Acceptability of Big Books as Mother Tongue-based Reading Materials in Bulusan Dialect

Several studies have proven the superiority of using mother tongue in improving the pupils‟ performance. Research results revealed that using a language familiar to the pupils facilitates reading, writing and learning new concepts. However, at present, teachers are confronted with the insufficiency of instructional materials written in the local dialect and accepted by the end-users as possessing the qualities that could produce the desired learning outcomes. This descriptive evaluative research was conducted to address this problem. It determined the level of acceptability of the six researcher-made big books as mother tongue-based reading materials in Bulusan dialect for Grade 1 pupils. The big books were utilized by 11 Grade 1 teachers of Bulusan District to their pupils and were evaluated along suitability and appropriateness of the materials, visual appeal and quality of the story using checklist and open-ended questionnaire. Same materials were assessed by eight expert jurors. Findings showed that the big books possessed the desired qualities that made them very much acceptable to the Grade 1 teachers and much acceptable to the expert jurors. The comments and suggestions of the respondents served as inputs in the enhancement and revision of the six big books.

Keywords: Education, acceptability level, big books, mother tongue, reading materials, Bulusan dialect, Philippines