ISSN No. 0048-3796

Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

PAPERS FROM THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM OF THE LINGUISTIC SOCIETY OF THE PHILIPPINES (Issue Editors: Stephen Quakenbush, Ma. Lourdes Bautista, and Emy Pascasio) OPENING CEREMONIES FR. BIENVENIDO NEBRES, SJ: Welcome Remarks . BRO. ANDREW GONZALEZ, FSC: English, Filipino, and Other Languages at the Crossroads: Facing the Challenges of the New Millennium...... 5 EMY PASCASIO: LSP at 30...... 9 THE PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE SITUATION BRO. ANDREW GONZALEZ, FSC, et. al: The Current Language Situation and Policy Making in Language...... 27 EMMA CASTILLO: Language-Related Recommendations from the Presidential Commission on Educational Reform...... 39 CATHERINE YOUNG: Sustainable Literacy among Indigenous Cultural Communities...... 49 DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS AMOR DE TORRES: The Language Situation in Selected Multicultural Areas in Mindanao...... 67 LEONISA MOJICA: Gender Differences in Students' Constructed Dialogues in Filipino...... 85 STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BILINGUAL EDUCATION POLICY GLORIA BAGUINGAN: Grassroots Legitimacy: The First Language Component Bridging Program Pilot of Region 2 and CAR...... 93 MA. LUZ VILCHES: Promoting Language Learning in Secondary ELT: The PELT Project Experience...... 107 GLORIA FUENTES: Status of Implementation of the 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education in Cebuano and Hiligaynon Tertiary Schools '" 115 ROMULO ESPINA: A Correlation Study of Selected Variables Affecting Performance ofSecond Language Learners at the Ateneo de Davao University..; 127

•• • EDITOR'S NOTE

The Philippine Journal of Linguistics is the official publication of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines. It publishes original studies in descriptive, comparative, historical, and areal linguistics. Although its primary interest is in linguistic theory, it also publishes papers on the application of theory to language teaching, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and anthropological linguistics, etc. Papers on applied linguistics should, however, be chiefly concerned with the principles which underliespecifictechniquesrather than the mechanical aspects of such techniques. Articles are published in English, although papers written in Filipino, the national language ofthe Philippines, will occasionally appear. Since the Linguistic Society of the Philippines is composed of members whose paramount interest is the Philippine languages, papers on these and related languages are given priority in publication. This does not mean, however, that the Journal will limit its scope to the Austronesian language family. Studies on anyaspectoflanguage structure are welcome. Manuscripts for publication, exchange journals, and hooks for review. or listing should he sent to the Editor, Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila, Philippines. Manuscripts from the United States and Europe should be sent to Dr. Lawrence A. Reid, Department of Linguistics, University of Hawaii, 1890 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, U.S.A.

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor Ma. LourdesS. Bautista De La Salle University

Associate Editors Fe T. Otanes, Philippine Normal University Bonifacio P. Sibayan, Philippine Normal University Lawrence A. Reid, University of Hawaii

Review Editor Emy M. Pascasio Ateneo de Manila University

Managing Editor DaniloT.Dayag De La Salle University

Business Manager AngelitaF.Alim De La Salle University

Copyright 2000 by the Linguistic Society of the Philippines

The Journal is distributed to members of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines and is paid for by their annual dues. Subscription per year is P500. Foreign subscription excluding the cost of handling and mailing is US$20 a year. PHILIPPINE JOURNALOFLINGUISTICS Volume31, Number2 December2000

WELCOME REMARKS

Fr. Bienvenido Nebres,SJ President,Ateneode Manila University

Goodmorning... it is my pleasureto welcomeyou,in particularBrotherAndrew Gonzalez.our Secretaryof Educationand long timecolleagueand leaderof languageand linguisticshere in the country,and Dr. Emy Pascasio,Dr. BonifacioSibayan,Dr. Olive Caoile,Dr. SteveQuakenbush,andthe officersof the LinguisticSocietyof the Philippines. My congratulationson your 30th anniversary. I'm sure that there's muchto iookbackto and to begratefulforforthe last30years. I am happy to welcomeyou becauselanguage is a continuingconcern for the country. It is a continuing concerneverywhere, but Ithinkparticuiarly acontinu ing concernhere becausewe'renot evensurewhatwe wantto do. All countrieshaveproblems with language, but at least I think they are fairly clear about what the languageis that they'retalking about. We'restillstrugglingtodecidewhatwereallymeanbylanguagehere in the country. I thoughtI'd just sharea fewthoughtswithyouas a presidentofa university wherewehaveagradeschool,highschool,andcollege,andmaybethis wouldprovidea bit of are fractionfor youregardingyourownconcernsforlanguage. One is a very recent incident. I've been very concerned about language and mathematicslearning hereintheAteneodeManilainourgradeschool,highschool,and college. Sol decidedthat the timehadcomenot totell butjust to do itmyselfregardingthe phasesthat werejust too slow. SoI decidedto personallyrun a one-weekworkshopwith our mathematics teachers in grade school and high school, focusingon the processof change in it, but focusingespeciallyon problem-solving skills, i.e, howgoodthe teachers themselves were in problem-solving, and how comfortablethey would be therefore in helpingstudentslearnto do problem-solving. Fortunately, just earlier in the year, two of our psychologists and one mathematician-psychologist had been doingstudieson problem-solvingapproachesofour grade school students. They video-taped them and tried to analyze how they actually approachproblems,what theydo withthem and soforth. In the reflectionthatwehadwith the teachers later on, one of the commentsof the teachers was that they have difficulty keepingthe studentsusing Englishwhentheydo the problem-solving. Andso I toldthem maybe we should talk about this, because from the point of view of practicing mathematiciansworld-wide,you shoulddo problem-solving in your daily languagein the languagethat you useto expressyourselfnormally. As one colleagueprofessorwastelling me after a very sophisticatedseminarin partial differentialequations,the first thing you haveto do is translatethis intoyourownlanguage,becausehe saysyoucan onlydo serious mathematicsin yourown language. Youhaveto be ableto poundthe wallsand bangyour headagainst it in orderto solveit, and youhaveto be ableto jump up and downwhenyou manageto do it; it involvesyourtotalself Anyway,thesecondto the last day,we agreed NEBRES

with the teachersthat we woulddo problem-solving. And I told them it wouldbe even­ nobodywill haveseenthe problemaheadoftime. I won'thaveseenthem,youwon't have seenthem. Sowejust Xeroxedseveralproblemsfromthisbookofproblems. Everyonewas given a problemand told they first had to workon it by themselvesfor about30 minutes. After that they could talk about it in pairs. So they first worked at it by themselves,a differentproblemforeach one, and then the twobeganto talk aboutit. After 30 minutesof that, I said, "Doyou noticethat none of you are using English?" Not a single pair used English - everyonewas into Filipino. And I said that was my own experiencewith PhD studentswhenI was teachingcoursesfor the PhD. It wasquiteokayto use Englishin the deliveryof the course,but once you got deep into problem-solving, within three minutes peopleshiftedto Tagalog. Why? Becausein the end, it's theconnectivitybetweenaffective and cognitive. We tend to think that mathematicsis a simplycognitiveexercise,but it is not. Whenyou reallyenter into a very difficultproblem,youreallygetveryfrustrated, you get veryconfusedand it involvesyourtotalself. Andin the end,youhaveto be ableto use a languagewhich can involveyour total self. So I said you have to make a distinction betweenthe languagethat your studentsuse when theydo the problems,and shouldallow them to useFilipinoif that's what they'recomfortablewith,and youcan tellthemto explain it in English. That's different. Once they have solvedit, they can go up and explain it. That'sback.to the cognitivemode. And that's perfectlyfine. Theywill be able to do that. Thoseare twoverydifferentparts of the exercise. I give this as an example of the complexityof the language problem and the complexityofunderstandingourbilingualismin the countryand howdifficultthis situation is. The other subjectwe're having a great deal of problemswith as far as language is concernedis Ara1ingPanlipunan. I don't know what your experiencesare, but my own experiencetalking to our grade schoolstudents,and to myniecesand nephews,is that it's probablythesinglemostproblematicsubject. I think whenI surveythemand I say"What's the subjectyoulike best, and the subjectyou like least'?" I wouldsay nine out of ten said AralingPanlipunan is the subjectthey like least. Now, I think that's not becauseof the language. I think it's becauseit's reaIlynotverywelldone. I think that's notbecauseof the language. I think it's because it's reaIIy not very well done. I think. it's a lot of memorization, they'reboredand so forth. But they'reconnectedto the language. And so we are really creating a lot of students who, becauseof their experiencethere, develop negative attitudesabont history, culture, country, and Filipino. It's a very problematic situationas well. We'retryingto cometo grips with it, andI don't think Brother Andrew will disagree. We're simply saying to people "The purposeof Ara1ingPanlipunan is to . developa knowledgeandaffectionfor our country,its geography, its history,its heroes,and soforth. Solet'sfind a wayof deliveringit, and nevermindwhat languageis best.H Ifthis particularmoduleis bestdeliveredin English,deliverit in English. If it's bestdeliveredin Filipino,deliver it in Filipino. But let's not confusethe two becauseit's creating a very negativeattitudetowardboththe languageandthe subjectmatter. So theseare simplysome of the very importantconcernsthat thoseof us who run schoolshavewith respectto the questionof language. Theymay seemsmall,but theyare verycentralof course. I thinkyou understandthat developingagenerationof studentswho can reallydo problemseffectivelyin mathematicsin a muchmorequantitative,in a much more technological, world is very importantto the educationalenterprise. Developinga way of teachingabout country,about heroes,about geography, about land, about plants, aboutour nationin a waythat not onlywill studentslearnfacts aboutthembut also growto WELCOME REMARKS

love them is a very important part of the educational process. These are some of the concerns that we hope we can discuss and share with you, and that we can learn about as we come together today. As you know, the peER (Philippine Commission on Educational Reform) has some very important recommendations. One of them is the use of the vernacular in the early years. Let me end with our own experience and decisions on this. We are basically trying to decide that the first three or four years of grade school simplyha ve to concentrate on the basics: reading is first - number one. Second comes mathematics. And so we're trying to tell our teachers that if you have to sacrifice other things, go ahead and sacrifice them. So long as at the end of their third year they are ahletoreach certain standards in reading and certain standards in mathematics. And I say "reading" not "English reading". I think ifthey're more comfortable reading in Filipino, let them read in Filipino. If they're comfortablereadinginEnglish,letthemreadinEnglish. My own experience growing up was tbat tbe first language in which I really read a lot was lIocano. The first long novels that I read when I was six or seven years old were in I1ocano. They used to put out these novelas based on the Bannawag. So the first long things I read, bundred page things, werellocano. And I believe that was usefuI. Thefact that you get to reading text transfers later on to reading text in English,andsoforth. So again, we're hoping that maybe the theory will work or will not work. I'm thinkingtomakethisourflagshipconcernforthenextthreeyears,andwhatever we can do to help the language situation, we appreciate that we have agreedthatthefirstthreeorfour years of grade school will simply concentrate on reading with some mathematics. The middle years will concentrate on moving on to other areas, and especially problem-solving. All of these areas involve language. Another is trying to create an Arating Panlipunan which develops knowledge and affection. I'd like to emphasize the affection-to develop affection for country, for history, for land, for people. And whatever we can do I think to contribute to this will be a very important contribution to our country. So we really welcome this 30th anniversary of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines. Your concerns are very central to the concerns of our country and the future 0 f our youth, and we do hope that we can generally work together to find the best solutions to the challenges that face us. So welcome once more, we look forward to these three days and we do hope that we can contrihute together to creating better policies and a better environment if not for the whole country, at least for the education of our youth. Welcome, congratulations, and goodmorning. PHILIPPINE JOURNALOF LINGUISTICS Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

KEYNOTEADDRESS: ENGLISH,FILIPINOANDOTHERLANGUAGES AT THE CROSSROADS: FACINGTHE CHALLENGES OFTHENEWMILLENNIUM

Bro.AndrewGonzalez, FSC Secretary,DepartmentofEducation,Cultureand Sports

1. LANGUAGE CHALLENGESFOR THE 21"tCENTURY

The challenges posed by problems of language in the life-journey ofa society and of anation are many and varied; it is fitting to take a larger view and aim fora larger vision and see where the language needs ofa society are and will be within this larger context, In this case, a paper written by Professor Bonifacio P. Sibayan way back in the second half of the 60s spoke of the language needs of the Philippines and applied the AmericanStructuralistphonologicalnotionofcomplementarydistribution to languages in a society. When we were studying Phonetics and Phonemics by Pike, we spoke of phonemes as separate segmentals of the sound system ofa language hut with special. phonetic realizations due to their place in a continuum of sound, and spoke of variants of these phonemes as allophones. We posited allophones of the same phoneme as in complementary distribution. For example, the phoneme/pl has three allophones in English: [ph]aspirated p in initial position, [p] unmarked p in consonant clusters [sp], released [pL] in final position. In the case of Tagalog, an unreleased [pl] occurred in final position. Sibayan then spoke of the complementarity of functions or the allogossal distribution of English, Pilipino/FiIipino, and the local vernacular or home language in the life of the Filipino: his home language or vernacular for the everyday transactions at home and the immediate community or ethnic group; the national language ofPilipinolFilipino as his living symbol of linguistic unity and national identity; English as his language of academic work, access to the world of knowledge, and for internationa I relations including diplomacy and trade. These functions have not changed substantially in the past 35 years, except that the domains of Filipino have expanded, and the domains of English contracted, to the point tbat Filipino is now used as the language of the mass media (radio and TV, but not the movies and still not yet the press or the written word); the code-switching varietyhasbecomean informal lingua franca, English only for formal occasions, academic discourse in a formal setting (the code-switching prevails even in classrooms), diplomatic relations, international study and international scholarships. In the case of migrants, the vernacular is now lost by the third generation of settlers. Most Filipinos, especially those close to arteries of transportation, are bilingual in the vernacular and in the regional Iingua franca, making it GONZALEZ

nowmore feasibleto use only three linguafrancaeas the transitionallanguagesofliteracy in schoolsinsteadof the eightmajorlanguages,whichbecamenine in the 1980s. Thereare subtlechangeswhichhavetakenplacein the linguistichorizonthe past 35 years, confirmingwhat we already theoreticallyknow about the fluidity oflanguage situationsand the rapidityof languagechangeseven in the midst ofho mogenizingmass media. Whathaslikewisechangedisthegeopoliticalsituationwhichhascreatednew linguisticrequirementsfor communication. WhileEnglish seemedto be on the wane in post-colonial situations,it has taken on newsignificanceand dominancesincetheUnited Statesis the only world power left at presentand for the immediatefuture. Even those politicallyalienatedfromthe UnitedStatesat one time are reallylearningEnglish(China, Japan,muchofEuropeincludingFrance). The emergent World English which is already the Language of Wider Communication of the worldwill be a codetiedup to worldculturemorethan Anglo-Saxon civilizationand culture. Sinceworld cultureis dominatedby scienceand technology,the culturalreferentswill be to the worldof sciencewhichhas becomeuniversal.cross-cultural, and not confinedto one culturalsettingor milieu. In the emergingWorldEnglish, culture will be tied up to language,but it will be worldcultureand not a specificcountryculture, and will be shared as a commonset of values,beliefs,premises,even approvedbehavior amongpopulationswiththeir ownspecificcultures. Butthe loomingpresenceofworldpowerssuchas Japan (economically butperhaps soonalsomilitarily),China (militarilyandsooneconomically), newalliances(the AFTAor AsianFreeTradeArea)and the European Communityaswellas the break-upofthe Soviet Union, have made the learning of other emerging world languages such as Chinese, Japanese,BahasaIndonesia,among the older worldlanguages,Spanish,an imperativeat present. And withinthe globalizingcommunityofASEANas wellas the futurerelationsof the Philippines,the need for a secondforeignlanguagebeyondEnglish has comeuponus andhasmadenewdemandson us in termsofour languagelearningactivities.

2. SOMEPROPOSALS

Theneedsthemselvesshowclearlywhatthe challengeswillbe: Filipinohasbeenselected,standardized,propagated,andcultivatedinthe domain of literature,butnot in the otherfieldsofknowledge, particularlymathematics,science,and the social sciences. We have maintainedthe basis of Filipino as Tagalog enriched by loanwords (and phonologicalsegments)fromthe other PhilippineIanguages. Our census figuresindicatethatcloset095%ofourpopulationisnowconversantin Filipino;hence,it has been propagated and standardized by a grammar (including a newer structuralist versionwhich still needs wider dissemination, a monolingualdictionary,and numerous stylebooksand terminologicalcompilations). It is cultivatedasthe languageof the cinema, radio,and TV as wellas in the domainof literature. Therehavebeenmanyattemptsto use Filipinoas the languageof academicdiscourseinmathematics,science,economics,andthe socialsciences,butthus far thesehavebeenbasedon individualinitiatives,not institutional systems. It will take us anothergenerationto cultivateFilipinoas a languageofacadernie discourse.Inthemeantime,ourexperienceisthatthisneedsplanning and support. Itwill notarisespontaneously, at leastnot in the presentsocialconditionofthe Philippines,What is needed,therefore,is politicalwill and tberesourcesthatwillgowith this politicalwill, KEYNOTE ADDRESS

itself the prime moverfor generatingthe resources. English remains steady in Philippine societyand is expanding globally,for it is really the Languageof Wider Communicationof ASEANand in the rest of Asia, as it is alreadythe LWCof Europeand eventuallywillbe evenfor Latin Americaas well as Africa. What is unique aboutthe Philippineexperienceof English is that it is undergoingspecial changes (all features, phonological, lexical, and grammatical, perhaps eventually even discourse and innovations in literary form) to a point where it has become a legitimate variety of English together with other 'post-Imperial Englishes' all over the world. The trend will be towards further diversity, but it will be balanced by pressure towards homogenizationbecauseof internationaluses and the globalmass media. In the meantime, while English remains essential in Philippine life, its domains are being restricted to academicdiscourseof a formalkind. internationalcommunicationsandinternationaltrade. A local variety hasemerged;it remains to be seen if the code-mixing/switching variety of English and Filipino with its functions of creating familiarity and solidarity with the interlocutorwill result in a languagemixtureas a pidgin, and eventuallythe creolizationof this pidgin as a first language for some Filipinos. The trends are not clear at present, although the code-switchingisquitepredictablein its occurrencesand its functions. Interestingfrorn the pointof linguisticchangeis the shiftingroleofthevernacular or home language or language of ethuicity. It is maintained in the home community, together with societalbilingualismand even trilmgualism,but as soon as members of the ethnic community relocate, the children acquire at best a passive competence in the vernacular. It is almostalwayslost during the third generation,for the main supportersof the code have been maidsand caregiversfrom the homeprovinceswho are becomingfewer and fewer because of better opportunities elsewhere. Moreover, intermarriage almost always results in the language of the mother more than the father, if the vernacular is maintainedat all, as the languageof the home. More challenging is the acquisition of other foreign languages(beyondEnglish) for international use. In the Philippines, it will be Japanese and most likely Chinese Putonghua, and in a few cultivatedpeople for diplomatic work, other foreign languages especiallySpanish and French. I am not sure if Spanish is retrievableas a widelyspread language in the Philippines, although I foresee that it will be learned by a few future diplomats and traders but not by Philippine society as a whole. World politics and internationaleconomicswill dictatethe learning of languagesmorethan culture or literary considerations. What of the study of language as language, which hasto do with the future of linguistics?

Linguisticswill continue to be a separate disciplinein the PhilippinesVCl.)' much interrelated to historical stndies(mostlyprehistory) andanthropologicalandarcheological studies, as well as studiesof Philippinesociety(wherelanguage plays such a crucial role, especially in ethuicity and the maintenanceof identity). It will be needed for historical studies, since often cultural artifacts and a living language and tradition are the only historical clues we have for earlier periods when no written documentswere created by man in society. It will continue to be called upon for applications,especiallyfor applied linguistics and language learning. However,in language learning, linguisticswill at most be a foundational support discipline, not the core of attention, for language learning is a psychologicalmorethan an analyticaltask. GONZALEZ

3. CONCLUSION

In addition to maintaining the Vernacular, expanding Filipino into new academic domains, cultivating English for specific purposes, and learning new languages for globalization, the language challenges of the new century call for the cultivation of linguisticsas an academic discipline. This plant which we have collectively nurtured for more than 30 years will continue to need love, care, and solicitude if it will grow further and become an independent living plant. The continuing labors of our linguistswill make our collectivedream a reality. PHILIPPINE JOURNALOF LINGUISTICS Volume31,Number2 December 2000

THELINGUISTIC SOCIETY OFTHEPHILIPPINES AT30

EmyM.Pascasio President Linguistic Society of the Philippines

1. INTRODUCTION

The 30th anniversary of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines marks an important milestonein linguisticsand languageteachingin the Philippines. The occasion enables us to appreciate the gains we haveachievedso far and to determine the directions wehave to pursue in meetingthe challengesof thenewmillennium. Linguistics and language teaching in the Philippines, through the leadershipof LSP, have progressed remarkably. Reflectingthe growth are many research studies in Linguistics, the establishment of the Philippine Journal of Linguistics, and several conferencesas well as training programsthat havebeen conducted. This rapidprogressis largely due to three factors: the increaseof formallytrained Filipino linguists whohave set the pace and pattern of research; the developmentand use of more sophisticatedresearch designs andstatisticalprocedures;and theadoptionofan interdisciplinaryapproach.

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The LSP was formally organizedon July13,1969 with the followingobjectives: to strive for the advancementof the scientificstudyof language use includingbasic research, particularly language in the Philippine context; to disseminate the results of scientific studiesundertaken;and to commnnicatewithorganizationshere and in other countriesthat are also engagedin the samepursuit. The organization wasoff to a rousing start, with a lecture series and a five day seminar-workshopon linguistics and languageteachingheld in SY 1969-70,and with the LSP's journal called the Philippine Journal ofLinguistics (pJL) coming out in June 1970 The LSP also initiated discussionsfor a ConsortiumbetweenAteneode Manila University and PhilippineNormal Collegethat wouldoffera Ph.D.in Linguistics,with assistancefrom the Ford Foundation and the Asia Foundation. The first group of scholars in this Consortium was accepted into the program in SY 1971-72 and several completedtheir doctoratesstartingSYI974-75.

• PresidentialAddressat the 30"'LSP Anniversary,Mayll.I3,2000, EscaIerHaII,ScienceEducationComplex, PASCASIO

The LSP has beenfortunateto havehad dynamicofficerswiththe first officersas follows:TeodoroLlamzon(Ateneode ManilaUniversity)as President,BonifacioSibayan (philippine Normal College)as Vice-President, Edilberto P. Dagot (philippine Normal College)as Secretary,and Fe T. Otanes(philippineNormalCollege)as Treasurer. Special mentionshouldbe madeofthe contribution of Bro. AndrewGonzalez,FSC of De La Salle University,who was its ExecutiveSecretaryfor seventeenyears and editor of the PIL for twenty-oneyears. It was Bro. Andrewwhoprovideda homefor the LSPSecretariatat De La SalleUniversity,an institutionhewasassociatedwithfora longtimeas AcademicVice­ Presidentand President. It wasthroughhis initiativethatmanyoftheresearch and training programsofthe LSPgot underway. In January 1987,a movewas madeto expandmembershipin the ExecutiveBoard in order to involvemore universities/agencies in the activitiesof the LSP. Since 1987, therefore,delegatesto the annual convention have elected 10 membersof the LSP Board; these 10 Boardmemberssubsequently electthe officers,with the ExecutiveSecretarybeing a specialposition. Havinga strongExecutiveSecretaryhas ensureda strongSociety. The ExecutiveSecretaryof the LSP from 1975to 1992 was Bro. AndrewGonzalez,FSC. The ExecutiveBoard consists of membersrepresentingsix schools,De La Salle University, Ateneode ManilaUniversity,PhilippineNormalUniversity,Universityof the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas. From a membershipof92 in its firstyearof operation,LSPhas nowover400regularmembersand over50 lifetimemembers.

3. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

From the very foundingof the Society,it has been clear that a major concernis researchand publicationin the areas ofPhilippinelinguisticsand language. Fundinghas not always been available, but the research gets done because Filipino linguists are dedicatedto their discipline and have extended their research capabilitiesthrough the graduatestudentswhose theses/dissertations they have directedat the Ateneode Manila­ Philippine Normal College-De La Salle University Linguistics Consortium. This Consortiumalone produceda numberof significantdissertations,someofwhichhave been publishedas part of the PacificLinguisticsPublicationsSeriesof the AustralianNational University. The regular outlet for researchdone by local and foreignscholarson Philippine languages, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and other hyphenatedlinguisticsisthe Philippine Journal of Linguistics. Sinceits first publicationin 1970,abour50 issueshave appeared.The PhilippineSocialScienceCouncilhonored the PIL as the bestjournal for 1980-82. In addition,theLSPhaspublished severalmonographs,occasionalpapers,and seven Festschrifts honoring outstandingFilipino linguists. Two professorialchairs in Linguistics have been established,The Distinguished BonifacioP. SibayanProfessorial Chair in AppliedLinguisticswasestablishedFebrnaryI, 1991on his 75th birthday,and the first ProfessorialChair HolderwasDr. EmmaS. Castillo. Her topicwas"State of the Art: CommunicationStrategiesin the Classroom." The secondwas the DistinguishedAndrew B. Gonzalez,FSC ProfessorialChair in Linguisticsand LanguageEducation,which was formallyestablishedFebruary29,1996 on his 56th birthday. ThefirstChairHolderwasDr. BonifacioP.Sibayan,PresidentEmeritusofPhilippineNormalUniversityandthe Linguistic LSP AT 30

Societyofthe Philippines. His topicwas"ToBe GloballyCompetitivewithIntellectualized FilipinoandEnglish." The publishedseven Festschriftshonoringoutstandinglinguistswho have made significantcontributionstoPhilippinelinguisticsarethe following: • 1913-Parangal kayCecilioLopez,editedbyAndrewGonzalez,FSC. • 1971-Language Planningand the Buildingof a NationalLanguage:Essaysin Honor of Santiago A. Fonacier on his 92Dd birthday, edited by BonifacioP. Sibayanand AndrewGonzalez,FSC. • 1981-Linguistics Across Continents: in honor of Richard S. Pittman, edited by AndrewGonzalez,FSCand DavidThomas. • 1984-Panagani: Essaysin Honorof BonifacioP.Sibayanon his 61th Birthday,edited byAndrewGonzalez,FSC. • 1996-Alay sa Wika: Essaysin Honorof Fe T. Otaneson her 61th Birthday,editedby EmmaS. Castillo. • 1998-Pagtanaw: Essayson Languagein Honorof TeodoroA. Llamzon,editedbyMa. LourdesS.Bautista. • 1999-The FilipinoBilingual:a Multidisciplinary Perspective: Festschriftin honorof EmyM. Pascasio,editedbyMa.LourdesS.Bautistaand GraceO. Tan.

Note: The eighth Festschrift, which is forthcoming, is in honor of Brother Andrew Gonzalez,FSC on his sixtieth birthdayand edited by BonifacioP. Sibayan,TeodoroA. L1amzon, and Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista. Of the Sibayan ProfessorialChair in Applied Linguistics,therehave beenten recipientswhopresentedoneof their researchworksin the formof an LSPannuallectureat DeLa SalleUniversity. Theyare as follows: • 1991-Chair Holder,Dr. EmmaCastillo Topic: Stateofthe Art:Communication Strategiesin the Classroom • 1992-Chair Holder:Dr. Ma. LourdesBautista Topic: ClassroomObservation Studiesin a ManilaUniversity: SomeLessonsLearned,SomeLessonsYetto Learn • 1993-ChairHolder: Dr. Fe Otanes Topic:Stylisticsand the TeachingofPoetry •I994-Chair Holder: Dr. EmyPascasio Topic:VariablesAffectingthePerformance of SecondLanguage Learnersin WrittenEnglish • 1995-Chair Holder:Dr. AraceliHidalgo Topic:Thoughtsfromthe LeftonEnglishLanguageTeaching • 1996-Chair Holder:Dr.TeodoroLlamzon Topic:TESLTargetsin 1996

11 PASCASIO

• 1997-Chair Holder:BrotherAndrewGonzalez,FSC Topic:ThePoliticsofLanguage;Ethnicityand Languagein the Philippines • 1998---ChairHolder: Dr.Ma.ClaraRavina Topic:Error AnalysisandInterlanguageRevisited • 1999-Chair Holder: Dr.AllanBernardo Topic:Literacy,MetalinguisticsandContextualized Thought:PostscriptstoLiteracyand the Mind • 200O-Chair Holder:Dr. RicardoMa.Nolasco Topic:TransitivityandErgativityin a PhilippineLanguage

Outputsfromthe AndrewGonzalezProfessorialChairwerefour annuallectures,namely: • 1996-Chair Holder:Dr.BonifacioSibayan Topic:ToBe GloballyCompetitive with IntellectualizedFilipinoand English •I997-Chair Holder:Dr. CurtisMcFarland Topic:TheEnrichmentofFilipino •I 998-Chair Holder:Dr.LeonardNewell Topic:The Natureofa Learner'sDictionary • 1999-Chair Holder:Dr.EmyPascasio Topic:A Comparisonofthe CriticalCorrelatesofLanguage ProficiencyinEnglishandFilipinoAmongFilipino BilingualSpeakers

On May 11, 1996at the LSP AnnualConvention,the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. II Linguisticswas launched as a joint publication of the LSP and the PhilippineSocialScienceCouncil. At the LSPAnnualConventiononMay18,1995 a very helpfulreferencebookforteachersand materialswritersentitledTextand Tasks,byJeffrey Taschner, was launched. Other importantLSP publicationsare: A FrequencyCount of Pilipino by Dr.Curtis McFarland publishedin 1991, and in 1998 Selected Papers in AppliedLinguistics:Focuson SecondLanguageLearning/Teaching, editedby Dr. Emma Castillo. In research, the most vital sectionof Philippine linguisticsis applied linguistics and the hyphenateddisciplinesin linguisticsbecausemany Filipino linguistsare greatly concerned with the problems of language learning and their effects upon aspects of instructionas well as betterlanguageplanning. Theyreflectthis concemin the numberof qualitystudiesthathavebeenaccomplishedaswellasthosethatareongoing. I quiteagree withBrotherAndrewGonzalez,FSCin his claimthat it is in the fieldofappliedlinguistics that our countryis one of the mostadvancedin Asia and in the worldbecausewehavehad a lot of experiencein languageteachingand in the process have learnedto judge what

12 LSP AT 30

worksand what doesnot workin the Philippinesetting. Wehave thus becomemorecritical of the latest trends in language approachesand pedagogyand we have learnedto be quite skepticalof new proposalswithoutbeingreactiveor undulyconservative(Gonzalez1980a). In applied linguistics,most of the researchstudiesare on language methodologies such as the communicativeapproach,the CALLAapproach,English fur SpecificPurposes, materials development,and developmentof languageprograms,as well as their evaluation. As a matter of fact, the LSP commissionedpapers to be written by members of the ExecutiveBoard on topics in applied linguisticsand languageeducation. They have been publishedas one of the specialissuesofthe PhilippineJournalof Linguistics. The hyphenated disciplines such as sociolinguistics, ethnolinguistics, and psycholinguistics have gained increased attention and great interest among Filipino linguistsfor the past three decadesbecauseof their relationto the social sciences;hencethe utilizationof the interdisciplinaryapproach. The topicsare on contemporaryPhilippinelife and needs. Sociolinguisticshasbeenthemostsystematicallyexploredsofaramongthese hyphenateddisciplines. Severalstudieshave beenconductedon topicsrelating to problems of language planning and implementation,as well as problems concerning the national language. The bookpublishedin 1996,ReadingsinPhilippineSociolinguistics2nd edition, edited by Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista is a compilationof articles written by Filipino scholars and Filipinistson varioustopicsaboutPhilippinelanguageand society. Let me citeten of the major benchmarksofthe LSPfor the past 30 years.

(1) Language Surveys

It seems that no country can surpassthe Philippinesin the number, extent,detail, and continuityof the languagesurveyswhich have beenconductedin the past thirty years. This indeed is a singular achievement of the Philippines in language research and development. The results of these surveys can be grouped into four categories/themes namely: (I) language use and preferences, (2) language attitudes and motivations, (3) languageacquisitionand proficiency,and (4) bilingualeducationpianning,implementation and evaluation. The Language Policysurveyby Otanesand Sibayan(1969) servedas the groundbreakingexplorationstudyon the Filipinobilingual's languagebehavior.

(2) Philippine Bilingualism and the FilipinoBilingual

Research on Philippine bilingualism and the Filipino bilingual in terms of language proficiency, attitudes and motivations, language use and identity have been conducted. The first National Convention on this topic was initiated by the LSP in cooperationwith the Ateneo-PNC-DLSU consortiumand the DECS in March 1974before June, which was the implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy. The papers presentedat this Conventionwere publishedin the bookThe FilipinoBilingual,editedby Pascasioin 1977and publishedbythe AteneoUniversityPress. At the CentennialCongress on Philippine Bilingualismfrom a MultidisciplinaryPerspectiveheld by LSP last January 21.23, 1999,thirtypaperswerepresentedonthistopic. Theseare publishedalsobyLSPin the furm of a Festschrift in honor of Emy M. Pascasio,edited by Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista and GraceO. Tan.

13 PASCASIO

The evaluation of the implementationof the Bilingual Education Policy for the period 1974 to 1985 is one of the most significant research activitiesof the LSP. This project was undertaken in 1985-86 with funding from the Program for Decentralized Educational Development under the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, the National Economic Development Authority, and various grant-making agencies. The educational team consisted of BonifacioP. Sibayan, Andrew B. Gonzalez, FSC, Fe T. Otanes, Jose Arong, OMI, and Luke MoortgatCICM. The year-long study used testing results collectedin 1985. Usingqualitativeand quantitativeanalyses,the studyarrived at the conclusion that the decline in achievement scores among pupils of Philippine elementaryand secondaryschoolswas not to be blamedon the Bilingual EducationPolicy, but rather on inadequate competenceof teachers, poorly managed schools, and lack of textbooksand other learning materials-factors associatedwith lowsocio-economicstatus. The completereporthas beenpublishedas a monograph,EvaluatingBilingualEducationin the Philippines(1974-85), edited by AndrewB. Gonzalez,FSC and BonifacioP. Sibayan. Now, also through the leadership of Gonzalezand Sibayan, the revised 1987 Bilingual EducationPolicyis in the processof beingevaluated. Most of the researchon languagelearning motivationin the 70's has indicatedan instrumentalmotivation for learning English and an integrative one for learning Filipino (Otanes and Sibayan 1969, Feenstra and Castillo 1970, Gaston 1978, Bangalan 1979). Respondentswant to study English to communicatebetter, to showthat they are educated and to attain socio-economicsuccess. They want to learn Filipino to show that they are nationalisticand to understandthe FilipinocuItural heritage. One interestingvariationof the findings in Castillo's study (1972) revealed that parents may be instrumentallyor integrativelymotivatedor both in choosingEnglish for their children. It is also notedthat the desire to learn English does not necessarilymean an identificationwith Americansor their wayof life, butrather witheducatedFilipinos. With the implementationof the BilingualEducation Policy,a change in language learningmotivationhas beennoted. Collegestudents,both Tagalogsand non-Tagalogs,are now instrumentallymotivatedto learn both Filipino and English. The use of Filipino as mediumof instruction in certainsubjectsat all academiclevels has perhaps instilledin the minds of the students the idea that Filipino has now becomea tool for understandingand expressingideas inside the classroom,and that learning this tool andfurthersharpeningit are necessaryto be ableto participatein classroomdiscussions(pascasio1979). Motivationis a necessaryfactorforsuccessfullyacquiringa secondlanguageand is relatedto secondlanguagelearningachievement(Castillo1969, 1972)as wellas to attitude (Samonte 1981). Birthplace or language background also influences the degree of motivationtoleam a particular language. Understandably,non-Tagalogs have a stronger motivationto studyFilipino than English, comparedwith Tagalogs(Pascasio 1979).On the other hand, Tagalogs do not show indicationofa strong motivationalintensity to further improvetheir Filipino, since they are alreadynative speakersof it (Castilloand Chan-Yap 1977). Social and political eventsseem to play a vital role in the changingattitudeof the Filipino bilingual towards the differentlanguagesbeing used in his/her milieu. A trend seems to be noticeablein attitudes toward English, Filipino, and the local vernacular as media of instruction.

