The Effectiveness of Bilingualism

The Effectiveness of Bilingualism in Teaching and Learning Process

FERDINAND N. CORTEZ

Calanoga Shareena Mae

Espartero Willy P.

Padilla Leonila C.

Abstract

This study aimed to discover the effect of using Bilingualism as medium of instruction to the
academic performance and Engagement of students in the University of Saint Louis
Tuguegarao. It made use of an experimental group which composed of 45 students who were
exposed with Bilingualism (Filipino-English) as medium of instruction in their Environmental
Science class. The control group which is composed of 49 students who were exposed to
monolingualism (English) as medium of instruction in their environmental science class. Using
for t-test for independent samples the result showed that there is a significant difference in their
mean gain scores (pretest-posttest) of the experimental and the control group. This means that
the use of Bilingualism as medium of instruction in teaching is not effective since the mean gain
scores of experimental group is lesser than the mean gain scores of control group. Furthermore,
this implies that using bilingualism in teaching does contribute good effect in student’s
Engagement and Academic Performance.

Keywords: Bilingualism, Monolingualism, Student Engagement, Academic

Performance

I. ITRODUCTION

Language is a way of communication with other people. This is a way that teacher will
impart or add knowledge to their students. At present, teachers are confused to what medium of
instruction they will use in teaching. Research both here and abroad proves the positive
outcomes of bilingual education programs. In the US the major research finding is that students
in bilingual programs outperform their monolingual counterparts in metalinguistic awareness,
concept formation tasks and analogical reasoning ability (Cloud Sienesse, and Hamayan 2000).
Students in Bilingual programs also outperform their peers in standardized achievement test in
either language (Howard et.al 2005).

Background of Study

Bilingualism is a process wherein two languages are being used in speaking. One
example of this is Tagalog-English. It advances the use of Taglish in Philippine society and it’s
importance as a mode of discourse and linguistic resource. It has now reached the point where 1
code switching is viewed as a form of resistance to monolingualism. The use of Taglish is very
rampant in the Philippines because of tourists that are visiting the country (Bautista 2004).
Bilingualism is switching to other language. Nowadays, this is the problem if it is effective in

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 The Effectiveness of Bilingualism

teaching. According to Halai (2004) bilingualism interview describes the challenges faced and
rules deviced as part of a life history that connects diverse societies, more research studies
have to deal with research data in more than one language.

But according to Ester (2008) that the three districts in Massachusetts resisted the
monolingual ideology that characterizes laws mandating the implementation of English-only
programs and addresses how local policies and practices implementation complex and as
language policy, it was constructed within each contexts by the beliefs, experiences, and
histories of individual involved.

There are a lot of difficulties related to bilingualism according to Sotiria (2004) that the
developmental speech in problems, and the speech problems derived from bilingualism, this
problem are related to the lack of IQ, psycholinguistic and school performance standardized
tests for bilingual children.

At the University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao you can see almost in all offices the sign
“Please transact business in English.” Even in classroom, students are prohibited to use
Tagalog in expressing their ideas. It is true that this may train students to speak fluently in
English, but many Louisian students have the eagerness to participate and recite but, they
forbid themselves to do so, because they are shy that their classmates might laugh at them for
they might utter wrong grammar in English. Also with the teacher, they feel that they are already
very bright if they discussed their lesson fluently in English, but did they consider if their
students learned something unto them without using our Mother Tongue which would be more
comprehensive on the part of the student.

Statement of the Problem

1. What are the effects of bilingualism and monolingualism to:

a. Teaching and Learning Process.
b. Student engagement to learning.
2. Is there a significant difference with the level of understanding between the students who
use Bilingualism as Medium of instruction and the students who do not?

Significance of the study

This study will benefit the following: To School Administrators, this will be their guide to
develop and review their programs which Bilingualism should be implemented in teaching and
learning process. To Language Coordinators, this will give them the guide to approve the
programs in improving the teaching and learning process among teachers and students. To
Book Writers, the result of this study would challenge them to make books that are written in two
languages. To Teachers, the result of this study will help them to be flexible enough, find new
strategies and techniques to help hone the academic performance of the students through the
use of Bilingualism. And last for future researchers, the findings of this study would motivate the
other researchers to go deeper more on the effect of bilingualism in the academic performance
of the students and suggest better ways to incorporate bilingualism in teaching and learning
process.
2
Underpinning Theory

This study is anchored with the theory “Theory of Bilingualism” and was formulated by
Jim Cummins stated that student who are exposed to Bilingualism Environment will lead to

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 The Effectiveness of Bilingualism

student’s greater understanding. Providing access to dual language books, audio CDs and CD
ROMs can be a good way to continue learning. The learner’s first or home language plays a
significant role in the learning of the additional language in terms of cognitive, linguistic and
socio-cultural influences. Learning a language and becoming bilingual is also about learning and
living in different societies and cultures. It is not just about acquiring new language but also
about understanding another cultures and developing another identity (Cummins 2000).

