The English language debate in the Philippines
Last month, a group of educators, scholars and other prominent individuals filed a petition in the Supreme Court questioning the policies of the government which mandate the use of English as medium of instruction in schools. This sparked a spirited debate in mainstream media and of course in the blogosphere as to what should be the best language to be used in Philippine schools.
Wow Manila gives a backgrounder to the controversial memo of President Gloria Arroyo pertaining to the main language to be taught in schools:
“On May 17, 2003, the President Arroyo promulgated Executive Order No. 210 titled “Establishing the Policy to Strengthen English as a Second Language in the Educational System.” The salient points of the EO are the following:
* English should be taught as a second language at all levels of the educational system, starting with the First Grade;
* English should be used as the medium of instruction for English, Math and Science from at least the third Grade level;
* The English language shall be used as a primary medium of instruction in all public institutions of learning at the secondary level.”
Petitioner Patricia Licuanan appeals for a broader appreciation of the problems besetting Philippine education:
“It's not just English—it's the whole educational system! The deterioration of English must be understood in the context of the general decline in Philippine education. The problem we are facing is not simply the deterioration of English. It is also the deterioration of Math and Science, and it is this general decline that undermines the competitiveness of the Filipino and the Philippines. Indeed, undue emphasis on English may distract us from the bigger problem. Upgrading education in general should improve the quality of English as well.”
Tugot supports the memorandum order of the President. Blackshama's blog contributes in the language debate. A nagueño in the blogosphere agrees with the arguments of the petitioners. Filipina soul presents two views on the issue, and her post generated a lively discussion.
Philippine Schools Online reviews past proposals on the language issue and mentions the current legislative measures favoring the use of English in schools. My Philippine Life looks into the language policies in the country.
A must-read: Manuel L. Quezon III uploads the pertinent documents, news articles, opinion pieces and shares his perspective on the ‘language wars’ in the Philippines.
Perhaps the most intelligible blogpost in advocating the adoption of English comes from Philippine Commentary. A sample of his views:
“The main point I think is that English is an integral and inseparable and most substantial part of the Filipino cultural heritage–ineradicably a part of our intellectual, educational, and historical patrimony. Its rejection and treatment as “foreign” is a twisted form of the self-loathing that some people wish us all to practice as “nationalism.” What they actually are propagating is a romantic kind of aboriginalism that masks a more modern and leftist agenda…Nearly 100 percent of all major scientific papers are published in English, even by non-native English speakers, not only in Computer Science, but in Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, and the rest of the hard sciences. English is unavoidably the lingua Anglica of the world in this historical epoch, even if it irks the Filipino nationalists and their ideologies of resentment.”
Philippines Without Borders on why the need to master the English language?
“Because everybody else is trying to do the same. Right now, there are probably close to 400 million native English speakers, making English the third largest language next to Mandarin Chinese and Spanish…We should not dilly-dally on embracing policies that would restore the importance of English in Philippine society.”
Seek no more links to an article written by Babe Romualdez on the mistake to reject English as the medium of instruction:
“Filipinos are clearly losing out because of that very big mistake to abolish the use of English as a medium of instruction 20 years ago. Today, a lot of employers are complaining about the deteriorating quality of our graduates, and the fact that majority of them lack the required skill and facility in the English language.”
A small gleaning factory provides an excerpt of a study on the origins of Taglish: a combination of Tagalog and English. The sane unstable2: fighting temptations on school rules in learning English and the uses of this foreign language in Philippine society. Voltaire Oyzon on why English is patronized in the provinces:
“One common misconception about the Philippines is that it speaks only one language–and that is Tagalog (honey-coated as Filipino). In fact, Tagalog/Filipino speakers comprise only 29 percent of the total population and the rest are non-Tagalog…If English is a threat to the Tagalog/Filipino language because it is foreign, then Tagalog/Filipino is also a threat to all the non-Tagalog languages for the same reason. The English language, from the non-Tagalog point of view, is neutral in the sense that it is used globally.”
The Pinoy has an article which notes the concern of foreign investors and business sector on the deteriorating English proficiency in the country. But Businessmirror reports that some Japanese companies are leaving the country, and transferring to China, Thailand and Vietnam because few workers speak Niponggo in the Philippines.
hapoNessa on why the government wants students to learn English:
“Let's face it, the Philippine's biggest export is human labor, and the only thing keeping our economy afloat are those dollar remmittances. The government wants us to learn English so that we can find jobs abroad. We're not learning English for our benefit, we're learning it to serve our masters.”
ThirtySomething v4.3 quotes various studies on the importance of emphasizing native language in the education of children:
“Beyond the preachy rhetorics, other studies on bilingual and multi-lingual methods of education across the world also show that students do better in school if they are taught in their mother tongue instead of an English-only medium of instruction…Why is Malacañang then so petulant on insisting an English-homogenized medium of instruction in schools?”
160 comments
I read all of the comment….about the language between Spanish, English and Philippines. I dissagree Some of you. Because the Philipines they speak fluent English than other country.
I agree to some of the filipino they forgotten where they came from, So thats why theyre a lot of american people mad.
The argument here is not what language is better in itself but which medium will best suit training and education in light of new opportunities for the youth.
English is good in so far as mathematics and the sciences go. But it should be tempered in other subjects. Indeed, the local vernacular should be used and not Filipino, which is essentially Tagalog.
Spanish was done away with in the same spirit as Latin was removed from the general curriculum. However, it should be offered as an elective to high school students who want to learn more about the Philippines’ Spanish past.
