112 years after the first American Thomasites introduced education in English to the Philippines, it now prides itself as the third-largest English-speaking country in the world—or would “sells” be a more appropriate description?
The country has successfully banked on its large English-speaking population to spur industries such as overseas employment, business process outsourcing firms (more commonly known as call centers) and English-teaching schools, particularly catering to foreigners such as Korean and Chinese students who look for cheap English education.
Nanette Fernandez, Executive Director of the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching, views this situation in a positive light, calling it “a contribution to the world.” She looks at the English-teaching industry as a service that the Philippines can offer, adding that this means that our English passes as a “world standard.”
At a decline?
In fact, it seems that some institutions in the country have well exceeded this standard. In 2012, The Ateneo placed 24th out of some 600 universities in the world on the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) list of the top English language and literature-teaching universities. The University of the Philippines (UP) ranked 32nd while De La Salle University (DLSU) placed 44th.
When it comes to English, however, even the slightest sign of ineptitude is a cause for alarm for many.
In this year’s QS ranking, the Ateneo and UP moved down to the 51-100 range while DLSU dropped to the 101-150 bracket, causing much worry among members of the involved communities.
Also, who could forget the endless national discussions brought about by our beauty queens’ slip-ups—from Melanie Marquez’s famous “long legged” quip in 1979 to Venus Raj’s “major major” answer in 2010?
In more formal instances, the government has sought to remedy this shortfall in English proficiency. For instance, Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo aggressively pushed for English as the sole medium of instruction in schools when she promulgated Executive Order No. 210 in 2003.
However, this effort turned out to be futile: In the English proficiency test for teachers conducted by the Department of Education for school year 2006-2007, only 60 percent of elementary teachers and 20 percent of secondary teachers passed.
“World Englishes”
Some experts, however, dispute this perceived deterioration of our hold on English, saying that this is only part of the evolution of cultures.
“At least one phenomenon we have to recognize is the increasing tolerance and the increasing openness that culture is really in the plural—that we have cultures instead of just one monolithic culture,” says English Department officer-in-charge and Assistant Professor DM Reyes.
“English has evolved as a language. Now we have what we call ‘world Englishes,’” Fernandez says. She clarifies that Philippine English is not Taglish, as many might presume. Rather, this “variety” of the language is more of a transliteration of Filipino words into English, demonstrating the fact that a number of us think in English.
Vessel for service
The scuffle over the nation’s perceived decline in English is but a small part in what has become the Philippine “language wars.” The endless debate regarding whether English, Filipino or the mother tongue should be given primacy has dragged on since the post-war era.
Reyes even recounts that some institutions have “forced in curious ways” the use of English. Among these is the “no Filipino, no Tagalog” policy in school, where one gets fined or disciplined when caught speaking in Filipino. Another is the non-admission of a applicant to a university when he or she chooses to answer the Filipino version of the entrance exam rather than the English one.
“There are all these restrictions, but language is a matter of personal experience. So are we not curtailing, are we not repressing the power of personal expression that way?” he asks.
Reyes also argues that similar efforts in language policy-making and legislation have become “problematic.”
“You find out that the everyday life that language has to play out is so much more complex. People decide not only using their minds but using their hearts as well to express themselves in a particular language,” he says.
Whether what is used is the local dialect or the constitutionally-mandated languages of English and Filipino, Reyes thinks that language should not be a source of division; rather, it should be a vessel of service to the people who use it.
“The bigger question really has to do with the fact that knowledge and the skills that are generated [through the use of language] are meant to serve,” he stresses.
