ENGLISH is taught as the second language in our country and is also supported in our curriculum by the English Proficiency Program.
We are enriching it because of globalization, considering that Filipinos are found almost anywhere in the world. We are known worldwide for our proficiency in speaking the language, thus giving us an edge in finding a good job overseas.
English is not anti-poor but is a must for development. I must say, “Salitang English ay pag-ibayuhin; salitang Pilipino ay pagbutihin; at salitang bernakulo ay huwag limutin…”
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September 11th, 2007 at 2:33 am
Philippines as a country have been proud of the fact that we are better in communicating English language as compared to other Asian countries.
The same reasons as to why we are all over the globe holding white collared jobs as well as blue collared jobs.
We should keep and maintain English as a medium of instructions in schools because it is through this that our country has survived economic meltdown by sending thousands if not millions of Filipinos to work abroad ,thereby billions of dollar remittances in return.
Is English a must for development?
As we embarked into global development, good communication is a tool, and English as a most learned language by any nation, not only the Philippines, we must use this tool to be able to communicate and relate with each other.And we are at an advantage on this .
Is English a cash language ? In a way it is, it is true for our country since our government do not put emphasis on science, math , technology and other areas that can provide better jobs, create new technologies that would want us as English speaking Filipinos to stay and work in our country.
For now , as we forever wait for our government to make necessary improvements ,we must hold tight to that skill, teach the coming generation of that ability … the ability to speak the English language.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Learn our language first then of course English is given.
We learn English as it is accepted international language. We depend on it to communicate. We are proud to be able to speak English. We are proud saying US/UK invest in call centers because we speaks English.
But have a deeper thought. If we were excellent in science and math, we don’t have to speak so good English to be able to stand on our own like Japan, Israel. Singapore or Hongkong. Being able to think, make and produce our own industrial products for the world would be better. For now, we are just being used because we can mimic their English and accent and we are cheap. Once we become more expensive and other country becomes viable with this kind of call center or BPO business, we can say babay and perhaps we will be back to square one.
I say this because we were once first preferenced of investments of technologies making products that are expensive to make in US, Europe, Japan etc. Take the wireless phone, facsimile machines, disk drives etc. They have plastic moulded casings. There were many companies invest on then advance equipment. At least 5 years later, new designed equipment (more efficient) comes and we didn’t innovate. We stayed on the same machines to make the same products and chraged more. Countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand invested on more modern machineries so US companies move their source there as they can make it cheaper and better.
So no more business for us and those old machines were sold to local companies which until now are use to make plastic toys and spoon and fork for fast food chains and other products based on low technology.
So where is the knowing English plays a part on this situation. None. It suppose to be just plain common sense and advance in science, math and innovation.
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Using the native languages as a medium of instruction is indeed a noble idea. Noble indeed. No problem with that. But the huge problem. The language structure! I don’t mean to say that our native languages are inferior. It’s just that it’s not dynamic to modern terms because our linguists failed to do so. How would you translate Accounting terms like “Frozen Asset” to Filipino? The closest I could think is “Nanigas na pag-aari”. Asset = Ownership = pag-aari. See how VERY awkward it is?
No wonder why many from the upper class prefer English. Not really because of “colonial mentality”(although in certain cases, it can be attributed to this). It’s more because of the lack of dynamic structure of the local languages. You see, words without exact translation are “phoneticized”. Computer becomes “kompyuter”, Nurse is “nars”. Very awkward, really
As aforementioned, using native languages is a noble idea but we have to restructure our languages before using them as medium of instruction. At the moment, I say stick to English first. If we already had made our native languages dynamic, then that’s the time to push through it.
May 25th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Re-post article: English as medium will work better this time
Inquirer
Last updated 04:11am (Mla time) 05/25/2007
Generally, many people, including most of our educators, favor restoring English as the medium of instruction in schools. However, there are two schools of thought about its implementation. One bats for the use of Filipino and the local language in the first three years, side by side with English. The other is for the use of English from Day One, without the aid of Filipino and the local tongue.
I believe that the use of Filipino and the local language will water down instructions in English and slow down the whole process of learning English. The result will not differ from the present situation where students have only a sputtering knowledge of English. This is a deviation from the objective of making our students English-literate so that they can use English (the universal language) and easily assimilate lessons in science, technology and communication.
I am 82 years old and a product of the educational system established by the American government in the Philippines in the early 1900s, which mandated that English be used as the sole medium of instruction in all schools in the country.
I enrolled in Grade 1 in Ilagan, Isabela. From the first day in school up to fourth-year high school, English was uncompromisingly used as the sole medium of instruction. Filipino (a.k.a. Tagalog) or the local language never served as a crutch for our teachers in bailing them out of language difficulties and communication problems. We thought, read, wrote and spoke in English like our counterparts in English-speaking countries overseas.
In 1940, Grade 7 was taken out of the elementary school curriculum because of financial constraints. Subsequently, English lost its dominant role because Filipino was widely used as the medium. The well-written and well-thought-out English textbooks were replaced by inferior Tagalog reading materials containing gross errors in grammar and fact. The Grade 1 curriculum was crowded by the premature inclusion of subjects earlier intended for the higher grades. The teachers, products of the same defective educational system, served as mentors. School administrators and faculty members lacked the dedication to educate. They were involved in irregular practices instead of serving as good examples to the students. All these and many more contributed to the deterioration of our educational system.
Our dismal showing in international tests in mathematics and science made us take a serious look at our educational system. Now, the restoration of English as the medium of instruction appears to be the chief ingredient in the reforms. The English-only policy worked in our time. It will work even better this time. The advances achieved in communications will guarantee the success.
APOLONIO G. RAMOS
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 am
An engineering company with which I do business recently sent a recruiting team to the PR. They recruited about forty CAD designers. I asked why they chose the Philippines to recruit, the answer “We like the Filipinos because they speak better English than any other nationality from Asia”.
Richard Jones
Alberta
Canada