The Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) was officially implemented in the Philippines in the School Year 2012-2013. Republic Act No. 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 provided MTB-MLE‟s primary legal basis, which made it part of the K to 12 Basic Education program of the country. The advent of the MTB-MLE program signified the end of the Philippines‟ long tradition of bilingual education (Adriano et al., 2021). According to UNESCO (2022), multilingual education based on the mother tongue or native language is essential for attaining an inclusive and quality education for all learners. Furthermore, it empowers mother languages and “helps preserve the wealth of cultural and traditional heritage that is embedded in every language” (para. 2).

The Department of Education (DepEd) points out that MTB-MLE is the key to producing Filipino learners who are multilingual, multiliterate, and multicultural. Since knowledge and skills transfer across languages, it is best for learners to begin their education in the language that they are most familiar with. Once a strong foundation in the mother tongue is developed, learners are better disposed to learn through other languages (DepEd, 2016). Furthermore, DepEd (2016) claims that MTB-MLE (1) facilitates the integration of prior knowledge and new knowledge, (2) fosters critical thinking, (3) constructs a solid bridge toward fluency and oral proficiency in L2, (4) provides L2 support through the L1, (5) supports teaching for meaning and accuracy, and (6) builds confidence and proficiency development in all languages in the classroom, especially in the use of mother tongue.

Presently, the mother tongue under MTB-MLE is a subject from Grade 1 to Grade 3 and a medium of instruction (MOI) from kindergarten to Grade 3. As a subject, Mother Tongue aims at the development of, among others, critical thinking, oral competence and confidence, and knowledge of language structure. However, Mother Tongue may be put to an end soon as DepEd revealed its plan to abandon the subject and focus more on its use as an MOI instead (Pinlac, 2022). On the other hand, the use of the mother tongue as a language of instruction starts at the kindergarten level and is applied in the teaching of all learning areas except in English and Filipino subjects. As an MOI, mother tongue targets better comprehension of academic content, curriculum mastery, and creative and critical thinking among learners.

MTB-MLE has been around for many years now as part of the K to 12 curriculum. According to Monje et al. (2021), the program is set on a sound pedagogical base and operates under the principles of learner-centered education. This solid pedagogical foundation and learner-centered learning are encapsulated in the set of guiding principles for MTB-MLE teaching and learning put forward by DepEd (2016), in which principles like discovery learning and active learning are included. In fact, there‟s a growing body of evidence supporting the claim that MTB-MLE promotes a learner-centered classroom (Asia Multilingual Education Group, 2014) where “learners engage more, respond to teachers‟ questions, and participate as equals” (p. 6).

The program may be firmly anchored in sound theoretical bases and principles, but MTB-MLE‟s implementation continues to be faced with numerous challenges and problems (Monje et al., 2021) that could potentially affect the realization of those principles in the classroom, especially in terms of instruction (Aperocho, 2023). MTB-MLE instruction relates to teachers‟ knowledge and competence in pedagogy and content, and proficiency in the MOI (Pradilla et al., 2017). Malone and Malone (2011) emphasized the need for teachers to be equipped with adequate pedagogical competence and language proficiency for the successful implementation of MTB-MLE. However, MTB-MLE studies in the country continue to emphasize the lack of quality and continuous teacher training to improve classroom instruction (see Lartec et al., 2014; Anudin, 2018). Other challenges that hamper MTB-MLE’s implementation in the Philippines include multilingual environment, translation issues, inadequacy of instructional materials, and mandatory compliance with DepEd orders to be the primary reasons for implementation difficulties (Cabansag, 2016).