Strategies That Are Effective in the Classroom | Resilient Educator
students a more relaxed and fun atmosphere which is a good way to inculcate the idea that learning should
not be all the time burdensome.
The flow was the teacher went through the lessons on separate days for the control and experimental
groups with the use of visuals and images especially on numbers or figures, formula, shapes, or patterns.
The teacher would always encourage and remind the pupils to raise questions should there be some lessons
that are not clear to them. As a class ender, the teacher went through the summary of the lessons for the day
and do this again before starting a new lesson in the next classroom session. These were then
institutionalized as the drill.
Timed testing, pair works, and games were conducted in turns at two-day intervals. And the teacher
eagerly monitored the progress of scores. After this, a post-test was conducted to determine if there is a
difference in the scores between the two groups.
Figure 1:
Develop a
vocabulary/glossary of
mother tongue
terminologies
Conduct Pre-Test
Teacher will teach
control and experimental
groups separately
Teacher introduces
vocabulary/glossary
to the experimental
group for two
weeks
Teacher visuals/images
and repetition and will
encourage/remind
students to ask questions
Regularly conducts
times-testing, pair works,
and games. Teacher will
monitor progress
Separate class into
control and experimental
groups
POST - TEST
VI. Action Research Questions
This study determined how interventions like mother tongue vocabulary, visuals & images,
repetition, timed testing, pair works, and games will impact on the efficiency and success of mother tongue
as a medium of instruction in a mathematics class.
Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:
1. How do the stated interventions facilitate the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction
in a mathematics class?
2. What plan of action can be devised provided the findings?
VII. Action Research Methods
a. Participants and/or other Sources of Data and Information
The participants of the research were the 8 Grade 1 pupils of Balogo Elementary School, of
which, 5 are males and 3 are females. It has been acknowledged that these pupils manifested difficulty in
engaging and understanding lessons in mathematics using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction.
They are either silent or indifferent towards discussions which do not seem appropriate since the use of
the mother tongue is supposed to help the pupils gain better understanding and comprehension. The pretest showed the following results:
Pre-Test Results: No intervention
Mean Scores
Areas
Male Female
7
6
Numbers & Number Sense
6
5
Measurement
5
5
Geometry
7
8
Patterns
*total score per area is 20
The results show that the performance of the pupils is not commendable and what is of utmost
concern is that it is a reflection of the quality of education delivered by the teacher and the school in general.
The low performance prevails despite the faithful diligence of the school to carry out the mandates and
pronouncements of DepEd. The teacher even went the extra mile a number of times to ensure that the
students understood and are on board.
Based on observation, the pupils had extreme hesitation to participate and severely lack the
initiative to take part in the class. In answering questions, some were apparently guessing the answers just
to be able to submit them on time. The pupils appeared lost in the middle of the discussion using their
mother tongue. The majority had difficulty articulating Hence, upon knowing this, the school head
supported the teacher in order to carry out the action research.
b. Data Gathering Methods
The class was divided into two groups, the control group did not take intervention and conducted
the class in English while the experimental group had the intervention and conducted the class using the
mother tongue. The classes had to be conducted separately, on different days. The experimental group used
the vocabulary and glossary of mother tongue mathematics terminologies. Strategies for both class include
visuals and images, repetition, timed testing, pair works and games.
Meanwhile, the pre-test and post-test were designed based on the fundamental contents of
mathematics identified by SEI-DOST.
VIII. Discussion of Results and Reflection
The pre-test results imply that the underlying problem causing the low performance of the Grade 1
pupils deserves keen attention and action. The pupils need to improve their performance at this early stage
of education in order for them to accommodate the challenges and complication of mathematics at higher
levels of education. Looking at the mean scores, there is not much gap between males and females among
the fundamental areas tested.
With the intervention applied, the researcher holds onto the hypothesis that the performance of the
experimental group will significantly improve compared to the control group. Table 2 presents the results
of the post-test. The post-test administered had the same level and magnitude of the pre-test in order to
gauge the progress of the pupils.