Literature Review

A. Discussion of Literature by Themes

Students’ Achievements

The use of the Mother Tongue plays a vital role in students learning. It develops the
student personal and functional literacy skills that enable the students to transfer the second
language (Bersaa 2006). The message of both local and international study is quite clear that
learners should not use in monolingual classrooms. Despite this growing body of research
showing the benefits maintenance and Bilingual programs, the Department of Education issued
Executive Order No.210 declaring English to be the Medium of Instruction as second-
language. This vividly shows the inconsistency between reality and rhetoric, pointed out by
Gonzales still persist.

Through the years, bilingual education has acquired many terms to mean a variety of
activities pertaining to second language learning. This is because education in more than one
language is necessary and common around the world (Lessow- Hurley 2000). In the US alone,
instruction in two languages or more has taken different forms, each with its own set of goals,
design and manner of implementation. A variety of labels, terminologies, program, models, and
designs for types of population is well documented in literature. Commonly used terms include
dual language education, two way immersion; enrich education and developmental bilingual
education. The term indicates that teaching and learning is happening in two languages
(Calderon et al 2003). Bilingualism instruction is used as an umbrella term for several types of
program models which use two languages for instruction with the goal of having students full
conversational and academic proficiency in two languages (Freemen 2003).

According to the research “Iranian Bilingual Students Reported Use of Language

Switching when Doing Mathematics” by Zahra et.al (2008) told that the Iranian students would
continue to patronize code-switching because it helps them a lot in understanding and
completing Mathematical task in mainstream classroom. Together with the research “Bilingual
Students Using their Languages in the Learning of Mathematics” by Planas (2009). Students
who use the two Languages for different purposes depending on the complexity on the
Mathematical practices and in relation to different social setting that coexist within the
classroom. By the use of the first language students tend to understand better the topic that is
being discussed in Mathematics. Also the research “Bilingual Students Using their Languages in
the Learning of Mathematics” by Planas (2009) which is in the research they have describe the
commonalities in the use of Spanish and Catalan by a group of bilingual students shows that the
immigrant bilinguals social interaction with classroom Mathematics process is accomplished
through using the two language. 3

Students’ Comprehension

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 The Effectiveness of Bilingualism

According to the research “Bilingual Education the Acquisition of English, and the
Retention and Loss of Spanish” by Krashen (2009) stated that in teaching the primary pupils it is
more effective if we use Bilingual approach so that they can totally grasp the ideas that we want
to impart to them. Together with the research “Conveying the “Right” Kind of Message:
Planning for first Language and Culture within the Primary Classroom, this is a research
conducted by Deborah et.al 2008 stated that teachers must highlight or emphasized things that
is needed to be emphasized in using the first-language of the students so that the “right”
message will be conveyed. To the research “Bilingual Knowledge Maps (BIK)” as a presentation
Format: Delayed Recall and Training Effects” by Dansereau (2005) stated that the BIK-map
students showed greater recall on the lesson and less intent to engage in role based vocabulary
in the future and greater intent to use to theme-centered and image processing during general
textbook study. Also the research “Bilinguality and Giftedness in a Canadian Public School:
Towards to a New Approach to Accommodating Bilinguals within a Monolingual Classroom”
concluded that students who are exposed to Bilingualism shows more aggressiveness and they
are more competent than those who are monolingual students. Likewise, the research
“Cultivating Space for the Language Boomerang: The Interplay of Two Languages as Academic
Resources” by Beltran (2010) stated that the students who are using dual-language in school
are more active, they have the greater level of comprehension and they have greater increased
in linguistic and conceptual understanding. Also with research “Mainstream First-Grade
Teachers’ Understanding of Strategies for Accommodating the Needs of English Language
Learners” by Hite (2006) they found out the strategies for teaching literacy and content material
to first grade students – developmental, meaning-based, interdisciplinary, experiential
approaches – are compatible with strategies for teaching language, literacy and content to ELL
students. And the research “A Comparative Study of Language Learning Strategy Use in an
EFL context: Monolingual Korean and Bilingual Korean Chinese University Students” (2007)
presented the empirical evidence of language learning differences between monolinguals and
bilinguals in terms of learning strategies than did monolingual Korean students.

