Proposed Revitalization Program of the Chabacano Language in City: A Language Planning Approach

Christian George Francisco, De La Salle University-Dasmariñas

Abstract

A several number of language scholars have proved that the existence of Chabacano language in Cavite City is leading to its death. Chabacano has been the language of the people in Cavite City as a product of their wide social interactions with the Spaniards during the 16th century. Escalante (2005) described Chabacano as a slowly becoming a dead language with fast diminishing number of speakers. Romanillos (2006), on the other hand, posed that Chabacano is forcibly pushed towards its gradual decadence due to the superiority of the language used in mass media. Pareja’s research in 2014 posited that Chabacano in Cavite City is an endangered language where language obsolescence approach was employed in the study.

The present research will primarily look at how Chabacano language in Cavite City can be revitalized using language planning (LP) approach. Eastman (1971) defines language planning as a decision making that goes into determining what language use is appropriate in a particular speech communities. In addition, LP looks at the possible choices available to a speech community and at possible recommendations of language policy for adoption by that community. The need to revitalize the Chabacano language in Cavite City will help preserve not only the language, but also the cultural heritage of its people so that the next generation Caviteños could have a trace of their roots.

This paper shall also yield to various actions and recommendations in relation to political, religious, academic, and cultural components as far as language planning is concerned. It will highlight processes and specific programs that will help revitalize the Chabacano language in Cavite City.

Keywords: Chabacano, language planning, language revitalization, Cavite City, sociolinguistics

Introduction

A several number of language scholars have proved that the existence of Chabacano language in Cavite City is heading towards its death. Language death occurs due to many factors such as low level of loyalty among speakers of the language, people migration, usability and practicality, social status, among others. In the case of Chabacano in Cavite City, Escalante (2005) described Chabacano as a slowly becoming a dead language with fast diminishing number of speakers. Romanillos (2006), on the other hand, posed that Chabacano is forcibly pushed towards its gradual decadence due to the superiority of the language used in mass media. Pangilinan, in his article published in 2009 made mention of “Ito (launching of Dia de Chabacano, a competition participated in by elementary and high school students in Cavite City) ay isang magandang simulain upang lumaganap muli ang ating salitang Chabacano. This connotes vanishing of Chabacano for there is a need to continuous widespread of the said language. While Pareja’s

116 research in 2014 posited that Chabacano in Cavite City is an endangered language where language obsolescence approach was employed in the study.

Chabacano has been the language of the people in Cavite City as a product of their wide social interactions with the Spaniards during the early 17th century. From then on, a speech community where mixed languages of Portuguese, Spanish, and Malayan were formed, and later, the local languages have also been comprised (Romanillos, 2006). This linguistic setting gave birth to Chabacano language in the as one general variety, and has produced several ones in other places of the country specifically in Southern Philippines as widely spoken.

Cavite City, considering its topography, may be best described as a strategic place where cultural diversity meets. Its accessibility to and other provinces in the region may have an effect to its people in the power domains of politics, economy, and culture. This paper shall dwell on Chabacano as a dying language and its revitalization processes leading to its preservation employing the principles of language planning.

The present research primarily looked at how Chabacano language in Cavite City can be revitalized through language planning (LP). Eastman (1971) defines language planning as a decision making that goes into determining what language use is appropriate in particular speech communities. In addition, LP looks at the possible choices available to a speech community and at possible recommendations of language policy for adoption by that community. The need to revitalize the Chabacano language in Cavite City will help preserve not only the language, but also the cultural heritage of its people so the next generation Caviteños could have a trace of their roots.

This paper also centered on various actions and recommendations in relation to political, religious, academic, and cultural components as far as language planning is concerned. It highlighted the processes and specific programs in order to help revitalize the said language in Cavite City.

Specifically, this paper covered the following problems:

1. What made Chabacano in Cavite City a dying language? 2. What are the language planning processes that can be employed to revitalize the Chabacano language?

Generally, there are various ways to gauge language’s survivability. Williams (1991) in Baker (1993), mentioned environmental attitude to the survival and spread of minority languages: evolutionist, conservationist, and preservationist. In the evolutionist perspective, languages that are strong will survive. This may mean that only those languages with a huge number of speakers will progress and evolve. Moreover, languages that are widely spoken and used in influential domains of education, mass media, politics, business, and others shall reach their highest point of development. Conservationist view, on the other hand, focuses on language maintenance where languages are given special attention for they have symbolic functions in the speech communities. While preservationist view is more conservative by maintaining the language or status quo.

117 Looking at its lens, the Chabacano language in Cavite City can be categorized under the evolutionist perspective. The stronger the language, the higher the chances to survive; and the weaker the language, the higher the chances it could lead to language death. This idea supports the claims of the four scholars who had conducted extensive studies on Chabacano in Cavite City as mentioned in the preliminary part of the study. Chabacano in Cavite City as it becomes weaker may soon lead to its death unless language planning like revitalization program will be employed.