14 LSP AT 3D

For instance, in the late sixties (Otanesand Sibayan 1969), the preferencefor English as the language of instruction at all academiclevels-primary, secondaryand tertiary-was reported. The early seventies,markedby activismand nationalisticfervor amongthe youth,sparkeda changeamongthe youngergeneration(eventhe youngelites), as shownbythe findingsof an attitudesurvey(Castilloand Chan-Yap1977)wherethere was a desire to replace English with Pilipino as mediumof instruction. However,the promulgation and implementation of the BilingualEducationPolicyin 1974led to another attitudinaldirection. As a result of the problemsand limitationsencounteredin actual classroominteractions,the collegestudents,althoughsupportiveofthepolicy,donotfuvor the replacementof English with Pilipinoin thosesubjectswhereEnglish was usedas the language of instruction(pascasio 1979). Parents of varied socio-economicclassesand languagebackground in MetroManila preferto limitthe use of Pilipinot o the elementary level as a medium of instruction. At the secondaryand the tertiary levels, English is preferred as the medium of instruction. Interestingly, parents with higher educational attainment(at least 'collegegraduate')are moreliberalin acceptingPilipino as a language of instruction,whilethose with the least educationalbackgroundtracethe deteriorationof educationtothe inclusionofPilipino as a mediumofinstructionintheschools(CruzI980). Amongnon-Tagalogrespondentsresidingin non-Tagalogspeakingcommunities, the desire to maintain English and Pilipino as languagesof instruction but with certain concessions is indicated. There is a desireforPilipinoand English as media of instruction for courses like law, medicine, etc. but for vocationalcourses, the local vernacular is preferred(Mendoza,1978). In a Chinesehigh schoolin Bacolodwhere the studentsare predominantly Chinesespeakerswho also speakthe localvernacular(Hiligaynon),theuse of Englishand Pilipinoas mediaof instructionis highlyendorsed. Theirteachersarethe ones who are resistantto the use of Pilipino as the mediumof instructionin the subjects specifiedbythe BilingualPolicy(Gaston1977). Researchon the relationshipof languageand identityhas also been conducted. Althoughlinguistsagreethat language,culture,and identityare related,the precisenature of this relationshipis still being explored. In my studyon languageand identity,the six sets of factorsrelatedto national identityare: demographic factors,socioeconomic factors, R's and parents' languagebackground,mass mediaexposure,and ethnic identity. These six setsof factorscovered36 separatevariables. Ethnicidentitywas measuredaccordingto instrumental and sentimental attachments instead of instrumental and integrative motivations. Respondentsoutside the National Capital Region (NCR) tend to have a strongersenseof identity(pascasioand Doronila1992). Otherstudieshave alsobeendone in this area. Regarding language use, the significant variables are domain (home, school, community), role relationship (high, equal, low status), communicative functions (conversing, asking,requesting,arguing),and silentlanguage or innerspeaking(cursing, praying,confessing,counseling,self-talk).An earlierstudyof Pascasioand Hidalgo(1979) found out that Filipino bilingualsuse English in schoolwhen interactingwith peopleof higher statusand talking about formaltopics such as historicaleventsor conceptsin the sciences. Athomewheninteractingwith familymembers, and in the communitywithpeers and subordinates, the local vernacularor Filipinoor the codeswitchingvarietyis usedfor talking about informal topics. In my recent research on what factors correlate with languageproficiency in English and Filipino, I foundthere were statisticallysignificant differences. Nine variablescorrelatedwith the English reading proficiency. These are

15 PASCASIO

gender, birthplace and I.Q. for the personal characteristics. For language use, the home with high status person and self talk correlated with English reading proficiency. Socio­ economic status in terms of social class position and household amenities were significant correlates. For media exposure, it is the print media. As for English writing proficiency, therearefonrvariables,namelyI.Q.,birthplace,self-talk,andprintmedia. With regard to Filipino language reading proficiency, six correlates are statistically significant. These are Janguage attitudes toward Filipino and English. The language use indicators are with high status persons and when praying. Socioeconomic status in terms of household amenities and for media exposure, it is the Filipino print. For Filipino language writing proficiency, seven correlates are statistically significant. These are household amenities, attitudes toward Filipino and English, when conversing and praying. Regarding media exposure, English and Filipino print are statistically significant. This study showed that languageuse and positiveattitudeto the language are important in achieving languageproficiency.

(3) Code-switching

Code-switching in the Philippines has also been of major interest, hence a number of investigations have been done to describe its nature and dynamics as a communication strategy in different domains. The oral or spoken phase of code-switching has been explored by the following. In the broadcast media, Bautista (1975) analyzes and typologizes Tagalog-English code-switching and goes further byconstrncting a model of bilingual Iinguisticcompetence on the basis of her typology. Another study by Bautista (1979) is anattempt to describe the patterns of speaking prevalent in social interaction of a Filipino speaking community. They are grouped into six categories: address forms and five specific speech acts-greetings, apologies, compliments, directives, and probes. Radio dramas were chosen as the data source because they are conversational and authentic. Exploring the domain of business, Pascasio (1978) did an analysis of Tagalog­ English code switching in terms of functions and occurrences (based on Gumperz's model of social interaction) and linguistic patterns utilizing Bautista's typology. Respondents competent in both English and Tagalog code-switch for specific functions constituted the data. An attempt at distinguishing borrowing from code-switching was also made. Code-switching in the classroom domain has been described by Mogol, Tuy, Santos, and Esclabanan (1977). This is the first attempt that includes the ethnic language aside from Tagalog and English since the data were drawn from the classrooms of both Tagalog-speaking and non-Tagalog speaking communities. Pan's (1975) data were Filipino short stories from the magazine, Liwayway, to assess the extent of English-Filipino code switching. The findings showed that in generaJ, English loan words aretreatedeitherby retaining the English spelling or by writing them according to the Filipino orthography system. As in the spoken medium, code-switiching frequently occurs among peer groups when speaking of informal topics on a friendly basis. The short story writer employs code­ switching for the following reasons: (a) for ease in understanding ,(b)forbrevity, (c) for lack of indigenous terms in Tagalog, (d) for precision, and (e) for emphasis and clarity. Gonzalez (1982a) includes a note on code-switching in his study of stylistic underdifferentiation of written Philippine English of the mass media. His findings support Pascasio's findings where he contends that the code-switching variety is used by well-

16 LSPAT30 educatedFilipinoswhohavemasteredbothEnglish(in its formalstyle)and Filipino(in its formal, informal, and familiar style) and that it is used in the mass media (spokenand written)fora verydistinctpurpose:to establishrapportwithan audienceand an atmosphere of informality,perhapsunconsciously excludinga nativespeakerof Englishwhois familiar with onlyone code,and likewiseperhaps,unconsciously establishingone's credentialsasa nationalist,albeitWesternized. It is nowwidelyusedin talk showsin the massmediaand evenin class,whenthe teacherwishesto establishhislhercredentiaIsasheing "with it" and in order to "break the ice" in class (Gonzalez1982a). Recentstudieson code-switching werepresentedat the CentennialCongressin 1999.

(4) Philippine English

The existenceof a PhilippineEnglish varietyhas been demonstratedby Llamzon (1969),who focusedon the spokenvarietyof PhilippineEnglish as used by the educated Filipinoelite whichhe called"StandardFilipinoEnglish." A later studyby Gonzalezand Alberca(1978),on the other hand, preferredthe term "PhilippineEnglish" in viewof the possibilityof evolvinga standard form of English spoken in the Philippines which is comparableto that of American,British,Australian,or CanadianEnglish. Their data were drawn from the mass media to demonstratethe realityof this PhilippineEnglish variety. Other relatedstudieshave demonstrated the distinctivefeaturesofPhilippineEnglish. The LSP co-sponsored the conferenceon a English is an Asian Language: The Philippine Context"with the MacquarieDictionaryPublishingCompanyofAustraliaand DLSU,with supportfromthe Australiangovernment'sDepartmentof Communication and the Arts on August2-3, 1996at DLSU. Theproceedingsofthe conferencewerepublishedin bookform by TheMacquarieLibraryLtd. in 1997withMa. LourdesS.Bautistaas editor.

(5) Filipino, the National Language

The LSP in early 1988 held the first series of round table conferenceson the intellectualization of Filipino, where tasks were mappedout for developingthe national languagefor variousintellectualuses, the development of lexiconbeing only one among manyothertasks. To becomea truly developednationallanguage,fully cultivatedfur all uses in the country,Filipinohas to be elaboratedas botha literaryand scientificlanguage. This processhas beennamedbylinguistsofthe LSPas "intellectualization". This involves more than vocabulary building and the coining of terminology. It also involves reconceptualization of the paradigmsofa disciplineand its reexpression,involvingthe developmentofa rhetoricalmodel,as well as a translationmodelbased 0 nthecognitive sciences. A recentLSPpublicationentitledTheIntellectualization of FilipinobyBonifacio P. Sibayan,waslaunchedat PNUlast August1999. (6) Lexicography

Fromthe seventiesamongthe studiesin lexicography are: Riegode Dios'studyon a composite"Dictionaryof Philippine-Spanish Creole"with6,000entries,placingCotabato Chavacanoon the Philippine linguisticmap. Santiago'swork on the "Elaborationof a TechnicalLexiconof Filipino"seeksto find out howthe intendedusers of Filipinowould react to the differentpossibilitiesinthe development of scientificlexicon. Soberano'swork on the dialects of MarinduqueTagalog tried to identifyand describe the geographical

17 PASCASIO variationsand gain knowledgeon the importantelementscausingvariation.

(7) Language Acquisition

Perhapsthe first scientificattemptto record and analyze first languageacquisition in the Philippinesetting are the two longitudinalcase studiesof child languageacquisition conductedbyGonzalez(1982b). Another study by Gonzalez (l980c) focuses on second language acquisition (English) in school. In his findings,acomparison between entry years (the first time a particular structure is introducedand formallytaught in the grade) and acquisitionyears reveals that there is a time lag of one or more years before a structure is acquired. A replicationof this study was done by L. Saranglao(1981) varying the sample by using a high SESgroup. The findings confirmthe results of Gonzalez' study. As for morerecent studies,Dr. Almadela Cruz presentedinterestingfindingson code-switichingamongGrade VI studentsin her paper presentedat theCentennialCongress.

(8) Language Testing

It was only towards the latter part of the seventiesthat language testing in the Philippineswas given its rightful place in the field. Serious attention and interest have increasedalongwiththefeltneedformoresophisticated,reliable,andvalidmeasuresfor languagebehavior. Comparativestudieson the relativemerits of the discretepointtestand tests of integrative skills have been conducted. Initial findings indicate that in terms of assessing global competence,the integrativetype is superior to the discrete point type. However,bothtypesoftests are valid measuresforlanguagecompetence(Castro 1979). With the current interest in communicative competence using a psycho­ sociolinguisticframework and the non-discretepoint testing approach, Castillo's 1978 study, although exploratory in nature, is a significant contribution since it is the first attempt to test communicative competence in Pilipino. Castillo developed a test of communicative competencein Pilipinoforprospectiveelementaryschoolteachers. Thetest battery,if administeredto prospectiveteachers,can serveas basis for determiningwhether theyare readyto use Pilipinoin their teachingjobs. Twolanguageproficiencytests,English and Filipino, were developedby Pascasio with a team of her colleaguesat the Ateneode ManilaUniversity. Theseinstrumentsaimed to definethe proficiencylevelsfor the readingandwriting skills neededfor collegework. It also aimedto provideinsights and guidelinesin setting forth directions for futureresearch in second language, English and Filipino in the Philippine schools. For the English languageproficiencytest (ELPT),construct, concurrent, and predictivevaliditieshavebeen established. Reliabilityhas also been established,and it has undergone three trials. The Filipino language proficiencytest (FLPT)was developedat a later date and with its two trials,contentand constructvaliditieshavebeenestablished.

(9) Literacy

LSP is working very closely with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) especiallyon the role of the vernacularinbasiceducation,Amongthe researchpresentedat

18 LSPAT 30

the LSP Centennial Congress were those ofP. GregoryDekker and Diane Dekker and Ellen Errington of SIL, and Allan Bernardo of De La Salle University on the role of cognition in literacy and bilingualism.

(10) Language and Culture

Since LSP works closely with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), a series published jointly by LSP and SIL make some of the research on Philippine languages and cultures available. SIL's activity in linguistics, literacy, and translation among the indigenous language communities in the Philippines has resulted in a number of contributions to the academic world, as well as the language communities. Publications range from sets of descriptive articles on a wide variety of grammatical phenomena to text collections with accompanying cultural notes. Some of these materials document complex and highly artistic oral literature that otherwise might be lost to futuregenerations.SILhas been instrumental in tbepublicationoflonglistsofliteracyandhealtb education materials which numerous Philippine language groups have used to transform and strengthen their communities, as well as translations of Bible portions and other literature of high moral value. SIL's promotion ofliteracy for children in the mother tongue has allowed numbers of students to integrate into and excel in the national formal educational system. Model adult nonformal literacy programs are now being sustained by several communities in Mindanao. Providing basic education in the mother tongue gives proper place to the learner's own language and culture, and builds a foundation from which individuals and communities can actively participate in shaping their own future.

4. TRAINING PROGRAMS

Providing continuous training for linguists and language teachers has always loomed large in the agenda of the LSP. Beginning in 1969, practically at the very founding of the Society,the LSP has sponsored in-service training programs, annual conventions, and regular lectures for its members and for all those interested in language. Thesetraining programs have been held witb the assistance of such agencies as the Fund forA ssistanceto Private Education (FAPE), SIL, Philippine Social ScienceCouncil (PSSC), British Council, United States Information Agency, Asia Foundation, DECS, CHED and in cooperationwith otberlinguistic and language teaching organizations. A program of summer-workshops for language teachers began in 1970 with offerings of one to two weeks in length. Topicsrangedfrornteachingmetbodologiesand language testing to the teaching of the language skills-reading, writing, listening and speaking-to the teaching of grammar as well as literature, to materials development and language tests. As its outreach program, the LSP in cooperation with Philippine Normal University, De La Salle University, DECS, and USIS sponsored the so-called roving seminar-workshops on "Current Developments in English Language Teaching" outside Manila such as Baguio, Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro. Dr. Emma Castillo and Prof. Edilberta Bala were co-directors oftbese seminar-workshops.

19 PASCASIO

The lecture series of the LSP has contributed greatly to the professional development of its members. The LSPsponsorsaround 5-7 lectureseveryschoolyear for its membersand other graduatestudentswho are interestedto be kept abreastwith each other's research,as well as that beingdoneoutsidethe Philippines.OnMay25-29,1992, RodEllis, a renownedauthorityin SecondLanguageAcquisitiongavea seriesof lectures on "IndividualLearner Differencesin L2 Acquisition." On October5-9, 1993LSP co­ sponsored with Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and SIL the First Asia International Lexicography conferencein Manila, the proceedingswhich have been publishedby LSP. On August2-3, 1996 LSP co-sponsored the conference "English is an AsianLanguage: The PhilippineContext"with MacquarieDictionaryPublishingCompanyof Australiaand De La Salle University with support from Australian Government's Department of Communication and the ArtsthroughtheCulturalIndustryDevelopmentProgram.Heldat De La Salle University,the keynoteaddresswas deliveredby ProfessorBraj Kachru, a renownedlinguistfromthe UniversityofIllinoisat Urbana-Champaign. LSPpublishedthe proceedingswithMa. LourdesBautistaaseditor. Everyyear in May,the LSPholdsits annual conventionwherea specificthemeis chosen. Tonamea feware:

May12, 1990"RecentResearchonLanguage" May5,1992 "Intellectualization ofFilipino:Directions" May8, 1993 "CurrentResearchinAppliedLinguistics" May11, 1996 "UsesofLinguisticsinthe Philippines"

During the LSP silver jubilee anniversary, the theme was "Linguistics and LanguageTeaching"held on May16-18,1995. Duringthis occasiontwoLSPpublications were also launched. In addition, as a special activity there was a literary musical presentationby linguists-Doctors BonifacioP. Sibayan,Fe T. Otanes,EmyM. Pascasio, Ma. Clara Ravina,PoncianoPineda,WilfredoAlberca,and Encarnita Balayon. Thisjust goesto showthat somelinguistshaveothertalents. On April 25-26, 1997, the theme of the annual convention was "Applied Linguistics:Focus on SecondLanguageLearning/Teaching." Ten outstandinglinguists from abroadsuch as the UnitedStates,Canada,Thailand, Hongkongand Japan came to presentinterestingpapers. The theme for the celebration of its 30'b anniversary conventionis "English, Filipino and other Languages at the Crossroads: Facing the Challengesof the New Millennium"on May 11-13,2000. On this occasion,Grand Awardsand SpecialAwards will be given to pillars of the LinguisticSocietyof the Philippines. There will also be a booklaunchingof The FilipinoBilingual: A Multidisciplinary Perspective, a Festschriftin honorofEmyM.Pascasio.

5. CONSULTANCY AND ADVOCACY

The languagesituationof the Philippinesbeingavery complexone,theLSPhas beenatthevanguardofgroupsthataretryingtoclarifypositionsandchartdirections in the formulation of language policy. In 1971,the Societywas seriouslyinvolvedin policy

20 LSPAT30

discussionsonthe nationallanguageand mediumofinstruction. SeveralLSPmembersappearedbeforethe Constitutional Conventionof 1971and again beforethe ConstitutionalCommissionin 1986to discussthe nationallanguageissue. The LSP was involvedin the formulationof the BilingualEducationPolicyin 1974and conducteda formalevaluationofits implementation forthe period1974to 1985. Basedon the resultsof that evaluation,the Policywas revisedin 1987. Severalof its recentround­ tablediscussions havefocusedon the Philippinelanguageagendafor the 21" century;even as the role of the ethnic languagesis recognizedand upheld,the concernremainsfor the development of Filipinoas the national languageand the maintenanceof English as the globallanguage. What, then, has the LSP achievedin its 30 years of existence? It has certainly achievedthe two objectives it startedout with, and proofof this is the Ionglistofresearch projectsand publicationsit has produced. But overandabovethat, the LSPhas contributed totheprofessionalizationofthedisciplineoflinguisticsandits allied sub-disciplines, especiallylanguageteachingin the Philippines.It has builtup a networkof linguistsat the national and internationallevels,and has been ableto reach out to other socialscientists inside and outsidethe Philippines. Finally, it has helpedshape policyon languageand educationin very importantways.Theseare solidachievements for an organizationthat is just turning30. Our currentofficersare as follows:: BonifacioSibayan(PresidentEmeritus);Emy M. Pascasio(Ateneode Manila University), President;AnnaMa. Gloria Ward (University of Santo Tomas), Vice-President, Emma S. Castillo (philippine Normal University), Executive Secretary, Maria Clara Ravina (University of the Philippines), Treasurer, EdilbertaC. Bala (philippineNormalUniversity), Ma. LourdesS. Bautista (De La Salle University), AndrewB. Gonzalez,FSC (De La SalleUniversity), IsabelP. Martin (Ateneo de Manila University), J. StephenQuakenbush(SummerInstituteof Linguistics),Angela Sarile(UniversityofthePhilippines-Manila), BoardMembers. We knowthat the years ahead will not be easy,as the years past have both been difficult and challenging. I know, however,that we shall alwayskeep faith with our commitment,dedication,and determinationto push forward the frontiers of language researchand deve!opment in our country. Let us availof this occasionto pledgeanewour commitmenttolinguisticsand languageeducation.Thankyou.

REFERENCES

BAUTISTA, MA. LOURDES.1979. Patterns of Speakingin Pilipino Radio Dramas. Tokyo:TokyoUniversityofForeignStudies.MonographSeriesno. 13. __ 1980. TheFilipinoBilingual'sCompetence: A Modelbasedon an analysisof Tagalog English Code-Switching: Pacific Linguistics Series C-No. 59. Departmentof Linguistics,Schoolof PacificStudies. Canberra: The Australian University. __, ed. 1996. Readings in Philippine Sociolinguistics. Manila: De La Salle UniversityPress,Inc.

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__--' ed. 1997. English is an Asian Language. Australia: The Macquarie Library Pty.Ltd.i MacquarieUniversity. 1998. Pagtanaw: Essays on Language in honor of Teodoro A. Llamzon, The Linguistic Societyof thePhilippines. and GRACE O. TAN, eds,1999. The Filipino Bilingual: A Multidisciplinary -----p;spective-Festschrift in honor of Emy M. Pascasio. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. BANGALAN, NORA. 1979. Factors that Facilitate the Acceptance of Filipino. Regional Language Centre, Singapore. BERNABE, EMMA. 1978. Language Planning in Philippine Education, 1565-1975. Ph.D. Dissertation. Universityof the Philippines. CASTILLO, EMMA S. 1969. A Study of the Roles of Aptitude, Attitude and Motivation in L2 Acquisition. M.A. Thesis. Philippine Normal College. 1972. Variables in L2 Acquisition. Philippine Journal of Linguistic Society of the Philippines. 1978. A Test of Communicative Competence in Pilipino for Prospective Ph.D. dissertation. Ateneo de Manila - PNC Consortium in

___ and H. FEENSTRA 1970. Aptitude, Attitude and Motivation; A Look at Two Cultures. Occasional Paper no. 5 Language Study Center, Philippine Normal College. and GLORIA CHAN-YAP. 1977. Attitudinal Survey on Pilipino as Medium --of-Instruction. In The Filipino Bilingual ed. by Emy M. Pascasio, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University. __--' ed. 1996. Alay sa Wika: Essays in honor of Fe T. Otanes on her 67th Birthday. Manila: Linguistic Societyof the Philippines. CASTRO, CORABELLA. 1979. The Comparative Validity of Discrete Point and Integrative Tests of English Proficiency. MAT-ESL Thesis. University of the Philippines. CRUZ, CARMEN. 1980. Sociolinguistic Features of a Selected Manila Community. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, 11.2,64-74. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. GASTON, lRENE. 1978. A Descriptive Study of the Language Profile of Selected Hiligaynon Speakers. M.A. Thesis. Ateneo de Manila University. GONZALEZ, ANDREW,FSC. 1980. Some Research Priorities for Linguistics in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, ILl, 99-103. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. ___. 1982. English in the Philippine MassMedia. In New Englishes, edited by John Pride, 211-26. Rowley: NewburyHousePublishers, Inc. ___. 1984. Acquiring Filipino as a First Language: Two Case Studies. Manila: Linguistics Society of the Philippines.

22 LSPAT30

___. 1986.. PhilippineEnglish.In InternationalEnglishUsage,edbyLoretoTodd and Ian Hancock,344-346. London: CroomHelm. ___. 2000. PhilippineBilingualEducationRevisited.In The FilipinoBilingual: A Multidisciplinary Perspective-Festschrift in honor of Emy M. Pascasio,eds. by Ma. LourdesS. Bautistaand GraceO. Tan, II-IS. Manila: LinguisticSocietyof the Philippines. ___ and WILFREDO L. ALBERCA. 1978. Philippine English of the Mass Media. Manila: ResearchCouncil,DeLa SalleUniversity. ___ and MA. LOURDES S. BAUTISTA. 1986. Language Surveys in the Philippines(1966-1984).Manila: DeLa SalleUniversityPress. ___, ed. 1973. Parangalkay CecilioLopez: Essaysin honorof ProfessorCecilio Lopezon his seventy-fifth birthday. Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. ___ and DAVIDTHOMAS,eds. 1981. LinguisticsacrossContinents: Studiesin Honorof Richard S. Pittman. LSP Monograph SeriesNo.1. Manila: Summer InstituteofLinguisticsandLinguisticSocietyofthePhilippines. 1984. Panagani: Essays in honorof BonifacioP. Sibayanon his 67th Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthePhilippines. ___and BONlFACIOP. SIBAYAN,eds.1988. EvaluatingBilingualEducationin the Philippines(1974-1985).Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. LLAMZON, TEODORO. 1969. Standard FilipinoEnglish. Quezon City: Ateneo de ManilaUniversityPress. MENDOZA, JUANITA. 1978. LanguageUseand LanguageAttitudein Interactionwith SocialSetting: A Sociolinguistic Survey. Ph.D.dissertation,Universityof Santo Tomas. MOGOL, MARTHA, ESTER E. TUY, LUIS R. SANTOS JR. and CORAZONG. ESCLABANAN. 1977. Verbal Interaction in English and Filipino. Ph.D. dissertation,Universityofthe Philippines. OTANES,FET. and BONIFACIO P. SIBAYAN. 1969. LanguagePolicySurvey. Manila: LanguageStudyCenter,PhilippineNormalCollege. PAN, GREGILDA S. 1975. An Analysisof Code-Switching in PhilippineShort Stories and some Sociolinguistic Implications for Pilipino and English Language Development. M.A.Thesis,UniversityofthePhilippines. PASCASIO, EMY M. 1972. The LanguageBehavior Profile of Selected Filipino Bilinguals. In The Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Linguistics,ed.byLuigiHeilmann. Bologna,Italy. . 1975. The Role of the FilipinoBilingualin the Modem World.Philippine ~dies,Vo1.23. ___. 1978. Dynamicsof Code-Switching in the BusinessDomain. Philippine JournalofLinguistics,10.I-2. Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines.

23 PASCASIO

. 1979. How Role-relationships, Domains Situations Affect ~guage Use among Bilinguals. In Language eds. by W. Mc Cormackand S. Wunn. NewYork: Mouton. __. 1980. Pilipino LanguageProficiencyTestfor CollegeFresluuen. Philippine Journalof Linguistics,11.1. Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. . 1981. Language Attitudesand Motivations of Filipino BilingualsToward ~ino and English: The PhilippineContext. In Patterns of Bilingualism,ed.by EvangelosAfendras. Singapore:UniversityPressfor SEAMOC. __. 1982. Contributionsof Filipino Linguists to International Scholarship. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, 13.1. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. 1984. Philippine:BilingualismandCode-Switching,

__. 1985. ContributionsofLinguisticsto LanguageEducationin the Philippines. PhilippineJournalforLanguageTeaching,Vol. 13.1-4. ___. 1988. LanguageTesting Strategies in Reading and Writing. Philippine Journalfor LanguageTeaching,Vol.16.1-4. ___. 1990. Dynamics of Language and Identity. Philippine Journal of Linguistics,21.1. Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. ___. 2000. A Comparisonof Critical Correlates of Language Proficiencyin English and Filipino among Filipino Bilingual Speakers. In Paranga! Cang Brother Andrew-FestschriftforAndrewGonzalezon His SixtiethBirthday,eds,by Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista,TeodoroA. Llamzon and BonifacioP. Sibayan,185-96. Manila: LingnisticSocietyofthePhilippines __and MA. LUISADORONILA. 1992. Languageand NationalIdentityin Two Philippine Communities. SLAlE. Special Issue. The Language Study Center. Manila: PhilippineNonnalUniversity. __, ed. 1977. The FilipinoBilingual: Studieson PhilippineBilingualismand BilingualEducation. QuezonCity: Ateneode ManilaUniversityPress. RlEGODE DIOS, MA. ISABELITA. 1976. A CompositeDictionary ofPhilippineCreole Spanish. Ph.D. Dissertation.AteneodeManila.-PNCConsortiumin Linguistics. SAMONTE, JULIETA. 1981. Attitudes of College Students towards English as a Language. Ph.D. Dissertation.UniversityofSantoTomas. SANTIAGO, ALFONSO. 1979. The Elaboration of a Technical Lexiconof Pilipino. Ph.D.Dissertation. Ateneode ManiIa-PNCConsortiumin Linguistics. SARANGLAO, LUCIA T. 1981. A Studyon the Seqnenceof Grade SchoolStudents' MasteryofEnglish Structures.MA. Thesis. Ateneode ManilaUniversity. SIBAYAN,BONIFACIOP. 1971. LanguagePlanning ProcessesandLanguagePolicy Surveyin the Philippines. In CanLanguagebe Planned?,ed, by JoanRubinand BjornJermnd. LSPAT30

___. 1999. The Intellectualization of Filipino. Manila: LinguisticSocietyof the Philippines. ___ and LORNASEGOVIA. 1980. Languageand Socioeconomic Development: Resulting Patterns of BilingualismlMnitilingualism. In Patterns of Bilingualism Anthology Series 8 ed. by Evangelos Afendras, Singapore: University of Singapore. ___ and ANDREWGONZALEZ, FSC, eds. 1977. LanguagePlanning and the Building of a NationalLanguage: Essaysin honor of SantiagoA.Fonacieron his 92nd Birthday. Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines ___ and ANDREW GONZALEZ, FSC, eds, 1988. Policy Implications and Recommendations. In EvalnatingBilingual Education in the Philippines(1974­ 1985). Manila: LinguisticSocietyof the Philippines. SOBERANO,ROSA. 1976. The Dialects of Marinduque Tagalog. Ph.D. Dissertation. Ateneode Manila-PNCConsortiumin Linguistics.

25 PHILIPPINEJOURNALOF LINGUISTICS Volume31, Number 2 December2000

THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND POLICY MAKING IN LANGUAGE *

Andrew Gonzalez, FSC, Allan B.I. Bernardo, Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista, and Emy M. Pascasio

1. INTRODUCTION

This collaborative paper seeks to list by topics policy-making activities in language. It documentscurrentrealitiesand demonstrates the roleof the socialsciencesin the developmentofthesepolicies

2. TYPES OF POLICIES ON LANGUAGE

2.1. Symbolic and AffectiveFunctions of Language

Although the notion ofa national languagewas bruited about in the first two decadesof the Americancolonialregime,it was really not until the 1935 Constitutional Assemblywhenthe issueof a nationallanguageofficiallybecamethe subjectoflegislation. So divisivewas the issueat that time that it demonstrated that Philippinesocietyhad not 'crystallized' sufficiently to have a consensus on national language. The 1935 Constitutionalprovisionmandatedthe establishment of an agencyto overseethe selection and developmentof anationa1language. The enablinglaw for establishingthe National LanguageInstitutewas the NorbertoRomualdezLawof 1936;the nextyear,1937,sawthe establishmentofthe NationalLanguageInstitute(renamedbyan amendmentin 1938as the Instituteof NationalLanguage),thechoiceof Tagalogas the basisofthenationallanguage, its officialadoptionin 1939withthe availabilityofagrammarin Tagalog(LopeK, Santos' Balari/a)and a bilingualTagalog-English wordlist(which was considereda dictionary). With this approval,summercourseswereheld in 1940to enableTagalog(namedWikang Pambansa)to be taught as a subjectin fourth year high school and in teachertraining collegesbeginningin 1941. The national language (Wikang Pambansa) was slowly standardizedby the Instituteof NationalLanguage,propagatedespeciallyduringthe shortregimeofthe Laurel Governmentduringthe JapanesePeriod,and taughtin all grades(primaryand secondary) andasa subjectin collegein the Independence Period. The main task of the languageat present,withinthe missionoftheKomisyon sa WikangFilipino,establishedbyRA7104in 1991,is the cultivationof Filipino(its currentnameafter beingrenamedPilipinoin 1959, renamedin 1974and confirmedas existingin 1987)asa languageofacademicdiscourse.

*Revisedversionof a paper presented at the4thNationalSocialScienceCongressPre-Congress Ill Public PulicyandPractiee-LANGUAGE inMay,1998. 27 GONZALEZ, BERNARDO,BAUTISTA& PASCASIO

Basicto the movementto disestablishEnglish and to establishFilipinois the need to havea symbolof unityand a badgeof linguisticidentityaspart ofthe nationalisticthrust of the Governmentandits citizenry. Studies in the Philippines indicate that Filipinos favor Filipino (except some Cebuanos)as a symbolof unityand linguisticidentity,but donot necessarilyfavorit as the exclusivemedium of instructionin schools. Thus a bilingualscheme has been accepted. Neither is adherenceto languagenecessarilyan effectiveagent for national cohesion and anchorage to the country, for there are many ethnic rivalries up to now between communities that commonly use Filipino as a lingua franca and there are many Tagalog/Filipino-speaking citizenswho workabroad,someof whomhavemigratedto other countriespermanently. The correlationbetweenlanguageand nationalismdoesnot always hold. In attempting to grapple with the complex reality that the Philippine linguistic situationrepresents,one has to rely on the scienceof politicsto seethesymbolicfunctionof languageas effectiveor ineffectiveinnation building. The socialsciencedisciplines,especiallyeconomicsand sociology.Iikewisespecify the successof languageplanning in our society(the selectionofthebasis of the national language, its standardization,propagation and cultivation) as well as use in the school system, for rituals and ceremonies,in the domains of religion,business,governmentand internationalrelations. Of these realities in these areas presentlyunder study by Filipino social scientists,one can find waysof explainingFilipinosocialbehaviorat present in the fieldof the symbolicfunctionof languagein nation-building.

