MANILA, Philippines/ Philippine Star— The Department of Education (DepEd) has proposed early teaching of English and the removal of the separate Mother Tongue subject in the primary level.
Based on the draft of the revised basic education curriculum released by the DepEd last week, English will be taught as early as the first quarter for Grade 1 students, earlier than the current third quarter.
“Anchored on the language framework of the K-12 curriculum, the enhanced English curriculum reflects the dynamic nature of the language and to distinguish Philippine English from the English of, not one of and not for, the native speakers,” the DepEd’s draft-shaping paper for the revised English curriculum read.
“Philippine English is a variety of English used in various discourse forms (oral, written, visual, digital) influenced by the country’s unique historical, multicultural and diverse linguistic backgrounds and used widely in literary, academic, journalistic and business correspondence,” it added.
Meanwhile, Mother Tongue will no longer be offered as a separate subject in Grades 1 to 3 and instead will be used to teach other subjects, primarily English and Filipino.
Jason Jeth Newshub 