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COMPARING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENGLISH AND FILIPINO AS MEDIA OF

INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES TO GRADE 10 STUDENTS

Research · July 2024

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24758.92487

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American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research (AJHSSR) 2024

American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research (AJHSSR)

e-ISSN :2378-703X
Volume-08, Issue-07, pp-292-297
www.ajhssr.com
Research Paper Open Access

COMPARING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENGLISH AND

FILIPINO AS MEDIA OF INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING
SOCIAL STUDIES TO GRADE 10 STUDENTS
Jojelyn B. Ablao1, Hanijane Esperat-Reambonanza2, Sarah Jane B. Gregorio3,
Al-Muktar I. Musa4
1
(Junior High School, Caldwell Adventist Academy, Zamboanga City, Philippines)
2
(Junior High School, Mercedes National High School, Zamboanga City, Philippines)
3
(Junior High School, Manicahan National High School, Zamboanga City, Philippines)
4
(Junior High School, Claret School of Zamboanga City, Philippines)

ABSTRACT : The language of instructions is crucial in the transfer of learning. Identifying the right medium
is essential to ensure that learners understand and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills from a specific
subject or discipline. The paper focuses on the general objective of which language students learn best when it
comes to learning Social Studies. The instruments used for this study are post-test and pre-test assessments in
both Filipino and English language incorporated with a Likert scale survey. The participants of the study are
Grade 10 Students of Mercedes National High School. The evaluation of the academic performance of the
students in Filipino and English was conducted through a Pre-Test and Post-Test Assessment. Results show that
the participants learn Social Studies best when the Filipino medium of instruction is used, with a Filipino Pre-
Test average score of 28.88 compared to the English Post-Test average score of 24.20. However, despite
gaining better results in the Pre-Test, the student's level of performance is on the “Average level.” After
analyzing the data using the Paired T-Test, results show that there is a significant difference in the performance
of students in Social Studies when the medium of instruction used is either Filipino or English.

Keywords - media of Instructions, learners performance, teaching Social Studies, language

I. INTRODUCTION
In today’s interconnected and contemporary world, change is a constant factor that can significantly
impact everyone's life. We can witness significant changes in the educational system, such as the curriculum
improvement over the years to the known global standards of education (Williamson, 2018) and in the way
students gain knowledge. Sardeshpande (2020) defined language in Education as the mode of transferring
learning. Language use is a worldwide concern because effective language could improve students'
comprehension and learning achievement. In the field of education, this refers to the medium of instruction.

The medium of instruction, as defined by the British Council, is the language the teacher uses to teach.
Teaching the language or educational content through the target language increases the exposure one gets to it,
the opportunities one must communicate, and, therefore, the development of one's control of it.

The medium of instruction is of prime importance in the educational system. It plays a vital role in the
performance of students. The medium of instruction is identified as the language a teacher uses in the classroom
to impart teaching. (Ahmed et al., 2011) Begi (2014) advocates for implementing the mother tongue as the
primary medium of instruction. This approach allows students to grasp the content of subjects more effectively
through their native language. Utilizing a foreign language as a medium of instruction results in what can be
considered an incomplete education. This assertion is supported by Nyika’s (2015) research, which reveals that
integrating second languages typically leads to diminished or low academic performance. Moreover, employing

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a language not actively used or familiar within society is an artificial barrier to an individual’s expression.
Consequently, when children are not educated in their mother tongue, their opportunity to develop their creative
capabilities is hindered. (Khaldoon, 2001).

However, Kirmanmayi et al, (2010) are against adopting the mother tongue as a medium of Instruction.
According to their views, the mother tongue will create biases among provinces. In our country, such forces are
gaining strength. It is empirically proven that regional languages culminate in national integrity. According to
her, if the instructions do not adopt one common MI, it will break bias among the region/ states and ultimately
produce a regionally-minded elite. According to the National Council of Social Studies (1994), Social Studies is
an integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. It serves the purpose of
teaching the social science disciplines at the basic education level, incorporating societal values and civic
engagement. In the history of the Philippine education system, the social studies curriculum was framed from
the American curriculum, from its basic concepts to its medium of instruction, English. However, a change was
implemented in 1974 when the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) released Department
Order No. 25, series of 1974, where social studies will be taught from the English language to the “Filipino-
Tagalog” language. The purpose of the order was to reform the language of instruction to the lingua franca of
the country, the Filipino language.