2.2. Language of Education

From the time Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence100 years ago until this very day, the questionabout which language to use in educationhas been explicitly addressed by policy provisions. The presence of very explicit policy provisions notwithstanding,the medium of instruction issue continuesas a contentious matter of debate. The tensionseemsto be amongthree competingdemandsof ethnieity,nationalism, and modernization, each demand calling for the use of the vernacular, the national language.or English.respectively. The policy that is currently in place is the BilingualEducationPolicy of 1987, which has as its goal enhanced learning through two languages to achieve quality education;the Policy keeps most of the important provisionsof the Bilingual Education Policy of 1974. The Bilingual Education Policy specifiesthe use of the vernacular as medium for initial schoolingand literacy, and the separateuse of Filipino and English as mediaof instructionin basiceducationfor definitesubjectareas.I

.'TbeCongressionalCommissiononEducationof1991madedi1lerentreconunendatioDll,butthese recommendations havenotyetbeen1ranslatedintopolicy. 28 POLICY MAKING IN LANGUAGE

The reality of the mediumof instructionissuedoes not quiteconvergewithpolicy. In most basic education classrooms,Filipino or English language materialsare usedfor specific subjects as mandated by policy. However,when presenting and discussingthe material,teachersveryliberaIlyswitchtothevernacular,particularlywhentheysensethat the students are having difficultyunderstandingthe material (this observationis true even at the tertiary level). Likewise,althoughstudentsare requiredto speakand submitwritten requirementsin either Filipino or English, again depending on the subject,in classroom discoursetheyoften switchto theveruacular. It is evident that the demands of ethnicity, nationalism, and modernizationare mediatedby the more pragmaticdemandsof classroomlearning and instruction. Therefore linguists, sociologists (particularly, sociolinguists), psychologists (particularly,cognitive and educationalpsychologists),andeducationalscientistshave been drawnto the debate,as their understanding of the sociological, psychological, and pedagogical dimensionsof languageuse in classroom discourseand learning are critical to make policyformulations workin the classroom,in line withthe largergoalsof the educationalprocess. The following section is a brief treatment of the interrelated linguistic, sociological, psychological, and pedagogical questions that relate to the medium of instruction issue. The section will summarizehow research in the various social science disciplineshasanswered these questions,so far; special notice shall be taken of questions that have notyetbeen addressedor adequatelyansweredby socialscieuceresearch. In what medium wiU f>1udents learn better? Wzll that medium differ from one subject to the other? Researchineducationandlearningisveryconclusiveasregardsthis question. Students learn better ifthe medium of instruction is a languagein which they have good levels of proficiency; in other words, learning in one's vernacular is most efficient and effective. It does not makea difference whether the subjectis reading, mathematics,science,socialstudies,music,religion,arts, health, or physicaleducation. What is the effect of using languages other than the vernacular for instrucfjon? This question is a concern particularly in multiethnic countries like the Philippines. Research and theory seem to suggestthat at an early age, children's languageacquisition mechanisms are still in place and are flexible enough to allow children to develop proficiencyin languagesother than their vernacular. The assumptionis that as longas the languagemodelfur the secondlanguageis adequateand comprehensible,studentswho are taught using a secondlanguagewill be ableto learn both the subjectmatterandthe second language. The acquisition of the secondlanguage skills is also largely dependenton the students' fluency in the vernacular, and the similarities between the vernacularand the second language. Such research findings provide the motivation for bilingualeducation programsthat providebridgingbetweenthevernacularand the secondlanguage. Can the differerd vernaculars be used effectively to teaeh all subjects? And is Filipino developed enough to be used for teildIing at all levels? There are some who argue that the present stateof the differentvernacularsin the Philippinesis such that the languages are not adequate to express all the material across different subjects. Others arguethat there is no basis for such claimsgiventhat all languagesare adequateto express anyidea; moreover,languagesdevelopas the requirementsof the languageusersgrow. So the matter can be addressed by proper language planning initiatives, particularlythose directedtowardsintellectuaIizingthe vernacular or the Filipinolanguage to suit the requirementsoffurmaI instruction. In this regard, sociolinguistsand linguists

29 GONZALEZ, BERNARDO,BAUTISTA& PASCASIO

have specifiedthe importantfactorsthat will allow for the faster developmentof languages towards this direction. These factors include the development of printed and other instructionalmaterials,and the preparationof teachers for teachingin the medium,among others. At this point, we can see that social science research clearly points to the importance of using the veroacuIar in instruction, as the medium and as a bridge for instruction using a second or auxiliary medium. However,for many different reasons, people in the Philippinessee a need to developcompetencyin a third language,English. This need is shared by some policy makers, members of academe, business, and the populationat large. Argumentsgivenfor this perceivedneedare: • Englishis the internationallanguage,our link tothe rest ofthe world • English is the languageof business(globalcompetitiveness) • Englishis a prestigelanguage • Not teaching English will create a new elite which will have access to opportunitiesbecauseonly theycan speakin English • Mostworldknowledgeis in English • Englishis the languageof scienceand technology • Proficiencyin English is an indicatorof intellectualability In the followingsectionwe shall consider what social scienceresearchhasto say about the last three. (The discussionis limitedto these items becausethey are directlyrelevant to the educationalfunction.) Is most ofwhat we know no", as human beings documented in English? Maybe. In fact most likely, given American domination of media and other forms of discourse. Hence,a goodknowledgeofthe English languagewill be usefulin this regard. Will we be deprived of this information if we cannot speak English? Noand yes, everything can be translated anyway, but the translatious are largely not available. Therefore,beingproficientin English makesaccessto specifictypesofinformationfaster? Is Engli,h the l/Ulguage ofscience and technology? Yes, becauseof the present domination of Americansin most areas of science. Hence, most important findings and ideas are publishedin English languagejournals and publications. That was not the case a centuryago, but now,English is the de facto language of scienceand technology,although a significant segmentof the scientificcommunitydoes not disseminateits findings using English. Will students have difficulty understanding science subjects if they do not know English? No, English is onlythe languageof discoursein science,but the ideasof science are not bound to one language. Chinese,Japanese,Russian,German,and French speakers still do very good sciencewithout speaking the slightest form of English. (They even win NobelPrizes.) Besides,scienceis not just aboutknowingterms and concepts;scienceis a wayof thinking andknowingand that goesbeyondlanguage. POLICY MAKINGIN LANGUAGE

Is English proficiency an indicator of intellectual ahility? No. Proficiency in any language has never been an indicatorof inteIligence. However,in the Philippines English proficiencymay be consideredan indicationthat an individualhas mastereda particularintellectualskill. BecauseEnglishis notour nativelanguage,becauseEnglishis linguisticallyverydifferentfromournativelanguage,andthe useofEnglish is not largely supportedin the social environment, masteryof English is indeed an intellectual feat. Hence, good students may end up learning and mastering English better than weaker students. So there is a possiblelink betweenEnglishproficiencyand intellectual ability. But these argumentswouldobviouslynotapplyfor those whose first languageis English. Likewise,some highly intelligentthinking happens among those who have very little knowledgeofEnglish. Still,if we want to maintainsomelevelof proficiencyin English,otherquestions can beraised,questionsto whichsocialscienceresearchshouldalso haveanswers. What is the best wayto attain proficiency in English? For peoplewhoare not nativespeakersof English,the bestwayis to teachitasa secondlanguage. Teachit well, and maybeteach it for specificpurposes. Usingit as a mediumof instructionmightwork becausethat meansmuchtime willbe devotedtothe useof the language;however, success dependson the proficiencyof the teachers,or on the adequacyof the languagemodels provided by the teachers. But we should rememberthat attaining proficiency in any languagecannotbe fullyachievedthroughformalschoolingalone; it needsto besupported byadequatemodelsofthe languagein theperson'ssocialenvironment.

Will using Filipino or the vernacular flS medium of instruction lead to deterioration of English proju:iency? If this means less time for English language instruction,thenthe answeris yes. Butif Englishlanguageskills can besupportedinother ways(qualityof instruction,reading,etc.),then that neednot be the case. Itisnotapurely zero-sumproposition. Moreover,the deterioration of English skills is not simplydue to changesin languageof instruction;EnglishskiJIsare deterioratingbecausepeopleare not using it as their primary means of communication outsidethe formal educational system (see later discussionon languageandother sectorsof societyin thispaper),becauseother languagescanbeusedto dosomoreefficiently. The brief treatment of social science ideas regarding different aspects of the mediumof instructiondebatepointto an inescapable conclusion:Althoughgovernment and educationalinstitutionscan legislatepolicyregardingthe use oflanguageinschools,the effectiveness of such policieswill beconstrainedbythe social,psychological,andlinguistic realitiesthat bearon the pedagogicalfunctionofschools.

2.3. Language of the Mass Media and Multimedia

English has traditionallybeen the dominantlanguage in the media. Sincethe onset of Americanrule, when a mass media systempatternedafter that of the American colonialrulers was established,English has been the primary languageusedin the mass media. Since 1986,however,Filipinohas steadilygainedground as a majorlanguagein the media, especiallyon radio and TV. An examinationof the language/sused in the variousmediawill showthis. For example,in the print media, the 12 broadsheets which includeTheManilaBulletin.PhilippineDailyInquirer,ThePhilippineStar,ThePhilippine Standard,ManilaTimes,ManilaChronicle, PhilippineJournal, and Today,useEnglish.

31 GONZALEZ, BERNARDO,BAUTISTA& PASCASIO

The tabloidsuse Englishand Filipino. The serioustabloidslike People'sJournal, Tonight,and Tempo- or those which featureserious columns,newsstories, entertainment news aud feature seriousarticles- use both Filipino and English, with the columns being written in English and the entertainmentnews and featurearticlesin Filipino. Banderais writtenentirelyin Filipino. Other tabloids like Abante, Balita, People's BagongBalita, and Remate are entirelyin Filipino. Communitynewspapers,whichnumberover300,are bilingualor trilingual. Some use English and Filipinoor English and the local vernacular,or English, Filipino and the local vernacular. Communitypapers in the Visayas,which resist the use of Filipino, use English and the localvernacular. On Philippineradio,Filipino,English, and code-switching in these two Ianguages are used. There are a total of 402 radio stations,of which246 are AM and 156 FM. AM radio stations;which cater predominantlyto mass media audiencesin bothurban and rural areas, use mainly Filipino,whileFM radio stations,which usuallyspecializein music and are directedtowardthe upperclass,use English. On television, these two languages,Filipino and English, again co-exist. Cable television,includingnewscastsand canned programs like game shows,MTV, and movies, use English. Free television,whichconsistsprimarily of commercialtelevisionshows, use Filipino and English. The newscasts are either in English or Filipino, whereas public affairsprogramsare predominantlyinEnglish. Indicativeof the growingpreferencefor Filipino for the TV watching audience is thefaetthatnewscastswhichareinFilipinohavebeengettinghigherratingscomparedto their counterpartsin English, as shown by the popularityof Channel 2's "TV Patrol" and Channel7's"Saksi." Presumably,one of the factors for the high ratings of these shows is that the viewersunderstandthe languageand, therefore,switch0n toFilipinorather than to English newscasts;'

2.4. Language of Government The factorsthat most affectlanguagechoice in oralgovernmentcommunications are formalityof the situationand educationallevelof the participants. The more formalthe situation and the more highly educatedthe participants, the greater the tendencytouse English. Thus, sessionsof Congressand meetingsof the city or municipalgovernmentare conductedin English, while informalbarangayassembliesand transactionsin government offices are in the local languagewith some switching to English. In regions without a distaste for Filipino, there may be a consciouseffort to give pride of placet o the national language. Thus, speakers at general assembliesand big meetingsmay make a deliberate attempt to use Filipino. In fact, oaths of officeare now administeredin Filipino. It goes withoutsaying,however,that in internationalnegotiations,govemmentofficialshave to use English.

'This isan excerptfromanarticlebyGeorginaR.Encanto(I997),reproducedherewithherpermission,

32 POLICY MAKING IN LANGUAGE

In written government communications, the prevailing language is English. Incometax forms,voters' registration forms,officialreceipts,invitationsto bid are all in the English medium. For some of these forms,translationsinto Filipino are available. It should also be noted that the Constitution was initially drafted in English and then translatedintoFilipinoand the othermajorlanguages. In the matter of communicatingwith their constituencies, governmentagencies haveto choosebetweenEnglish,Filipino,and thelocallanguage. In a surveyconducted by the Instituteof NationalLanguagein the earlyeigbties(pineda,Bangalan,etaI.1982),the respondentsfrom 13 regions indicated that they wanted informationon such livelihood concerns as agriculture, fishing, livestock, and forestry in Filipino first, followed by English, then by the local language. For businessand education,however,the preference was forEnglishfirst,followedbyFilipino,thenbythe locallanguage. A recentsurveyconductedin the differentregionsin connectionwith identifying materialsfor use in functionalliteracyworkshowedthe following: DECS-Bureauof Non­ Formal Educationmaterials in the regions weremostlyin Filipino, except in Region VII where the materialswere in Cebuano;the materialsgatheredfrom the line agencieswere generally in English, except those from DENR,DA, and DOH, which were mostly in Filipinoand/orthe local languages(up-EducationResearchProgram1996:207). There is still some resistance to the widespreaduse of Filipino in government communications. This was evident when ExecutiveOrder 335 was issued on August25, 1988 remindingall citizensthat the Constitutionmandatedthe use of Filipino forofficiaI functionsof government. The Orderwas misinterpreted bysomenewspapercolumnistsand governmentofficialsto meanthe exclusiveuseof Filipinofor governmentcommunications. In pique,the provincialand city governmentofCebustartedto siug the national anthemin Cebuanoandtotransact officialbusinessin Cebuano.

2.5. Language ofthe Professiens'

Currently, although the national language(Wikang Pambansa) was declared an officiallanguage(hence,alanguageofthelaw)bytheyearI946asaresultofal941law, English continuesto be the dominant languageof the courts. Before World War II, the language of law and the courts was split between Spanish and English. During the Japanese Period, when Tagalog was the official and national language, one judge formulateda decision in the local language. Subsequently, there have been occasions during National Language Month (in August of each year) when judges rendered their decisions in TagalogIPilipinolFilipino. It was more symbolic,however, then real, since deliberations in courts of law and decisions are given in English, although translator servicesfor Filipino and the local vernacularsare providedif necessaryin depositionsand testimonies. All instructionin Law Schoolsis in English,and although the Komisyonsa WikangFilipinoatpresenttranslatesalllawsintoFilipino,thedeliberations,proceedings, and decisionsare still in English. English and FilipinolPilipinoare consideredofficial languagesunderthe 1987Constitution.

33 GONZALEZ, BERNARDO,BAUTISTA& PASCASIO

The languageof law in the Philippines,therefore,is predominantlyEnglish. Law studentsstudy law in Englishandtakethebar examinationsin English. Oneinterpretation ofthe high failure ratein bar examinations(around 80"10) is that a numberoffuturelawyers caunothandleEnglish at an advancedlevel. Actual hearings in courts at all levels - local or regional trial courts,Court of Appeals., Supreme Court - are primarily conducted in English. In the lower courts, testimonyandaffidavitscan be givenin Filipinoor in the local language(withtranslation provided)or in a code-switching variety,but the promulgationsare still in English. There is a disparityin the languagepreferenceoflawyers,judges, and court officials,on the one hand, and litigants, on the other, as shownin the study of Suba (1978)of respondentsin Nueva Ecija. The professionallegal practitionersprefer English as the languageof the court,whileplaintiffs,defendants,andwitnessespreferthe local language. One person stands out in his initiativesto developa local languagefor use in the domain of law. cesar Peralejohastranslatedthe Civil Code (1974), the RevisedPenal Code(l993a), the RevisedFamilyCode(1993b),and the Local GovernmentCodeof 1991 (1994) into Filipino. He has likewisetranslated Court Criminal Rules and Procedures (undated)and Rulesof CourtEvidence(undated),but these have notbeenpublished.Some judgesmakea gestureduringLinggong Wika to pen decisionsin Filipino. As noted earlier, the fundamentallaw of the land, the Constitution,wasdrafted initially in English and subsequently translatedinto Filipino and other major languages. Deliberations on the provisions of the Constitution by the 50-memberConstitntional Commissionwere for the most part conductedin English. The Constitntionis silent on whetherthe English text or theFilipinotextshouldprevailin caseof doubt. The disparity between the language of law, English, and the language of the citizenry, the local vernacular or Filipino,points to the need to bridge the gap between them. The proposalgivenfor the shorttermis to providetranslatorsin the courtsto ensure that ordinarycitizens enjoytheir Constitutionalrightto protectionunderthe law. For the longterm, the proposalis to developthe registerof law in Filipinosothat eventuallyallthe laws can be translated into Filipino, students can learn the law in Filipino, and legal professionalscan practice the professionin Filipino. This will be a massiveundertaking becauseit will mean a lot of effortand, on top of that, a change of heart. The difficultyin effecting a change of heart among practitionersis indicated in the study of De la Pena (1984), who found that verbal formulaein English for strncturing court procedureshave beentranslatedinto Filipinobutarenotwidelynsedat present. In medicine,althoughdoctor-patient consultationcan be in Filipinoor in English (dependingon the socialclass of the interlocutors,their levels of education,the type of hospitalwhetherpublicor private,middleor high socio-economic status),prescriptionsand diagnosiswhen dealing with scientificand medicalmatters arein English. Medicalbooks are in English and the languageof medicaleducation and examinationscontinuesto be English. In terms of development of special varieties of language, the least developed wouldbe medicineinsofarasFilipinois concerned. In the domain of religion,there is intellectualizationby means of sermonsand homilies and devotional writing, but the most frequentlyusedlanguageis still English, now with a mixture of the local vernacular. The picture is mixed with regard to the languageof worship and the liturgyinsofaras Filipino is concerned;in non-Tagalog areas, the more common language is the localvernacular although in someparts of the North, 34 POLICYMAKINGINLANGUAGE

Filipinomorethanthevemacularismorewidelyused. A sociological investigation intothe language(s) ofthe professionswouldneedin­ depth and extensiveinvestigation by disciplines such as sociology and economics before policycanbedetermined or inferred.

2.6. Langnage(s) of Trade and ForeignRelations

In multinational companiesand otherbig corporations like PLDT,Meralco,San Miguel,Citibank,BPI,and Shell,Englishis predominantly usedat the managementlevel, altbougbcode-switching in Englishand Filipinoisusedamongpeersin informalsituations and topics. Amongthe rank and file,Filipinoor the localvernacularis used. Whena superiorgivesinstructions/orders to the rankandfile,Filipinoor a formof code-switching is used. For mostwrittencommunication, Englishis used. Whensettlinglabordisputes suchas strikes,etc.,Filipinoor the localvernacular is usedduringthe negotiationprocess.

2.7. Language of Informatics and Information TechnologyS

The universallanguageof information technology is English(House1997). His the dominantlanguageforusingthe IT infrastructure suchas the Internetand,accordingto a surveyofattendeesatthe 1997conference oftheAssociation of ComputingMachineryon "The Next 50 Years of Computing," it will betbe linguafranca of the Internet50 years fromnow(87%yes). In general,Englishistbelanguageoftbeoperating system(suehas Windows98),tbe interfacebetweentheuserandthe machine. Englishis alsothe basisfor mostprogramming languages. Englishis the language fortbe analysisand specification of systemsandtbelanguagefortechnkalcommunicationanddocurnentation. Thereare specialkeyboards forsuchlanguages as Chinese,Japanese,German,and French. Programming languages and operatingsystemshave versions in many other languages,particularlysomeEuropeanlanguages like Frencb and Spanish. Frenchand Spanish, amongother languages,have glossaries of words for InformationTechnology. There are specialized Internet-based newsgroups who converse in their respective languages;it should be noted, though, that the Filipinonewsgroupstill uses English predominantly. Languagescan be learnedthroughthe Internet,fur example,Swahiliand Esperanto,butthe learnersare few. For reasonsof practicalityand proficiency, Englishis the languageof IT in the Philippines. However, nationalismdictatesthat Filipinoshouldgraduallybe adoptedfor someusein IT. UPLB'sInstituteof Computer Science has a five-yearplanfurthe useof Filipinoin IT. It has begunworkon machinetranslationfromEnglishto Filipinoand has started preparingtechnicalmanualsin Filipino. For its part, at De La Salle University, studentsof the Collegeof ComputerStudiesand the FilipinoDepartmenthave worked togetbertoproduceaspellcheckerandthesaurusforFilipino. In ComputerScienceclasses,themediumofinstructionisEnglishbutteachersand students sometimes code-switch. Theses are written.in English, but the defense is occasionally conducted in the code-switched variety.

35 GONZALEZ.BERNARDO,BAUTISTA& PASCASIO

The use of Filipinoin IT in the Philippinesis very minimaland it canbe said, objectively, that computerliteracyfortheFilipinomeansliteracyin English.

3. CONCLUSIONS

Fromthe rapidsurveybased on existingliteratureand thefamiliarityof thewriters withthelocalsituationin thePhilippines,thefollowinginsightsmaybe gleaned: Consciouspolicy formulations are made by the Philippinegovernmentfor the . nationallangnage, the language of education, the language of the mass media and multimedia,but it is actual practiceand use which dictates the reality,which may be considered'tacit' or 'unspoken'policyarisingfrom customand usage(defacto ratherthan de jure). The de facto realityis that as a resultof the development of Filipinofrom 1937to the present, it has been acceptedas the basis and elaborationof the nationallanguage, exceptin Cebu,wherepoliticalmaneuvering has causedthe languagetobedeemphasized, (Cebuanossing the nationalanthemin Cebuanoand do not use Filipinoas a mediumof instrnctionforsocial studiesand the socialsciencesbut continueto useEnglish,although theycontinueto teach Filipinoas a subject.) De facto, radio programming nationwideis almost85% in Filipino,with5%in thelocalvernacularsandonlyabout10%in English;on TV, there is now a proportionof 60:40 Filipino-Englishprogramming, the formermostly throughliveshows. The printmediumisstillpredominantlyinEnglish,althoughthereis a growingbody of popular reading materialsin Filipino. Althoughthe Departmentof Education,Cultureand Sportshas chosena bilingualeducationscheme(1974 and 1987), code-switching,especiallyin the lowergrades,is quiteconunon,withthe localvernacular usedas an 'auxiliary' mediumofinstructionintransitiouto Filipino. Filipinois becoming moreand morewidespreadin the classroom, to the pointthat in someplaces,evenclasses in Englishandthe EnglishclassitselfuseFilipinoas a metalanguage. Less subjectto formulation and legislation,and followingthe 'tacit' policyfrom custom,is thelanguageof the massmediaand multimedia.The languageof government, dependingon the context,is eitherFilipinoor English, thelatterfor formalmeetingsand internationalnegotiations. In education,at the tertiarylevel, it is still mostlyEnglish,with a few subjects(mostlyin the socialsciences)taught in Filipino. In the realm of foreign relations,internationaltrade,andat the highestechelonsofbusiness,Englishcontinuesto dominate. Thns, tacit policymustbe lookedat empiricallyand roomfor multi-factorial dimensionsmust be made dependingon the domain, the formalityor informalityof the situation, the competenceof the interlocutors, the subject of discourse, and the social relationsbetweenthe interlocutors. In fieldssuchas Informatics and InformationTechnology, somuchof the software is for practicalpurposesentirelyinEnglish. Hence,the codeusedis assumedtobe English in programmingoperatingsystemsusing machinelanguageand in writing softwarefor specificpnrposes. Thus, in viewingthe impactofthe socialscienceson makingpolicy,specifically in the domainof language,onemustlookat the realityexplicitlyand expectmanyvariables beyondsimplisticformulations, on itemssuchas nationallanguagechoice,thelanguagesof education,the professions, the mass media,government,trade and foreignrelations,and informatics. To obtain the highlynuanceddescriptionsand prescriptions for changethat POLICYMAKINGINLANGUAGE

one might want to selectin order to ameliorateprevailingconditions,one must relyon the socialdisciplinesof psychology(especiallyin languageeducation),sociology(in language use),politics(for socialcohesion),and economics(formotivationand attitudes).

REFERENCES

DE LA PENA,B. 1984. Towardsthe standardizationofverbalconventionsin Pilipinofor trial court proceedings. Unpublisheddoctoral dissertation, University of the Philippines,QuezonCity. ENCANTO,GEORGINAR. 1997. Englishin a linguisticallydiverseenvironment. The ACELT Journal Ll. April. GONZALEZ, A. 19%. Incongruitybetweenthelanguageof law and the languageofcourt proceedings:ThePhilippineexperience. Languageand Communication16.3.229­ 234. Pergamon. HOUSE,CHARLESII. May 1997. ACM97: An eventto remember(President'sLetter). Communications ofthe ACM40.5.31-34. 1974. Ang kodigosibil ng Pilipinas. Quezon City: Mars Publishing (2nded.,1993). __. 1993a. Aug binagong kodigopenal ng Pilipinas. Quezon City: Mars PublishingHouse. __. 1993b. Aug binagongkodigo ng pamilyaPilipinas, Quezon City: Mars PublishingHouse. __. 1994. Augkodigo ng pamahalaanglokalng Pilipinas. QuezonCity: Mars PublishingHouse. __. (Undated). Angpamamaraanngpaglilitissakrimen. (Manuscript). __. (Undated). Aug mgaalituntuninsakatibayan. (Manuscript). PINEDA, PONClANO B.P., NORA G. BANGALAN, et al, 1982. Language and socioeconomic developmentin the Philippinecountryside. Paper presentedat the LinguisticSocietyofthe PhilippinesMonthlyLectureSeries. (Manuscript). SUBA,S.B. 1978. Ang mga saloobinng tatlongpangkat tungo sa paggamit ng WiKang Pilipino sa hnknman. UnpublishedMA (Filipino) thesis, Araullo Lyceum, Cabanatuan,NuevaEcija. UP-ERPResearchTeam. 19%. Studieson functionaleducationand literacy: A handbook and user's guide. Education Research Program, Center for Integrative and DevelopmentStudies,Universityof the Philippinesand Departmentof Education, Cultureand SportsBureauof Non-Formal Education.

37 PBn..lPPINE JOURNALOF LINGUISTICS Volume31, Number 2 December 2000

LANGUAGE RELATED RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL REFORM

Emma S. Castillo PresidentialCommission onEducationalReform &PhilippineNormalUniversity

1. INTRODUCTION

Mandateson whichlanguageto useas mediumof instructionbegan to be covered by executiveorders from relevantauthoritiesonlyfrom the independenceperiodonwards. During the earlier periods(fromthe Hispanicto pre World War Il era), languagepolicies were decisionssimplyhandeddownbythe authorities. It will be recalledthat the medium of instruction issue has constantlybeen a subjectof controversy, whichfortunatelymighthavebeenthe main reasonwhyresearch on it has been triggered. In earlier days, particularlyduring Hispanictimes, the authorities decided a languagepolicy. No consultationwas ever held. The publicsimplyreceivedit; there was not much disagreement, if any existedat all. For instance,during the Spanish regime, the Filipinosin generaldid not learn the coloniallanguage(Spanish)as theywere not encouragedto do so. Onlythe few rich ones,the ilustrados,so to speak,wereallowed access to (learn) the language. Many historical books say that the invading Spaniards thought that hiding their languagefrom the invaded Filipinos wasan effective conquest strategy. It oughtto be saidthoughthat today,thePhilippinessharesfriendlyrelationswith Spain. The Americanscameand allowedthe Filipinosto learntheir languagein addition to things larger and more significant,i.e, their educationalsystemand their democratic ideology,amongothers. The famousMonroeEducationalSurveywas conductedin 1925, well within the Americanregime. That surveycould be said to be the start of formal educationalsurveysin the Philippines. A notableresult of this surveywas that English was 'pushed.' It becamethe main mediumof instmctionin the schools,despitethe clamor for vemacu1arization whichevenan Americancolonialrnlerclaimedshouldbefostered. The Americans'occupationof the countrywasbrieflydisturbedbythe onslaughtof World War II, whenthe Japanesereignedsupremeovermost of Asia Theylaunchedtheir co-prosperitysphereprogram,of which an aim was to eliminateEnglish andto introduce the Japaneselanguageto the Filipinos. Duringthis period,Tagalogreceivedmuch support from the rnling Japaneseandwasmadethe mainmediumofinstrnctionin the schools.

39 CASTILLO

The Americanscameagain and liberated the countryfromthe Japanese. English then continuedits propagationon Philippinesoil. Characteristically, whatwas followed in the schoolswasan all-Englishcurriculum. Thatwas so until the RevisedEducational Act of 1957,whenvernacularinstructionin GradesI and II wasmade a policy. Transitionto Englishstartingonly in Grade III was anotherprovisionof that policy. Continueduseof the languageas mediumof instructiontill high schooland the tertiaryleveIwasa further policy. The nextmajorlanguagepolicychangewasthat ofthe BilingualEducationPolicy (BEP)announcedthroughDepartmentOrderNo.9, s. 1973whichwasissuedon March16, 1973. Supplemental guidelinesfor its implementation wereissuedvia DepartmentOrder No. 25,series 1974,issuedon June 19, 1974bythe DepartmentofEducation(DEC). The 1974 BEP was slightly revised and a new Bilingual Policy was announcedin DECS (Department of Education,Culture and Sports)No. 52, series 1987, issuedon May 21, 1987. Fromthattime on, therehas beenno changeof languagepolicy. The BEPprovided fortheuseof Englishand Pilipino(then spelledas Filipinoafler 1987)in specifiedsubject areas, thus: English as the medium of instructionfor Science, English language,and Mathematics, and Pilipinofor the rest (SocialStudies/Social Science,CharacterEducation, WorkEducation,HealthEducation,andPhysicalEducation).

2. BACKGROUND OF THE PCER RECOMMENDATIONS

Literature on language acquisition, bilingual educationlbilingualism/ multilingualism, vernacular education, educational language surveys and the like was considered in drawing up the recommendation. The PhilippineEducationSectorStudy (PESS),whichwasjointlysponsoredbytheWorldBank(WB)and the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB),particularlythat done by Brighamand Castillo(1999) was a very timely springboard forthelanguagerecommendations ofPCER. The 1974 and 1987 BEP had as its goal that of making the countrybilingual, competent in both Filipino and English. Furthermore, the BEP was intendedto advance learningin all aspects - that with a socio-cultural dimensionas well as that whichis academicinnature. Earlystudieson bilingualism haveshownthat "bilingualshavea more diversified struetureof intelligenceand havemoreflexibility of thought"(Lambert,1977); andtherefore,canbeexpeetedtohavegreatercognitiveflexibility. However, implementation of the BEP has been flawed by what Brigham and Castillo(1999)cited: • Instructional materialsin Filipinowereinsufficient. • Therewasa dearthof instructionalmaterials(books,resources,references,etc.)sothat eventhoughthe regionallanguageswereallowedas anxiliarymedia ofte achingand learning, this was hampered by said inadequacy. The teachers of subjectsusing Filipinoas mediumof instructionevenhad had to rely on English materials.(WB­ ADB,1998:33-34) • LanguageteachinginthePhilippineshademphasizedmechanics,structures and rules oflanguagesneglectingimportantfunctionalcreativeandcommunication skills.

40 LANGUAGE RELATED

• Many Filipino teachers were ill-preparedto teach in either of the two languagesas manifestedin languagetests givento teachersin 1985;average scoresin Filipinoand Englishwere 68 percent andbelow60 percent,respectively(WB-ADB, 1999:33-34). In some instances, their scores were even lower than those of their own pupils (EDCOM,1991). • The gap betweenBEP program planningand program implementationwasevident. Some 2.9% of the schools had not yet begun implementation (as of the target completionyearof the first cohortof studentsschooledunder the policy)and 1.5%had begunonlywithinthe last twoyears(Gonzalez, 1995). • Manyteachers, stndentsand administrators resistedthe use of Filipino;for example, the casesin CcbuCity,ZamboangaCity,ButuanCity, and iloilo Citycanbe citedin whichthe preferencewas for an all English-curriculum, Their reason: Englishis the languageof internationalcommunication, power,and upwardsocialmobility. • Therewasa lack of qualifiedpeoplewhoconlddo necessarytranslations. An indicatorof learningperformance byschoolchildrenusing EnglishandFilipino maybe seenfrom the resnltsof the NationalSecondaryAchievementTest(NSAD and the country'sperformanceat the TIMSS(ThirdInternationalMathematicsand ScienceStudy). In 1999,the averageNSATscoresin EnglishandFilipino were only 44.19%and 62.5% (DECSFact Sheet 1999)respectively whilein the TIMSSthe countryranked38th in Math and 40th in Science out of 41 countriesthat participated. These give evidenceof the lacklusterachievementin the schools. Thealarmingdropoutrate in the primarygradeshas been noted;accordingto Sec. AndrewGonzalez,one-fourthof rural childrenquit school beforereachingthethird grade(Asiaweek1999). The above indicatorsare partlyattributedto the choice of medimnof instruction. A study, EvaluatingBilingual Educationin the Philippines(1974-1985) (Gonzalezand Sibayan1988),convincinglypresentsfindingsthat there are factors other thanBEP that cause the poor quality of Philippineeducation.It revealedthat in schoolsthat had good administrators,good teachers, programs,facilitiesand teaching and learning materials, FilipinochildrenlearnedwellbothEnglishandPilipinoand the subjectstaughtin them. The use of the vernaculareitheras auxiliarymediumof instructionor as the MOl itselfis notnewanymore.As earlyas the 1930's,therealreadywereattemptsat pushingfor vernacularuse (by Gov.Gen.GeorgeButte). Kalaw(as cited in Bernabe,1987)shared the beliefthat literateswouldbe bettercitizenssincetheywouldknow more abouttheir duties and responsibilities and would get betteracquaintedwith the community'sproblems. The vernacularwasthe languagethat, to him,wouldensurethe developmentof literacy. The significantrole of the vernacnlarwasplayed up since shortlybeforeWorld War II when Jorge Bocobo, then Secretaryof the Department of Public Instruction, authorizedthe use of the regional languagesas auxiliarymedia of instmction. Whether there was wide consnltationand comprehensive preparationmade beforethe policytook effect could not be determined(Sibayan,1978). But what was knownwas that the move intended "to facilitate teaching, economizetime, and make instruction more effective" further stating that "wheneverpublic schoolteacherswonld find that their pupil or class was unableto understandtheir question,direction,or explanation,they couldusethe local dialect"(Sibayan1999:37-86). The succeedinglanguagepolicyalso authorizedthe useof the regionallanguages,this timeas medimnofinstructionin Grades 1 and 2. It read: "The

41 CASTILLO

Board adopts a policy on the use of the nativelanguage as the mediumof instruction in Grades I and 2 in all publicand private schoolsand urges the schoolauthoritiesto take practicablesteps toward its implementation"(Sibayan,1999:60-61). The findings of the IloiloVernacularexperimentswhichfavoredthe experimentalgroup(whichwas instructed in the vernacular in Grades 1 and 2) over the control group (which usedEnglish instead) gave impetus to this policy. Moreover,there seemedto be an effectivetransferof learning from the vernacular to English (Castillo,1998). While the results wereencouraging,the wideimplementationof saidpolicyleft a lot to be desired. There was sheerlackof detailed planningand strongsupportin termsoffmancing and instructionalmaterials. Theteachers were unprepareddue to lack of training in the pre/in-servicelevel. Theythus stoodin the way of successfulpolicyimplementation. As summarilydescribedby Sibayan(1999),the vernacularizationof the means of instructionin the public schools(manyprivate schools have not gone into vernacularteachingin spiteof the DepartmentOrder)is a microcosmic presentation of how most changes taking place in Philippine educationduring the past severalyears havebeen carriedout: (i)thegreathastetoexecuteachangenotwithstanding the lackof detailedplanning,preparation,and experimentationon thepart of the educators; (ii) the seeming indifferenceor lack of interestof teacher educationinstitutionsto keep in step with progress, or their seeminginabilityto provide leadershipin the important and neededchanges in education;and (iii) the utter dependenceon the classroomteacher,who often does not have the necessarytraining and who is often overworked, to put these changesinto effect. Until the implementationof the BEPin 1974,currentlybeingcontinuedby DECS, the sameproblemshinderthe successfulimplementationofthe policy,furtheraggravatedby resistance on the part of administrators,teachers, and parents alike who prefer an all­ English curriculum. As mentionedearlier, English is perceivedas a languageof power, upward,mobilityand globalcompetitiveness.