Students’ Engagement to Learning

According to the research “Rethinking Literacy Development of Bilingual Students with

Special Needs: Challenges, Struggles and Growth” by Orelus (2010), through this to develop
the using of bilingual of students they must be motivated or self-motivation and support received
from his family with the article “Crisis in the Southwest: Bilingual Education Program
Inconsistencies” by Garcia et. al (2008). This offers crash course for other teachers who may be
looking for solid information about bilingual education and students are very much benefitted by
this because it focuses on the student success. And the research “Young Bilingual Children
Learning to read with Dual Language book” by Raymonde (2008) stated that the outcomes of
reading simultaneously in two languages appeared to have positive for all the children
motivated. They had in common a high level of motivation and pride in their achievements.

According to the research “Making the Use of Bilingual Interview data: Some of the
Experience from the field” by Halai (2009) stated that through bilingual interview datas this
would connect to globalization and would connect to diverse societies through the use of more
than one language. Together with the research “Diversity in Family Involvement in Children’s
Learning in English Primary Schools: Culture Language and Identity” by Rawashima (2008) told
that the use of monolingualism promotes diversity and complexity of Culture, Language and 4
Identity it is also important that the parents must also engage in using more than one language
so that they will be exposed to diverse culture and through knowing many language this would
promote unity and uniformity. Also the research “Tagalog-English Code Switching as a mode of
Discourse” by Bautista (2004) it stated that the code switching is viewed as a form of resistance

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to monilingualism and promotes globalization. Likewise the research “Being Bilingual Issues for
Cross Language Research” by Bogusia (2006) stated that Language is field in a unproblematic
way to meaning, values and beliefs. Language is a very important tool for commonality and
unity.

A. Hypothesis

There is no significant difference in the Academic performance of students when taught in

Bilingualism and monolingualism.

B. Research Paradigm

IV DV
The Use of Teaching and
Bilingualism and Learning Process
Monolingualism And Student’s
(Filipino-English) Engagement.
*The Use of Bilingualism is considered to be the Independent Variable it will be the factor who
will affect the Teaching and Learning Process among USLT students and teachers.

II. Methods

Research Design

This study used quasi-experimental method to determine the effect of bilingualism on

Teaching and Learning process and the researchers also made used of observation sheet to
measure the student engagement.

Respondents of the Study

The study was conducted to students who have summer class particularly two classes of
Environmental Science in University of St. Louis.

The Study involved a total sample of 94 students from the two Environmental Science 5
classes. Forty-nine students were selected as the experimental group and forty-five students
were considered as the control group.

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 The Effectiveness of Bilingualism

Locale of the Study

This study was conducted at University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao City Summer Class of
the school year 2012.

Research Instruments and Procedures

This study made use of teacher made question which means that it was constructed by
the teacher herself. The items were based in the Unit that was discussed in one week in the
Environmental Science subject. The test was validated by the UNLAD DUNONG professors and
the Science coordinator of the college department. This test is composed of 25 item test.

The 25 item test was given to the controlled group and experimental group. The
experimental group was composed of 45 students who were exposed to Bilingualism in their
environmental Science classes. The control group of 49 college students was taught without the
integration of Bilingualism in their class. After 7 days the same test was given to both group.

Data Analysis

Mean- pre-test, post-test, mean gain score, observation sheet on student engagement.

t-test- to determine the difference in the Academic Performance.

Table #1- Student Engagement

Items Control Group Experimental Group
Mean Descriptive Mean Descriptive
1 4.57 Excellent 4.00 Very Satisfactory
2 4.00 Very Satisfactory 3.86 Very Satisfactory
3 3.86 Very Satisfactory 3.57 Very Satisfactory
4 4.29 Very Satisfactory 3.43 Satisfactory
5 4.00 Very Satisfactory 3.86 Very Satisfactory 6
6 4.00 Very Satisfactory 4.14 Very Satisfactory
7 4.29 Very Satisfactory 3.71 Very Satisfactory
8 4.43 Very Satisfactory 3.71 Very Satisfactory

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9 4.57 Excellent 3.71 Very Satisfactory

10 4.29 Very Satisfactory 4.00 Very Satisfactory
11 4.57 Excellent 3.57 Very Satisfactory
12 4.43 Very Satisfactory 3.29 Satisfactory
13 2.57 Satisfactory 3.71 Very Satisfactory
14 3.71 Very Satisfactory 3.29 Satisfactory
Score Descriptive Value Pre test Post test

Over-all mean 4.11 Very 3.44 Satisfactory

Satisfactory

Legend

5-Excellent -if all the students participate in the class activity.

4- Very satisfactory- if almost all the students participate in the class activity.(1-5 students
does not participate)
3- Satisfactory if half of the class participate in the class activity.
2-Fair if almost all students do not participate in the class activity(1-5 students only participate).
1-Poor if all of the students do not participate in the class activity.

