English Instructional Plan for Grade 1

Abstract

Language is the primary tool used in the communication process. This connotes sharing one's thoughts, emotions, and knowledge with others using a certain code and symbol that must be learned and shared between communicators. Yet, language acquisition becomes an issue nowadays especially with the interference of the first language. In the first grade classrooms, challenges are felt in terms of learning English. It is in this venue that the researcher conducted the study to find ways of bridging L1 and L3 in the Grade 1 classroom. The study utilized the on-shot pre-test post-test design of quasi-experimental research wherein the learners were subjected to an intervention using their first language to acquire the English language after the pre-test. The post-test was also conducted after the intervention to compare the results. The study was conducted at Dagup Integrated School with 23 Grade 1 learners. The main tool to assess the English competence of the respondents was a teacher-made test that was subjected to face validity and content validity by experts. After establishing the validity of the test, its internal consistency was also determined and established before the actual utility of the test to the respondents. The English competence of the learners before the intervention was average with 'distinguishing rhyming words as the highest and 'following one-step directions' was the lowest. During the post-test, the competency level increased though it was still at the average level. The highest competence was still registered by the learners' ability to distinguish rhyming words and the lowest was following one-step directions. Comparing the differences between the pre-test and post-test results, the English competence of the learners significantly increased after the intervention. The findings of the study established earlier findings that second and third language acquisitions are facilitated by the first language. This is another confirmation on the claim that first language instruction is significant which paved the way for the mother tongue-based multilingual education. In this connection, the bridging employed in this study needs further replication to further establish the merit of the experiment and on the gains of first language education for policy enhancement particularly in language education.