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Published by the Cebu Sun Star, May 13, 2012
The DepEd’s full implementation of the bilingual education policy follows after successes in the piloting of using the local native tongue to teach in selected schools in the country.
It is expected that a seven- to nine-year-old child will need less adjustments in making the transitions between absorbed and acquired knowledge and skills when these are inculcated through language he or she has grown up hearing at home or being used in daily life.
Nurturing parents know that a normal and healthy child absorbs like a sponge all inputs, especially when these are repeated and encouraged, applied regularly and coursed through play, storytelling, make-believe, role-playing and other activities
that stimulate both the cognitive and the intuitive.
Even before the official implementation of the bilingual education policy, it has already been observed that the native tongue is spoken and heard constantly inside public schoolrooms. Teachers already pressured by huge classes, their students’ socio-economic backgrounds, attention deficits and even the instructor’s personal inadequacy with the English language often fall back on the native tongue to get the attention of their students, simplify lessons and stimulate interaction.
The official advocacy of bilingual education may not only significantly improve students’ achievements in the areas of oral language competency, phonological skills, book and print knowledge, spelling, handwriting, grammar awareness and reading comprehension