3. THE USE OFTHE VERNACULAR

The linguisticdiversityof the Philippinesshould be a causeto unify the country; however, it is itself the cause of difficultyin achieving unification Various sources of heterogeneitycharacterizethe Philippine multilingual situation, as they do other nations. These are ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity, different levels of economic development,differentsocialstructures,availabilityand quality of education,etc. Mixed with issuesof nationalism/nationhood and economicdevelopment,the languagesituationin the countryhas becomecomplex(Castillo,1998). There is an overwhelmingnumber of languages in the Philippines, about 110 (McFarland, 1994). It is close to impossible to adopt all of them as the medium of instructionin localitieswherethey are spoken. Until these communitiesare ready,i.e. at least there are qualifiedteachersand qualityinstructionalmaterials,vernacularinstruction should not be carried out. The Local Government Units (LGUs) and the Indigenous CulturalCommunities(lCCs)couldbeencouragedto carryout programsand projectssuch that necessaryresourcescouldbe developed;then vernacularizationof instruction,at least in Grade I, can be started. Vernacularizationwillsupportthe goaloffunctionalliteracyin marginalPhilippinecommunities(CastilloandRuda,1994)

42 LANGUAGE RELATED

Pushing for vernacularuse in the primarygrades,at leastin Grade l, seems the practicalthing to do. UNESCO'sstand in favorof the useof MotherTongueinstructionis worthmentioning,thus:

L Pupilsshouldbegintheir schoolingthrough the mediumof the mothertongue becausethey understand it best, and to begin with their school life in the mothertonguewill make the breakbetweenthe homeand schoolas small as possible. 2. With the use of the vernacular, what the child learned in school would be easilyappliedin the home. 3. It is necessarvthatthe child or adultwho couldreador writehis vernacularbe providedwith continued incentive to read by being supplied with reading materials. 4. Early andeffectivetraining in the mother tongueshouldserveas abridge for learning other languages such as, the national language, and the world language."(cf.Bernabe,1987:54) Ordonez (1998:38-41) bas stated "it is part of our [UNESCO's} task to protectand celebratethe diversity... betweenculturesandnothomogenizeittothepointthatwelose our individualidentities".UNESCOhasbeenknownto be a staunchsupporterof the ideaof developingfunctionalliteracythroughthe vernacular. Even while the push for vernacular instruction was too great to ignore, mill the importance of keepingEnglishcontinued its stronghold. The followingpronouncements bring this to bear: • "Since we havethat comparativeadvantagein English, byall means,let us maintain the advantage so that we can be more competitivein business and productionand perhaps in educationin this part of the globe." (A statementattnlmtedto then Pres. Fidel V. Ramosin his speechat the BagnioEducators'Congressin 1994.) • "...The use of Englishas the medium of instruction in all institutionsof learning is relevant and meetsthedemandof the times." (This was statedin HouseBill No. 9513, sponsoredby Cong.MariaClaraV. Lobregat.) • Otanes& Sibayan(I%8) reportthe following: L English is preferredas mediumof instructionfor all levels-primary, intermediate and high school. Onlya small percentagewould send their children to schools using Pilipino(nowFilipino)as medium; 2 English is associatedwithcertain personalgoals direct1yorindirect1ycontributing totheindividnal'seconomicandsocialadvancement. Pilipinoisassociatedwith citizenship and participation in national affairs but not with economic development; "... English bas becomethe Universallanguage, the lingua franca of our shrinking planet, the languageot commerce,of science, of education,of literature, of art .... " (This was saidbyHilarionHenares,in his article inl~, datedMay15, 1995.) CASTILLO

• Not only is English goodfor 'global competitiveness', it is more importantlythe tool for modernization. Besides, many are of the opinion that curricnlum alternatives shouldbe providedsuch that thosecapableareencouragedtogo beyondthe minimum. to learnvia English,a secondJforeign language,an LWC,in fact, the globallanguage. • It maybe true that onlya small percentageof the Filipinopopulationwill benefitfrom pursuingjobs abroad and therefore will need English. Integration with a foreign culturethroughEnglish may not be a realityfor mostFilipinosand their children. A muchgreatermajorityof our populationwill not needto be literate in English as they areengagedin occupationsthat do notneedEnglish,e.g.,fanners, fishermen,vendors, housewives, etc. However, on-the-spot street interviews revealed that people who belongto this categorystill want Englishfor their children. They do not want their childrento be like themin the future,and believethat Englishwill elevatetheir status in society. Besides, these farmers, fishermen and the like who are desirous of modernization think that they or their children have to be able to read high teclmological developmentsintheir respectivefieldswhichare writtenin English,e.g., English is the language of computersand of some,if not all, of the literature on how modem gadgets operate, e.g. for modern farming, modem breeding and fishing techniques.ere, Hornby(1977)states that the development and nurturingof multiple languagesis never a liabilitybntalways an asset. Thissignificantlyimpactsbilingnalisrnandjnsti:fies the adoption of a bilingual education policy. All of the studies on cognition and bilingualism (in the West) indicate that "bilingual children, relative to monolingual controls, show definite advantages on measures of cognitive flexibility, creativity or divergentthought".(Lambert,in Hornby1977:16). Gonzalez (1995) suggests that the status quo be maintained; the principle of Hippocratescanbe invoked,"primumnon nocere- first of all, do not do harm, the status quo is sometimesbetter than a change if one is not sure of the beneficial effectsof the change." He believesit is importantnot to allowmerepublicopinionor the trend of the times to sway any decision. Economic realities more than just nationalistic sentiments should governthe choice of language. Languagehas been closely linked to economic development. It will be recalledhowprogressivenations,like Japan,nowrealizethe value of learningEnglish,the acknowledgedlanguageof worldtrade. Indonesiahad also hadto chooseas its nationallanguageone whichwasnot spokennativelyby even at least 10%of its population. The choiceof BahasaMalaywasone basedon .economicrealities.' At the time,thislanguagewasusedio commerceandtradebetweenIndonesiaand Malaysia. Recognition of the economic, cognitive, and social advantage of bilingualism/multilingnalism furthersupportsthecontinuedpushfor bilioguallmultilingual education. These are advantages denied to minority students who are forced by circumstancestoabandontheir firstlanguageas theylearn a second(Arias and Casanova, 1993). Based on the assessment of the status of the BEP and various studies on the progressof its implementation;studies done by educatorson the impact of language of instructionon performanceofstudentsin certainsubjects;andstudiesdoneby psychologists on the impactof languageof instructionon cognitivelearning,followingare the PCER­ MOl (Presidential Commission on Educational Reform • Medium of Instruction)

44 LANGUAGE RELATED

Committee'srecommended reformswith specificreferenceto languageas excerptedfrom PCER(2000).

Recommendation No.7 Expanding the optionsfor medium of instruction in Grade One through the use of the Regional Lingua Franca or the vernacular While re-affirming the BEP and Ike improvement in the teaching of English and Filipino, this proposal aims to introduce the use of the regional lingua franca or vernacular as a medium of instruction in Grade One. Studies have shown that this change will make students stay in, rather than drop out, of school, learn better, quicker and more permanently, and will in fact be able to use the first language as a bridge to more effective learning in English and Filipino as well as facilitate the development of their cognitive maturity. PCER'sgeneralrecommendation, which hasparticularrelevanceto language,is likewiseinvoked. 1. Medium of Instructionfor Tertiary/Post Secondary Schools

their tertiary

2. The teacher education curriculum should be strengthened to include language proficiency and subject matter proficiency. • Language proficiency should be included in the teacher education curriculum. • Teacher education institutions (IEIs) should emphasize knowledge of subject matter. • Teachers should be proficient in teaching in English/Filipino in subjects to be taught in either language. 3. Teachers cannot take the LET unless they pass the language proficiency test. • A recommendation should be endorsed to the Professional Regulation Commission (pRe) to develop a language proficiency test. • The PRe must also develop an appropriate certification system for competency to teach a particular subject in Filipino or English. As regardsimplementingstrategy,PCERsetsthefollowingconditions. A. Englishteachingmustbe strengthened. B. The Teacher Education curriculum nmst increase current language requirementstoensurethe languageproficiencyofteachers. C. On the Professional LicensureExaminationforTeachers

45 CASTILLO

proficiency specializations. Passingsaid examinationwouldbe a requisitebefore takingthe LEI:

CHED and DECS should coordinatewith the nUJ"".UIIW L·,egu"""u"

testingand certificationproposals.

4. CONCLUSION Languagehas continuedto be a controversialissuein educationin the country It seems that despite many efforts to improvelanguage teaching and learning in the country, the quality of (English) language use within and outside the school enviromnentbasremainedpoor and in fact, as manyobserve,has declined. There is hope that perhaps with the new thrust, that of using native languageinstruction in a bilingualeducationcontext,the situationwill improve.

REFERENCES

ARIAS,BEATRICEand URSULACASANOVA. 1993. Bilingual Education:Politics, Practiceand Research:Ninety-secondYearbookofthe NationalSocietyfor the Study of Education.Part II. Chicago,Illinois:TheUniversityofChicagoPress. BERNABE, EMMA F. 1987. Language Policy Formulation, Programming, ImplementationandEvaluation. Manila:LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. BRIGHAM,SUSANand EMMACASTILLO.1999. LanguagePolicyfor Educationin the Philippines: TechnicalBackgroundPaperNO.6 of PESS 1999. MandaluyongCity: AsianDevelopmentBank CASTILLO, EMMA S. 1998. (ed.) Applied Linguistics: Focus on Language Learning/Teaching.Manila:LinguisticSocietyofthePhilippines. CASTILLO, EMMAand ROBERTORUDA.1994. LearningFrom Life. Vol. II. Quezon City:Universityofthe PhilippinesPress. DECS. 1999. DECSFact Sheet. Pasig City:DepartmentofEducation,Cultureand Sports. EDCOM. 1991. Making Education Work. Manila: Congressional Commission on Education. GONZALEZ, ANDREW.1995. UsingTwoor Three Languagesin PhilippineClassrooms: Implications for Policies, Strategies and Practices. Paper presented at the InternationalSenrinaron Bilingualism.June5 - 10,1995. BruneiDarussalam __ and BONIFACIO P. SIBAYAN. 1988. Evaluating Bilingualism in me Philippines. Manila:LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. HORNBY, PETER 1977. Bilingualism: Psychological, Social and Educational Implications. NewYork:AcadenricPress. LAMBERT,WALLACE. 1977. The effeetsofBilingualismon the Individual: Cognitive and SocioculturalCompetence.In Hornby.

46 LANGUAGE RELATED

McFARLAND,CURTIS.1994. HowMany PhilippineLanguagesAre There? Philippine Journalof Linguistics. Manila:LinguisticSocietyof the Philippines. ORDONEz, VICTOR. 1998. Gearing Up for the Global Future. The Asian Manager. March- April 1998,39 ·41. OTANES. FE and BONIFACIOP. SmAYAN. 1968. LanguagePolicy Surveyof the Philippines. Manila: PhilippineNormalCollegeLanguageStudyCenter. PCER. 2000. Philippine Agendafor Educational Reform: The PeER Report. Manila: PresidentialCommissiononEducationalReform. ROBLES, RAISSA and YOLANDCHUNG. Mother-tongueTied: Asia's Schools Get CaughtUp on Language.Asiaweek.July30, 1999. smA YAN, BONIFACIOP. 1978. Bilingual Education in the Philippines:Strategyand Structure. In AJatis (ed.) International Dimensions of Bilingual Education: GeorgetownUniversityRound Table on Languages and Linguistics. Washington, D.C.: GeorgetownUniversityPress. ____. 1999.The ImplementationofLanguagePolicy(a 1967paper) In The Intellectualizationof Filipino and Other Essays on Educationand Sociolinguistics. Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthe Philippines. WORLDBANK and ASIANDEVELOPMENT BANK. 1999. PhilippineEducationfor the 21st Century: The 1998 Philippines Education Sector Study (PESS). MandaluyongCity:AsianDevelopmentBank. PHILIPPINEJOURNALOF LINGUISTICS Volume31, Number2 December 2000

LOCALPARTICIPAnON AS A BASISFOR SUSTAINABLELITERACYAMONGTHE CULTURALCOMMUNITIES

CatherineM.B. Young Summer Institute ofLinguistics, Philippines

1. LITERACY IN THE COMMUNITY

What is meant by "literacy" in any community is neither simple nor easilydefined. Cultures differ from one another in their uses and purposes for literacy. Literacy is a complex concept that does not fit within a dictionary definition. In fact. the term "literacy" entered our dictionaries as recently as 1924 (Barton 1994)1.Its meaning is constantly being extended and reshaped to fit the needs and requirements of a rapidly changing society. Fordham, Holland and Millican (1995) describe literacy as a variable concept, not capable of precise definition. In fact today, people tend to talk about many Iiteracies rather thanone literacy (Bhola 1994). There is talk of cultural literacy, workplace literacy, environmental literacy, computer literacy, economic literacy, and many others. The multiple literacies view contributes to the notion that we can think ofliteracy in two different ways: (a) in terms of its role in social development. (b) in terms of certain measurable skills. In practice, these two perspectives on the literacy process are not separable. In this paper, I will examine approaches to the structure of the literacy curriculum and the applicability of particular approaches in developing a literacy curriculum for adults in rural Philippine communities, particularly those where the majority population are from Indigenous Peoples. In discussions of the meaning of literacy, particularly in relation to the developing worldltwo-thirds world, descriptions developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)are commonly used. 1.1 Basic Literacy

UNESCO, in the 1950's, saw literacy as measurable and quotable in statistical UNESCO (1988) suggests someone is basically literate who "can, with understanding, both read and write a short statement on his everyday life".

49 YOUNG

However, this is widely seen to bea limited state. Venezky (1990) describes basic literacy as a minimal level, not one sufficiently high for a person to function successfully in asocial setting.

1.2. Functional Literacy

Barton (1994) treats the notion of basic literacy as the process of initial learning of reading and writing required by adults who have never been to school. Functional literacy is the term used for the level of reading and writing that adults/ are thought to need in their society. UNESCO (1988) has a further definition, a resolution of the General Conference 1978, which implies a "progression" from the basic or minimum literacy level described above. A functionally literate person is one

This definition, although undoubtedly raising many questions, recognizes that cultures differ and may even change in the degree and type of literacy that is expected. In relation to the above definition, functional literacy can be seen as an outcome rather than an approach. In practical terms, functional literacy has often meant the teaching of a specific set of skills which are assumed to have general application across the speakers of one language, or even the citizens of one nation. 1 wish to challenge this notion and suggest that, in order for literacy to fu1fi1 a functional role within a community, the earliest planning stages must reflect the desires and needs of community members. In one sense, all literacy is functional (Bhola 1994) as it comes to fulfil a "function" in the lives of the participants. However, the phrase "functional literacy" has acquired a special meaning, related particularly towards literacy programs for adults which relate the content of the program to the daily life of the participant. In June 1998,the Bureau of Non-Formal Education of the Philippines Department of Education, Culture and Sports developed the following definition of functional literacy. Functional literacy is a range of skills andcompetencies-cognitive, affectiveandbehavioural-whichenables individuals to:

• live and work as human persons • develop their potential • make critical and infonned decisions

in order to improve the quality of their life andthat of society.

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(SeeAppendixOneforthe majorindicatorsrelatedtothis definition.) It will be in the contextof this Philippinedefinitionof functionalliteracythat I wiII examine the application of these principles to the Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines.

1.3. LiteracyandSchooling

Internationally, most people acqnire the skills of reading, writing andnumeracy within some form of structurededucational environmentsuch as a school or within a literacy program. Street (1994) contends that formal education systems are the most powerfulworldsof literacyin our societies.The powerheldby the formalsystemstends to devalue the other forms of language use and written expression. In evaluating and developingappropriateapproachesto literacyeducationfor those adultswho hithertohave not responded to the formal system, it may be that we need to redefine or renegotiate Iiteracies, rather than adapt existing norms, and legitimize. or re-legitimare,forms of literacy that have been invalidated by formal schooling systems. In discussing the indigenouslearningsystemsofa NorthernPhilippinemountaincommunity,Alangni(1997) says,

Within many of the cultural communitiesof the Philippines,the conventional educationsystemhas not met the needsof thosewho are nowadults.An approachto adult literacy for indigenouspeoplesmust challengethe conventionalassmnptionsoftraditional educationalprogramsand adaptthem to meetthe rapidlychangingneedsofboth Philippine societyand the changingneedsof their culturalcommunity. TheExecutiveSlIIIlIIIll.I)' of the PhilippinesEducationfor All2000reportsaid,

The summarycontinuesto saythat thosewhocontinueto be "at risk" in terms of accessto and participationin the primaryeducationlevel are those in the hard to reach areas and marginalizedcommunities, suchas the indigenouspeoplegroups.

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1.4 A Framework forStudy

Fordham, Holland and Millican (1995) describe the early functional literacy programs, particuIarly those promotedby UNESCOthrough the Experimental World LiteracyProgram (EWLP)as taking a simplisticapproach. UNESCO,critiquingits own activitiesrelatedto the EWLP,pointstoimportantelementsthat werelacking.Forexample, in the 1960'sa functionalliteracyprogrammightbe addedas a componentof an economic development project and literacy is seento be closelytied to employment.However, it is claimedthat suchearlyapproachesfailedto askseveralcrucialquestions. • Whatis the purposeof literacy? • Whenshouldliteracybe introduced? • Howshouldliteracybe plannedandtaught? • Whatlanguageshouldbe used? This is the frameworkthat I wish to use to study language developmentin indigenous communities.

2. WHATIS THE PURPOSE OFLITERACY?

Barton (1994) emphasizes that the functions of literacy within a particular communityare not always obvious.If purposesor functious are taken fur granted and generalizations made across internationalor even nationalsituations,then the fucnsof the programmaynot meet the needsof thosefor whomit is intended.Thus, it is importantto respondto people's stated needs.However,it is vital to go beyondthe knownand current functionsofliteracyin the communityandon to the possibilitiesthat literacycanotIer. The areaof planningand identificationof aimsneedsto be withinan environmentof informed choice.Literacyshouldbe seen in termsof eventsandpractices(Barton 1994)rather than simplya set of skills. A simple purposestatementcould be that, beginuingfrom initial, basicliteracy,the learner will developa desire to maintainreading and writingskillsand that these will provide the basis for continuingeducation,benefiting the individual,the communityinwhichhe lives,and his nation.

2.1 The SocialMeaning ofLiteracy

Barton(1994)remindsus that understandingliteracyinvolvesunderstandinghow literacyuse is embeddedin the cultureand socialstructnre.It reqniresan examinationand anaIysisofthelanguageuseofacommunityandhowpeopleuseliteracyintheirdailylives. Bhola (1994) cites a hierarchy of human needs developed by Maslow, an American psychologist, as a framework for planoing priorities for literacy within a community, suggestingthat needs-motivations can be aligned with the hierarchy of the pyramid. Physiological,emotional,community,psychological,andspirituaIneedsarealiaspectsof the hnman condition.Communityplanoingof literacyanddevelopmentprogramsshould revealthe mostpressingfelt needsandpromotewaysoffulfillingthese. Bhola(1994)says, "Sincetheseneedsare alreadyfelt acutely,there is alreadymotivationto fulfiltheseneeds. And this is where the needs-motivations of learners connect with the idea of functional literacy.Functional literacy seeks to use the already felt needs ..., the existing store of motivations."

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• Livelihood-economic realm • Socio-culturalrealm • Political-civicrealm Fordham, Holland and Millican(1995)have produceda simple web suggesting differentareas of life with which literacyteachingmight be integrated.In any functional literacyprogram,themesto be exploredand relatedskills and knowledgemay comefrom anyof theserealms. 2.2 Literacy and SocialControl literacy also relates to the means of delivery of education and the power relationshipsand structureswithinanynationor community.There are implicationsin the developmentof curriculummaterialsand the choicesthat are made in the processof their designand use. Mukhopadhyay (1998)describesliteracyas "the processof empoweringthe individual adult to exercise control over one's own life and environment." Shecites increasedawarenessand conscientization astheonlymeansof ensnringhumanrights. It seemsthat peopleneed to be ableto definewhat will empowerand equipthem within their own environmentand alsowithina nationaland global context.Thisimplies the development of a varietyof skills' 1. identifyingsourcesofrelevantknowledge accessingknowledge processingandevaluating(qualityandrelevance)knowledge 4. applyingknowledge 5. discriminatingknowledgeandits application Literacy will involve the adult as a decision maker not only in the planning process,but also in their relationshipto knowledge. Learningexperiencesshouldpromote, from the beginning, the conceptof lifelonglearningand the potentialfor adaptationand developmentof new skillsin the changingworld.Literacypresentedmerelyas knowledge and skills within a specific frameworkdoes not enable or build the capacity of the participant to further their own learning. Critical thinking skills and problem solving approachesare essentialaspectsofboththe planningand managementprocessesaswellas curriculumdeliverystrategies."Gatekeeping" is a term appliedto approacheswhichbind processesoflearuing and limit access.True learuingopportunitieswill necessarilyhavea contrasting approach. "It is always of the greatest moral, educational and political importance to keep open the question:what are the consequences,and for whom, of organising learning and knowledgein this way as opposed to other ways?" (Gee & Lankshear1997) Partnership and collaboration are strategies toward democranzation of the planningprocessbut do not antomatically ensureengagementwith all learningapproaches necessarytoempowercommunitiesinrelationshiptothe widersociety.Duringtheplanning process, it may be possibleto developa strategyfor community membersto reflecton

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literacy events and activities that remain complexor closed to them and, thus, adapt curriculumdesignfor thelearningprocessto includethese.

3. WHENSHOULD LITERACY BEINTRODUCED!

The introductionand development of literacywithina communityis a sensitive issue, particularlywhen many indigenouspeoplegroupsmaintaina strong oral tradition. Nwangwu (1999), a Nigerian adult education lecturer and non-formal education coordinator,tacklesthe issuesof motivationand information. Sheretlectsonthe seeming presumptionthat exists when a literacyworker attemptsto communicate the necessityof literacyto an adult whohas, to that point,perhapsnotevenconsideredliteracyas relevant for their lifestyle.She discussesconceptsrelated to the "marketing"of literacy,ensuring that it is presentedin a manner appropriateto the community. A holistic approach to communityneedswill include readingand writing skills,buttheyneednotbetheinitial focns.

Literacy classesbegun before the communityis ready to respondmay be self-defeating. Literacydemand,as muchas literacydelivery,mustbe peopledriven.If the intentionof a literacy program is the integration of literacy and development, the process should be integrated with, rather than begin with, literacyskillsand then expectthe acqnisitionof thoseskillsto leadto changewithinthecommunity.Fordham,HollandandMillican(1995) emphasize that literacyprogramsshouldnot be implemented until learners and planners have discussedneeds and any proposedproject in detailand reached agreement about communityneeds and the ways in which these needsmight be addressed.(Participatory Rural Appraisal,an approach to planning in partnershipwith communitymembers, is discussedin 4.2.1.) Barton (1994) emphasizesthat it is important to take account of people's own perceptionsat everystageof a literacyprogram- fromthe initialdiscussionsofstrategyto the planningof lessonsthroughto the evaluationand assessmentstages.A literacyprogram beginningwbenthe communityisreadyto respondandparticipateinboththe planningand executionhas a greaterchanceof being effective.Fordham,Hollandand Millican(1995) emphasize that it is the process of agreement and planning that is important. The trainer/facilitatormay come with ideas and suggestions, possiblyto extend the learner's knowledgeand ideas of possibilities, and may havefinancialor organizationalconstraints on what can be implementedwithina community.However, the overridingprinciplemust be that the facilitatormustnot make"misguidedassumptions" aboutaimsappropriateto an indigenouspeoplegroup.Heshouldofferinformedchoice. Barton(1994) says,"Peopledecideto becomeliterate,activelylearn and decideto make changes in their lives." It maybe that changeintroducedin some other aspect of community life has emphasizedthe needfor greater literacy skills among community members.Alternatively, a communityneed may motivatesocietymembersto participatein the planningand executionofliteracyactivitiesamongthepeoplegroup.In thePhilippines, boththeuational and regionalelectoralprocessandlegalreqnirementsthathave involved

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recording land rights and maintaining contracts on ancestral land have been a spur toward adults among the indigenous peoples becoming involved in literacy programs.

4. HOW SHOULD LITERACYBE PLANNED AND TAUGHT?

When functional literacy, truly related to the needs of the community, is a goal, then it is necessary that curriculum planning and program management be carefully focussed on the particular individuals or communities who desire to be literate and apply their skills and knowledge in their daily lives. Literacy can often successfully be integrated into developmental approaches which address felt needs, as was seen in the web described by Fordham, Holland and Millican (1995).

4.1. Approaches to Teaching and Curriculum Planning

Baker (1996) suggests five different educational approaches to literacy. 1. Skills - assumption of literacy as a technical skin, "neutral in its aims and universal across languages." 2. Whole Language ~ emphasizes purposeful, natural reading and writing for meaningful communication and individual pleasure. 3. Construction of Meaning - reading and writing is a process of construction and reconstruction of meaning, related closely to the personal experiences, history and social context of the learner. 4. Socio-cultural Literacy -links with the socialization of the learner into the meanings, values, and beliefs of the language culture. 5. Critical Literacy - literacy as a liberator and empowerer in order to raise the conscionsness of the individual learner. These approaches may overlap and potentially can be combined. For example, there are close links between a whole language approach and one which deals with the construction and reconstruction of meaning. An approach to literacy organized within the socio-eultural paradigm may link closely with a critical perspective. Each approach, or combination of approaches, impacts students in different ways. These approaches originate in contrasting expectations of the uses of literacy, reflecting varying political, philosophical, and psychological views ofhuman beings. In the report of the UNESCO International Commission on Education fur the Twenty-First Century (1994), education is seen as an element of personal and social development Delors writes about four "pillars" upon which lifelong learning can be built, These are: learning to learn, so as to benefit from the

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memory, reasoning, aesthetic sense, physical

of other people and an of pluralism, mutual

Such a holistic approach to education encourages the learner to view education as a process in which he is an active participant rather than a passive subject. Those motivated in this way will integrate learning into their lives and, thus, it will become a sustained element of community life. This is the structure from which the Philippine Bureau of Non­ Formal Education have developed their definition and indicators of functional literacy. De Guzman (1998) sees the "four pillars" as described above relating to various aspects of the curriculum design process for functional literacy among groups in the Philippines and it seems particularly appropriate for the indigenous peoples. She says,

Thus, a functional literacy program here in the Philippines, particularly those for the indigenous peoples, should be responsive to the learner's needs and goals, integrate the four aspects of curriculum planning described above, and help empower the learners to address issues of daily life.

4.2. Who Should Be The Planners?

For the Palawano, a language group of the southwest Philippines, for example, the need to be active participants in the planning of approaches to literacy may be crucial. Brown (19%), a consultant on rural development issues for CARElUSA says

The Education for All 2000 report emphasizes the need for community learning centers. However, these should be truly part of the community and not simply exist within the community.

4Pa1a~wanandPa1awanoarealtematenames.

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4.2.1. Rural Appraisal

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach to community organization for the planning of development Historically, PRA has grown from the awareness that there is a change necessary in the approach of development workers and community workers. It is a practical methodology, building on the theoretical framework of Paulo Freire aiming to promote active dialogue and empowerment of participants (Archer and Cottingham 1996). The issue of control is critical. Local involvement in project management allows community self-determination and the development of self-help capability. The intention of Participatory Rural Appraisal is to empower the community and limit outsider intervention, giving a greater opportunity for community ownership to lead to a sustained community development program Through a variety of approaches PRA attempts an inclusive, democratic process which aims to give a voice to those who are illiterate. Thus, decisions made reflect the true needs of a community and may encourage an honest and open exchange of ideas within a non-threatening enviromnent. Mallieu (1999) believes that utilizing relevant PRA techniques can be a strategy to assemble and appraise ideas and information, and then analyze problems to be tackled and possible solutions in the design and planning of the approach to a literacy program (or other community development initiative) in the community. Relating his experience in India, he says that it is

I would view the planning and development of literacy programs for Philippine rural communities in the same way. For literacy to be truly functional within a community, local people need to take ownership of the program and the curriculum content, ensuring its relevance to the needs of the community for whom the program is intended and, indeed, that people want the opportunity to improve or develop their literacy skills. Gender issues need to be carefully considered in the use of this planning process. Fordham, Holland and Millican (1995) suggest that the cultural appropriateness of combined male/female groupings in the planning process andother questions needto be considered. The relative position of older and younger people in the learning process must also be considered, particularly in societies which are hierarchical in nature or where special privilege is due to older people.

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Robinson (1999) suggests that participatory planning of this type "challenges the notion that someone somewhere (an expert, an institution) has answers to development questions." He likens the process of language and adult literacy program design to threads ofa tapestry, contributing to a complex design which local people understand better than outsiders.

4.3. Implications for Curriculum Design and Program Management

4.3.1. Materials Development

The Philippine Constitution (Republic Act 7610) contains provision for the development of educational materials specifically designed for the children from the indigenous cultural communities, culture-specific and relevant to their needs and situations. Where practical, the language of the cultural community should be used as the medium of instruction. This provision needs to be extended to the development of adult literacy materials and, in fact, the Bureau of Non­ Formal Education is addressing this issue. Rosario de Guzman says,

Mukhodpadhyay (1998) reminds us that print is not the only medium nor the most effective. Oral expression and written communication are powerful tools for functioning within a group. Effective participation, communication, and influencing is affected by abilities to document, express, and interpret Materials that are produced must reflect this requirement and allow the participant to adopt a critical stance to knowledge and the opportunity to interact with the materials and other community members. This may imply the use of technologies within some societies, such as audio or video tape, computer technology or Internet and other computer applications. It is vital that appropriate sources of delivery of basic education are developed in order to build capacity for an increasingly technological society.

4.3.2 Teaching Style

Culturallearning styles need to be observed when planning the method of curriculum delivery and program management. Again, using the Palawano as an example, Brown (1996) says, "Each hamlet had a territory where its residents procured wild foods, medicines, building materials and other goods.Here, too they farmed and protected spirit habitats and children played and learned from their parents and other elders how to be successful Pala'wan."

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Alangui(1997)observedthe learningsystemsofa NorthernPhilippine mountaincommunity. Heobservedthe following: 1. leamingisunstructuredandachievedinaninfonnalmanner

trialanderror deliberation 3 methodsare democraticandparticipatory 4. viewsaresubjectto scrutiny andquestioning

It wouldseemimportantthattheteachingstyleadoptedforliteracyclasses shouldmirror,as far as possible,thosemostnaturalforthe learnerso classescan becomeaccessible and maximum benefit may be obtained. Program planners shouldresearchthe culturallearningstyleand groupdynamicsof the indigenous peoplewhichliteracyclassesare to reachin orderthattheorganizationstrnctureof classesissuitableforthe community. It maybemoreappropriateforteachingtobe insmallgroupsororganizedonaone-to-onebasisratherthanhavelargeciasses.I havefoundthisto be the caseamongPalawanogroups.Someof the mosteffective teachingand learning has been when one Palawanoteaches a member of his family.This then leads to cooperative literacypracticesin the home, reading togetherandrecognizingtheprocessofongoing, continuinglearning Menand womenmightlearnmoreeffectively in separateclassesand this will needto be incorporatedinthe planningofliteracyclasses.Theage and sexof theliteracyfacilitatormayneedto be appropriate to theparticipantsin orderthat localvaluesystemsrelatedto learningarenotcontravened. Onepersonneednotbe responsible for teachingeverything.Facilitators and communitymemberswill be ableto contribute in a complementary mannernsingthe expertiseeach bringsto thelearningprocess.Enablingnetworkswithinthe community of whichliteracyis a strandwillleadto development meetingcommunity goals. In the Philippinecontext,researchhas shownthat there is a correlation betweentheacquisitionand retentionof literacyskills,the sustainabilityofadult literacyprograms,andthe integrationofliterateand traditionalknowledgewithin the community (Bernardo1995).Each ofthese- andothers- mustbe taken into accountin orderfora prograrnto besnstained. Programplanningat a commuuity levelis alsoa significantfactor. According to Delors(1994),"Local community participationinassessingneedsbymeansofadialoguewiththepublicautborities and groupsconcernedin societyis a first andessentialstagein broadeningaccess to educationandimprovingitsquality."

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4.3.3 Program Organization and Management

Robinson(1997a) saysthat "the capacityof individualsand communities needsto grow as the vision (forliteracy)takesroot."This is particularlyimportant if program developmentand management is to be handled'withinthe community rather than by outside agencies.Brown(19%) saw communityparticipationas crucialin the planning,executionandmanagementofapproachesto literacyin the community.Thismeansthreekindsofactivity: • Traininginskills:includingcapacitybuildingandvisionsharingskills

An approach where the skills for organizationand developmentof the literacyprogram are retained onlyby the initiatorof the program will neverbe sustainable,particularly if the programinitiator is an outside agency.From the beginning,local peopleshouldbe seen-and seethemselves-as participantsand co-workersintheachievementofthevision.Fromtheoutset,thephilosophyofthe programplarmermustbe as an equipperofothersto becomeindependentworkers, a processoftentermed capacitybuilding.

Initiators must seethemselves asfacilitatorsfor the visionof community ownershipand managementto be realized, Controlis not in the hands of the one entering the communitybut belongsto the membersof the indigenouscultnral communityitself. The initial relationship buildingand vision sharing is critical, becausethat brings a degreeof culturalunderstandingand willingnessto listen rather than bringingquick answersand solutionswhichmaynotbe addressingfelt needs.In order to developa community-based programwith local management, thesestepsareimportant. As well as teacher trainersand others directlyinvolvedin the teaching processthere are other managementskillsthat wouldneedto be developedforthe program management to be community based. Perhaps local people will need training in bookkeepingto managethe financial side of the program, Perhaps publicrelationsskills need to be encouraged in orderto facilitatenetworkingwith appropriateorganizations,We havefoundthis to be importantin differentareas of the Philippines,to buildconfidenceforvariousindigenouscommunitymembersin interaction with govermnent and nationalbodies. Abilities in these aspects of programimplementationwill sustaindevelopmentWithoutmanagementtraining, weleavecommunitymemberswiththevision,the skills toteachbut nocontinuing strncturewithinwhichto maintainwhathas beenbegun.

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Plans needto beinstitutedfordisengagementWhenwillthe originators C

5. WHAT LANGUAGESHOULDBE USED?

Literacyis based upona systematic symbolicrepresentationof communication in orderthat informationcanbe exchanged, Writingand readingare someof thebasicforms of literacy, but there are also other forms of print and media literacy which require interpretation. Literacypracticesare relatedto bothcognitiveand cultnralfunctionsof the individual, As a symbolicsystem,literacycontributes to the ability of the individualto constructthe world and definereality,both for themselvesandalso for interactionwith others.However, languageis also a creativetool,helpingus create newinformation and knowledge (Barton 1994) and think both laterally and divergently. Robinson(1999) remindsus that questionsof languagechoiceare critical in making decisionsrelatedto educationand communitydevelopment. Participatory planning approaches,as examined above,demandthense ofthe appropriate languagefor communitydiscussion.

