Effects of Using Mother Tongue as a Medium of Instruction for Physics Class

Abstract

This study explored the impact of employing Mother tongue as an instructional medium in one of the Education Department’s programs at the university level. More specifically, it sought to find out the academic performance of General Physics students in mother tongue-based instruction in Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte. It specifically aimed to determine the gender and native language of the students, differentiate the academic performance of students in Physics in the mother tongue class and English class. More so, it adopted a quasi-experimental approach in which pre- and post-tests were administered to General Physics students enrolled in School Year 2017-2018. In the experimental group, Mother language was employed as the medium of teaching, whereas English was used in the control group. The lesson plans for both groups were identical, but the instructional medium was varied. Data were statistically treated using frequency, percentage, descriptive statistics, matching T-test, Z-test, and F-test. Findings revealed that the post-test academic performance of both groups in Physics was found to be superior than that of the pre-test. There is no significant difference in their academic achievement when grouped according to gender. The medium of teaching in Physics class has no impact on the academic achievement of pupils. Still, Physics was recommended to be taught with activities and instructional methodologies regardless of the language of education. Keywords: mother-tongue based multilingual education (MTBMLE)