Of tongues and ties: Surfacing inclusive strategies in linguistically diverse classrooms

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the inclusive strategies in language teaching that teachers (ties) employed to cater to the different linguistic backgrounds (tongues) of the primary learners in the Philippines. It also explored the effects of these inclusive strategies on the pupils’ learning. Five teachers teaching in a classroom with linguistically diverse students and 16 linguistically diverse pupils from kindergarten to Grade 3 participated in the study. Findings from interviews, classroom observation, visual learning materials, and learning logs revealed that teachers utilized diversifying instructional materials, diversifying communication mediums, and diversifying activities strategies to cater to all the pupils’ needs despite their language differences, making inclusive education accessible. However, although these strategies were inclusive, they evoked maximized learning and minimized learning in the pupils. Because diversity is a constant in multicultural settings like the Philippines, the findings suggest that teachers must improve time management while using inclusive strategies to offset the minimized learning effect, i.e. the lack of time. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

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