5.1 Tbe Philippines' EtbnolinguisticDiversity

Barbara Grimes (1996) lists 168 living languageswithin the Republicof the Philippines.McFarland(198])suggeststhatthereare ]20 languagesspokenin thecountry, Thus,withinthePhilippines,issuesrelatedto the languageof elementary,secondary, and tertiaryeducationare frequentlydiscussed. Withinthe realm of adult functionalliteracy, languageissuesare also important,FortheindigenouspeoplesofthePhilippines,oneofthe mlijoriden:tifyingfaetorsisthelanguageusedbytheC

5.2 Tbe Language of Literacy

Languageand culture are closelyintertwined. Barton's (1994) metaphorof an ecologicalapproach to literacy highlights the interrelationship of a learner and his environment Shared language is fundamental to the functioningof a community. An ecologicalapproachsuggeststhevirtuesandstrengthsofdiversityin language. Venezky(1990)commentsonthe issueof literacyfor the non-nativespeakerand this is further developedby Macias(1990).They suggestthree patterns of literacyfor languagegroups,particularlythosetheytermlanguageminorities:

The 1997 Declarationon AdultLearning,as stated by participantsin the Fifth InternationalConferenceon AdultEducationinHamburg,Germany,affirmedtheright of adultsto learn in their first languageandreeommended that first languageadultliteracy

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approaches should be widely implemented. However, Fordham, Holland and Millican (1995) emphasize that languagechoicewill ultimatelydependupon people's reasons for wantingto becomeliterateandthe literacygoalsthat theywillset themselves. The language chosen for literacy activitiesprescribesthose who have the ability to participate in the activity.Thus, in manycultural communities, functionalliteracymaydemandthat a variety of languagesare usedin the learningprocessin order that participantshave the literacy skillsto share in societalactivitiesasfullpartners. For example, among many of the Philippine indigenouscultural communities, there is little written traditionin the first (spoken) language.There is a need to develop literature in the local language.However,to have accessto newspapers, advertisements, governmentdocumentationandto participatein other literacyevents,there maybe strong reasons to emphasizeliteracyin the national language or the regionallanguage of wider communication. In almost alI Philippinecultural communities,literacy activities,in order to be functional,will have to give participantsthe ability to transitionto a language of wider communication. However,in termsof developingpersonalidentityand senseof community and exploring communicationwith those who sharea common language, it would be appropriatefor literacyactivitiestousethe firstlanguageofthe participants. The choice of languagefor literacyis a crucial one. Decisionsneed to be taken at a locallevel,taking into accountboth the long-termand immediateneedsof the learners and the relativestatusofthe languagesin question.

6. CONCLUSION

Functionalliteracywithin any communityis a continuingprocess.Literacyneeds change and develop through time and as change impinges upon community life. Mukhopadhyay(1998)says that "literacyas the processof empoweringindividualsto be able to function in one's environmentchangesmeaningwith increasingtechnologicaland societalchanges." People take upon themselvesdifferentresponsibilitiesat differentstages in their lives and, in the past, the preparationsfor such roles may have been given by older conununity members.However, in a rapidly changing world, where technologyand the demands of bureaucracyimpinge increasinglyupon even the most roraIpeople groups. youngadults may need to learn skillsand means of accessto technologythat their elders may not have learned. Changeitself is not new to the olderpeoplein a communitybut in somesocieties,the speedof changeis rapidand the processesforrespondingto changeare themselveschanging.The understandingandsupportof all communitymembersis vital to ensure that a literacy approachis functional across the varied needs of the indigenous peopiegroup. Gonzalez (2000), as Secretaryof Education in the Philippines,speaks of "the creationof a favorableclimateof innovationso that (thoselivingin remotecommunities) mayreceive its just desserts.This meansa new paradigmfor it, openinga new field of endeavorto an extentthat hithertohas notbeentaken" Community organization and management of literacy approaches would base programsin the societyfor whichtheyare intended,reflectthe needs,aspirationand values

62 SUSTAINABLE LITERACY of community members and prove sustainable through responsibility, grounded in the community structure. This would seem to provide the firmest foundation for effective functional literacy.

63 APPENDIX ONE

Major Indicators of Functional Literacy (03 June 1998) Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE), Department of Edueation, Culture and Sports. Manila, Philippines

Communication skills Problem solving and Expanding one's world criticalthinkin vision • ability to clearly • numeracyskills • knowledge, express one's • to be open to change • acceptance, respect ideas and feelings • to be aware of options and appreciation of orally and • ability to make critical diversity nonverbally and informed • peace • ability to listen decisions • nonviolent • ability to read, • innovativenessand resolution of comprehend and creativity conflicts respond to ideas • scientific thinking • global awareness, presented • futlltreorientation interdependence and • ability to write solidarity aodclearly express one's ideas and feelings • ability to access, process and utilize available basic and multi-media information SUSTAINABLE LITERACY

REFERENCES

ALANGUl, W., BRAWNER, LENORA FE, ROVILLOS, RAYMUNDO. 1994. "Learning from life. vol. 4, An ethnographic study of functional literacy in marginal Philippine communities." University of the Philippines, Literacy Coordinating council of the Philippines, Department of Education, Culture and Sports. ALANGUl, W. 1997. Indigenous learning systems in a Kankana-ey community. University of the Philippines, Literacy Coordinating Council of the Philippines, Department of Education, Culture and Sports. ARCHER, D. & COTIINGHAM, S. 1996. Action Research Report on REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean literacy through empowering community technique). Overseas Development Authority, March 1996. London: UK. BAKER, C. 1996. Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. BARTON, D. 1994. Literacy. Oxford:Blackwell. BERNARDO, A 1995. Cognitive consequences of literacy. University of the Philippines, Department of Education, Culture and Sports. BHOLA, H.S. 1994. A source book for literacy work: perspective from the grassroots. Paris: Jessica Kingsley Publishers! UNESCO Publishing. BROWN, E.C. 1996. Tribal displacement, deculturation and impoverishment." In Eder, J.F. & J. Fernandez, eds. Palawan at the Crossroads. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press. DELORS, J. 1994. "The Treasure within", Report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first century". Paris: UNESCO Publishing. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORTS. 1999. Executive smnrnary: Philippine Education for Ail Assessment, 2000 October 1999. Manila, Philippines DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORTS. 1999. Country report: Philippine Education for All Assessment 2000. October 1999. Manila, Philippines. DE GUZMAN, R "Education in a borderless envirornnent: the BNFE experience" Paper presented at 1998 Centennial Conference on Literacy and Continning Education. June 1998, Davao,Philippines. FORDHAM, P., D. HOLLAND, AND J. MILLICAN. 1995. Adult Literacy. Oxford: VSOfOxfarn. GEE, J.P. & C. LANKSHEAR 1997. Language, Literacy and the New Work Order IN C. Lankshear et al, Changing Literacies UK. Open University Press. GONZALEZ, A, FSC. 2000. Non-formal Education. In The DECS Post. Febrnary 14, 2000. Manila: Philippines. GRIMES, B. 1996. Ethnologue: Langnages of the World (13th Edition) Dallas, Texas: SIL International.

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LITERACY COORDINATING COUNCILIDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CULTURE AND SPORTS. Contextual definitions and indicators of functional literacy. June 1998. Paper presented at 1998 Centennial Conference on Literacy and Continuing Education, Davao, Philippines. MALLALIEU, B. 1999 Facilitators or Imposers: some foundational aspects of Christian Community Development. Unpublished manuscript MACIAS, RF. 1990. Definitions of Literacy: A Response In Venezky,RL., D.A. Wagner, B.S. Ciliberti (eds.) Towards Defining Literacy, 17-22. Delaware. International Reading Association. MCFARLAND, C.D. 1981. A Linguistic atlas of the Philippines. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. MUKHOPADHYAY, M. 1998. Application of Distance Education in Adult Literacy and Education. Paper given at Regional Literacy Forum., New Delhi, 9 - 13 February 1998. NWANGWU, R 1999. Marketing Literacy at the Grassroots: the myths and the realities. Adult education and development. vol. 53. Bonn: Germany. Institute of International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association PORTER, D. 1992. "Language-culturetypes and their implications." Notes on Scripture in Use and Language Programs 34. 22-34 ROBINSON, C. 1997a. "Seamless integration: towards sustainable impact". Notes on Sociolinguistics 2:2. 89-% ROBINSON, C. 1997b. "Planning for snstainability - a preliminary overview". Paper given at 1997 Consultation on Strategic Planning and Review, Horsleys Green, High Wycombe, UK, 12-13 June 1997. ROBINSON, C. 1999. Thread, web and tapestry making: processes of development and language. Compare 29:1. SHRESTHA, GOVINDA 1997. Literacy education at a distance: developing curriculum for functional literacy. Info 21 Informationa and Commnnications Teclmology for Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme STREET, B.V. 1994. Struggles over the Meaning(s) of Literacy. In Hamilton, M., Barton, D., Ivanic, R (eds.) Worlds of Literacy pp 15-21 Clevedon: Multilingual Matters UNESCO. 1988. Compendium of Statistics on llIiteracy Paris: UNESCO UNESCO INSTITIITE OF EDUCATION. 1997. Declaration of the Fifth International Conference on Adult Literacy Hamburg 14th _18th July 1997. VENEZKY, RL., D.A WAGNER, B.S. CILlBERU (eds.) 1990. Towards Defining Literacy Delaware. Internatioual Reading Association. VENEZKY, RL. 1990. Definitions of Literacy. In Venezky, RL., DA Wagner, B.S. Ciliberti, (eds.) Towards Defining Literacy, 2-16.Delaware. International Reading Association:

66 LINGUISTIC SOCIETY OF THE PHILIPPINES Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

THE LANGUAGE SITUATION IN SELECTED MULTICULTURAL AREAS IN MINDANAO

Amor Q. De Torres Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City

1. me RATIONALE

The problem of language planning in Mindanao is one of the areas of concern for the Language Studies Program of the Mindanao Advanced Education Program of the Commission on Higher Education (MAEP-CHED). This survey, conducted in selected areas in Mindanao, seeks to provide the preliminary framework for wider applications in resolving pervasive intercultural language problems in multilingual and multiethnic sitoations in the Mindanao context, considering that any language policy modification has to take into consideration vital issues such as the development of non-national/minority languages, the problem of de-ethnicization and minoritization, language rights and ethno­ linguistic vitality. The bilingual educational policy adopted in 1974 mandated the use of Filipino as the medium of instruction in schools for all subjects except natoral science and mathematics., for which English is used. The move to replace English with Filipino for teaching the two subjects.,whereby English will be relegated to the status of a foreign language in the corriculum, has spawned a new wave of controversy over Filipino, not only as medium of instruction, but also as the national language. Outside of the Tagalog­ speaking regions, the problem of using Filipino as medium of instruction is often seen as a linguistic imposition from the center of power. For many non-Tagalogs, Filipino is, in addition to English, a second language. Resistance is very strong in some areas. The Cebuanos, for example, led a language revolt in 1988, preferring English to Filipino. How has Mindanao responded to the same controversy after ten years? What is the language situation in multiethnic, multilingual Mindanao?

2. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study is a preliminary language background survey in selected areas in Mindanao from three sets of informants: teachers, pupils, and parents of school children in grades I to 3 of one roral and one urban elementary public school. The objectives are to assess the language situation in selected areas in Mindanao in order to acquire a sound data base for language planning and to evaluate the gains or deficits of the national bilingual policy that is currently in effect. The study was carried out with the assistance of doctoral students in the Mindanao Advanced Education Program.

67 DE TORRES

3.1. The Locale of the Study The study was conducted in five (5) purposively selected major cities in Mindanao, namely: Marawi, Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, and Zamboanga, and the town of Malabang in Lanao del Sur. In each area, two schools were chosen, one urban and one rural. Only one section each of grades I, 2, and 3 was randomly chosen from each school. In Marawi City two sample groups were surveyed, one in the town proper and the other in the Mindanao State University campus. In lligan, three areas were chosen for their linguistic diversity; a mixed Cebuano and Maranao area, a predominantly Cebuano area, and a Higa-unon, Maranao, Cebuano area. In Cagayan de Oro, a predominantly Cebuano­ speaking area, only one set each of rural and urbangroup was surveyed. A mixed T'boli­ Cebuano group was sampled in General Santos City, whereas in Zamboanga City, a predominantly Chavacano-speaking area with mixed Cebuano/Muslim popnlation was selected for both the rural and urban groups. The town of Malabang in Lanao del Sur was selected for its unique position among Maranao-speaking areas: its reputation for being the only place in Mindanao where Christians and Muslims live relatively at peace with one another.

3.2. The Subjects of the Study

There were three sets of respondents for each section in grades I, 2, and 3 in each school; the pupils, the parents and the teachers. Each section from each grade level was chosen by simple random sampling with replacement. The parents of the selected group became automatically the parent-respondents. The teacher of the selected section also became one of the five teacher-respondents per grade level chosen by simple random sampling. In cases where the number of teachers did not reach five, all the teachers of that grade level were made respondents. The data collection period was from October 15 to October 31, 1998. The collation and synthesis of the findings were finalized on November 15, 1998. Table I shows the distribution of the respondents per school and the total number of respondents for each group. The total number of respondents was 3,533 broken down as follows: 1949 parents, 1314 pupils, 269 teachers.

68 LANGUAGE SITUATION

Table 1. Number of Respondents

Areas Rural (R)/ Urban (U) PUPILS PARENTS TEACHERS TOTAL I. Marawi City A. (U) Marawi Central Elem. Sell. 228 210 30 468 (R) Mapandi PrimarySell. 43 42 7 92 B.(U) MSU-Integ.Lab. Sch, 143 90 16 249 (R) Sultan Conding Elem. Sch. 35 50 5 90 Il. MaIabang, Lanao del Sur (U) Jose A. Santos Elem. Sch, 78 15 15 108 (R) Ansao Elem. Seh. 90 10 15 115 III.TIiganCity A. (U) Tambacan Elem. Sell. 108 94 14 216 (R) Guevara Mem. Elem. Sell 95 38 12 145 B. (U) Iligan City Central Seh. 151 142 18 311 (R) Upper Hinaplanon 80 74 6 160 I Elem.Sch. 116 91 21 228 C. (U) DnaJuana Mem. Elem. Sell. 42 30 12 84 (R)TnbaranElem.Seh. IvCagayan dc Oro City (U) Cagayan de Oro City 132 15 147 CentralSeh. 125 12 137 (R) Lumbia Elementary Seh. y. General Santos City (U) Pedro Acharon Sr. Elem. Seh 122 118 15 255 (R) New SocietyElem. Seh. 100 99 15 214 VI. Zamboanga City (U) Sta. Maria Central Seh. 124 95 27 246 (R) Mercedes Elementary Seh. 137 117 14 268

TOTAL 1949 1315 269 3533

69 DE TORRES

3.3 Research Instruments

This study used a Language Background Questionnaire (LBQ) adapted from the LBQ originally developed and used by Dr, Emy Pascasio of Ateneo de Manila University, The LBQ consisted of three sets: one each for the pupils, the parents, and the teachers, They were color-coded for easy identification and administration, The pupil's LBQ surveyed four dimensions: language use in interpersonal domains, language use in the macro-skills, self-evaluation of language proficiency, and mass media exposure. The parent's LBQ elicited information regarding the following: SES; educational background; language use in the domains of: home, work community, and government; self-evaluation of language proficiency; mass media exposure; and language preference for their children's education. The teacher's LBQ consisted of seven areas: educational profile, language proficiency, mass media exposure, language use in: interpersonal communication, in the domains of home, community, school and place of worship. In addition, a Classroom Observation Checklist was used in the assessment of: I) the use of instructional materials, 2) classroom management, and 3) language use in classroom interaction.

4. THE FINDINGS

4.1 Marawi City - Dalomabi Lao Bula conducted the surveyin Marawi Central Elementary School, an urban school in the heart of Marawi City, and in Mapandi Primary School, a rural school about three kilometers from the city. Her findings are as follows. The Pupils: The predominant language of the home and community is Maranao. in school, Filipino is preferred over English but even then, the language used most of the time in interactions with classmates and teachers is Maranao. There is considerable use of the mixed code, mostly with siblings, teachers, and friends. As for the language used in the four macro-skills, Maranao is used the most for understanding while the mixed code is preferred for speaking, reading, and writing, Some use of Filipino and English is made for reading and writing; very minimal for speaking. Regarding mass media exposure, the data show that exposure to TV and radio is rather extensive, with a high of about 80% for both. In comparison, very few read newspapers, comics, or magazines. Their choices of TV programs are almost all in Filipino, but radio program choices are in Maranao. The Parents: The data show that most of the parents live below the poverty line. Their educational attainment is mostly at the college level, with the fathers having attained higher levels than the mothers. The language usedby both father and mother is predominantly Maranao in all the domains except at work and in government, where they sometimes use English and Filipino. Nonetheless, most Maranao parents consider Filipino as their second language. Next to Filipino is Arabic. Fathers rate themselves better in Filipino than in English in all the four

70 LANGUAGE SITUATION

macro-skills and poorest in Cebuano. In Maranao, they rate themselves very good. The pattern is the same for the mothers. Mass media exposure is about the same for both TV and radio, but considerably less for print media. As for their choice of language for medium of instruction, there seems to be a conflict. While fathers prefer English over Filipino, most mothers want Filipino over English. The highest preferred language, however, for both parents is the mixed code. Some chose Maranao but nobody approved of Cebuano. The Teachers: Out of 37 teacher-respondents, 30 are bachelor's degree holders; and seven have a master's degree. Almost all of them rate themselves good in English as well as in Filipino, and only fair in Cebuano. All of them are very good in Maranao. There are more of them who listen to the radio than watch TV and only about half read newspapers often. The rest seldom do. The mixed code is more often used than either English or Filipino even in the subjects where English or Filipino is mandated as the language of instruction. Only about half follow the bilingual policy. In interpersonal communication, very rarely is English used even with superiors. Most of the time, Maranao is used, most especially with co-teachers, pupils and parents. The native language of all the teachers is Maranao; most of them consider Filipino as their second language and a few, Cebuano or Arabic. The language of the home, neighborhood and place of worship is Maranao; at work and in school, the mixed code is used. The Classroom: Almost all of the classrooms observed have books and reference materials, but are sorely lacking in visual aids. Overall classroom management is only 'fair'; discipline, class participation,and time management being the poorest. Teacher presentation, explanation, and questions are usually in the mixed codewhile follow-up and wrap-up is in Maranao. Pupils almost always use Maranao, except sometimes in answering teacher's questions when they use a mixed code of EnglishlFilipinolMaranao. Rebekah M. Alawi, the other researcher assigned in Marawi City, chose the Elementary Department of the Mindanao State University (MSU)- Integrated Laboratory School to represent an urban-based school, and the Sultan Condmg Elementary School to represent a rural setting. The data from the three sets of respondents yielded the following findings: The Pupils: In both the rural and urban samples, the dominant language is Maranao, the minority language is Cebuano, and the language more often used in classroom interaction is Filipino. English is hardly used in Grade I, but increases in use as the pupils go up the grade levels, albeit limited to formal, academic use. Filipino is often used in lieu of English in classes requiring the use of English. English is used more often for reading but hard1yfor speaking. The urban sample rate themselves higher in the four macro-skills in Filipino than the rural sample; higher also in Filipino than English. Proficiency in English and Cebuano is only satisfactory in both sample populations. Mass media exposure is highest for TV followed by radio and very minimal exposure to print media. It is, however, noted that there is an increase in print media exposure as they go up to the higher grades. Filipino medium programs are more popular for boththe rural and urban samples. DE TORRES

The Parents: Most MSU-ILS parents are of the middle class while SCES parents mostly belong to the lower class. Moreover, the majority of the MSU-ILS respondents are at least college gradnates while more parents in the rural group have reached only elementary or high school. The majority language in both areas in Maranao, usedboth at home and in the neighborhood. Cebuano is also used, almost gaining an equal footing with the dominant Maranao. The mixed code is also usedby some in the same domains, in fact, it is observed to have gained greater currency in the neighborhood than it had before. The turf of English is clearly defined: at work, among professionals, and in transactions made with the government. However, more prefer the use of the mixed variety as medimn of communication. AI; for language proficiency, urban parents generally rate their English and Filipino as very good especially for the receptive skills, speaking and understanding, although the productive skills do not exactly fall behind. The Cebuano proficiency of those who speak the language can pass muster. The majority credit themselves with a very good proficiency in the ethnic language, in this case, Maranao. In the rural group, over half rated their English only fair and about the same nmnber poor. Fewer respondents grade their Filipino very good. The rest rate their Cebuano proficiency as good. The mixed variety, a combination ofMaranao and Tagalog or Maranao and Cebuano, is prevalent. The Teachers: The teachers in the MSU campus are academically better prepared than those in the rural schools, most of them having post-graduate degrees. Both groups rate themselves good to very good in English, but generally consider themselves more proficient in Filipino than in English in all four macro­ skills. Access to mass media for both groups is ample, with a marked preference for TV and broadcast media over print media. The most predominantly used medium of instruction is the mixed code (i.e. English and Filipino with Maranao or Cebuano). Even in the teaclring of English-mandated subjects, teachers use the mixed code. In contrast, there is a higher percentage of Filipino used in Filipino­ mandated subjects. In interpersonal communication in school, the mixed code is prevalent. Teachers in the rural school are all Maranao first language speakers and consider Tagalog as their second language; a few report Cebuano as their L2. In the urban sample, however, though predominantly Maranao first language speakers, there are a few Filipino and Cebuano Ll speakers. The threelanguages considered by them as their L2 are: Tagalog, English, and Cebuano. Finally, for both samples, Maranao is dominant at home and in the neighborhood, but in school and at worship they generally use the mixed code. The Classroom: The mixed code is the most commonly used medium in class. Even in English, as a subject area, the majority of teacher-respondents in both schools use a mixed code. Only less than half of the teachers stick to aII­ English instruction in their English courses. In the case of Filipino subjects, however, more than half of the teachers use all-Filipino, while the rest use the mixed code. In the teaching of Mathematics and Science, the majority depend on a mixed code. Only a small minority conduct their Math and Science classes in English. For instruction in Social Studies, both the rural and urban samples are divided between using unadniterated Filipino and a mixed code as medium. In interpersonal communication, the nse of the mixed code is the prevalent practice in both schools. Communication with parents, however, is mostly done in the mother LANGUAGE SITUATION

tongue, a few using the mixed code. Teacher respondents in the rural school find the mixed code the most efficient means of communication with all co-interactants. In both groups, Maranao is preeminently the most common native language, most especially among the rural respondents. The most commonly identified second language in both schools are Tagalog (Filipino), followed by Cebuano. Five of them, notwithstanding, count English among their second languages. Maranao is the home language of the majority; a few identified Cebuano, presumably their mother tongue. At school, a mixed code is spoken by all. In the neighborhood, Maranao is prevalent but in the place of worship, the mixed code predominates, with Arabic as one of the languages used with Maranao or English. Except for the language of worship which is predominantly Maranao in the rural sample, there is no difference betwcen the two groups in the use of language in the domains reported above. Teaching in general has not been weaned from rote learning. Pupils in classes observed by the researcher memorize whole lessons and answer questions like unthinking robots. There is no follow-up. The language in both locales is characterized by mixing, code-switching, and translation.

4.2 Malabang, Lanao de Sur

The researcher for this area is Amina Domato Sarip. Malabang is one of the oldest towns in the Philippines located on the southern rim of the province of Lanao del Sur. A mixed community of about 60% Muslims and 40% Christians, it is the only place in Mindanao where the Muslims and Christians are deemed to have a good relationship and respect each other's culture. The datafrom this study, therefore, would serve as a counterpoint to the two previous ones done in a similarly predominantly Maranao area. From the three sets of respondents, the following analysis hasbeen culled: The Pupils: The predominant language in the area is Maranao; the second most spoken language is Cebuano, followed by Filipino. In the urban sample, Cebuano and Maranao are spoken equally frequently; in the rural area. more Maranao and Cebuano are both the languages of the home and the community with Maranao enjoying the edge in the rural sample over the urban sample, where Cebuano and Maranao are almost equally spoken. In class, English is spoken the most followed by Cebuano. This is true for both the rural and urban samples, and is likewise true for reading, writing, and understanding. However, pupils rate themselves as better in the use of Filipino than in English or Cebuano. Exposure to broadcast media is very high, followed by print media. The Parents: The majority of the parents in both the rural and urban groups belong to the low-income bracket, although most of the fathers have reached collegiate level. At home and in the neighborhood, Maranao is the dominant language. At work it is English. They also rate themselves as most proficient in their ownmother tongue when it comes to speaking. But in reading, writing, and understanding, urban mothers rate themselves high in English, while rural mothers rate themselves highest in the ethnic language. For mass media exposure the highest percentage for the parents of both groups is watching television followed by listening to the radio. Exposure to print media is much less. Lastly, for the language preference of parents for their children's education, the highest is given to Filipino, followed by English.

73 DE TORRES

The Teachers: All of the teacher-respondents in the rural sample are Bachelor's degree holders, while in the urban sample there are twomasteral degree holders; the rest are bachelor's degree holders. The first language for both gronps is Maranao, with English and Filipino as second languages. They also rate themselves as more proficient in English than in Filipino, the urban group showing a higher proficiency in English than in Filipino, the urban group showing a higher proficiency in English than the rural group. As for mass media exposure, the rural teachers have almost equalexposure to both broadcast and print media while the urban group is more exposed to print media than to radio or TV. The difference, however, is slight. The majority of the teachers in both the rural and urban samples use the rnandated media of instruction in the subjects they are supposed to use; i.c., English for English, Science, and Mathematics and Filipino for Filipino and the Social Sciences. A few use the mixed code and the vernacular. There is more use of English in communicating with superiors than Filipino, the mixed code or the ethnic language. Among themselves, however, the teachers use English, the mixed code and Maranao. With pupils, they often use English, Filipino, and the mixed code. With parents, it is mostly Maranao or the mixed code; sometimes English and Filipino are used in the urban sample, but this is rare in the rural sample. For both groups the language of the home, place of worship, and neighborhood is Maranao; in school, it is mostly English, followed by Maranao among the rural teachers while among the urban teachers, it is Filipino and Maranao. The Classroom: Due to the unwillingness of the teachers to be observed, the classroom observation checklist was not used. The observation was limited only to the use of instructional materials; no classroom interaction was observed. The researcher noted, however, that there was ample use of charts and maps, some in English, the others in Filipino. Class participation was very good. There was, moreover, an assigned coordinator for every grade who assisted in the adrninistration of the questionnaires.

4.3 lligan City

lligan City, often called the Industrial Center of Mindanao and home of Maria Cristina Falls, is well known for its language and cultural mix: Cebuano, Maranao, Higaonon, and other migrant groups which were drawn to the city because of its industries. In order to get a fair sampling of the ethnolinguistic mix, three separate surveys by three researchers were conducted in this area. For the predominantly Cebuano-speaking group, Flora C. Alima conducted the study in Tambacan Elementary School (urban) and in Guevara Memorial Elementary School (rural). These are her findings: The Pupils: Cebnano is the language used by first graders, urban and ruralalike, when speaking to anyone. Cebuano is the language used in class, say rural 1st graders, while 'mix-mix' is the answer of the urban group. All first graders claim that they are good in Cebuano. Of the six classes, only Grade 3 rural pupils claim they are also good in English and Filipino. Grade 2 and 3 pupils claim they use Cebuano when speaking to all, except that when the interlocutors are teachers, urban pupils use Cebuano, Filipino and English, while rural cited

74 LANGUAGESITUATION

only two, Cebuano and English. Cebuano, however, has not been reported as having figured in Grade 2 in actual classes, unlike in Grade 3. All first graders agree that they have been most exposed to TV watching and radio listening; Grade 2 pupils enumerated three top choices in mass media: TV, radio, andnewspapers. m The third favorite (after TV and radio) of 3 graders is comics reading. The Parents: The majority of grades 1-3 parents have reached the high school level; are still in their thirties; and are in the monthly income bracket of Php 5,000 or less. Cebuano is the mother tongue of a large majority of these parents. Thus, Cebuano claimed to bethe most used in all domains. Their language preferences for their children's education are generally the same, with a slight variation in the ordering: Filipino, English, Cebuano in two of the urban samples; one urban group preferred Cebuano, Filipino, English. In the rural sample, one preferred Filipino over Cebuano and English while the other, English over Filipino, listing Cebuano last. The Teachers: Of the total 21 teachers, only one has a master's degree. Their highest proficiency is Cebuano, in all modalities. A very close second is English. Filipino and the mixed codes are the languages they use in teaching. Their choices appear to be grounded on official policies assigning Filipino to the culture subjects, and English to the sciences. Although they admit using a mixed code, many times they feel that Cebuano (their first language) could have been a better medium of instruction. Since it is only anxiliary, however, they have been obliged to favor Filipino and/or English, which ironically are both second languages to them all. As for mass media choices, the most popular form for the teachers is television, regardless of age or school category, rural or urban. Home and neighborhood (in that order) are top Cebuano domains. The Oassroom: Different instructional materials are available in both schools. The second survey was conducted by Darwisa A. Bagnio in Iligan City Central School (for the urban) and in the Upper Hinaplanon Elementary School (for the rural). The following analysis hasbeen gleaned from the data gathered. The Pupils: The domiuant language in the urban school is Cebuano, which is also the language spoken in the community and in the home. When speaking to teachers, pupils claim they use Filipino or Cebuano. On the other hand, the rural pupils claim when interacting with classmates, they use either Cebuano or Maranao, just as they do with their teachers, except that a few use English and Cebuano. Most of them, who come from Cebuano-speaking homes, use Cebuano at home. The data show a higher percentage of use for Maranao overall. As to the language they are good in, the urban pupils claim Cebuano as first, followed by Filipino and English. Among the rural pupils, they claim to be better in Filipino and their parents' language than they are in English. When it comes to mass media exposure, the urban group claim a very high exposure to TV and radio followed by print media. The claims are all very finch higher thanthose of the rural group, although they follow the same patteru: TV, radio, newspapers, comics, magazines, in that order.

7~ DE TORRES

The Parents: Almost 90% of the parent-respondents belong to the low to very-low income bracket; the majority have finished only elementary education and the rest reached the high school level. In the urban group, Cebuano is the language used at borne, at work, in the neighborhood and in government. In the rural group, both Maranao and Cebuano are spoken in the community, but the language of the home is mostly Maranao. Urban parents rate themselves as generally good in reading, writing, and understanding English, but not in speaking for which they rate themselves only as fair. On the other hand, their proficiency in Filipino is claimed to be good in all the macro-skills. The same is true for their mother tongue. Among the roral parent-respondents, proficiency in English is rated fair to good just as they rated themselves for Filipino. The highest rating is for understanding for all threelanguages: English, Filipino, andCebuano. As for mass media exposure, both groups indicated that the majority are exposed to mass media, in particular radio, TV, and newspapers (in that order). As for the language they prefer for their children's education, the majority of both the rural and urban groups prefer English and Filipino, with English enjoying a slight edge over Filipino. The Teachers: There are twenty-four teacher-respondents, twenty-two of whom are bachelor's degree holders and two are master's degree holders. These two are in the urban school. The majority rate themselves good in English, Filipino, Cebuano, and ethnic languages in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding. In media exposure both urban and rural teachers always listen to radio, watch TV, and read newspapers. With regard to language used in teaching, a majority prefer the mixed code, except for Mathematics, Science, andEnglish in which English is required. The language used in communicating with superiors is English, while with co-teachers, parents, and pupils, the preferred language is Cebuano for the urban group and Maranao for the roral group. The language used at home and in the neighborhood is Cebuano; at school and in the place of worship, it is English. For the roral respondents, the language used at home, neighborhood and place of worship is Marauao. The Classroom: In the urban school, in terms of instructional materials, the evaluation is very good, while in the roral school, there is a discernible lack of these materials, giving them a rating of poor. Classroom management in the urban school is likewise very good while for the rural school, it is only fair. Generally, in the urban school, the language used is English for Science, Mathematics, and English and Filipino for Filipino mandated subjects. However, in a brief interaction with some of the teachers, they admitted that they cannot avoid switching to Cebuano, because some of the pupils do not understand some of the English terms. This is the reason why the mixed code is often used in class. Classroom interaction in the urban school is generally very good; in the rural school, it is poor. The third survey was conducted by Nancy Fe M. Puno in Dolia Juana Actub Lluch Memorial school located in Pala-o, au urban barangay. For the rural school, Tubaran Elementary School in Madulog was chosen. About six kilometers from the Iligan-Cagayan Highway, Mandulog is mixed ethnolinguistic community of Maranaos, Higaonons, and Christians who are Cebuano speakers. The data gathered from these two schools are for the following analysis:

76 LANGUAGE SITUATION

The Pupils: In the urban school, almost 100% of the pupils are Cebuano speakers. Cebuano is the language used in the home, SChool,with friends and family members. In class they use Cebuano for speaking and understanding; Filipino is read, written, and understood but just like English, hardly spoken. In the first grade, some sight words in English are memorized and understood but English is not spoken in a stream of speech. Writing in English is limited to copying the sight words. Compared with English, Filipino is better read, written, and understood. This trend is followed even by the grade two and three pupils; but by grade two, there is a marked increase in the use and understanding of Filipino and English, with Filipino taking the lead over English. There is, however, a noticeable increase in the use of the mixed codeas they go up the higher grades. Mass media exposure is lesser in the lower grades but increases as they go up the rungs.Furthermore, the radio and TV are the most popular forms of mass media; there is very little exposure to print media. In the rural sample, although it is a mixed ethnolinguistic community, the language of the school is predominantly Cebuano. A few use Maranao in school, but to a certain extent Maranao speakers accommodate Cebuano speakers when they are in mixed groups. In the borne and on their own turf, however, Marauao is the predominant language. For the Cebuano speakers, the language of the home, school and community is Cebuano. Higaonons speak Cebuano when they are outside their homes. In fact, many of the childreu no longer speakHigaonon, In the beginning grades, lessthanbaIfcanuse Filipino in reading, writing, and understanding. No one uses it for speaking. The same is true for English, which is at least used in all four skills. As they move up to the higher grades, their language proficiency increases, especially in Filipino. In Grade 3, they are more fluent in Filipino but they can already read in English, albeit understanding is limited to memorized meanings. With regard to media exposure, since the place has no electricity, oulybattery-poweredradiosareoften heard. Television sets in a few homes are powered by truck batteries. By the third grade, more pupils report watching TV and listening to the radio. However, exposure to print media is very limited, almost nil. Both Maranao and Cebuano pupils choose Filipino over English as the easier language to learn. The Parents: In the urban sample, the majority of parents belong to the low income group; most have reached only the elementary level, some finished high school, wbile a very small percentage reached the post graduate level. The predominant language of the community is Cebuano. A· few report English, TagaloglFilipino as second language. Their language proficiency follows the pattern: best in Cebuano, followed by Filipino, and last English. Highest media exposure is to radio, next is to TV. Exposure to print media is very slight. Many favor the use of English, Filipino, and Cebuano as the languages of instruction for their children. But most of them favor using the mixed code. The Teachers: Most of the teachers in the urbanschool are experienced mentors. All are BS degree holders; some have MA units but none has earned an MA yet. The average language proficiency mean shows that they are as proficient in English as they are in Filipino; and bighest in Cebuano, their native tongue. Mass media exposure is highest for TV, followed by radio and print media. The languages used in teaching follow in descending order: English, Filipino, Cebnano. The mixed codeis resorted to when trying to explain difficult concepts in

77 DE TORRES

Math or Science. Otherwise, they are closely following the bilingual policy. English, Cebuano, and the mixed code is used with superiors; Cebuano and the mixed code with co-teachers; English, Filipino, and Cebuano with pupils. In the rural group, all of the teacher-respondents are bachelor's degree holders; not one has an MA or a PhD. In language proficiency, they rate themselves highest in their mother tongue, Cebuano, or Maranao; in English and Filipino, they rate themselves as good but between the two they are better in Filipino than English. Language use in the classroom as reported in the LBQ closely followed the Bilingual Policy, but in an informal conversation, they admit using Cebuano to explain concepts. Moreover, actual classroom interaction reveals more use of Cebuano or the mixed code. As for the four Maranao teacher-respondents, they prefer to use Filipino instead of Cebuano in class, but they do use Cebuano in informal situations in school. The Classroom: The data from the urban and rural samples show that teachers use more Cebuano and mixed code than they had reported in the LBQ. The classroom observation checklist confirms the use of the mixed code in teaching. Students use Cebuano in class for asking questions and making requests. Maximum use of instructional materials is made in the milan school. In the rural school there are adequate instructional materials, but the number of textbooks is sorely inadequate. Classroom management ranges from fair to good in the rural school and very goodin the urban school.

