Fostering Genuine Love for Reading: Empowering Children through Early Grade Reading Materials in Their Native Language

• In Event: Breaking norms, accelerating learning recovery, and building a case for equity in the Philippines

Proposal

This explores the profound impact of early grade reading materials in the language that children understand, emphasizing their crucial role in cultivating a genuine love for reading and promoting literacy development. It highlights the significance of language and inclusion in early grade learning, underscoring their pivotal roles in ensuring equitable access and enhancing educational outcomes for all children. The abstract emphasizes the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders, including parents, caregivers, teachers, administrators, policymakers, and community members, in supporting early grade learning initiatives.

Recognizing the value of teaching children in languages they comprehend; the abstract emphasizes the connection between language proficiency and learning other languages through translanguaging. It highlights the critical need for early grade reading materials in children's native or home language (L1) to facilitate comprehensive language development, foster comprehension, ignite motivation, promote cultural relevance, and facilitate a smooth transition to additional languages. By providing reading materials in a language familiar to children, educational resources become more accessible, relatable, and engaging, creating an environment that nurtures their literacy skills and fosters a lifelong love for reading.

Further, this addresses the efforts undertaken in the Philippines to implement the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) policy, as outlined in DepEd Order 21 series of 2019. It highlights the collaboration between the ABC+ project and the Department of Education (DepEd) in materials development beyond the officially recognized languages of instruction. These endeavors to empower marginalized learners, preserve their cultural heritage, and foster meaningful engagement with the curriculum, ensuring educational resources are linguistically and culturally relevant.

Furthermore, the abstract highlights that lessons learned from developing materials in languages outside of the 19 officially recognized languages will be shared to inform policy and program implementation. The insights gained through this process will contribute to the understanding of effective strategies, challenges, and best practices in developing inclusive and culturally relevant educational materials.

Authors

• Nicholas Tenazas, UNICEF

• Donald Genine, Philippines Department of Education Region VI