More Musings on My Journey in Mother Tongue Based Instruction

I often integrate Mother Tongue Based Instruction in my storytelling workshops and reading skills teaching for teachers and librarians, especially if the venue is in the province or in the regions. I got this insight while being a part of Sa Aklat Sisikat's team of facilitators and trainers (circa 2006 - 2016). Of the trainings I had, four remarkable experiences stood out:

1. the 2012 IASL Regional Conference in Bacolod because that was where school librarians saw the importance of oracy and oral tradition in language development and that, by conducting read aloud sessions and storytelling, librarians and libraries contribute to language acquisition and development; 

2. the Storytelling Workshop in Cagayan Valley, Tuguegarao because, participants created their own story flash cards in Ilocano, Ibanag and Itawis; 

3. the Naga Workshop by EDUCO and ADARNA HOUSE where teachers and librarians created mini-books and they wrote their stories in Bicol Rinconada;  

4. the Storytelling Workshop I had in Mindoro last May 2018 because, I met Teacher Ann Lee Masongsong who learned the mother tongue of the Mangyans so that she could teach them.

 5. the recent Story Creation I had in CDO as organised by the NLP because, it was the first time I used the Language Experience Approach in teaching mother tongue, as subject and skill. I first heard of LEA in UPD, in Dr. Hermosa's class, saw it used by Sa Aklat Sisikat Master Trainers and I was inspired to use it with Zoe who was, at that time, a struggling reader. 

         
But, in retrospect, it is Teacher Dina Ocampo who allowed me to run a workshop on Storytelling where I was able to use the Tandem Telling Technique during the Summer Institute of Linguistics 2009 teacher training. I learned of this technique back in 2002 when I attended the Storytelling Congress in Singapore.