4.4. Cagayan de Oro City

Herbert Glenn P. Reyes conducted thesurvey in Cagayan de Oro City. The urban school was City Central School located in the heart of the city; the rural school was Lumbia Central School located in Upper Lumbia, approximately 20 kilometers from the city proper. The results of the survey are summarized as follows. The Pupils: The dominant language in both the rural and urban school is Cebuano, but in theurban school more English is used than Filipino or Cebuano in interaction with classmates and teachers. In the rural school there is more use of Cebuano than English and Filipino in all roles. The language of the roles and neighborhood is Cebuano for both samples. The city pupils use English most often in the classroom in all four macro-skills and rate themselves very highly in English proficiency. Moreover, tl1eyprefer using the mixed code and Cebuano to Filipino. In the rural school, there is more use of Cebuano than English and Filipino in the four macro-skills, and more use of English and the mixed code than Filipino. When asked what language they were good in, the pattern of responses from the urban pupils was: English, Cebuano, and Filipino; among the rural pupils, the pattern was Cebuano, Filipino, and English (in that order). Regarding mass media exposure, the data show a high percentage of exposure to TV and radio for both groups. followed by comics and magazines for the urban pupils and the newspapers for the rural pupils. The Teachers: The majority of the teacher-respondents in both schools are BS degree holders, a few have MA and one has a PhD. The rural teachers are relatively new in the service while most of the urban teachers have been teaching

78 LANGUAGE SITUATION

for a long time. On the matter of their language proficiency, urbanteachers rate themselves as very proficient in English, Filipino, and Cebuano in all four skills, while the rural teachers rate themselves only as good in English and Filipino, but very good in Cebuano, In teaching, urban teachers use English and Filipino most of the time in the subjects requiring their use. Rural teachers use the mandated languages, but more often than not use the mixed code with English andFilipino. In interpersonal communication, urban teachers use more English than mixed code when speaking to superiors; otherwise, the mixed code is used. Among the rural teachers it is the mixed code that predominates in all role relationships, The majority report Cebuano as their first language and English and Filipino as their second language. There are a few Tagalog first language speakers; their second language is invariably English or Cebuano. For both groups, the language of the home and neighborhood is Cebuano and the mixed code; at school and at work, urban teachers use English and the mixed code. roral teachers use the mixed code most of the time.

4.5 General Santos City

Considered as the newest growth area in Southeastern Mindanao, General Santos City is part of the so-called growth corridor, an investor-friendly and ecologically sound business environment. Julnes U. Jumalon reported the findings from the city proper, and an urban school, the Pedro Acharon Sr. Elementary School,intheheartofthecity. The Pupils: Generally, the pupils in both the urban andrural areas use Cebuano when speaking with classmates, siblings and neighbors; Tagalog is nsed only when speaking with the teacher. It appears that while Cebuano is associated with valnes of spontaneity, friendship and intimacy, Tagalog is associated with social distance. In the classroom, whether urbanor rural, the pupils indicated their use of the mix-mix language, which conld be due to the highly multilingualnature of the speech community. Most of the pupils in the rural area indicate that theyare more proficient in the use of Cebuano than in any other languages; the urban pupils, however, differ in their proficiency: Grade I pupils think they are proficient in Cebuano, Grade 2 in mix-mix, andGrade 3, in Cebuano. These differences may be becansein the urban area,the pupils are more or less heterogeneous in terms of socio-economic status, especially with pupils enrolled in public schools. Finally, based on the response, the urban pupils are more exposed to more forms of mass media communication, while pupils in the rural area have a limited exposure to the same, e.g. magazines andnewspapers. The Parents: In both the rural and urban area, the parents belong to the PhP 5000-below category in monthly income. Most of them have only reached secondary education, while some urban parents have reached the tertiary level of education. The urban parents generally assign language use depending on the domainsof interaction: Cebuano is used at horne and the neighborhood; Tagalog or Filipino is nsed in the workplace and in goverurnent transactions. The rural parents, however, use Cebuano in all domains of interaction. Cebuano is the dominant ethno linguistic group, followed by Ilonggo, then Tagalog and Ilocano The second languages of both groups are Cebuano and Tagalog. In terms of

79 DE TORRES

language fluency, the father-respondents are good in English and Filipino and very good in Cebuano. The mother-respondents are good in English but very good in Filipino and Cebuano. Both rural and urban parents are generally exposed to the different mass media. Finally, the parents prefer the use of the mixed code for their children's education, and place Tagalog as the second most preferred language. Tbe Teachers: The teachers are bachelor's degree holders only. There are no master's or doctor's degree holders. In terms of language fluency, the urban teachers claim that they are very good in all three languages: Cebuano, English, and Filipino; the rural teachers, however, rate themselves as just good in English, very good in Filipino and Cebuano. Most of the teachers in both the rural and urban areas generally claim lack of exposure to mass media. Language use in the teaching of subject areas shows that the bilingual policy has been partially implemented, e.g. teaching of Social Studies in Filipino. Moreover, in the urban area, English, Math, and Science are generally taught in English; in the rural area the teaching of English, Math, and Science is through the mixed code, except Social Studies which is taught in Filipino. In their interpersonal communication, the urban teachers use English when speaking with the school supervisor, but use Cebuano when speaking with the principal or co-teachers. In the rural area. teachers generally use the mixed code in their interpersonal communication. In the rural area, the teachers are predominantly Cebuano; in the urban area, teachers are predominantly Tagalog speakers. Their second languages are Cebnano and Tagalog. Teachers in the urban area generally use Cebuano at home and in the neighborhood; Filipino in school and in church. The Classroom: The urban teachers generally make use of more instructional materials than the rural teachers. Moreover, they have a fair knowledge of the appropriate instructional materials to be used in the different grade levels: e.g, blocks are for Grade 1; maps are for Grade 3. Generally, the teachers are rated as 'good' classroom managers. In classroom interaction between teacher and pupil, the mixed code is generally used.

4.6 Zamboanga City

One of the several places in Mindanao that speaks a Spanish-eontact vernacular, Chavacano, Zamboanga City represents a totally different kind of ethnolinguistic mix not found outside the Zanlboanga Peninsula (the other places are Basilan Province, Siocon and Margosatubig in Zanlboanga del Sur). The Zamboanga data form the last part of the wider study. Lojean V. Akil collected and analyzed the data gathered from the urban school, Sta. Maria Central School, and the other, Mercedes Elementary School, for the rural sample. The Pupils: The language usedby most rural pupils is Chavacano; in the urban samples Chavacano is usedby only a little over half of the respondents, indicating the group's exposure to other languages such as Filipino and Cebuano. As for language use in class, for both groups, it is Filipino that rates the highest, followed by English and the vernacular, Chavacano. Both urban and rural pupils report that they are best in Chavacano, followed by Filipino. However, urban pupils report a higher proficiency in English thanthe rural pupils; Cebuano is a high third choice among urban pupils, but insignificant among the rural group. With regard to mass

8Q LANGUAGE SITUATION

media exposure, both rural and urban groups indicated a very high exposure to TV and radio, but less exposure to print media. It is also noted that the degree of exposure increases as the pupils go up the grade levels. The Parents: Most of the parents in both the rural and urban groups faIl under the bracket ofP5 thousand and below monthly income. In the rural group, a good number have reached the elementary and high school levels and only a few have reached college. In the urban group, there are more who have reached the high school and college levels. Chavacano is the predominant language among the rural parents, Filipino comes next, and English is third. In the urban group, it is still Chavacanothat ranks first but far lesser than that of the rural group; Cebuano comes as a close second; Filipino and English are third. In the rural group, about 85% of the parents are native Chavacano speakers. Filipino and Cebuano speakers come second and third but at a very insignificant share. As second languages, most parents report Filipino and some indicate English. In the urban group, compared with the rural group, there are fewer native speakers of Chavacano (71%). Cebuano speakers come second at almost 20%. As second languages, Chavacano, Filipino, and Cebuano are reported in that order. As for their language proficiency, most parents saythey are most proficient in Chavacano in all four skills. The pattern is the same for both groups: Chavacano, Filipino, English, and Cebuano. Mass media exposure is highest for radio in the rural group but television in the urban group. A close second is TV for the rural group and radio for the urban group. Exposure to print media is relatively adequate for both groups, but higher in the urban group. Both rural and urban pareuts prefer English as the language of instruction for their children. The pattern of choice for these two groups is: I. English, 2. Filipino, 3. Mixed Code, 4 Vernacular. The Teachers: Most of the teacher-respondents in both rural and urban groups are only bachelor's degree holders; only one has an MA Rural teachers are all native speakers of Chavacano; in the urban group the majority is Chavacano but some are Cebuano speakers. Their second language is either English or Filipino. The ethnic languages spoken in the community are Chavacano and Cebuano, with Chavacano having a very high share of 92% and 85%. Teachers report a high proficiency for English and Filipino, with English being higher than Filipino for both groups. Among the rural teachers, exposure to TV is higher than radio and newspapers; but with the urban group, exposure to radio and newspapers is higher than TV. As for the language usedin teaching among the rural teachers, English and Filipino get an equal share of use in the classroom. English is particularly high in Mathematics and Science while Filipino is in Filipino and Social Studies subjects. The mixed code is insignificantly used. The same pattern is true for the urban group. In interpersonal communication with their superiors, colleagues, and pupil's parents regarding formal topics, the rural teacher-respondents use English most, followed by the mixed code and Chavacano. The pattern is repeated for the urban group. Language use in the different domains of home, work; community, and place of worship is highest for Chavacano followed by English, Filipino, and Cebuano. The mixed code is rarely used.

81 DE TORRES

The Classroom: Data for this category could not be obtained because there was no written consent/formal approval for classroom observation from the Division Office.

5. CONCLUSION

The survey aimed to obtain a sound data base for language planning in selected areas in Mindanao and to evaluate, in the process, the degree of implementation of the National Bilingual Policy mandating the use of English for Science, Mathematics and English, and Filipino for the Social Sciences and Filipino. In Mindanao, a mnltiethnic, multilingual area, English and Filipino are both second languages for the majority of the children in the first three years of their elementary schooling. The results of the survey show that where a strongly dominant ethnic language prevails, as was shown in the Maranao data, the use, proficiency, and preference for Filipino over English is high; Cebuano is least preferred and therefore, would not serve as an auxiliary or bridge language. There is, moreover, a very high degree of shifting to a mixed code even in the formal domain of the school. It is, in fact, preferred over English in many instances. As for language proficiency, more Maranao respondents indicate higher proficiency and receptivity for Filipino. In Malabang town where Maranao and Cebuano are also equally spoken in the community, there is more use of English than Filipino in both urban and rnra1 classes, and less use of the mixed code. In the Cebuano-dominant areas, minority language groups, which are not as ethno­ linguistica1Jyvital and which do not exercise power and influence, tend to accommodate the stronger out group language, Cebuano, in the formal domains. This is the case for Tboli and Higaonon, ethnic languages which have, in fact, suffered language shift and loss. In the controlling domains of education and government, preference for Filipino among these groups is often much higher thanthat for Cebuano or English. In the highly urbanized cities like Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga City, the language of the majority prevails. In Zamboanga City, English as language of instruction enjoy a very high edge over Filipino and Cebuano and theuse of the mixed code in class is negligible. Chavacano remains a strong lingua franca. In predomiuantIy-Cebuano Cagayan de Oro, both English and Filipino are equally regarded but the preferred language of instruction is English. In other domains, themixed codepredominates in almost all of the samples, in both formal and informal domains. In mixed language areas like lligan, there is a high degree of accommodation to the predominant language, Cebuano. Higaonon, a minority language group, is very marginalized. As for classroom management and the use of instructional materials, the findings indicate above-average utilization of instructional materials and fairly good classroom management, notwithstanding the general lack of budgetary appropriations for classrooms and books. Language use in class is generally characterized by honest attempts to implement the National Bilingual Policy. The use of the mixed code is often done to explain difficult concepts in science and mathematics. A disturbing observation, however, is that the teacher's proficiency in English is often reportedas lower than or equal to that of Filipino.

82 LANGUAGESITUAnON

The extent of influence of mass media over the changing language situation in Mindanao cannot be underestimated. Both rural and urbansamples showed high exposure to broadcast media. Among the samples surveyed the percentage of newspaper readers is generally the lowest of the three mass media forms, However, more newspapers are read than magazines and comic books. Preference for Filipino-medium TV and radio programs is very high, indicating a high degree of receptivity for the language. Favorite programs are mostly soap operas and variety shows in Taglish or Filipino. The data on use of the mandated languages following the National Bilingual Policy show some highs and some lows. In the case of Filipino, there is a clear picture of its being put to good use in the formal and even informal domains. As for English, most of the teacher-respondents report the use of an auxiliary language or the mixed code to explain the concepts. There is a very high percentage of use reported for the mixed code even in the formal domains of school for all the samples surveyed. This is seen by some as a negative effect while some feel that using the mixed code helps them to explain the difficult concepts in English and Filipino. As the language for interpersonal communication, the mixed code may serve some purposes, but its prevalent use in the classroom has many implications for language planning and development. What these partial results tell us is that there is either only a partial implementation of the National Bilingual Policy or there has been a misunderstood application of its guidelines. Be that as it may, the welcome development, as far as the data show, is the favorable attitude to the use of Filipino. Generally parents prefer Filipino over English as the language of instruction in the lower grades, but it is disturbing to note that there is also a high preference for the mixed code. Nonetheless, English is preferred over Filipino in the highly urbanized cities and in one Maranao-dominant sample, Malabang. Moreover, whether the respondents' first language is Cebuano, Maranao, Lumad (Indigenous), or the Spanish Creole, Chavacano, most rate themselves as better in Filipino than in English; use a regional variety of a mixed code; have a relatively high receptivity for Filipino; maintain their first language for home and community; are highly exposed to broadcast media and are often ambivalent in their preference for medium of instruction. Hopefully, this study will provide a preliminary framework from which a more extensive Mindanaolanguage survey can be generated. The need for a more rational and culture-fair language program for Mindanao cannot beignored.

83 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDENTS' CONSTRUCTED DIALOGUES USING FILIPINO

Leonisa A. Mojica De La Salle University, Manila

1. INTRODUCTION

One topic that hascaught the interest of both experts and non-experts in the field of sociolinguistics is that of language and gender. This is presumably due to their acceptance of the fact that both are an integral part of a human being's existence. It seems impossible to live without using a language of any form. Language does not only make communication transactions possible. It also paves the way for the acquisition of knowledge, exchange of ideas, argumentations, formulation and execution of plans, and evaluation of performances. Co-existing with language is gender, which denotatively means the sexofa person and is referred to as "behavior that was socially acquired rather than biologically innate" (Mc-Connell-Ginet,1988; Nicholson,1994, cited by Bing & Bergvall, 1996:3). Such a definition distinguishes the term from the word "sex", which Maggio (1987) refers to as the biological status of a person, Indeed it is gender that provides the avenue for the manifestation of a person's role in the societyusing the language of their preference. It is not surprising, therefore, that researchers continuously conduct studies on these two areas since new theories and frameworks can prove usefulin resolving social and political issues that affect women's andmen's attitude toward each other. Scholars, however, are divided in their views concerning studies on gender differences. A number of them fear that this type of investigation may ouly heighten female-male dichotomy and the notiou that women's language is weak and powerless. I believe, though, that positive results obtained through this type of research can outweigh such negative findings. Studies have made people aware that sexist language which stereotypes people according to gender is damaging, for it promotes gender ideology as noted, too, by Diouisio (1993). More of ns in today's society have become aware of the usefulness of non-sexist language, which Maggio (1987:165) defines as one which treats people equally and "does not refer to a person's sex at all when it is irrelevant, or refers to men and women in symmetrical ways when their gender is relevant." Hence, suchwords as chairman. foreman, businessman, mankind, and other exclusive terms, which could be used freely before as generic terms, are considered "sexist language" (Devito, 1991:137) today. Research findings on gender differences can help change the linguistic habits prescribed by the society which are believed to be biased and degrading, and which contribute to women's lack of power and assertiveness as pointed out by a nrnnber of investigators in the field. Such findings, too, can hopefully prevent the formulation of overgeneralized conclusions that may heighten male-female polarization.

85 MOJICA

My readings and observations on women's issues in relation to language use motivated me to focus my investigations on these aspects. I have noted that very limited literature and studies on male/female differences in the use of the Filipino language exist. I know of only two major studies conducted on this particular aspect - that of Montenegro (1981), involving a description of male and female language in the native language, and that of Mendiola (1995), on determining how females and males differ in telling narratives using Filipino. I believe that this paper, which further investigates gender differences in language use, and which focoses on the description of the language using a framework based on the most recent and tested theories in the field, can be considered a contribution in the area of Philippine sociolinguistics. This studyis contributory, not only in the enrichment of literature in the area, but also in terms of consciousness-raising among Filipinos, who, as native speakers of the language, ought to familiarize themselves well with its characteristics. Lastly, noting possible female/male language functions and observing how the results of my investigation would relate to other findings with the use of a new methodologyare additional features that make this study a relevant study in the field. Among the limitations of my paper is the fact that the description of the written Filipino language used by selected Filipino female and male college students from two universities came from constructed dialogues based on contrived situations. Another is that the respondents' socioeconomic status(SES) was based on one parameter only - the annnal income as declared by the students. Said SES was in terms of respondents who coustructed the dialogues, not in terms of characters in contrived situations. The study investigated three main points: 1) if there were differences in females' and males' use of written Filipino in terms of these linguistic features: codeswitching (CS), descriptive lexical items (DD), taboo words, euphemisms, tag questions, and non­ inclusive language; 2) if each of the aforementioned linguistic features was related to any one of the following variables: age, SES, materials read, TV programs watched, and language use with the family, with friends, and with persons of authority; and finally, 3) how the respondents described each other's language in relation to their perception of the writer's sex.

2. METHODOLOGY

Respondents totaling 180 freshmen and jnniors - 45 females and 45 males each from the University of the Philippines, Manila, and Pamantasan ng Lnnsod ng Maynila ­ were classified as either writer-participants or reader-participants. Please see Table 1.

86 GENDERDIFFERENCES

Table1 Distribution of Respondents

Writer-Participants Reader-Participants

School Freshmen Juniors Total School Juniors Total

FMFM FM

PLM 15 15 15 15 15 30

15 15 15 15 60

The writer-participants were asked to construct dialogues based on given situations which were either gender-based or gender-free. Gender-based sitoations are those that emphasize the sexuality of each group; gender-free sitoations are those that present the two sexes in a neutral manner, such that none or almost no distinction can be noted between the two sexes. The situations included a variety of scenes, like friend/s to friendls discussions of ordinary topics, those that involved superior-subordinate confrontations in the family and in a business setting, and those that seemed bold or indecent in nature, my intention of which was to possibly obtain more substantial data. The reader-participants, on the other hand, were asked to guess the gender of each writer of the ten dialogues given to them and to give reasons for their choice. The reasons expressed were taken as the respondents' descriptions of each other's language.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The ANOVA, t-test, and Two-Way Repeated Measures Design revealed that there were statistically significant differences on females' and males' use of codeswitches (CS) in terms of respondents and characters. Females assigned a lot more CS to their characters thanthe males did. Also, the female characters surpassed the males in their employment of both types of CS - the Intersentential and Intrasentential categories - using the four codeswitching categories formulated by Poplack and Sankoff (1988, cited by Bautista, 1997 and Mojica, 1997). A sample of their Intersentential codeswitches is: Be ready for the responsibility. Pinasok mo yan 'You got yourself into it .' Their Intrasententia1 CS include the following: As far as I am concerned, wala pa sa capacity mo ang maging tsang padre de pamilya '. . you don't have the capacity yet to be the head of a family ....' Mahal ko siya '1 love her' but how can 1bea good father and husband?' Like the female respondents, the males had an inclination to assign more CS to their male cbaracters. This seems to be an indication that code-switching is becoming more pervasive these days regardless of sex, particularly among college students. Such observation has been very well noted, too, by Gonzalez (1984). Gonzalez attribntes it to the fact that "the majority of Filipinos are at least bilingual" (p.124).

87 MOJICA

On the employment of descriptive lexical items (DLI), the only significant difference noted was between the respondents' assignment of the device to their respective characters, with the females surpassing the males on this aspect. Both groups showed an inclination to assign more of this lexicon to characters of their sex. The descriptive words assigned to females, like panot 'bald', walang hugis 'shapeless', nakakanginig ng loman 'makes me shiver', seem to be less offensive than those given to males, among which are mukhang puwet 'like an ass', mukhang kabayo 'looks like a horse', mokong na babae 'unrespectablewoman'. Findings imply that the female respondents perceive women to use descriptive lexical items more thanmen. Such perception is in consonance with other scholars' finding that women tend to use more adjectives than men. Males, on the other hand, believe that they are capable of employing this linguistic device freely, too, thus, their tendency to assign more adjectives to their male characters. Other things to note are the females' ease in using more loan adjectives than males; females' preference to use the standard form of the language in showing approval or disapproval; males' inclination to use more slang expressions than the standard forms particularly when talking about women; and the inclination of both groups to usecolor words on an equal frequency. Findings also show that the females and males differed significantly in their use of taboowords in terms of characters. Both groups assigned more of this device to their male characters with the males assigning it significantly more to their male characters than the female respondents did. Both groups believe, too, that females are capable of using this device although on a minimal level. Most of the taboo terms used were those referring to women and their body parts, particularly to sexual parts. Examples are bitch, pokpok 'prostitute', pula 'prostitute', suso 'female breast', and other terms considered equally indecent. In general, taboo words usedare negligible in nnmber. On the use of euphemisms, the only significant difference observed was between the respondents' assignment of this lexicon to their respective characters. Males assigned many more of this device to characters of their sex than the females did to their female characters. The students' preference to useeuphemistic terms indicates their desire to avoid using this type of speech which they believe is either totally unacceptable or almost unacceptable to society. Euphemisms were used to substitute for the direct names of sexual parts, like putulin 'cut', ana 'that', kanya 'his', yun 'somebody's sexual organ', kargada 'man's testicles' to name a few, and to subdue the vulgarity of curse words through omission of letters or drawing of symbols. The latter is believed to have been influenced by the respondents' reading of Komiks, examples of which are: P_ _ __ _ t __ ! Engrata 'Ungrateful!"; and * ? # A! No significant differences were noted in the use of tag questions both in terms of respondents and characters. Both groups employed the device with ease. The male respondents used more tag questions to seek confirmation, which is contrary to other researchers' finding that females do seek confirmation more, and as a means of disciplining those in lower ranks, the latter connoting dominance. The female respondents were more inclined to employ this device to express uncertainty and to keep the conversation going. Examples of sentences with tag questions are: Alam 'nyo na, di ba 'You know it already, don't you?' Magsabi ka ng totoo, ha 'Do tell the truth, won't you?' ... sabra, 'no' ... too much, isn't itT

88 GENDERDIFFERENCES

Males' and females' use of non-inclusive language differed significantly in terms of characters. Both groups of respondents assigned many more sexist expressions to their male characters than to their female characters. Most of the non-inclusive terms used were inappropriate forms of address for women like patok ang katawan ... tirahin natin 'perfect body ... let's attack her.' A few connoted dominance on the part of the males while a very minimal number of sexist terms to show irrelevant references to women like waitress, stewardess,hostess were employed on an equal frequency by each group. As regards finding what variables would correlate with each other, age and sex were found not to have any significant correlation with the respondents' employment of each linguistic device. Significant correlations were noted on the respondents' language use, as well as media preferences, and their employment of certain linguistic devices. Female language has been described as emotional, gentle, inclined to gossip, sympathetic, maarte 'affected', wordy, long, not straight to the point, and judgmental as contrasted with male speech which was perceived to be comical, violent, harsh, brntal, vulgar, devoid of gossip, concerned with reputation, concise, direct to the point, and not judgmental. The use of Taglish was ascribed to female talk. Finally, in terms of organization of ideas, no substantial description can be cited since it seemed only one or two respondents had given their comments on this aspect.

4. CONCLUSION

Initially, two functions of language use among females and males can be noted: for solidarity and speech empowerment, both illustrated through their manner of assigning certain linguistic matures to characters of their sex. Males seem to have shown their interest to belong - to establish solidarity - in group conversations. Although they attempted to demonstrate their desire to empower their speech, this inclination seems to have been overpowered by their desire to be accommodated to by their supposed interlocutors. In cases where females were given many more of the female-stereotyped lexicon such as code-switches, descriptive lexical items, and tag questions, the males tended to counteract it by assiguing more of these female-stereotyped linguistic devices to their male characters. Females seem to have worked towards speech empowerment that is, to demonstrate that through language, they can express themselves skillfully using the lingnistic devices of their choice. The female students' inclination to assign more of the female-stereotyped lexicon to their female characters than the males indicates their possession of a greater repertoire of such linguistic devices and a higher degree of confidence to take part in casual conversations using certain features they feel comfortable with. They seem to take pride in being able to use these devices with some sense of expertise, with an air of power. This is not surprising, for women have generally had the reputation of talking more than men (Mendiola, 1995) and their language has generally been described as affected and wordy. Respondents' assigning of more sentences to female characters La total of5494-than to the male cbaracters, 4447, seems to illustrate their belief that women talk more than men. Another point that is noteworthy is the females' and males' almost total concession in assigning taboo words and non-inclusive language to male talk. They seem to see male speech in the same light ~ that is, in association with prohibited language. Filipino cnlture

&9 MOJICA

undoubtedly plays a big role here. The upbriuging of Filipino children includes teaching girls to be refined in their speech and manners and encouraging boys to be bolder and aggressive. It can be said that although the respondents showed an inclination to empower each one's speech, this might have been done only to satisfy the demands of the role relationships the individuals were in or to show their skill in using "their language", as termed by Hughes (1992:300), without necessarily meaning to compete with the other gender. In this study, a neutral or inclusive type of language was used in gender-free situations, while sexist or non-inclusive language was employed in gender-based settings. Hence, the observation that men, for instance, can employ on an equal degree, the "cooperative speech style" (Freed & Greenwood, 1996, cited by Ehrlich, 1997:423) ordinarily employed by women, shows that it is the communicative settings that determine the speech style the speakers will choose to adopt, not gender. Likewise, the finding that women can opt to use the non-standard form, specifically expletives or taboo words as noted by Hughes (1992), shows that it is also the kind of environment and the functions of languageusethatmatter,notgender. An additional point to consider is that the significant correlations noted between the respondents' employment of certain linguistic devices and their language use or their choice of some forms of media do not necessarily mean these independent variables directly influence their employment of these linguistic features. The possibility that these students are in great possession of these linguistic devices regardless of whether they use such language or not, or whether they enjoy reading or viewing certain forms of media or otherwise, is still greater thanbelieving that these independent variables have affected their use of such linguistic devices. In the case of non-inclusive language, for instance, which includes many prohibited expressions, the growing trend to tolerate it as has been observed worldwide may have prompted them to employ the device in higher frequencies. Results showing insignificant correlations, on the other hand, can be taken as indications ofwbat to investigate further in order to give stronger inferences along this line. From these preliminary conclusions, one major conclusion that I can make is that differences do exist between female and male students' use of codeswitching and prohibited language. Also, the significant differences noted in their assignment of the different linguistic devices to their respective characters imply that gender interacts with language. But instead of using these observations to point out one's dominance, powerlessness, or indiscreetness, it may be healthier to interpret such language functions in the light of their differences due to factors beyond their control. This view finds an ally in Tannen (1986:13), who believes that "neither ... styles are right or wrong, they are just different", and Hughes (1992:300) who says that women who widely employ expletives or taboo words "are not breaking any language rules ... merely using their norm ...." Female and male language may. have been described contrastingly, as noted, too, in Montenegro's (1981) and Mendiola's (1995) studies, but highlighting the fact that linguistic differences between men and women really exist without magnifying who is stronger or weaker may work positively in preventing gender polarization, a socio-political condition feared by modem scholars. Differences in language use can instead be regarded as an effective tool in strengthening the bond between females and males. GENDERDIFFERENCES

It can be noted, too, that the Filipino language is not non-sexist as noted bv Bernardo (1997). Bernardo's conclusion that" ... sexism may not be found in the words of Tagalog or Filipino speakers, but we can surely see it in their thoughts ..." (p. 58) implies that the students sampled are in possession of unspoken non-inclusive language which has eventually found its manifestation in the written task,thereby strengthening the theory that the Filipino language contains sexist elements. Finally, the usefulness of the methodology used, which is the first of its kind in the country for this type of investigation, cannot be ignored. The diaIogue-construction task in written form hasprovided data from simulated conversations in an economical and speedy manner. What could have taken months or years in data collection took only eight weeks using this instrument. Through this innovative activity, too, certain problems usually encountered in recording oral conversations, like time and availability of target respondents, have been minimized. Compared to the idea of taping interactions, this methodology did entail less artificiality. As a whole, I consider this innovative methodology as a nseful aid in obtaining substantial data which in turn contributed to the investigation of gender differences and the description of female/male language use of Filipino among the college students sampled.

REFERENCES

BAUTISTA, M L. 1997. Systematic and rule-governed nga ba 0 baka naman anything goes talaga: Tagalog-Englishcode-switching re-analyzed. Inaugural Lecture of the Go Kim Pah Professorial Chair in Liberal Arts, De La Salle University. BERNARDINO, E. S. (Ed.). 1997. The Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista reader. Manila: De La Salle University Press, Inc. BERGVALL, V. L., 1. M BING, and FREED, A. F. (Eds.) 1996. Rethinking language and gender research: Theory and practice. London: Addison Wesley Longman. BERNARDO, A. B. 1997. lfthe language's lexicon is nonsexist, is the language useralso nonsexist? A cognitive psychology study on gendered language and gender stereotyping. Danyag 2, (1), 46-61. DEVITO, J. A. 1990. Messages: Building interpersonal communication skills. New York: Harper and Row Publishers. DIONISIO, E. R. 1993. Sex and gender - More alike than different. Occasional Paper No. 3, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. EHRLICH, S. 1997. Gender as social practice: implicatios for second language acquisition. Studies in Second Laoguage Acquisition 19,(4) 421-446. FREED. A. & GREENWOOD, A. 1996. Women, men, and type of talk: what make the difference? Language and Society 25, 1-26. GONZALEZ, A., FSC. 1984. A survey of language nse surveys in the Philippines, 1969­ 1983. In Language planning, implementation and evaluation: Essays in honor of Bonifacio P. Sibayan on his sixty-seventh birthday, ed. by A. Gonzalez, FSC, 94­ 105. Manila: Lingnistic Society of the Philippines. HUGHES, S. E. 1992. Expletives of lower working-class women. Language and Society 21, 291-303. MAGGIO, R. 1987. The nonsexist word finder: A dictionary of gender free usage. New York: Oryx Press. MC-CONNEL-GINET, S. 1988. Language and gender. In F. 1. Newmeyer (Ed.). Linguistics: The Cambridge survey iv. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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MENDIOLA, C. M. 1995. Do Filipino females tell narratives the way Filipino males do? Philippine Journal of Linguistics 26. 1-2. MOnCA, L A. 1997. Who code-switch more: Women or men? A Graduate School Paper read at the Annual Convention of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines held at De La Salle University on May 23, 1998. MONTENEGRO, C. 1981. Towards a description of male and female language in Pilipino. Ph.D. dissertation, University ofSto. Tomas. NICHOLSON, L. 1994. Interpreting gender. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Societv zu, (l), 79-105. TANNEN, D. 1986. What are you trying to say? Reprinted in The Manila Chronicle, p. 12.

92 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

GRASSROOTS LEGITIMACY: THE FIRST LANGUAGE COMPONENT BRIDGING PROGRAM PILOT PROJECT OF REGION 2 AND CAR

Gloria D. Baguingan Nueva Vizcaya State Institute ofTechnology Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Societyneeds innovation. Hamiltoa (1996) cites Asker {In innovation, "The capacity to innovate is what keeps institutions, industries, economies, public service departments and businesses flexible, responsive and self renewing." This capacity also is essential to the education service. Innovation holds the key to raising standards in that it promotes a sense of well-being in the teaching profession. The First Language Component-Bridging Program (FLC-BP) is an innovation requiring teachers' hard work. It is not a grandiose scheme, nor is it a short term flash of inspiration. It is modest and it has advanced slowly. It is a product following an analytic and organized way of teaching, is systematic, and often demands exhausting work. The FLC-BP as an innovation is a driving force which enhances a teacher's career and makes it constantly self-renewing and worthwhile. The responsibility over the FLC-BP must be shared between the teachers themselves and those who create the organizational arrangement under which this program operates. These arrangements effectively determine whether or not the FLC-BP initiated by the NVSIT through its Graduate School Programadopted by DECS, Region 2 and CAR as conceived by SIL and DECS, Ifugao has the potential to spread. The FLC-BP needs good ground to flourish. The FLC-BP, if not embedded in the educational terrain due to lack of support of all people concerned, may not succeed. Most good teachers have something of the innovator in them; however, this potential all too often lies latent. It should be the role of decision-makers in the field of education to ensure that the opportunity is provided for the emergence of the innovators within all those for whom theyhave responsibility. Philippine society requires people to speakintelligibly in Filipino and English, not just a few who can speakvery good Filipino or English. What we need to do as teachers is to help our students become confident thinkers who can make language work for them. Nearly all of what is tanght is all too easily forgotten because it wasbased on meaningless memory. What needs to be addressed is how bestto foster skills and attitudes toward learning that will carry the child for a life time. We also know that for a change of attitude to take place from the traditional mode of teaching, a shift in public opinion is necessary. We alone in our classrooms are not capable of effecting it.

93' BAGUINGAN

Teachers are members of society and schools are of society, not outside it. The FLC-BP as an innovation is not outside it: the FLC-BP as an innovation is a social process. For this reason, teachers need to operate with others, not against others. Innovators over the years have promoted alternative ways of learning - but they are voices in the wilderness, because their ideas have been rejected by society. Ifthe FLC-BP is to takeroot, it has to be legitimized. The teachers need to take control as "innovators", to have confidence in themselves, possess the drive to push things they believe in, and be on the alert to find their solutions to improve the delivery of basic education.