The table shows the mean scores of Student’s Engagement of the control group and
the experimental group to the 7-day observation that is being conducted in the Environmental
Science Classes of the students. In the over-all mean of the control group, it obtained 4.11
which means, the interaction and participation of the control group in the class discussion is
very satisfactory, while the mean score of experimental group is 3.44 which means that their
interaction and participation in the class discussion is satisfactory. The implication of this is the
Engagement of students who are exposed in Bilingualism is lesser compared to the over-all
mean of students who are exposed in Monolingualism.

Results Table 2: Frequency Distribution on the pre test and post test score of the 7
Experimental Group

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Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

21-25 Excellent 1 2.22 1 2.22

16-20 Very Satisfactory 21 46.67 13 28.89

11-15 Satisfactory 22 48.89 30 66.67

6-10 Fair 1 2.22 1 2.22

1-5 Poor 0 0 0 0

Total 45 100% 45 100%

Mean Score 15.2667 14.4444

SD 2.73363 2.42670

Gain -.8222

In the experimental group which is composed of 45 students who were exposed to

Bilingualism in Environmental Science subject, the pre test score had a mean of 15.27 which is
an indicative of the 48.89% of the experimental group obtained a score from 11 to15.
The post test score of the experimental group is 14.44 which is satisfactory in value. This
means that the majority of the experimental group obtained a score from 11 to 15. This shows
that there was no improvement of the scores instead their scores decreased when Bilingualism
is being used.

Table 3: Frequency Distribution on the pre test and post test score of the Control Group.
Score Descriptive Value Pre test Post test

Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 8

21-25 Excellent 2 4.08 3 6.12

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 The Effectiveness of Bilingualism

16-20 Very Satisfactory 27 55.10 28 57.14

11-15 Satisfactory 18 36.73 18 36.73

6-10 Fair 2 4.08 0 0

1-5 Poor 0 0 0 0

Total 49 100% 49 100%

Mean Score 16.1633 16.4286

SD 2.88925 2.386411

Gain .2653

In the control group which is composed of 49 students who were not exposed to the use
of Bilingualism in Environmental Science subject, the pre test score had a mean of sixteen point
sixteen which is indicative of the 55.10% of the control group obtained a score from 16 to 20.
The post test score of the control group is sixteen point forty-two which is very
satisfactory in value. This means that the majority of the control group obtained a score from 16
to 20. This shows that there was significant difference in the pre test and the post test score of
the control group. This implies that there was a great improvement in the scores of the control
group since Bilingualism was not integrated in their Environmental Science classes.

Table 4: Significant difference between the mean gain scores of the Control group and
Experimental Group.
Groups T-value Significance Description
Pre-test Score -1.542 .126 Not significant
Post-test Score -3.985 .000 Significant
Gain Score -2.098 .039 Significant

The table shows the difference between the mean gain scores of the control group and
experimental group. The Description of the pre-test score is Not Significant; this implies that
there is no significant difference in the pre-test scores of control group and the experimental
group. While in the description of the posttest group has a significant difference. Based on the
gain scores of control group and experimental group, there was a significant difference
established. This means that the integration of Bilingualism in teaching is not effective in the
Teaching and Learning Process.

Discussion
9
The result of the study showed that there is a difference between the scores of students
who were taught in dual language and those students who were taught in monoloingualism. The
scores of the control group are better than the experimental group. This implies that the

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integration of Bilingualism is not effective in Teaching and Learning Process because as

Bilingualism is being used as medium of instruction, the Academic Performance and the
Engagement of Students is decreasing and this study opposes the theory “Theory of
Bilingualism” by Jim Cummins which states that students who are exposed to Bilingualism
environment promotes Student’s greater Understanding. The aim of this study was not achieve
because the subject is Environmental Science and there are many concrete words or concept
that are present in this area. According to the Rule of Translation (Panuntunan sa Pagsasaling
Wika) you cannot translate words or concept in Science because this may affect the meaning of
the word use in the sentence, the meaning may change that leads to different message that the
book wants to convey. This connotes that the use of Bilingualism leads to confusion among
students because they do not have concentration to a certain language. Students are confused
of what language they will use to express their ideas (Bandura 1999).

Conclusion
This study reveals that as the teacher uses Bilingualism in teaching, the Academic
performance and the engagement of the student declines.

Recommendations:
Based on the results of the study, the following are recommended:
1. The subject that must be used in the study should be Language, Religion, Social
Sciences, and History.
2. The time span of observation must be longer to monitor really the development of the
Academic and Engagement of students.
3. The teacher should use Instructional materials written in dual language to promote
Consistency in Medium of instruction and Instructional materials.

10

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