Case Study Research

            Case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research.  Case studies emphasizes detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships.  Hence, particularity is one of the characteristics of such type of study, wherein a single case or nonrandom sample is selected precisely because the researcher wishes to understand the particular in depth, not to find out what is generally true of the many.  Furthermore, a case is a single instance of a class of objects or entities, and a case study is the investigation of that single instance in the context in which it occurs (Nunan, 1992; Dekker, 2003).  Hence, a case is a bounded instance and the phenomenon is studied in context or when the entity being studied in a naturally occurring situation.

            On the other hand, Duff (2008) argued that each human case is complex, operating within a constellation of linguistic, sociolinguistic, sociological and other systems, and the whole may be greater than-or different from-the sum of its parts.  And to study the linguistic part, Diane E. Dekker of Summer Institute of Linguistics conducted a Case Study of the First Language Component Bridging Program in Rural Philippines.  The study was done through experimental implementation of a First Language Component Bridging Program in the early primary grades in selected classes of the public school system of Lubuagan, Kalinga Apayao.  The community perception of the place was that anyone who had been to school for at least four months had acquired literacy skills.  But then, through informal observation, it became clear that some students were not literate even until fourth or fifth grade or later, wherein a lack of reading ability is evident.  In the classroom environment, the teacher uses the prescribed language for the subjects, Filipino and English, and then translate into Lilubuagen in order for his/her students to comprehend.  Because of this, the teacher has the time to go over subject material only, not having the time to develop the cognitive skills of the students.  Unable to develop concepts with the students in a language they understand well, the teacher would not be able to build on the cognitive skills the students could bring to the task.  Hence, the students may be delayed in developing their thinking skills.

            Addressing the problem stated, Gonzales (1996) states that if students do not understand the medium of instruction, a language they understand must be used transitionally until a new medium of instruction (second or third language) can be used with comprehension in the classroom (Dekker 2003).  Hence, the formulation and experimental implementation of a First Language Component (FLC) Bridging Program in the school system.  In using the FLC, students’ mother tongue was used as medium of instruction in the classroom.  By teaching concepts in the mother tongue, the students would be exposed to comprehensible input and would enable them to develop concepts further.  As to the results, the test scores of the Lubuagan students have improved in reading and language, and they are more able to learn to read and write in Filipino and English because of the mother-tongue literacy skills.  And as to the end result, the parents are asking for more FLC classes and teachers are interested in being trained in such approach.

            As to second language teaching and learning, the theory that second language learners are burdened by a language barrier that hinders them from learning a language.  That if a second language learner is not fluent in his/her first language, it is most likely the same in his/her second language.  Hence, the use of the mother tongue for efficient basic and functional literacy skills first then lead to building on and transferring the skills to the second language (Gonzales, 1996; Dekker 2003).  Initial literacy and language development in the mother tongue enables cognitive development that contributes to the mastery of a second and third language.  That is why, as a language teacher, the value of the students’ mother tongue must be realized in initial schooling and also begin the cognitive skill development.  All of these will help a lot for the student to learn another language.  And most of all, language factors must be a primary consideration so that the children to succeed in school.  This small investment in the education of children could change the course of the nation.

References:

Dekker, D.E. (2003). A Case Study of the First Language Component Bridging Program in Rural Philippines. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, Vol. 34, No. 1, 143-149.