1. VISION

As teachers we have a dream. We dream that the children who come nnder our wings will learn to read well, that they might master the basic skills given through education, to succeed in school, and consequently, secure a job and make a better life for themselves and for future generations. We dream that all people might have access to the best that life has to offer - through education. The cornerstone of the educated man is that he can read. Reading is the most basic building block a teacher can offer a child. The Leachingof reading and writing in school has, of late, become a topic of great concern for DECS as it repeatedly stresses that basic education is the means by which one attains quality education. The educators involved in the curricular reform realize it is foundational that effective reading can be taught; therefore quality education can be attained and progress made in all related fields ofleanring. To achieve this goal, we must redirect our strategy. The focus of education must shift from a facade of numbers to the actual learning acquisition of students. Our success can never rest on enrolment numbers, or the continued participation of warm bodies in ineffective programs or even, in the number of students who graduate completing certification requirements. Asiaweek Magazine cited our literacy rate of 93% plus. These features are based on those who entered the system - not on actual learning acquisition. For if we are 93% plus literate, why is our country still classed a third world nation? Let us therefore go on and adopt a program to reform this problem! Therefore my emphasis today is that actual acquisition of these skills, which has eluded us until now, mnst be accomplished.

2. METHODOLOGY

The first language program builds a bridge which even the most timid student can confidently cross over into the unknowns of the world. That bridge is built by utilizing the first language in the teaching and learning of the child in the context of his culture. Such a program is critically needed throughout the world wherever the first language of children differs from the medium of instruction in the school. The FLC-BP is a program which is anchored on the basic principles upon which learning depends;

The child's first language is the medium of instruction. The child's cultural model of the world is used so he can process perceptual information, understand concepts, and be able to form new ones. New concepts and skills are built on existing knowledge structures, rather than bypassing them by using a rote-memorization methodology. Teaching of the unknown 94 GRASSROOTS LEGITIMACY

always proceeds over the bridge of the known to the unknown.

I have used the bridging concept in three basic ways: First, through trilingual instructional materials for bridging in both implicit and explicit ways. The implicit bridging is accomplished by first using the mother tongue to teach the lesson; then the entire lesson is repeated in the prescribed language for the subject (Filipino or English). The impact of implicit bridging is made by using the threelanguages in succession, and by using them strictly, with no code-switching. Explicit bridging is done by the teacher when she points out the differences in the three languages: differences in their concepts, vocabularies, and grammar structures. The second way of bridging is bridging concepts by using the vernacular. This type of bridging is done by showing the child a picture. First, the child hears the concept associated with the picture in his own language; then he hears it verbalized in the second and third languages. Thus, he learns that a concept may be represented in multiple ways, depending on the language. In this way, he also learns to think in each language based on the foundation of the picture, which has been explicitly described and referred to in his first language. The third way of bridging is done by using language decoding skills. As a word is sounded out in his mother tongue, words in the second language with the same sounds are practiced These skills are more easily bridged between languages of related sound systems, for example, a vernacular such as Itawis, and Filipino, which allows bridging to start immediately. However, it will take longer to bridge from a Philippine Language to English, which has additional sounds and also symbols that have multiple sounds. These problems are introduced in succeeding lessons after pupils have already mastered their first language decoding skills, which form the foundation on which the student builds decoding skills in the other language.

3. PHILIPPINES:A CASE STIJDY

The Philippines is a good example of rich language diversity. There are eight major languages with 162 indigenous languages spoken in the country, as listed by Grimes. Nine of these languages are spoken by 1 million or more speakers, 29 have at least one hundred thousand speakers, and 96 haveat least 10,000 speakers. (Quakenbush 1998). Authorities agree on the eight indigenous languages designated as major regional languages because they are spoken natively by the eight largest ethnic groups: Tagalog, as having the highest number of speakers, followed by Cebnano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan (Galang, 1999). In his paper, 'Other Philippine Languages in the Third Millennium', Quakenbush cites Ferguson who has classified 5 major language types: standardized, vernaculars, pidgins, creoles, and classical languages. In the Philippines, Filipino and English are standardized, the former the national language, the latter, the international language. My languages, Balangao and Madnkayong, are clearly classified as vernaculars. The educational system operates with a bilingual policy, which employs the two standardized languages, Filipino and English, as media of instruction. There is an underlying assumption that the learner will excel in both languages. Teachers assume thai those who make rapid progress are intelligent and those who make slow progress have a more limited intellectual capacity.

95 BAGUINGAN

Slow progress, however, may be attributed to the lack of opportunities for practicing the activities of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in these two languages since the horne and community can't offer the pupils these opportunities in communities where Filipino andEnglish are not spoken. The educational policy hasallowed for languages other than Filipino or English to be used as auxiliary means of instruction. However, various policy statements have used different terms for the languages that are allowed as auxiliary languages. Some of these terms are vernacular, regional, 1iV'<.tl,andthelatest, 'lingua franca'. Recently, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports is advocating, through a memorandum, the use of 'lingua franca' in the first grades of school, in addition to the two mediums of instruction, English and Filipino. Depending on one's interpretation of the memorandum, in Region 2, Ilocano, the lingua franca, may be used. It is less certain whether other 'regional' or 'local' languages of the area such as Ibanag, Itawis, and Ivatan may be used. The question that still remains is to what extent the local vernacular can be used. Since learning comes naturally to children through their first language and culture, it is the intent of the First Language Component Bridging Program advocates to take advantage of this to hone the skills of learning and reasoning. We believe teaching in two languages which the child does not know paralyzes the development of his thinking skills Ignoring his language and culture also demolishes his secure bridge into the world of learning. Filipino, the national language, is a second language for students who speak vernacular languages. The other medium of instruction, English, is a third language. To add a 'lingua franca', rather than the local vernacular, to the school curriculum of a homogenous classroom will not help, but hinder, learning. Few students, if any, will gain mastery of any of three languages that will equal the skills that theyhave in their first. It is therefore wise for us to realize that a child can progress rapidly in his first year of school only when his current level of knowledge and skills in his first language is taken into account. The teaching of reading and writing has of late been a topic of great concern for many of us in the Philippines, including the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). It is repeatedly being stressed that basic education is the means by which one attains quality education. The educators involved in the movement for curricular reform realize it is foundational that effective reading be taught so that quality education can be attained and progress made in all related fields of learning. CHED is concerned with producing teachers who are competent in the delivery of knowledge and skills to the pupils. My greatest concern is that we may not be facing the fact that student will never develop good comprehension and critical thinking skills if we teach decoding skills in languages that they have never learned. There are linguists and notable educators, such as Dr. Bonifacio Sibayan and Bro. Andrew Gonzalez, who agree that the first language, the mother tongue, should be the medium of instruction in the first school year of a child; however, there are serions problems with this 'idea!' scenario. The two foremost problems are financial and teacher education. It is impossible to prepare and publish instructional materials for 164 languages. Also, early education teachers wonld need special training to be language teachers. The obstacles seem overwhelming and insurmountable.

96 GRASSROOTS LEGITIMACY

Those of us who have been involved in the development of the First Language Component Bridging Program believe that we have some answers at the 'grassroots level'. The grassroots level phase refers to the teachers who live in local communities throughout the Philippines who speak and teach children who speakindigenous languages, the vernaculars. Many of these teachers, with appropriate training, are capable of producing quality instructional materials and visual aids at limited cost. But they needencouragement and support from local administration and higher-level DECS personnel.

4. FITTING IN

The First Language Component-Bridging Program (FLC-BP) is committed to the principle voiced hoth by UNESCO, EDCOM (Congressional Commission on Education), and PeER (presidential Commission on Educational Reform). It is a concept which has dared to try something new in order to make learning not only easier, but also more relevant and more effective. I agree with Anne West, SIT..Philippines Academic Affairs Associate Director, and Alma Navarette, Superintendent of Schools, Batanes,that this program is the most up-to-date teaching method which makes students successful in learning a second language and renders teaching more effective. Although this is true, as pointed out by Joanne Shetler, SIT.. ethnologist, as a frontier methodology it also invites dissenting opinions, indifference, and often even cynicism

5. To Begin at the Beginning (Hungduan, Hugao)

The First Language Component-Bridging Program was launched in the Hnngduan School District, lfugao Province, Cordillera by a joint effort of DECS and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIT..).There, children in the outlying barangays were not learning well - not because they were unintelligent, bnt because they conld not understand the medium of instruction through which all new materials were imparted. These pupils' test scores were among the lowest in the division, and they were not enthusiastic about school. Neither were their teachers. Then one of the district supervisors dared to break away from the tradition inhis desire to raise the level of his district. With the help of SIT..linguists basedin Kiangan, Ifugao, Dick and Lou Hohulin, the First Language Component-Bridging Program, a concept born in 1962 with an order from DECS, waslaunched. The first experimental classes added an extra hour at theend of each school day for teaching language arts in Ifugao, the pupils' first language. In this additional hour the teachers used the First Language Component-Bridging Program methodology for introducing reading, writing, and math skills in the first language with transfer of those skills to the regular course work in Filipino, English, and Math. The control classes used the traditional methods, i.e. purely English as the medium of instruction or a mix of English and the vernacnlar, lfugao. In the experimental classes, the student's first language was used without code-switching (or mixing) for teaching the concepts and skills, then they were bridged into the two languages of official instruction. Instructional materials were trilingual.

97 BAGUINGAN

Pretesting was done in all classes to determine levels in English, Filipino, Grammar, and Math. Later, when post-testing wasdone, the results were remarkable! The experimental classes using the FLC-BP methodology far outperformed the control classes in every subject. Because of the significant results of the pilot projects in Hungduan District, we have incorporated this bridging program as one option for graduate studies where 1teach in Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

6. THE NVSIT PROGRAM

To train teachers in these new techniques and methodology, the Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology offers a Master of Arts in Education with specialization in Language, Reading, and Nmneracy. At first, we organized a summer workshop. One component of the workshop wasthe organizing of two classes to be taught as part of the workshop: one of Grade I pupils and another of Grades II and IV pupils who were considered to be slow learners. These pupils in the demonstration classes were taught English and Math by the workshop participants using the First Language Component­ Bridging Program (FLC-BP) methodology. To complement the methodology, the college simultaneously offered a class in Preparation of Supplementary Materials, and Reading Methodologies in which the participants actually made the materials that they would use in the demonstration lessons and subsequently in their own classrooms. These materials were culturally relevant to the context and language of the pupils. In addition, the course Conceptual Structure and Cognitive Processing was also offered to cover pedagogy and learning theories. The workshop lectures covered topics on educational problems stemming from the multilingual and multicultural environment of Philippine classrooms. We used basic pedagogical principles, going from the known to the unknown. We focused on ways to stimulate students' thinking skills rather than rote memory skills, and we specifically discussed helping students to abstract principles from concrete examples. We also developed contextualized activities for the classroom. There was intense excitement on the pari of the teachers in this workshop because theylearned actual classroom strategies and activities which they needed. The teaching was done in a seminar atmosphere in which all shared and participated. We actually designed lesson plans for teaching and developed supplementary teaching materials and devices related to the actual context of the students, rather than using the context of the city that the rural learners have never seen. All of the materials reflectedthe actual needsof workshop participants in their classrooms. Demonstration lessons were relevant to what the teachers would use during the school year. The professor and participants worked together to construct games, devices, and activities to achieve specific goals for each class. The participant-teachers became'hunters' of everything that could be used in their classrooms: old boxes, cement sacks, cigarette wrappers,etc. Our workshop was designed to provide the actual teaching materials that could be immediately used in the classroom. The following summer, 1994, I had24 enrollees in the Bridging Program courses. Again, to give the participants practice on how the methodology works, 21 pre-grade I pupils enrolled in one demonstration class and 22 Grade III and Grade IV pupils, all considered to be slow learners, were enrolled in another. Pretesting was done before classes using a validated English test for Pre-Grade I, and a Grade IV achievement test for the other class. After just a five weekperiod, the length of the demonstration classes, the same tests were administered. The students tagged as slow learners had all raised their scores

98 GRASSROOTS LEGITIMACY

significantly, and no longer fit the category of slow learners. Even the Grade I demonstration class could decode and read short stories with comprehension, both in their first language and in English. After these two summers of training, I was approached by some officials from my own mountain home who had heard of the new approach to teaching reading and other basic subjects. They requested that such a program also be launched in their own districts. These local benefactors not only agreed to provide all the raw materials for the workshop, but also to provide board and lodging for all teachers who consequently enrolled in the training. In that summer, I trained 90 teachers from four districts of Mountain Province. Basically the same curriculum was taught as in the previous workshop. Courses in linguisticandtranslationprincipleswereofferedduringtheregularsemesters for the sake of accurate and natural translation of stories from the first languageto English and Filipino. Linguistic principles were the basis for developing good instructional materials with readable orthographies, appropriate vocabulary choices, and correctgrammaticalstructure. We also added a class in literacy concepts, as literacy is more than aperson just learning how to write his name or even sound out words; to be literate is to decode meaning in written form. Besides the language barrier between the student and the media of instruction, another serious handicap that teachers constantly face in remote areas of the Philippines is the lack of visual-aid materials to use in the classroom. During the workshop in my home area, the 90 participants in the six week workshop made over 680,000 pieces of material to be used in their classrooms. Whereas some workshop participants entered the summer program skeptical, all 90 have become enthusiastic proponents of this methodology which has given them hope for their classrooms. The atmosphere at the end of the workshop was electric. Yet another teaching opportunity came in the summer of 1997 in Lubuagan, Kalinga. A consortium ofSIL, DECS, NVSIT, and St. Teresita's personnel held a seminar­ workshop for Grade I and II Kalinga teachers. This was followed by another four-day seminar for higher grades in October of the same year, using the FLC-BP for beginning reading and for remedial approach to the basics. Recently, a graduate student who used the FLC-BP methodology in a research project, defended his thesis by showing that after the first grading periodalone,GradeIV math pupils who were taught by the bridging method (the experimental class) performed significantly better than those taught by the traditional method (the control class), in both computation and problem-solving. It was further noted that, while the improvement was only slight for addition and subtraction, it was quite spectacular for the more difficult math processes, not just doing them by rote-which is very difficult to do in alanguagefureignto the student. Also a Grade I teacher whose supervisor was supportive of the methodology reported that her Grade I pupils could write creative sentences of four to five lines in Ilocano of pictures or objects shown to them. The most recent study using the methodology is a concluded thesis on teaching Dolch's word lists. The experimental class tested significantly higher over the control class where the teacher used the traditional method of teaching.

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In June, 1999, DECS, Region 2 opted to implement the program region-wide. All nine scholars implemented the methodology. The result of the test administered in March 2000 indicated that the experimental classes were higher in the mean percentage scores over the control group. Although I can cite many stories which show the successesof the methodology, there has been criticism and skepticism through the years of its development. For example, after the summer 1994 training, a number of teachers adopted the bridging program fur their school year. However, new barriers now surfaced. These teachers learned that just because a concept works does not mean it will meet with enthusiastic reception or approval by all who have authority over them. Such opposition is not new. When theWright brothers, back at the turn of the century, conceived of how man could fly through the air, their idea met with cascades of resistance, indifference, disbelief, and even downright hostility. However, due to their persistence, flying has become an assumed mode of travel. We now recognize that this program and the teachers who are excited by it may meet resistance. They may encounter a colleague and/or administrator opposing - ranging from skepticism to strong criticism. In some cases, teachers, because they were totally convinced of its effectiveness, have used the bridging program secretly. One teacher in the Cordillera has doemnented her activities for four consecutive years. She did an action research program in Grade I reading, and alsocreatively expanded the bridging curriculum to include a class in Geography, History and Civics, a class normally taught in Filipino. When she tested these two classes, the pupils in her class, using the bridging method, hadsignificant gaius in scores as over against other classes which were taught by the traditional method.

7. A SPIN-OFF

In 1998 we joined hands: SIL and NVSIT Graduate School hosted a symposium focusing on the use of the First Language Component Bridging Program Concept Our participants were 135 administrators of DECS, Nueva Vizcaya headed by Superintendent Gerry Ibasco including the two Chiefs of Basic Education of Region 2. Part of the symposium were two demonstration lessons: Grade N math and Grade I reading (English). After watching the demos, the administrators were persuaded that this methodology might be the best alternative for teaching the basics. Thus began our interaction with the DECS Regional Office. In the smruner of 1999, Region 2 sent nine scholars and SIL sent eight scholars to the regular summer program. In addition to these scholars were nine sponsored by various agencies. My trainees that summer numbered 92. We produced nearly a million pieces of instrnctionalmaterialanddevices. On top of the demonstration lessons and the manufactureof teaching aids, lectures on various topics like bilingual education, learning styles, learning theories, and second language acqnisition were lectured on by Dr. Patricia M. Davis, a visiting SIL professor. Mrs. Lou Hohulin lectured on conceptual structure and cognitive processing towards the end. In June 1999 Region 2 opted to try the approach. The Regional Office organized the experimental and control classes. They testedthe pupils sometime in early March.

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The test showed that the overall mean percentage score (MPS) for the experimental classes was higher than that of the control group,

Let me share some comments given by the teachers relative to the use of the FLC-BP:

• The pupils are adept at reading Ilocano and Filipino. There was easy transfer of skills from llocano to Filipino. They are not yet so fluent in English. In comprehension, they have adopted a strategy for themselves (eyesweeping) to find answers from the Ilocano chart when they are not sure oftheir answers in the English phase. • All children were active participants in the second phase ofthe lesson, the bridging part. In previous years, pupils were passive as a result of the old way of teaching. The children's active participation makes us happy teachers. We feel we are both involved in the teaching-learning process. • Except for two classes who each had five non-readers, all pupils were readers. They were good at decoding, encoding and good at answering comprehension questions as observed. • Teachers have said that they liked it so much when their childrencan answer how and why questions in Ilocano and at least do their best to also answer in English. In the traditional way of teaching, pupils did not even want to try to answer questions. • One teacher said, J am a very happy Grade I teacher today. With bridging, I have accomplished all my objectives required in Englishby the PELC. In the previous years I never finished my objectives, much as I tried. I have had drop outs in the past years. This year I have zero. This comment is shared by seven teachers who implemented the program. • Teachers who implemented the program have asked if they would be allowed to use the bridging approach in mathematics and in science. Some conjectured that since the methodology makes pupils learn, then why not extend the approach beyond Gradel? • One teacher said, I always made my pupils decode in English the previous years and thought I was successful. With bridging I have added comprehension skills to the skill of decoding in English as early as November. This method is certainly the best method because my pupils can think well and answerinferencing questions. To me, lean easily teach values education in reading because what pupils think, they can express in Ilocano. • The teachers said thatthe bridging was a very productive way of teaching. It enhanced their self-esteem because their pupils scored higher than most of the other grades in the achievement tests given at the end of the year.

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• In Lubuagan, Cordillera, I observed a class of Kindergarten. These little children were reading Lubuagan language and answering comprehension questions. At the time I observed in January,theywere already reading CVC English words. • I'd like to add a comment here ofagraduate student who concluded her thesis this school year using bridging to teach Dolch's words. Her own pupils were the control class. Another teacher's class was the experimental class. The experimental class's performance proved highly significant over the control class. Her own pupils complained that the other class had fun learning the Dolch's words whereas they didn't. In the weekly evaluation, the experimental class consistently garnered higher scores over the control group. In a school test, the teacher's own pupils scored poorly as compared to the experimental class that scored the highest among all the three sections. The graduate student felt sorry for her class. She said it wasn't fair that another teacher's class got coltectivelythehighest score. Although her class was sacrificed, she proved the methodologyeffective for teaching Dolch's words.

8. THE FIRST LANGUAGE COMPONENT-BRIDGING PROGRAM- A NUISANCE?

a6jections have been raised against the use of the FLC-BP. Some observers say that the children become dependent on the first languageby constantlyrevertingtothevernacularcognatesandgrammaticalstructures after exhausting their English knowledge in the second part of the lesson which isbridging.Gradualty,the pupils will be able to continue longer in correct English usage and fall backlessfrequently on the vernacular as they increase their skills in English acquisition. This strategy is a normal,inevitablepartofthelanguagelearningprocess. "More is better" is an argument which is logical. One member of the NVSIT Personnel during a symposium held in 1999 vehemently objectedto the program because of this logic. Let me use an analogy in this situation. Our mind has multiple channels like a television. When we switch on a particular channel on our TV set and we don't like what is onthescreen,weswitchoffandgotoanotherchannel.Suchisthemindofthechild.When a child doesn't understand what the teacher is saying, he switches off the teacher's channel and switches it on to his. His own channel may contain his hunting events. Another objection raised against First Language Component-Bridging Program is that it requires so much work. The reason why this methodology requires too much work is because the teacher-innovator has to produce all her materials including devices to teach the lessons. However, when these problems are taken care of through provision of books and other supplementary instructional materials, teaching will not be too cumbersome. Some parents also say, "Why teach our children Ilocano?" "Whyteac hourchildren Lubuagan?" When children come to school at age six or seven, they have not yet assimilated all cognates in their first language. Since they have not absorbed all concepts in their world and calling them their names, it is necessary that the school help these children acquire these concepts and their cognate words.

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Also, the intention of the FLC-BP is not to teach the first language but to use the first language as a bridge to learn the two languages: Filipino and English. The FLC-BP allows the child to pass via an overpass rather than letting him go down a deep cliff and go up on the other side of the cliff. This is dangerous. In the course of going down and going up the cliff he could lose balance and stumble and get hurt. When he does, he won't make another attempt to go down and go up that cliff. That child is our drop-out!

9. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In conclusion, I want to return to my original topic: grassroots legitimacy - the first language bridging program. What does the Philippine case study and the FLC-BP have to do with this paper? The goal of the UNESCO's latest program in education established for the twenty-first century is "toward basic education for all". This is to be realized by providing adequate education as a foundation for lifelong learning for everyone, young and old. The strategy spelled out by UNESCO promotes the use of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction, but the FLC-BP goes beyond that. The FLC-BP as a methodology for teaching is actually a bridge towards the learning of two other languages, our national language Filipino, and an internatiouallanguage English. This program is committed to the principle voiced both by EDCOM and UNESCO, It is a program which has dared to try something new in order to make learning not only easier, but also more relevant and more effective I would like to suggest to this group that the First Language Component Bridging Program is one means of attaining effective teaching. I wonld also like to suggest that some parts of the program might serve as a model for a life support system for speakers of languages other than the eight major languages, so that these languages do not die before they are affirmed and transferred. In conclusion, let us remember that beginnings are important. A pupil's beginning is crucial to his whole future, and active participation in the classroom is necessary to ensure learning that will allow children to reach their fullest potential. The bridging program methodology is based on how people learn effectively. Its strategies have been designed to use instructional materials and teaching aids which are based on the child's context, his language and his environment. We advocates of the FLC-BP wonld like to see more teachers and pupils experience the advantages of the program for the development of second language competency. Philippine society requires people to speak intelligibly in Filipino and English, not just a few who have very good English. What we need to learn as a teacher is how to help our pupils to be confident of themselves, ambitious, risk-takers who can make language work for them because they have fully internalized the operation of a second language by using their mother tongue as bridge to understand the intricacies of a second/third language. To do this we need to have confidence in ourselves and in our ability to play the role 0fthe effective teacher. Nearly all of what is taught in school is all too easily forgotten because it was based on meaningless memory. What needs to be addressed is how best to foster skills and attitudes towards learning that will carry the child for a life time. We also know that for a change of attitude to take place from the traditional mode of teaching, a shift in public opinion is necessary, and that we alone in our classrooms are not capable of effectiog it.

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Teachers are members of society and schools are part of society, not outside it. Niether is the FLC-BP as an innovation outside society. FLC-BP as an innovation is a social process. For this reason teachers need to operate with others, not against others. Innovators over the years have promoted alternative waysof learning, but they are voices in the wilderness because their ideas have been rejected by society. If the FLC-BP is to take root,ithastobelegitimized.

REFERENCES

ACIJNA, JASMIN ESPIRlTU (ed.). 1994. The Language Issue in Education. Congressional Oversight Committee on Education. Congress of the Republic of the Philippines, Manila and Quezon City. 1993. Towards A New Paradigm for Science and Mathematics Education: Integration of Cultural Heritage, Philippine Psychology and Filipino as Medium of Instruction. Curriculum Journal, Vol. NO.2 Education Forum. BAGUINGAN, GLORIA D. 1999. First Language Component Bridging Program: A Breakthrough for Second Language Competency. A paper presented at the 12th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, AILA Tokyo. _____. Demise of Indigenous Languages Spells Death to Creative Thinking and Ethnic Authenticity. A paper presented at the 12th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, AILA, Tokyo. CATHERINE. 1980. Introduction to Semantics and Translation. Dallas:

BAKER, C. 1996 (2nd ed.). Foundation of Bilingual Education. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters. BERNARDO, ALLAN B.D. with MARIANO R ST0. DOMINGO and EDITH LIANE PENA (eds). 1995. Cognitive Consequences of Literacy: Studies on Thinking in Five Filipino Communities. Manila: DECS and UP. CUMMINS, J. 1996. Negotiating Identities: Educating for Empowerment in a Diverse Society. Ontario, California Association for Bilingual Association. DAVIS, PATRICIA M. 1991. Cognition and Learning: A Review of the Literature with Reference to Ethnolinguistic Minorities. Dallas: SummerInstituteof Linguistics. DAVIS, PATRICIA M. 1991. Towards a Model for Second Language Acquisition. Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology Training (Lecture). DAVIS, PATRICIA M. 1999. Indigenization of the Curriculum: First Language Bridging Programs - Why and How: Paper Presented at Baguio City Bilingual Education Symposium. DEKKER, DIANE E. 1999. Leaving Home - My Language or Yours? Paper presented to the Centennial Congress on Bilingualism, Manila. ELIAS ANDINGRAM. Cultural Components of Reading. Singapore: RELC. GONZALEZ, ANDREW, FSC and BONIFACIO P. SIDAYAN (eds.). 1977. Language Planning. Manila: Lingnistic Society of the Philippines and Philippine Normal University, Language Study Center. 104 GRASSROOTS LEGITIMACY

____ 1998. Language Planning. In Evaluating Bilingual Education in the Philippines (1974-1985), ed. by Andrew Gonzalez, FSC and Bonifacio P. Sibayan, Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. HOHULIN, LOU E. 1993. The First Language Component Bridging Educational Program. In Philippine Journal of Linguistics. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. HAMILTON, JUDITH. 1996. Inspiring Innovation for Language Teaching. Cromwell Press. Great Britain. HOHULIN, RICHARD. 1982. "A Quest for Dynamic Equivalence in Translation" Ten Papers in Translation. Moss, Richard ed. Singapore: SEAMEO Language Center, No. 21. KHOO, MAUREEN, LEE, JUNE and LIM, AUDREY. 1995. Literacy and Biliteracy in Asia: Problems and Issues in the Next Decade. National Book Development Council of Singapore and Society for Reading and Literacy. LARSON, M.L. lind DAVIS, P.M. (eds.). 1982. Bilingual Education: An Experience in Peruvian Amazonia, Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics and Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. LEECH, GEOFFREY. 1974. Semantics. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, Ltd. LETON, DONALD A. Conditioning, Comprehension and Memory in Reading Development. A paper presented at the Asian Conference on Reading. Manila, Philippines. MEGARRY, JACQUETTA, STANLEY NISBET, and ERIC HOYLE. 1981. Education of Minorities in World Yearbook of Education 1981. London: Nichole Pub. Co. NUMA MARKEE, 1997. Managing Curricular Innovation. Cambridge University Press. PADILLA, CARLOS M. Congressman of the Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya. Statement was given in his address at 1996 Summer Open House of Instructional Materials, Graduate School, NVSIT, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. PASCASIO, EMY M. (ed). 1977. The Filipino Bilingual: Studies on Philippine Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Quezon City: Ateneo deManila Press. QUAKENBUSH, 1. STEPHEN. 1998. "Other" Philippine Languages in the Third Millennium, Linguistic Society of the Philippines. SIBAYAN, BONIFACIO P. 1994. Philippine Language Problems. Congressional Oversight Committee on Education. Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. SMITH, FRANK 1985. A Metaphor for Literacy: Creating Worlds or Shunting Information? Literacy, Language and Learning: The Nature and Consequences of Reading and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. WEST, ANNE. 199&.First Language Component. In the World of Multilingualism: the Benefits of Bilingual Education, A Global Perspective. A paper presented at Innovation in Basic Education: The First Language Component Bridging Approach. Joint Seminar of DECS-Nueva Vizcaya and SIL. PHILIPPINEJOURNALOF LINGUISTICS Volume31, Number2 December 2000

PROMOTINGLANGUAGELEARNINGIN SECONDARY ENGLISHLANGUAGETEACIDNG: THEPELT PROJECTEXPERIENCE

Ma. Luz C. Vilches Ateneo DeManila University

1. INTRODUCTION

As articulated in the objectives of this convention, one of its underlyingthemes is bilingualeducation. More specifically, the current symposium topic highlights the issue of implementation. This afternoon, my presentation is going to address, indirectly, only one aspect of this issue, that is, English language teaching, and in particular, English language teaching in Philippine secondary schools as viewed largely, but not exclusively, from the experience of the Philippines English Language Teaching (PELT) Project. First, a word about the project. The PELT Project was a four-year teacher training initiative-from 1995-1999­ made possible through the bilateral cooperation agreement between the British and Philippine Governments for the benefit of English teaching in public secondary schools in the Philippines, particularly in seven out of 16 educational regions in the country. It was managed by the British Council, and coordinated by the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching with consultancy from the Institute for English Language Education at Lancaster University in the UK. Its main aim was to promote learning in the English language classroom. How it carried out this aim is what I amgoing to share with you in my talk this afternoon. Having given this little background information on PELT, let me nowontline the three major parts of my presentation. First, I will describe the current situation of English language teaching in Philippine secondary schools at the start of PELT. Second, I will discuss PELT's response to some major issues in this situation. My conclusion will articulate some preliminary effects of the Project on the teachers that went through its training program. Let me now take you thrnugh the description of the current situation.

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2. THE CURRENT SITUATION In order to know where to begin to actuaIize this aim of promoting language learning in the English classroom and where to build from, the Project team did what is called a Baseline Study. TIlls was done through classroom observations,a study of English textbooks and lesson plans, interviews with teachers as well as supervisors and other English Language Teaching managers through all the layers of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports hierarchy, and finally, a study of the documents related to the Secondary Education Development Project, which was the World Bank project that immediately preceded PELT. We felt that any new ideas that we might introduce should add extra value to existing strengths, not contradict nor negate them. From this investigation, we found both strengths and areas for growth which up to now seem to stand out. First in the line of strengths is the SEDP English curriculum, which has set some direction for the teaching of English, with a more explicit communicative orientation. Second is the SEDP textbook series, which has provided a more tangible way by which this orientation may be actualized. Third is the SEDP mass training of teachers. It has equipped with macro skills teaching strategies those who went through the experience. Fourth is the presence of many enthusiastic and dedicated teachers who carry out their duties despite the drawbacks of crowded and poorly ventilated classrooms. The students, too, are generally well disciplined and docile learners who patiently sit through the lessons and follow all the exercises required of them by the teachers. In our study, we recognized all these strengths as a good solid foundation for the work that is being done. However, we also realized that these strengths alone were not enough to harness the teaching-learning potential in the classroom. While no one will contest that the teaching of Euglish is supposed to promote the learning of English, in reality the dynamics in the classroom is often much more complex. The key players in there may be operating from different sets of rules. Teachers have a syllabus to finish, a textbook to follow, and a lesson plan to implement. Students, on the other hand, have an exam to pass and a grade to achieve. More often than not, a lot of students, either by force of habit or as an act of faith, are known to simply abide by whatever the teacher has laid out for them in the classroom. In a situation such as this, the concern for learning can easily be relegated to the background or taken for granted or neglected altogether. This can be quite worrying, especially in Philippine secondary schools where the journey in English language teaching seems to have been going from a mainly English as a Second Language situation to the largely uncharted territory of an increasingly maiuly English as a Foreign Language situation. Teachers and students alike can no longer rely today on the external lingnistic environment to do much of their work for them. There are manymore factors that impiuge on the teaching-learning process in the classroom over which, most of the time, the teacher has no control. However, this should not be the end of story, because in the classroom the teacher's rightful sphere of influence is his or her mastery of appropriate teaching methodology. The baseline study of PELT pointed to a number of aspects of classroom methodology in which English classrooms in secondary schools need some room for growth. Let me describe these aspects of the methodology profile. The first has to do with the level of challenge, that is the kind of thinking being done by the learners. TIlls is shown in the way discussions are stroctured, specifically how reading texts are processed. More often than not, the discussions (or rather, the teacher's questions) tap Duly the basic level skill of literal

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comprehension. This means that discussionis limited only within the information given; that is, communicationactivitiesallowlearnersto pick out responsesfromand stickto ideas provided by the material and/or teacher in the lesson. Or ifan attempt is made to evoke critical thinking skills (such as: what is the central idea of the essay?),the studentsare not given enough preparationto get themselvesreadyfor this question. That is, thequestions are not sequencedprogressivelyfrom those that require literal comprehensionto those that require critical thinking. The second aspect is the degree of learner involvement,that is, how much the students are activelyparticipatingin the lessons. This is relatedto the first in that it hasto do with the manner by which information is derived by the students. In a discussion of reading texts, the teacher often switcheson the telling mode of providinginformation;that is, the teacher ends up telling the learners informationthat they oughtto lookfor, etc. For example, one often finds a situation where the teacher tells the grammar rule instead of allowingstudentsto find out for themselveswhat therule is. The third aspect is creativity of grammar work. This means how much work is being used for communicationrather than just mechanical repetition and memorizationof rules. While sentencediagrammiughasdisappeared,the presentation/practice structurehas survived. The lessonusuallybegins with the presentationof rules (e.g. the definitionsof the differentkinds of sentencesaccordingto structure- simple,compoond., compound-complex, and complex- and howtheyare formed).This presentationof rulesis followedby sentence­ level drills (e.g, changethis compoundsentenceinto a complexsentence,or join these two simple sentencesto form a compoundsentence,etc.). In a writing class,likewise,modelsof outlining and paragraph organization are presented first, then followed-upwith a similar exercise. Through all this, students seem to feel that perhaps there is no end to the repetition of grammar rules and writing patterns. They did this in grade school, they are doing it now in High School,and for thosewhowill go to college,you'll bet theywill do the same thing over again. And yet, in general, students still make the sametypesof language inaccuracies. The fourth aspect is the use of pair and small group workas a classroomlearning format, that is, the ability of the teacher to allow the learners to work more independently and interactively. Classdiscussionis largelywhole class. It is propelledby the teacher and ends with the teacher. The teacher asks questions, the students in the big group are expected to volunteer answers which are judged as right or wrongonly by the teacher. In most cases, only the intelligent and the brave risk to respond; the insecure and the indifferent (which often comprise 80% of the class) alI sink inevitably into oblivion. In other words, the level of student involvementin theclassroomis veryminimal. ifnot down to level zero. . These teachingpracticeswereobservedby PELT in 1995and I'm sure thatwhile I was describing these, many of you must have been struek by a haunting familiarity with some, if not all of them, vis-a-viscurrent experience. These practicesrevealto us that the vision of a curriculum and the ideals of a textbook do not necessarily translate to appropriate teaching methodology. Instead, what they tell us, in general, is that teaching English in Philippine secondary schools addresses mostly the learner's basic level of affective and cognitive involvement. As such it provides the security and clarity that is necessary (but not sufficient)for learning. It is necessarythat teachersgive informationto their students,that grammarrules are presented,that studentsknowthe details of a reading text. Doing all this will make the students feel secure that they have got the right

109 VILCBES

infonnation. And our teachers are very skillful in giving the stndents this type of security. But doing this alone is not enough to help develop the more encompassing skill that our students need, and that is the skill of learning. As a result of making sure that information given is correct and uniform, what seems to appear is an undue emphasis on teaching as an end in itself. It is difficult to see how most of it relates to promoting learning, which is supposed to be an embedded goal in the SEDP curriculum. To this situation, the PELT Project response came in the fonn of a teacher training program which provided a more learning-centered approach to teaching English - one in which the teaching was less of an end in itself and more of a means of facilitating learning. Let me now discuss the nature and structure of this training program.

