2026 IJRSE – Volume 15 Issue 18
Available Online: 27 July 2026
Author/s:
De Mesa, Alvin R.*
Leyte Normal University, Philippines (ar_demesa@ymail.com)
Fernandez, Lazarina C.
Jugaban Nationa High School, Philippines (lazarina.fernandez@deped.gov.ph)
Abstract:
This study looks at how Grade 12 students perform in Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person when taking tests in English versus Filipino. Drawing on Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory and Cummins’ work on academic language skills, the research used a side-by-side post-test design with 100 learners from the HUMSS and TVL strands. We used two matching 30-item tests and analyzed results through descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA. Students assessed in Filipino scored noticeably higher—averaging 23.12 (High Proficiency)—compared to 18.74 (Moderate Proficiency) for those tested in English, a difference that is statistically meaningful. The analysis also shows that while both groups did better in Filipino, the gap was much wider for TVL students, whose scores jumped by nearly 7 points versus less than 3 points for HUMSS learners. This suggests English-only assessments often measure language skill more than actual grasp of ideas, especially for TVL students who spend less time with academic English. We recommend giving schools flexibility to use Filipino for philosophy lessons and tests, and creating materials that feel more familiar to students’ daily language and experiences and to ensure assessments measure actual student learning rather than English proficiency, action is needed across three levels: classrooms should adopt flexible, bilingual approaches—such as controlled code-switching and indigenous concepts like kapwa and loob—to reduce the cognitive burden on Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) students; institutions must replace strict English-only exams with matched or side-by-side bilingual test papers; and systemic policymakers (such as DepEd) should update the Senior High School bilingual framework to support flexible, inclusive multilingual testing aligned with SDG 4 while developing standard textbooks in academic Filipino.
Keywords: medium of instruction, student performance, Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, bilingual education, cognitive load, senior high school Philippines
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2026.26350
Cite this article:
De Mesa, A. R., & Fernandez, L. C. (2026). A comparative study on the impact of English and Filipino language as medium of instruction on the academic performance of Grade 12 students in Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 15(18), 89-96. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2026.26350
* Corresponding Author