Despite implementing the order, issues such as those of non-native Tagalog-speaking educators had a
difficult time following the shift, such as the abrupt shift entirely to the monolingual Filipino-Tagalog language.
Moreover, another order was implemented, the 1987 Bilingual Policy or DECS Order No. 52, Series of 1987,
where Filipino and English will be taught as separate and stand-alone subjects in all grade levels. In 2012, the
Department of Education implemented a new order on re-implementing the mother tongue language as the
medium of instruction, namely DepEd Order No. 016-12, or the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education
(MTB-MLE). However, Saavedra (2019) stated that the order has proven to be faulty, as its predecessor, DepEd
Order No. 25, also resulted in issues with non-native-speaking educators teaching in their locality. In the study
conducted by Saavedra (2020), students who were taught using the Chavacano language as a medium of
instruction, did not show a positive effect on their reading level in English.

Presently, the public education system fully uses Filipino as the medium of instruction, but it is a
different matter in the private education sector. Most private institutions use English as their primary mode of
instruction in teaching social studies. More research is needed to highlight the importance of language as a
medium of instruction to enhance students' academic performance in learning social studies. Hence, the
importance of conducting this study would be to give meaningful realization on the use of either English or
Filipino as a medium of instruction in teaching Social Studies and whether it can promote the student's academic
performance in learning Social Studies.

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In non-English-speaking countries, implementing English for instructional purposes can have benefits.
Following Chapple, J. (2015), it can be an opportunity to improve their English proficiency and globalize the
content they learn using the world’s first language. It can help them develop academic performance, enhance
critical thinking, and boost graduates’ chances for better job-finding prospects.
According to Gorgonio, J.P (2011), the use of Filipino or English Medium of Instruction (MOI) has
improved the academic performance of second-year students in Social Studies. Descriptively, the use of English
MOI showed better learning in Social Studies. Considering the Socioeconomic status and great exposure to the
English language through mass media and modern technology, the prolonged use of a medium of instruction by
the students promotes better learning in academic subjects.

Parveen et al. (2008) found that students should be instructed only in the medium of instruction they
are familiar with. In the comparative analysis of the study by Dr. Arpita Kackar (2019), students perform better
when instructed in their native language. Also, the environment plays a significant role in developing language

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skills, which is the only way to enhance their cognitive development and learning. Thus, the English language is
difficult for students to comprehend, analyze, and write. Even in the Saavedra and Barredo (2020) study, it
appeared that a factor contributing to students' poor writing skills in English is their limited vocabulary; hence,
this could also be a barrier to their ability to understand and write in English.

The current study of Omar and Said (2023) has been conducted to examine the significance of the
medium of instruction. They found that most of the reported challenges fall under self-related cognition and
apprehension towards others’ evaluations, which are more likely to be attributed to the role of teachers in
conducting the classroom environment, like creating a more friendly and less stressful environment. While this
is true, it is also important to note that students should take responsibility for their learning. Teachers may
facilitate learning and help the students achieve academic success using EMI, if students are also willing to take
part and take the path toward improvement.

III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The primary aim of the study is to identify the significant effect of the medium of instruction used in
teaching social studies on the level of performance of the students at Mercedes National High School. This also
sought to answer the following questions:

(1) What is the academic performance of the Grade 10 students in Social Studies when taught using
English as the medium of instruction?
(2) What is the academic performance of Grade 10 students in Social Studies when taught using Filipino
as the medium of instruction?
(3) Is there a significant difference in the academic performance of Grade 10 students in Social Studies
when taught using Filipino compared to English as the medium of instruction?

IV. METHODOLOGY
The quantitative method of research was employed in this study. The quantitative research design is
deemed appropriate since the study primarily used numerical data of pre-test and post-test to identify the level of
proficiency acquired using the media of instruction, English and Filipino.

The respondents of the study were randomly selected. There are two hundred three (203) grade 10
students from the school who are the respondents of the study. One of the four sections will be randomly
selected. They are a heterogeneous section comprising students with various academic performances and
behaviors. The selected respondents were given an informed assent before gathering the data. The researchers
explain to the respondents the purpose of the study and the confidentiality of their responses.

The research instrument to gather data is the teacher-made pre-test and post-test in English and Filipino
language. A post-test and pre-test using English and Filipino as a medium of instruction in teaching Social
Studies was administered to get the numerical data on students' level of performance.

A letter of permission was secured from the School Principal of Mercedes National High School, also
with the permission of the grade level coordinator of the grade 10 curriculum to gather data from the selected
sections of the grade 10 curriculum. Upon approval, the researcher arranges the schedules to distribute the
Informed Assent form. The Informed Assent form was personally disseminated to the select respondents. Then
after confirming their willingness to participate in the study, the researcher administered the pre-test using
Filipino as the media of instruction, followed by the post-test. Another pre-test for English as media of
instruction was administered followed by a post-test using the same topic.