3. THE PELT TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM

The PELT teacher training program hadtwo components. The first was seminar­ based and the second was school-based. The seminar, which lasted for two weeks, was designed to be a stepping stone from the SEDP. While the SEDP training concentrated maiuly on the teaching of the macro skills, PELT supplemented that training by cutting across teaching skills aimed at maximizing facilitation of learning. The school-based component was intended to help the teacher make the transfer of learning more effectively from the seminar to the school, so that the application of what was learned in the seminar would have a much wider dissemination in the work place on a long term basis. It must be stressed at this point that while the PELT teacher training program was concerned with helping teachers become effective facilitators of learning among their stndents, it was equally concerned with facilitating teacher learning. The teacher factor is crucial in the learning process. The PELT Project wasof the belief that before teachers can guide learners towards greater autonomy, teachers themselves need to experience this in their own leaming; PELT wanted to highlight this issue as preliminary, in fact, to any sensible discussion of effective learner development in the classroom How did PELT address this issue in its teacher training program? The approach can be summarized in three steps, much like undertaking a journey. The first step wasto try to help the teachers work out where they were starting from; the second was to show them some of the sights that lay ahead in the direction of the general potential destination; and the third was to help them along the road. This last step was dependent on their interest and/or feelings about their ability to make the journey towards these presented sights. In practical terms this was done in the PELT training seminars by first of all raising teachers' awareness about the main focus of current practice as I already described earlier. After raising teachers' awareness about the current practice, they were then shown how these behaviors could be refined and developed by the addition of practices such as the following: ~ Giving exercises that challenge the learners' inferential and evalnative abilities, e.g. asking the students to consider further implications of information. Strncturing a lesson more cohesively towards a meaningful task (a problem to solve) which challenges the learners to decide on the appropriate linguistic tool and content knowledge required to fulfill this task; or also arranging the activities in gradual progression of complexity, each one leading to another - all in view of preparing the

110 PELT PROJECTEXPERIENCE

learner to carry out the culminating task as successfully as possible.

'iF Doing discussions in small groups, where appropriate, to challenge learners to express themselves and work out a problem through collaborative effort; to help them build confidence in sharing what they know and asking help for what they don't; finally, challenging learners to make decisions and take responsibility for these. In a grammar class, students go beyond sentence-level practice throngh producing a communicative task that is meaningful, and where learners use in context the appropriate grammar called for. Through meaningful practice and communication tasks, learners discover rules of grammar or reflect on processes of arriving at solutions to problems. After having gone through these two steps via workshops and feedback-giving on outputs, the teachers were finally given the opportunity to choose one of the areas to investigate further back in their teaching at the schools. They were supported in this by a follow-up action plan, devised in collaboration with the trainers during the seminar and executed afterwards with the support of the school ELT management. This action plan acted as their personal "route map" for the journey ahead, with the trainers and ELT managers assisting, to extend the metaphor, as "tour guides." Clearly, the statement PELT wanted to make in all this was that, for an educational change process in the classroom to occur, a change process in the teacher hasfirst to take place. The teaching-learning gap in the classroom can be bridged if the teacher is willing to be a learner again. That is why, in the PELT teacher training model, the seminar is considered simply as the trigger to teacher learning. For true learning to occur, it has to be sustained through guided reflection on actual classroom experience as a spin-off from what has been learned in the seminar. We recognize, of course, that since the classroom is a part of a bigger educational context, a chain of compatible and synchronized changes needs to occur ultimately in the other areas of the entire system in order to support and sustain the change that we want to happen in the classroom.

4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

To sununarize the discussion so far in this presentation, there are two points I want to make. First. English language teaching in Philippine secondary schools needs to be more consciously veered away from its tendency to make leaching an end in itself, forgetting that it is just a means to facilitating learning. As Kahlil Gibran's TheProphetputs it: The astronomer mayspeakto you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. The musician may sing to yon ofthe rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you theear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it. Second, the teacher factor is crucial to this goal of facilitating learning. To continue the quotes from Gibran: If he [the teacher] is indeed wisehe does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.

III VILCHES

That's what it means to facilitate learning. But in order to make this happen, teachers themselves must experience autonomy in their own learning. One way of promoting this is through process-oriented training programs that challenge teachers to become aware of their current practice, learn how to build on its strengths, and discover ways of improving their weaknesses on an incremental, on-going basis. This was what the PELT Project attempted to do. I would like to end this presentation by posing and answering a classicquestion which anyone may well ask at the end of a project: what good has PELT brought to the teaching of English in the country? It seems too early to evaluate thoroughly the gains from theProject. But informal feedback from teacher trainees has been positive, main lystressing how the training has made them become more reflective of their own practice, and how it has made them understand better the relationship between the theory and the practice of language teaching. During the lifetime of the Project, we monitored closely the developments in the field. Through our monitoring workshops with teachers as well as observation of actual classroom teaching, we discovered that there was a general increase in overall teaching competence among those that had trained in the Project. Reports from our surveys also showed that teachers had developed higher professional self-esteem as well as greater structure and self-direction. It was the hope of PELT that these positive developments would significantly affect the enhancement of the learners' communicative competence in English. This is the same hope that the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching lives by as we continue to sustain the gains from PELT and apply its principles and practice through our teacher training programs for Philippine ELT.

REFERENCES

BUREAU OF SECONDARY EDUCATION. 1991. Desired Learning Competencies: English. Manila: DECS. BUREAU OF SECONDARY EDUCATION. 1993. Manual ofInformation on Secondary Education. Manila: DECS. BUREAU OF SECONDARY EDUCATION. 1995. "Education in the Philippines: Focus on Secondary Education." Mimeographed. CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION ON EDUCATION. 1993. Basic Education, v. I. The Educational Ladder, Book 2. Making Education Work. Quezon City: Congressional Oversight Committee on Education. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT DIVISION. 1994. "Curricular Reform: Towards Relevant Secondary Education." Philippine Department of Education, Culture and Sports. Unpublished MS. FREEMAN, D. AND J. RICHARDS (eds.). 1996. Teacher Learning in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. FULLAN, M. 1991. The New Meaning of Educational Change. London: Cassell. GARCIA, E. 1997. "The Language Policy in Education." In Bautista, M.L. (ed.) English is an Asian Language. Macquarie: The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd., pp. 73-86.

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GONZALEZ, A. 1997. "The History of English in the Philippines." In Bautista, M.L. (ed.) English is an Asian Language. Macquarie: The Macquarie Library Pty.Ltd., pp. 25-40. GONZALEZ, A. 1998. "Structuralist and Post-structuralist Linguistics in the Philippines." Unpublished paper delivered at the Pre-congress of the Philippine Social Science Council in Manila. GRADDOL, D. 1997. The Future of English? London: The British Council. LLAGAS, A. 1993. "SEDP and Beyond." Unpublished paper delivered at a conference for administrators in a town outside of Manila. PELT PROJECT INFORMATION SHEETS, Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching, Ateneo de Manila University. PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT ON THE SECONDARY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (SEDP) Philippines" (no date). Unpublished MS. RICHARDS, J. 1990. "The Dilemma of Teacher Education in Second Language Teaching." In Richards, J. and D. Nunan (eds.). Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ___. 1998. Beyond Training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. WALLACE, M. 1996. "Structured reflection: The role of the professional project in training ESL teachers." In D. Freeman & J. Richards (eds.), Teacher Learning in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. WATERS, A. 1995. "Report on a Consultancy Visit to the Philippines English Language Teaching Project 27 August - 11 September, 1995." Unpublished MS. WATERS, A. AND M. VILCHES. 1998. "Foundation-Building and Potential-Realizing: The PELT ELT Paradigm (Or: The Learning Cake). The ACELT Journal 2 (I): 3-11.

113 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 1987 POLICY ON BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN CEBUANO AND HILIGAYNON TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Gloria G. Fuentes University ofSt. La Salle, Bacolod City

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Preliminaries

In 1973, the Department of Education issued Department Order No.9 which stated that the National Board of Education supported the policy of developing a bilingual nation. Since then the Bilingual Education Policy, popularly known as BEP, has been in implementation for the past 25 years. When the 1987 Constitution was ratified, the Education Department revised the BEP and came up with the 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education. This policy has essentially the same provisions as the 1974 policy, except for some additional provisions such as giving to the tertiary institutions the task of spearheading the intellectualization of Filipino (Gonzalez&Sibayan,1988). As stated in the implementing guidelines, the BEP should be evaluated regularly. Thus in 1986, the Bilingual Education Policy had its first summative evaluation conducted by a team from the Linguistic Society of the Philippines. One of the subsidiary studies was that of Segovia, which looked the implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy at the tertiaryleve1 (Gonzalez&Sibayan,1988). The present study serves to address the need for an on-going evaluation process. The researcher, in her review of related studies, has not come across a study focusing on the extent of the BEP implementation at the tertiary level since the 1986 study of Segovia. Hence, this study is a follow up of Segovia's study but is limited to the Cebuano (Cebu City and Dumaguete City) and Hiligaynon (Iloilo City and Negros Occidental) tertiary schools. Segovia's study was based on the 1974 Bilingual Education Policy. This study, however, has the 1987 BEP as its basis. Some variables in the earlier study were not included in this study; instead, English and Filipino language proficiencyleve1s (in Writing and Reading Comprehension) of both freshman and senior education students, language use in classrooms, and the attitudes of the parents toward the BEP were added.

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1.2 Statement oftbe Problem

This study aims to determine the status of implementation of the 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education at the tertiary level in three non-Tagalog areas: Cebu and Dumaguete, iloilo, and Negros Occidental. Specific questions were formulated for implementing and non-implementing schools. However, this study was able to address only the questions for non-implementing schools since all respondent schools claimed no implementation. Thus, there were only three questions that were addressed: What are the concepts and perceptions of administrators, teachers, and students about the BEP and what are their attitudes towards it? L2.b Is there a difference between thefindings of the present study with regard to the Hiligaynon respondents' concepts and perceptions about the BEP when compared with those of the 1986 study? 1.2.c What is/are the langnage/s used in the classrooms?

1.3 Scope and Limitations oftbe Study

Since the study covered four provinces - Cebu, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Iloilo - travel imposed some limitations on the data collection procedures. The researcher had to contend with those who were available during the scheduled visit and the observations focused only on teacher talk. In the interview, the term Filipino was defined as Tagalog-based, This was explained to the respondents only after they asked, "What Filipino?" and they explained that their answers would depend on what Filipino the researcher wasreferring to. In some schools, only five instead of six respondents were interviewed because the positions of chairperson and dean were held by only one person. In the comparison of the 1986 and 1999 results, only the Iloilo-Hiligaynon group was included. The results of the Cebuano group could not be compared because the earlier study involved other Cebnano speaking regions and desegregated data was not available for the Cebu sample. Furthermore, the comparison of findings was done using percentages only because the number of respondents in the studies was not the same.

2. METHODOLOGY

The research design was patterned after that of Segovia's 1986 study. The study made use of the survey method to obtain the data. The results are presented either qualitatively or quantitatively.

ns 1987 POLICYON BILINGUALEDUCATION

2.1 Sampling

The present stndy included all the nine schools of the Hiligaynon group andeight schools of the Cebuano group of the 1986 study. However, only seven Cebu schools were actually surveyed because one of the respondent schools was no longer operating. As for the additional eight schools in Negros Occidental, all tertiary schools with teacher training programs in Bacolod City were included in the stndy together with two other schools from the neighboring cities of Silayand Bago. There were a total of 24 participating schools. For the survey of perceptions and attitndes toward the BEP, six respondents from each school were interviewed: two school administrators (the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Head of the Social Science Department or the unit offering thesocial science subjects taught in Filipino); two faculty members (one from the Social Science and one from the Natural Science Department); and two stndent leaders (Chairperson/President of the Stndent Council and the Editor-in-chief of the stndent publication). The stndyalso included classroom observations where four schools from each area of coverage, two private and two public schools, were observed. Four classes from each school were observed - two social science classes, one math class, and one natural science class.

2.2 Materials

2.2.a Instruments Since the study was primarily a follow-up of Segovia's 1986 evaluation, the researcher used her instruments: 1) Guide for Documentary Analysis and Accompanying Instructions; 2) Interview Guide for Administrators andFacnlty of Implementing Schools with Accompanying Instructions; 3) Interview Guide for Students with Accompanying Instructions; 4) Interview Guide for Admiuistrators and Facu1ty of Non-Implementing Schools with Accompanying Instructions. Since all the respondent schools were non-implementing, only instruments number 3 and 4 were used.

2.2.b Procedure for Data Collection

To find out the concepts and perceptions of administrators and teachers about the Bilingual Education Policy of non-implementing schools, the researcher conducted interviews which were recorded for analysis. The interviews with students were mainly on their experiences and perceptions on the use of English and Filipino as languages of instruction and the effects of the BEP on the qnality of their education. To find out the language use of teachers in theclassrooms of non­ implementing schools, classroom observations were conducted to validate the claims made during the interview. The researcher observed the classes for at least 30 minutes from the beginning of the class session. Observations focused ou1y on teacher-talk and these sessions were taped for analysis.

117 FUENTES

2.3 Data Analysis

Data from theinterviews were categorized and simple frequency counts were set up in distribution tables; frequencies were converted into percentages. With regard to classroom observations, the tape recordings of teacher-talk were analyzed nsing Bellack's classroom discourse categories: structuring. soliciting. responding, and, reacting (Coulthard, 1977). Lastly, with regards to identifying the dominant language in code-switches, transcription was again not necessary because the dominant language, which was often English, was not difficult to identify. The local language was frequently in words or phrasesouly(ortags).

3. FINDINGS

Since the results of the survey showed that all respondent schools were non­ implementing, there were ouly three questions that were addressed'

What are the concepts and perceptions of the school heads, faculty members, and students about the BEP and their attitudes towards it? l.b Is there a difference between the findings of the present study with regard to the respondents' concepts and perceptions of the BEP and those of the 1986 study? What is/are the language/s used in the classrooms of non-implementing schools?

3.1 On the extent of REP implementation. Twenty-four schools surveyed revealed that they did not implement the Bilingual Education Policy. These schools were non-implementing in the sense that: 1. There were no on-going programs for the implementation of the policy. English was the only recognized medium of instruction with the other languages as supplementary only as expressed during the interview. 2. Conferenceslseminars/lectures were conducted mostly in English except during special occasions such as the Linggo ng Lahi. 3. There were no institutional memoranda that specifically instructed the faculty members to implement the policy. Although in some schools the teachers claimed that the administration appreciated any initiatives from them concerning the implementation of the policy, the researcher could not consider this as compliance with the government's bilingual program because of the absence of concrete programs. Having one or two teachers nsing Filipino was not implementation of thepolicy.

118 1987 POLICY ON BJLINGUAL EDUCATION

All respondents during the interview confirmed the status of implementation. Comparing the resnlts of the present study involving nine Iloilo-Hiligaynon schools with those of the 1986 study, the status of implementation was better then because, when these schools were first surveyed, five of them claimed to beimplementing the bilingual program. There were many reasons cited, but it was the lack of strong support and campaign from the government that was most frequently given.

3.2 On teachers' contributions to the implementation of the REP. It is obvious from the results of the 1999 survey that since 1986, there hasbeen no progress in the following aspects ofBEP implementation:

teachers who use Filipino as medium of instruction teachers who prepare materials in Filipino teachers who publish scholarly articles in Filipino teachers and administrators who write theses and dissertations in Filipino conferences/lectures/seminars conducted regularly in Filipino In Cebu and Negros Occidental, not one has been reported in any of the above areas. The Iloilo group has at least one teacher who conducts his social science classes and prepares materials in Filipino. This wasalso reflected in the 1986 results,

3.3 On languageJs used in school publications. Again not much has happened with regard to the role of Filipino in education. In the case of language!s used in school papers, out of 24 schools, 18 claimed to have Filipino sections in their school publications. However, when asked for the percentage of the paper that is in Filipino, not one gave a percentage of more than 15%. This shows that the inclusion of a Filipino section in the school paper seems to be more of doing what is "politically correct" than appreciation of the language. This result has been observed, too, in the comparison of the responses in the 1986 and 1999 studies involving the Iloilo-Hiligaynon respondents. The resnlts of the study showed that Cebuanos are generally less positive than Hiligaynons. This was shown by the smaller difference between the percentages of the positive andnegative answers when compared with those of the Hiligaynons. Particularly, this was revealed in the responses to questions regarding: a) Filipino as a language of unity and national identity b) . Being a nationalist and facility in Filipino c) BEP and the cause of nationalism d) Use of Filipino as medium of instruction in math and science e) Resistance to the use of Filipino as medium of instruction among administrators, faculty, and students

119 FUENTES

3.4 On Filipino as a language of unity and national identity. The majority accepted Filipino as a language of unity and language identity because they believed that many Filipinos now have competence in the language. Those who disagreed expressed the perception that Filipino is synonymous to Tagalog. However, Cebuanos still did not think of Filipino as an appropriate language of unity and national identity. Comparing the responses of the lloilo-Hiligaynon group in the present study with those in the 1986 survey, it was shown that theyhave remained positive to the idea.

3.5 On being a nationalistand hflVingfacility in Filipino. Ninety per cent of the respondents believed that they were nationalistic despite their lack of competence in Filipino. Considering the trend among Cebuano respondents, it was not surprising that 100% said Yes to the question. They explained that language was not a measure of one's nationalism. Similar results were observed in comparing the responses of the 1986 and the 1999 lloilo-Hiligaynon respondents.

3.6 On REP and the cause ofnationalism. A majority of the respondents (84%) in all three groups, Cebuanos, Ilonggos, and Negrenses, thought that the BEP could help advance the cause of nationalism. However, 33% of the Cebuanos believed otherwise, and this percentage was much higher that the 8% and 9% of llonggns and Negrenses, respectively. The figures show Cebuanos being consistently less positive than Hiligaynons. Although the majority said Yes, they still believed that the BEP implementation could not guarantee the development of nationalism; it could only help. Unlike in 1986, where 44% said Yes and 37% of the lloilo-Hiligaynon respondents were uncertain, the 1999 study showed a very clear margin between the Yes and No responses - 92% and 8% respectively.

Filipino is still not acceptable as a medium of instruction for both Hiligaynons and Cebuanos. That Cebuanos are less positive than Hiligaynons in their attitudes is shown in their responses to the questions on medium of instruction too.

3.7 On Filipino as a medium of instruction in collegemath and science. Seventy-two per cent of the respondents believed that it was not possible yet for Filipino to become the medium of instruction in college math and science. Ifsome Hiligaynons found the idea acceptable, none of the Cebuanos did The problem with vocabulary which could be attributed to the lack of teaching materials in Filipino was the most commonly given reason. The I1oilo-Hiligaynon respondents have not changed their belief that Filipino was not an appropriate medium of instruction in college math and science.

3.8 On suggestions regarding language of instruction. The results regarding other options for the language of instruction show the acceptance of educational institutions of code-switching. English was still preferred as the language of instruction but for the respondents, code-switching in English, the local language, and Filipino is better. In 1986, the suggestions of the llonggos revealed English as the only preferred language in the classroom. In the present study, however, the Ilonggo respondents believed that code­ switching is better than English.

120 1987POLICY ON BILINGUAL EDUCATION

3.9 On the resistance to the use of Filipino among administrators/faculty members/students. A majorityof the respondentsexpressed no resistance to the use of Filipino as mediumof instruction exceptthe Cebuanos;72% of them expressedresistance.The comparisonof the 1986 and 1999 resultsshoweda change in the attitudesof Hiligaynons from negativeto positive. 3.10 On the reasonsfor resistance to the use of Filipino as medium of instruction. The results are quite expectedbecause of the current status of English in Philippine society. The most :frequentlygiven reasons were: I) the need for mastery in English to succeedin one's career; 2) the lack of teaching materialsin Filipino; 3) the lack of teachers competentin Filipino. The Ilonggo respondentsof the present study no longer considered lack of competentteachers in Filipino as the primary reason, unlike in 1986 when 81% of them believed that this was a major problem. Instead, lack of teaching materials in Filipino wasthe number one reason of the 1999 Ilonggorespondentsfor their resistance. Regarding competence in English and Filipino, respouses have revealed the dominance of English in the society. Although students' competence in Filipino was perceivedby the majorityto be better than their English competence,it was not considered an advantage as far as increasing their chances of improving their lives was concerned. English was still consideredas a significantfactorin achievingsuccessin one's profession. The improvementin the perceptionof Filipinocompetenceis not surprisingconsideringthe increasingpopularityof Filipino,which maybe attributedto media. Filipinoshowsnoware popular based on the significant increase in the number of such shows. It is, however, noteworthythat many of the respondentsthought that it wasmore of confidencethan pride that they got from their English competence. The respondents in the 1986 and 1999 surveys had almost similar answers where perception of English competencebeing a necessaryweaponin thebattle for successwas shown.

3.11 On the REP and college graduates. The respondentswere dividedon this issue. The percentage of the non-accepting group is only one per cent more than the accepting group - 48% and 47% respectively. The reasons often cited by those who did not supportthe ideathat the BEP producedbetter collegegraduateswasthe beliefthat it did not address the needof the graduatesto developcompetencein English, which impliedthat "better collegegraduates"shonldbe proficientin English becauseit wasimportantin one's success. This is understandablebecause it cannot be deuied that English has remained socially and economically rewarding in Philippine society. Again, there were more Cebuanos who disagreedthan Hiligaynons. The results of the present study involvingthe Iloilo-Hiligaynonrespondentsshoweda positivechange in the perceptionof therespondents when compared with those in 1986. A majoritynegative responsewas given in the 1986 survey.

3.12 On the likely outcomes of REP implementation. The responses to the question regarding the most likely outcomesof BEP implementationshow the concept of Filipino as having a more symbolic function - symbol of national identity. The respondents chose: 1) faster developmentof Filipino; 2) inculcation of nationalist values through the use of Filipino as medium of instruction in social science c~; ~d 3) improvementof both English and Filipinocompetenceamong students. The third choice 1S FUENTES

at least related to the instrumental advantage of the BEP. Again, Cebuanos have a different perception, particularly in their third choice: "the improvement of Filipino but deterioration of English." This is a more negative perception of the BEP compared to the first two choices. Comparing the results of the lloilo-Hiligaynon respondents in 1986 and 1999, it was observed that almost similar choices were reported in both studies.

3.13 On the language/s used in the classroom. The results of classroom observations showed that all teachers who were observed did their structuring in English. Ninety-six per cent of the lectures were in English and only 4% code-switching - in English and the local language. The use of code-switching wasobserved to occur usually when giving real-life experiences as examples. In other instances, code-switching was only in the form of tags. Similar behavior was observed during soliciting, responding, and reacting moves: English when it was about the lesson and code-switching or the local language when it was not. 4, CONCLUSIONS

Based on the above findings, the study revealed a failure in the implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy among Cebnano and Hiligaynon tertiary institutions. Developing competence in English is the main objective of the Cebnano and Hiligaynon tertiary institutions and the BEP is perceived as a non-contributing factor to the accomplishment of this goal. This situation is further confirmed by the results of classroom observation which showed English being the main medium of instruction in practically all subjects. The Bilingual Education Policy was formulated to address the language needs of Filipinos. Like any other developing nation whose one concern is to create a common nationwide, ethnic and cultural identity through a national language (Fishman, 1968), the Philippines has chosen the Filipino language to fulfill this need. English, on the other hand, hasbeen identified as the language needed "to meet the needs of the country in the community of nations" (DECS Order No. 52, s 1987). Based on the findings of the study, Filipino is now acceptable as a language of unity and a symbol of national identity even among Cebuanos, whose resistance hasalways been evident. However, the results showed that a majority believed that being an appropriate national language did not make it an appropriatelanguageofinstmction, in the subjects of science and math. This is because Filipino is perceived to have more of a symbolic than functional purpose in the lives of Filipinos. English is still viewed as the language of success. In addition, the resnlts of the study revealed that a majority believed that they were nationalistic despite their lack of competence in the national language. This finding may be interpreted to mean that in a mnltilingual society like the Philippines, the people's sense of nationalism is strongly attached to their mother tongue, and so their lack of competence in the national language does not make them less nationalistic. The strong perception is that there are other waysto achieve nationalism aside from having a national language. Thus, the need to attain nationalism through a common language is perceived to be less urgent than the need to achieve economic success, because being a Cebuano or a Hiligaynon is not different from being a Filipino. On the other hand, having competence in English is a major requirement in realizing economic success because it has remained the language of the controlling domains, particnlarly government, business, and higher education. The school alone, therefore, caunot cause language change, in this case Filipino replacing English in the

122 1987POLICYON BILINGUALEDUCATION

controlling domains; it can advance this change but cannot actually cause it. After all, the school's objectives are based on the needs of the society. There are other sectors in the society that have to contribute to bring about this change - such as government and business. Considering the most frequently cited reason for the schools' non-implementation of the policy, which was the lack of government support, it is not surprising that BEP implementation has failed particularly among the Cebuano and Hiligaynon communities. Furthermore, effecting language change becomes a more difficult task in a bilingual setting where the two languages involved are not of equal level in terms of cultivation and prestige (Gonzalez, 19%). Developing a positive attitude towards the inferior language, in this case Filipino, is not enough to motivate the people to use it as medium of instruction as long as the coutrolling domains are in the other language, that is, English. The Hiligaynons exemplify this; their not being resistant to Filipino even as medium of instruction did not make them implementors of the BEP. In fact, despite there being no change in their attitude 13 years after the first survey, there has been a sharp decline in the status of implementation - from five schools out of nine to none. Even the claimed improved competence in Filipino among teachers and students did not give them the desireto use Filipino as medium of instruction. The above observations give an insight regarding the role of second languages (Filipino and English) in a multilingual society such as the Philippines. It must be noted that the Philippines, uulike other multilingual societies in Africa, India, etc., is an archipelago composed of thousands of islands which up to now are still very much separated from each other because of lack of bridges. The desire to acquire a second language among Filipinos is due more to instrumental than integrative reasons. Filipinos identify more with their regional ethnicity than with the national identity. The integrative function of language is already fulfilled by the mother tongue. Filipino as a language for national unity has a less important function iu the lives of Filipinos. English, another second language, is the one which has the instrumental function; thus, it is perceived to be more vital. As long as other sectors of the society, especially government and business agencies, continue to conduct their daily activities in English, the idea of having Filipino replace English will remain a vision. As pointed out earlier, Filipino is now acceptable as a medium of instruction among Hiligaynons but their not using it is due primarily to lack of teaching materials in Filipino. However, one cannot expectthat theavailability of materials will naturally result in implementation of the policy. Filipino still has no instrumental purpose in the society and it has been shown in the results of the study that this is the stronger motivating force among the people as far as learning and using a second language is concerned. Hence, creating a functional purpose for Filipino must be given importance in the taskof language planning. The cultivation of an intellectnally modernized Filipino (as termed by Sibayan, 1991) must be done side by side with the creation ofa functional purpose fur Filipino. The policy's provision which requires the tertiary institutions to lead in the process of intellectualization must be implemeuted. However, again this takes a long time to realize; programs for this purpose must be sustained in order for the implementation of the BEP to move forward rather than regress.

123 FUENTES

On code-switching, its high acceptability as language behavior in the classroom among edncators should not be viewed as a compensatory measure among the students for their deteriorating competence in English. This is a part of the slow process of language cultivation where Filipino is enriched with lexical elements of the languages that compose the langnage repertoire of the people. To conclude, education as an aspect of society is not a separate element. As shown in the findings of the study, a policy implemented without the support of the other elements in the society has very little chance of success. Having a bilingual system of education addresses a need vital to the survival of a developing nation like the Philippines. However. as revealed by 25 years of experience in a bilingual educational system, legislation alone cannot bring about the expected results. The cultivation or death of a language depends upon the dynamics of the society. Language develops because people, realizing their need for it in order to survive, use it. This process of cultivation is long and slow. In the case of Filipino, there are evidences of this continuing process and progress.,to some extent, has been achieved. As Sibayan has said, it maytake a hundred yearsto realize the vision of having a generation completely educated in Filipino. However, there is hope for this in the near future as long as all sectors of the societydo their part.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, the researcher offers the followingreeommendations:

1. The goverrunent should make the provision of teaching materials in Filipino a priority among the programs to be developed in addressing the identified problems. 2. The people should be made aware of the work/accomplishments of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in the development of the Filipino language emphasizing the latest lexical additions from other Philippine languages. By doing this, the concept of Filipino being synonymous with Tagalog will be corrected, and so the sense of bias attached to it will be removed. 3. A massive information campaign should be conducted regarding the benefits of bilingual education and how it is to be implemented, especially among schoolsinthernralareas. 4. There should be a follow-up of the 1986 evaluation of the implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy at the tertiary . level involving other ethnoliguisticgronps. 5. A similar study at the elementary and secondary level must be made to find out whether claims that social scieuce subjects in these levels are taught in English despite having textbooks in Filipino are correct or not. 6. Schools should develop programs to enhance the perceived improved proficiency in Filipino in order to produce a generation that not only understands but also speaks Filipino competently, especially among the non­ Tagalog speakers.

124 1987 POLICY ON BILINGUALEDUCATION

REFERENCES

COULTHARD, M. 1977. An introduction to discourse analysis. Burnt Mill, Harlow: Longman. GONZALEZ, A. 1996. Using two/threelanguages in Philippine classroom: implications for policies, strategies and practices. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 17(2-4),210-219. GONZALEZ, A. & SffiAYAN, B. (Eds.), 1988. Evaluating bilingual education in the Philippines (1974-1985). Manila: LinguisticSocietyofthePhilippines. SEGOVIA, L. 1986. The implementation of the bilingual policy on the tertiary level. In Gonzalez A. B. & SibayanB. P. (Eds.) 1986. Eleven years of bilingual schooling in thePhi!ippines(l974-l985). Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. SffiAYAN, B. 1991. The intellectualization of Filipino. In Sibayan, 1999, The inte!1ectualization of Filipino and other sociolinguistic and education essays (pp.447­ 457). Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. FISHMAN, J. 1968. Sociolinguistics and the language problems of developing countries. In Fishman, J., Ferguson, C.A., & Gupta, J. (Eds.), Language problems of developing nations (pp.3-13). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

125 PHlLIPPINE JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS Volume 31, Number 2 December 2000

A CORRELATION STUDY OF SELECTED VARIABLES OF THE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF ATENEO DE DAVAO HIGHSCHOOL

Romulo C. Espina Ateneo de Davao University

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. The study that I'm going to share with you today is a correlation studywhich I made as a requirement of the subject Fundamentals of ESL Research underDr. Pascasio When she asked me to present my findings of this study, I was hesitant. Besides the fact that I feel terrified speaking in a public gathering like this, it's just a correlation study. It's not even an in-depth one. But she convinced me that it's a study made outside MetroManila. That makes it important. Conventions organized by the Linguistic Society of the Philippines have been satnrated with studies made in the National Capital Region; it's good to hear one made from far away places like Davao City, she added. So here I am. Besides, who wants to tum down one's professor? Ateneo de Davao High School, like other so-called reputable schools, hasbeen administering tests to its incoming freshman students in the areas of language (English), Mathematics, and Science. The entrance test is one of the instruments used to admit only the academically capable. In the beginning, Ateneo de Davao was a school for boys, but in the late 70's, it went co-ed to keep itself viable. Over the years, more and more students from other elementary schools have enrolled here. Along with this is the growing number of girls. Today, students coming from other schools have outnumbered those who consider themselves the blue-blooded Ateneans, and the girls have a slight edge over the boys in number. In the early years, the school used the Otis Self-Administering Test of Mental Ability to screen incoming applicants. Later it adopted the Stanford Achievement Test, which it's still using. Have the increase in the number of students coming from other grade schools and the growing popnlation of girls affectedthe entrance test's ability to predict an applicant's capacity for freshman work? This is what this studywanted to find out. The hypotheses I wanted to test werethe following: There is no relationship between the entrance test scores and the final grades in English of a) the freshman students of Ateneo de Davao; b) the freshman students coming from Ateneo Grade School;

127 ESPINA

c) the freshman students coming from other elementary schools; d) the boys; e) the girls. Forty percent of the first year population was used in this study comprising 255 students. The instruments used were the entrance test scores and the final grades the students obtained in English. The means and the standard deviations were computed to arrive at a description of the academic achievement of the students and the coefficient of correlation was computed to determine the relationship between the two variables. What were my findings? Comparing the figures obtained by the Ateneans and the non-Ateneans in Table I, you'll notice that the former performed better. There are more Ateneans belonging to the high average categories; theyalsohavefewerlowaverageandno disadvantaged. Between the boys and the girls, the latter did better. There are more girls in the high average and average categories, but less low average and disadvantaged. These data show that the Ateneans and the girls were more academically prepared than their counterparts.

Table I-Scores

As regards achievement in grades (Table 2), again the Ateneans performed better. More of them are high and fair achievers, and only few are on the borderlineandfailing. The girls, too, did better. They have more high and fair achievers and less on the borderline and failures. From these data we can say that the Ateneans and the girls are better performers thantheircounterparts,butthenon-Ateneanshavemanagedtonarrowthegap.

Table2--Grades

128 CORRELATION STUDYOF SELECTEDVARIABLES

These observations are supported by the data in Tables 3 and 4. In scores, the Ateneans have a mean of 88.7 against 80.9 of the non-Ateneans. The former's SD also shows more clustering of scores, though the difference is not very significant. The girls also performed better, with 87.9 against 80A of the boys. As regards grades, the Ateneans have a slight edge (82.9 vs. 81.35), but both groups have a similar composition of members, their SD being the same. The girls did better than the boys and area little more homogeneous.

Table3-Scores

Table 4-Gl'ades

Table S shows a significant correlation between the scores and the grades. Forthe entire population, the correlation is significant (r = .7). The Ateneans and the non­ Ateneans have an equal correlationof.9,which is very high. The boys and the girls have almost the same correlation (which is stillhigh),with the latter enjoying a slight edge.

Tablec-Correlation-r

Results of this study show that the entrance test used by Ateneo de Davaoisagood predictor of success. The scores relate usefully to grades. I have recognized some limitations in this study, so my recommendations are: I. In order to have abetter picture of how effective this entrance test is, a study should be made to include the other sub-tests of the exam, like Mathematics and Science. It should also include the social and economic profiles of the students. In my study I assumed that the students of Ateneo de Davao mostly come from the middle and upper middle class families of Davao City and its neighboring towns and provinces. 2. Another study should also be made to determine the performance of the students over a period of time, say four years.

129 ESPINA

In conclusion, the entrance test of Ateneo de Davao High School is a valid screening instrument. The increase in the number of students coming from other grade schools did not have any negative effect on the school's standard, and making Ateneo a co­ ed institntion had a positive effecton the students' overall performance.

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