Tagalog is Tagalog, and no one can dispute its primacy among the Philippine dialects. However, the purity of Ilocano, Chavacano, Ilonggo, and other dialects should be preserved and encouraged to flourish. Tagalog as a medium of instruction should only be used to explain and showcase Tagalog based culture.
Like it or not, the Philippines is a country blessed with a multi-lingual population. To impose a blanket language on everyone, whether English or Tagalog, is criminal and immoral.
I long for the day when a Filipino can speak to another Filipino and not embarrass or berate him. I also long for the day when everyone of my countrymen are proud of themselves and of their country and of their heritage.
This will never happen if we speak Tagalog/Filipino. I am a Visayan and I speak Cebuano. How dare one call the Tagalog language Filipino! What a disgrace! Am I not a Filipino? I will never desert my mother tongue.
I suggest we learn a world language because it would help us economically. One must not forget, before those treacherous Americans invaded our country, massacred our people, and poisoned our culture, we had our own constitution written by Filipinos in Spanish! Spanish was spoken in every major city in the Philippines and IS the mother tongue of some people already. Rizal wrote to us in Spanish, and Spanish is much easier for a Filipino to learn. We must not forget who and what made our country. Before the Spaniards came, we were running around in banana leaves. Every single language has been affected by it, to a much more extent than English has. We are all able to count in Uno, Dos, Tres and we all know what Pebrero and Miyerkules are.
Now, I know that English is a very “important” language. It’s only for those want to do business or work for an American. I hope in the future, a Filipino can have his own business. Some workers in the States don’t even speak English; they speak Spanish and get by very well. I hope that we stop sending all these Filipinos overseas and make our own da*n money here within our borders! I’m not saying that we should quit all of the English. We have many intelligent, fluent people that can serve our country also. I am saying that it should not be required and it should definitely not be our medium of instruction to our Filipino children. If one doesn’t know, we have a lot to offer the world.
Spanish is entrenched in our culture and for one to give that up for Hollywood is a fake themselves! If your a Real Filipino, speak Spanish! We stopped being Indios a long time ago, so stop acting like one.
One must read these powerful works by our forefathers. Mi Ultimo Adiós, by Rizal, is so beautiful, and we can’t even read the original because we need it translated. How embarrassing!
La única cosa que yo pido es que abráis tus ojos y veáis el daño que sucedido y sigue sucediendo. También abrid los corazones y las mentes y aprended todo que es posible. Éso es el Filipino verdad. Solamente, veo potencial en Las Filipinas. Nuestra país es en una posición única del mundo. Utilizadlo.
Oh, yea.
I forgot in my comment that Spanish is the unifying factor. UNIFYING!
¡Viva la Revolución!
Solo pido a los filipinos que acierten en su decisión y que comprendan que una lengua sirve para UNIR Y COMUNICAR, NO para dividir e ignorar a los demás por no hablarla.
UNIDOS VENCERÉIS.
I am quite amazed by the number of those people who want to reinstate Spanish in the curriculum. i just wish this would happen soon. *excited*
i’m not saying that Filipino/Tagalog is not essential. of course it is, and it will forever be. it’s like the air we breathe.. or like,, if someone takes it away, we’d be like the fish craving for water. our mother tongue is like our “tsinelas/slippers” that we go home to after a long day of hard work in our shoes… enough of the crazy similes.. hehe!
and please, don’t forget English, it’s a global language, and is considered as the language of commerce. how can one possibly transact business with other people if he doesn’t know the language of his clients?
let’s be realistic. speak your client’s language. English, Spanish, and Chinese are the most spoken languages all over the world. And to learn just one of these makes a person competent enough to access the world. how much more if one learns all three?!? the whole world is just a word away. and that is what i call, a truly GLOBAL FILIPINO.
Creo que es muy importante que el español vuelva a ser uno de los idiomas oficiales en Filipinas ya que fue el primer idioma oficial en ese país, y su cultura está influenciada por este idioma. Sería muy lindo en unos años que haya una unión en cinco continentes con un mismo idioma. Europa (España), Latinoamérica, África (Guinea Ecuatorial), Asia (Filipinas), Oceanía (Isla de Pascua)
wala kasabot
english should be used as the medium of instruction in schools and not any language. for the sake of globalization, we have to be competitive. english is used worldwide. even the chinese who are known to be so centered on their culture are learning it now. we filipinos are so blessed because we are natural language learners. our tongue adapts to the english language and one should not demerit it as if it’s an attack to patriotism or disvaluing one’s heritage. Rizal once said that “ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika ay higit pa sa mabahong isda”. but it doesn’t mean that it’s not right to learn another language. learning another language is like expanding our horizon, our views, our knowledge… i think this is not a question of what should be the right language to be used. this is just a matter of acceptance to what is going on around us. filipinos are bilinguals. we are gifted with tongues. its an advantage. english performs a function only in the realms of the academe and in the business world. but outside that, we use our native language in expressing ourslves especially when it’s personal in nature. that’s what u call as “diglossia”. a certain language is used in a specific function. so, english to classroom instruction or formal occasions, and our dialects to other functions such as our own literature and other occasions which are informal in nature.
I think that we should use english as a medium of instruction in schools all we need is practice so we could improve speaking in english.But it does not mean that we must ignore our own language.Both Filipino and English can be helpful in our daily living.We cannot easily abolished one of them.Or else it could be worst!!!
I am a Filipino and to be a Complete and true Filipino , We should learn how to speak the language of our ancestors the language that united this country, the language that has been suppressed by the anglos! the true language of this nation! ESPAÑOL!
Which is now a days very useful, and it is an INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE!
VIVA ESPAÑOL!! La lengua de la Primera Republica, La Lengua de los filipinos como Rizal, Aguinaldo, etc….