V. RESULTS
Table 1: Pre- and Post-Test Social Studies Performance of Grade 10 Students Using Filipino and English as
Media of Instruction

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Table 1.1: Academic Performance Scale

Level of Performance Range
Outstanding 41-50
Above Average 31-40
Average 21-30
Fair 11-20
Poor 0-10

Table 2: Paired Sample test between pre-test and post-test Social Studies Performance of Grade
10 Students Using Filipino and English as Media of Instruction

VI. DISCUSSION
Table 1: Pre- and Post-Test Social Studies Performance of Grade 10 Students Using Filipino and English as
Media of Instruction

To answer Research questions number 1 and 2, what is the academic performance of the Grade 10 students
in Social Studies when taught using English and Filipino as the medium of instruction?

Table 1 above shows the Performance of the Grade 10 students of Mercedes National High School who
were taught using Filipino and English as the media of Instruction. Data shows that the pre-test score mean
using Filipino as media of instruction is 28.88 with a standard deviation of 5.292. While post-test score using
English as the media of instruction is 24.20 with a standard deviation of 3.816.

Table 1.1: Academic Performance Scale

Level of Performance Range
Outstanding 41-50
Above Average 31-40
Average 21-30
Fair 11-20
Poor 0-10

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American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research (AJHSSR) 2024

Therefore, the pre-test score is higher than the post-test score. This implies that grade 10 students of
Mercedes National High School perform better in Social studies using Filipino as the media of instruction.
Moreover, despite the Filipino pre-test score showing better results than the English post-test results, the
students' level of performance in both languages is at the average level.

This result is attributed to the study conducted by Parveen et al. (2008) found that students should be
instructed only in the medium of instruction they are familiar with. In the Philippines the familiar language is
Filipino. In the comparative analysis of the study by Kackar (2019), students perform better when instructed in
their native language. Also, the environment plays a significant role in developing language skills, which is the
only way to enhance their cognitive development and learning. Thus, the English language is difficult for
students to comprehend, analyze, and write.

Table 2: Paired Sample test between pre-test and post-test Social Studies Performance of Grade 10 Students
Using Filipino and English as Media of Instruction

To answer research question number 3, Is there a significant difference in the academic performance of
Grade 10 students in Social Studies when taught using Filipino compared to English as the medium of
instruction?

Table 2 shows the academic performance of grade 10 students in Social Studies when taught using
Filipino compared to English as the media of instruction. As shown in Table 1, the pre-test score using Filipino
as a media of instruction is higher than the post-test score using English. When this data was statistically tested
through paired t-test the t-value is 7.247 with a probability value of 0.000 which is less than the critical value of
0.005.

Therefore, there is a significant difference in the academic performance of the grade 10 students in
Social Studies when taught using Filipino compared to English as media of instruction. This implies that
students perform better in social studies when the Filipino language is the media of instruction than when the
English language is used. This result may be attributed to the participants’ greater exposure to the Filipino
language in the school or their homes. Filipino is greatly used as a medium of instruction in public schools in the
Philippines.

VII. CONCLUSION
In Conclusion, the use of Filipino or English as media of instruction in teaching social studies greatly
affects the academic performance of the grade 10 students. Descriptively, the use of Filipino as a medium of
instruction in teaching social studies showed better learning in the subject. This may be attributed to the
implemented curriculum of the school where the Filipino language is the primary media of instruction in
teaching and learning Social Studies or AralingPanlipunan.

Furthermore, based on the pre-test result, it reached the average level of performance. Considering the
students' high exposure to the Filipino language, prolonged use of media of instruction by the students promotes
their better learning in social studies.

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VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS
From the obtained conclusions, the researchers humbly suggest the following recommendation:
Considering that the study was conducted in a DepEd Public School that implements the Filipino
language as the primary medium of instruction in teaching and learning Social Studies, the researchers
recommend conducting the same study for private educational institutions to observe common results. Initiating
studies of the medium of instruction not only in the subject of Social Studies but also in the different disciplines
to evaluate the preferred learning medium for learners. Though the researchers' study is not the first one to be
conducted on the medium of instruction in Social Studies the paper can serve as a preliminary basis for
evaluating the effectiveness of Filipino or English as the language of instruction in social studies.

IX. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The researchers would like to thank all individuals who contributed to the success of this study and to the respondents who
participated. Your assistance and cooperation are greatly appreciated.

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