Author: Pinky Larcelle D. Lang-ay, Jessie Grace M. Sannadan

Abstract: The implementation of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education addresses numerous educational issues in the Philippines and Cambodia by recognizing a child's mother tongue, culture, and context as the foundation of learning. The study used literature juxtaposition and qualitative meta-analysis to conduct a rigorous secondary qualitative analysis of primary qualitative findings. This is to provide a more comprehensive description of the implementation of MTB-MLE in both countries and its perceived effects on the indigenous communities. The study determined that most mother tongue-based education in both countries occur in the non-formal sector, particularly at the preschool or adult literacy classes. Most programs are run by non-governmental actors, such as local and international NGOs and other civil society actors. It further concludes that this learning initiative helped the marginalized minorities through supporting the use of their mother tongue and helping them make sense of the words and the world they are in. This learning initiative would encourage students to achieve more and would allow them to relate their everyday reality to reality nationally, internationally, and globally.

Keywords: Mother Tongue-Based Education, Multilingual Education, Comparative Study, Philippines, Cambodia.

Article Info: Received: 12 Oct 2020; Received in revised form: 19 Jan 2021; Accepted: 09 Feb 2021; Available online: 25 Feb 2021

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.61.44