Effects of Bilingualism

Introduction

The use of mother tongue in learning allows students to learn the lesson quickly. It helps them to read and probably write quickly. (Yolanda Quijano, 1994). The use of the Filipino language in teaching develops lifelong learners who are proficient in the use of their native language and other languages. (Mona Valisino, 2006) Using the mother tongue of a student forms their critical thinking skills, drawing conclusions and making comparisons. (Ocampo, Fajardo, et al, 1990). Filipino was declared as the ‘lingua franca’ because it is the language that is being spoken and understood by majority of the Filipinos, that is why Filipino should be used in education.

(Dr. Rosaryo Yu, U.P. SWF) However, the English language is the universal language. It is used commercially and it is also a factor for success in the business world.

English is also widely used as reading and instructional materials. Furthermore, it helps individuals to be globally competitive that is why English is used as medium of instruction in schools.

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(Rebecca Alcantara, et al, 1996) According to the 1986 Philippine constitution, the Philippine educational system implemented the use of bilingualism in all levels of educational institutions in our country. Bilingual education aims to use both English and Filipino as medium of instruction for students to achieve quality education with the help of the collaboration of the two languages. (Tony Rimando, 1994, Manila bulletin) This research aims to know the effects of bilingualism to the academic performance of the fourth year student in Pasig Catholic College.

Statement of the Problem

Bilingualism is used in schools all over the Philippines as instructed by the Department of Education.

One of the schools that implement bilingualism is Pasig Catholic College. In this light, the researchers would like to identify the effect of bilingualism to the academic performance of fourth year students in Pasig Catholic College. This study also aims to answer the following questions: a) What are the advantages of bilingualism to the academic performance of the fourth year high school students in Pasig Catholic College? b) What are the disadvantages of bilingualism to the academic performance of the fourth year high school students in Pasig Catholic College?

Significance of the Study

The researchers would like this study to help Pasig Catholic College in determining the effects of bilingualism to the academic performance of the fourth year high school students. Specifically, this section will provide a brief description on the several significances of the research about the effects of bilingualism to the academic performance of the fourth year high school students in Pasig Catholic College. This study will be more likely to be significant to the following persons: To students.

This study provides evidence to students about the effects of bilingualism to their academic performance. To teachers. This study will aid teachers to have a deeper understanding to the said bilingual education. By this study they can come up with new teaching techniques to offer their students a better education. To future researcher. This study will benefit the future researchers as their guide and reference in making a similar research. Moreover, this study can also open an opportunity to the development of this study.

Scope and Delimitation of the study

This study will cover the effects of bilingualism to the academic performance of the fourth year high school students of Pasig Catholic College. The researchers will include different procedures and. This study will be done by selected fourth year High School students during the school year 2012-2013. The researcher will gather data using different books, clippings, and websites. They will also conduct a survey to be given to fourth year high school students. This study will be conducted on the school year 2012-2013.

Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDY

This chapter presents gathered information which has relevance to the study and can serve as reference in understanding the nature of the topic. The following facts and data were collected from different books, encyclopedias, websites, magazines, and other thesis papers.

Related Literature

Nowadays, majority of the world’s population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual. This trend also positively affects cognitive abilities of people around the world. Researchers have shown that the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain. Additionally, bilingualism has positive effects at both ends of the age spectrum: Bilingual children as young as seven months can better adjust to environmental changes, while bilingual seniors can experience less cognitive decline (Marian, V & Spivey, M, 2003). Being bilingual can have different benefits. The improvements in thinking and physical processing determined by bilingual experience may help a bilingual person to better process information in the environment, leading to a richer learning. This kind of improved attention to factor may help explain why bilingual adults learn a third language better than monolingual adults learn a second language (Gollan, T. H., & Acenas, L. A., 2004).

Related Study

Bilingualism causes misconception to students as well as to the teachers. It is also one of the reasons why students could not speak English fluently. The tendency is that they mix up the two languages which results in “taglish” words or phrases. Students also encounter difficulty in translating Filipino words to English and vice versa. Studying both languages at the same time causes minimal fluency in either Filipino or English since their focus is not constant in one language. Other students could not express themselves in English because they are used in speaking in Filipino which results in being an uncompetitive student when it comes to English (Madriaga, Nazareno, et al, 2001).