Year after the policy of developing a bilingual nation was announced in Dept. Order No. 8, s. 1973 and years after its implementation in the schools, the problem of Filipinos competent in both English and Filipino is still the subject of much controversy. While Filipino is gaini ng headway, English has been lagging behind. The consensus is that English, or to be more precise, the English used by Filipinos has “ deteriorated “. Comparison are often made between the kind of English used in the past and that employed today. One often hears comments about high school graduateds of yesteryears having better command of the English language than the college graduates of today. The detoriation is manifested in several ways – incorrect grammar,the inability to use English in corrected discourse or the lack of fluency in the language, poor reading comprehension skills, lack of interest in reading and poor or disorganized writing.
“ Deterioration “ is a rather strong word. Some sociolinguistic see the changes as the natural development of the language in the process of belonging to a particular group of second language users. In our case, the deviation from standard English is part of the development of Philippine English” as differentiated say, from Australian English or Spanish English. On the other hand, the blame is often placed on the shoulders of the teachers, and on the educational system while this is partly true, other factors are to be considered also.
Contributing to the so-called deterioration of English is the diminishing number of good models of English in and out of the classroom.
A misinterpretation about the bilingual education policy is that one can use both languages in the classroom, particularly when speaking.
SPEAKING. A lot of teachers are under this misapprehension, and so Filipino is used even in English, Science, and Mathematics classes. Other teachers are aware of the subject areas in which either languages could useda, so language shifting occurs any way when difficulties in vocabulary, language structure, and language intentions so demand. Language shifting has become a communication strategy both in and out of the classroom. It is used in conversation in media, in business transactions and in fact, in almost all aspects of Philippine life. What is the effect of this phenomenon on the learning and use of English? The acceptability of language shifting has led people to be lax in their efforts to learn a particular language well since it is much easier to just use whichever language comes to the tongue at the moment.
Another outcome of the language shifting is that when a Filipino shifts to English, he does not necessarily use it with the suprasegmental features ( stress intonation, pitch and juncture ) of the native language. At the written levels English words in general are treated by either retaining the spelling of English, or by writing them according to the Filipino orthographic system. This Filipino, spelling of words often gets transferred to written words in English. Contributing to the so-called detoriation is diminishing number of good models in English in and out of the classroom.Students in thirties and in forties had the good opportunity of study under the native users and speakers of English. As flipinization of Education took place, end as fewer native speakers or near native speakers of English became available, the distance in terms of good modeling widened. Now we have teachers whose command of the languageleave much to be desired. They will influence students who, in turn, might choose to teach English and expose students to their own brand of English and the cycle will go on and on.
The decline will continue unless the English language profiencies of would be teachers of English is attended to. Giving English aplitude test to those who would choose English as their field of specialization, as well as giving courses in intensive English in college or at the pre-service level, could help improve teachers command of the English language.While exposure to good modeling is important in learning a language, exposure in terms of time is important too. English in the Philippines has been moving in ever- narrowing channels. First there was English inside and outside the classroom, then English only in the classroom , then English as a subject in Grade I & II with its use as medium of instruction from III up and non- English only for in the English period, in Science and Mathematics . With the implementation of the bil;ingual policy, the time devoted to English he became very minimal indeed.
It can be seen, therefore that many factors and vartables affect English language teaching and leaning in the Philippines today. A multi-pronged effort aimed at minimizing, If not eliminating, the blocks to the effectiveness of learning and using English must be planned and implemented if we are to develop competent users of the English language.
By: Ms. Diane B. Suarez | T-I | Sta. Rita High School Tulio St. Sta. Rita, Olongapo City