Table 2
Post - Test Results
Experimental
Group
Mean Scores
Male
Female
Control Group
Mean Scores
Male
Female
Areas
Numbers & Number
Sense
Measurement
Geometry
Patterns
7
8
4
5
6
3
3
6
16
13
18
15
16
15
13
17
Figure 1
Post Test Results
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Male
Female
Male
Female
Mean Scores
Mean Scores
Control Group
Experimental Group
Numbers&Number Sense
Measurement
Geometry
Patterns
The results of the control group can be considered as the baseline scenario here and that of the
experimental group will be the impact scenario of the intervention. It has to be remembered that the baseline
scenario continued class sessions using English as the MOI and applying also visuals & images, repetition,
timed testing, pair works and games while that of the impact scenario applied the intervention using mother
tongue vocabulary and glossary alongside visuals & images, repetition, timed testing, pair world and games.
Through all the areas, there is a highly significant improvement in the mean test scores of both
males and females in the experimental group. The introduction of the vocabulary and glossary of terms is
considered to play a significant role as these served as a security blanket once they meet terminologies that
might alienate them. More so, the terminologies are rendered in a way that make it familiar at home and in
the community. Hence, the pupils have gradually attained connection to the terminologies in their own
language. The visuals & images alongside repetition method has helped a lot in retention of the lessons
discussed and much more that at home there is no language gap causing confusions. Through this, the pupils
can communicate the math language more and can assimilate even simple math related circumstances at
home to classroom discussions making the application of math more realistic for them.
The application of timed testing encouraged pupils to put up to the challenge and no longer
indifferent to their scores – with the thought that it is not impossible for them to perform better. More so,
the pair works and games have added to their confidence by dealing with math in a friendlier and relaxed
environment where in they can express their answers and reasons with a spirit of fun and camaraderie and
no reservations since they are using the mother tongue. Through these, they will take off from the thought
that math is hard and burdensome instead they can get accustomed to it gets comfortable in using it even
intuitively especially that the mother tongue is used. Thus, with this, they can gain a good foundation and
reliance to attain critical thinking and problem solving skills for math classes at higher levels.
IX. Action Plan
Action Plan to Improve Mathematics Performance of Grade 2 Pupils in Balogo Elementary School
using Mother Tongue as MOI
School Year 2019-2020
Timeline
Activity
Target
output
Persons
Involved
Starting
Date
1. Pre-Test
2. Introducing
Vocabulary &
Glossary
3.
Introducing
Visuals &
Images
4. Repetition
Gauging
pupil’s
performance
apriori
Provide a
good
reference to
the pupils in
the
experimental
group
Pupils will
be able to
register and
retain
lessons
This will
allow pupils
to recall
with speed
5. TimedThe pupils
Testing/Pair
will be
Works/Games assessed on
how much
they have
learned
Resources
Completion
Date
School
head
Teacher
Pupils
Sources of
Funds
MOOE
May 17,
2019
May 17,
2019
Questionnaire
June 4,
2019
Feb. 8, 2020 School
head
Teacher
Pupils
Reference
materials,
Dictionary
June 4,
2019
Feb. 8, 2020 School
head
Teacher
Pupils
Reference
materials
June 4,
2019
Feb. 8, 2020 School
head
Teacher
Pupils
Class cards
June 4,
2019
Feb. 8, 2020 School
head
Teacher
Pupils
Class cards
and
Reference
Materials
MOOE
MOOE
MOOE
MOOE
X. References:
Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 Accessed at : *10-05-02-2017.pdf (neda.gov.ph)
Department of Education, Department Order 74, s. 2009 Accessed at: July 14, 2009 DO 74, s. 2009 –
Institutionalizing Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MLE) | Department of Education
(deped.gov.ph)
Monje, Jennifer, Orbeta, Anicento, Francisco-Abrigo, Kris, and Erlinda Capones. 2019. Philippine
Institute for Development Studies, Discussion Paper Series No. 2019-06: Starting Where the Children
Are’: A Process Evaluation of the Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Implementation.
Accessed at : *pidsdps1906.pdf
SEI-DOST&MATHTED, (2011). Mathematics framework for Philippine basic education. Manila.
Accessed at: sei_mathbasic.pdf (dost.gov.ph)
Kazima, Mercy. (2008). Mother tongue policies and mathematical terminology in the teaching of
mathematics. Pythagoras. 10.4102/pythagoras.v0i67.74.
XI. Financial Report
Item
Unit
Quantity
A. Supplies & Materials
ream
5
refills
2
refills
3
Misc.
B. Transportation Costs
Description
A4 Bond paper
Printer Ink
Black
Colored
Art Materials&Prizes
Fare
Total
Unit Cost
Total
180.00/rm
900.00
475.00
480.00
1,000.00
950.00
1440.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
5,290.00