Methodology

The present study made use of qualitative-descriptive research proposed by Fraenkel and Wallen (2008). This method explains a certain phenomenon that occurs in a subject. In this paper, the researcher explicitly described the current situation of the Chabacano language in Cavite City as a dying language. More so, the language planning processes was also employed to revitalize and preserve the language. Document analysis and interviews with selected locals have also been conducted using purposive sampling technique to validate all the data.

Results and discussions

There are several factors in which language can be maintained or lost in relation to language shift. Normally, people use a particular language for certain reasons, such as: political call, social norms, and personal and sentimental attachments. The following lists as identified by Conklin and Lourie (1983) in Baker (1993) can gauge the case of Chabacano language in Cavite City:

A. Political, Social, and Demographic Factors Factors Encouraging Language Factors Encouraging Language Loss Maintenance Large number of speakers living closely Small number of speakers well dispersed. together. Recent and/or continuing in-migration. Long and stable residence. Close proximity to the homeland and ease of Homeland remote. travel to homeland. Preference to return to homeland with many Low rate of return to homeland and/or little actually returning. intention to return. Homeland language community intact. Homeland language community decaying in vitality. Stability in occupation. Occupational shift, especially from rural to urban areas. Employment available where home language Employment requires use of the majority is spoken daily. language. Low social and economic mobility in main High social and economic mobility in main occupations. occupations. Low level of education to restrict social and High levels of education giving social and economic mobility, but educated and articulate economic mobility. Potential community community leaders loyal to their language leaders are alienated from their language community. community by education.

118 Ethnic group identity rather than identity with Ethnic identity is denied to achieve social and majority language community via nativism, vocational mobility; this is forced by nativism, racism, and ethnic discrimination. racism, and ethnic discrimination. Language loss in the political, social, and demographic factors is evident in the Chabacano language in Cavite City specifically that majority of its native speakers have migrated to the and other countries. This happened due to employment and social opportunities offered by the US Government after the naval base has become inactive and deactivated. It is with this that many of them have not returned to their homeland and the language did not also propagate. Said language is also not used in the political domain as mentioned by Pangilinan (2015) for there is no clear and tangible support from the local government.

B. Cultural Factors Factors Encouraging Language Factors Encouraging Language Loss Maintenance Mother-tongue institutions (schools, Lack of mother tongue institutions (mass community organizations). media, leisure activities). Cultural and religious ceremonies in the home Cultural and religious activity in the majority language. language. Ethnic identity strongly tied to home language. Ethnic identity defined by factors other than language. Nationalistic aspirations as a language group. Few nationalistic aspirations. Mother tongue the homeland national Mother tongue not the only homeland national language. language, or mother tongue spans several nations. Emotional attachment to mother tongue giving Self-identity derived from factors other than self-identity and ethnicity. shared home language. Emphasis on family ties and community Low emphasis on family and community ties. cohesion. High emphasis on individual achievement. Emphasis on education to enhance ethnic Emphasis on education if education in mother awareness or controlled by language. tongue community. Low emphasis on education if in majority Acceptance of majority language education. language. Culture unlike majority language culture. Culture and religion similar to that of the majority language.

Chabacano language in Cavite City has a limited number of advocates as far as institutions and organizations are concerned. Currently, the Cavite Historical Society whose thrusts center on the entire Cavite history and culture is active, the Asociacion Historica y Cultura del Ciudad de Cavite chaired by the late Dr. Enrique Escalante is vanishing due to lack of support, and some private individuals who have the capacity to preserve the language but are experiencing funding problem and social support. On religious activities, Chabacano language is no longer used in celebration of masses in various churches in Cavite City. The education sector, on the other hand, is also not actively promoting the Chabacano language as part of as the MTB-MLE program of the government. And this is evident in both public and private educational institutions in Cavite City. All these were attributed as to why Chabacano language is becoming a dead language in the lens of cultural factors.

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C. Linguistic Factors Factors Encouraging Language Factors Encouraging Language Loss Maintenance Mother tongue is standardized and exists in Mother tongue is non-standard and/or not in written form. written form. Use of an alphabet which makes printing and Use of writing system which is expensive to literacy relatively easy. reproduce and relatively difficult to learn. Home language has international status. Home language of little or no international importance. Home language literacy used in community Illiteracy (or aliteracy) in the home language. and with homeland. Flexibility in the development of the home No tolerance of new terms from majority language (limited use of new terms from the language; or too much tolerance of loan words majority language). leading to mixing and eventual language loss.

Though, attempts have been made as far as standardization is concerned, like the production of dictionaries and teaching materials. This step should have been accompanied with political and cultural supports in order to spread the language to its modern speech communities. Although, the major problem that the City is experiencing is its location which is quite accessible to Manila where Tagalog varieties, Filipino, and English languages are evidently and widely spoken. Moreover, there is also a big number of native Chabacano speakers who had migrated in other places, in which, Chabacano has not seen any international importance in various communication settings. There is also an indication of mixing the Filipino/English to Chabacano that affects the language’s syntax of its modern speakers.

This socio-linguistic scenario led the researcher to come up with a language revitalization program in a form of language planning. Eastman (1971) highlighted that language planning centers on the conscious use of language in speech communities. It has something to do with the way people’s ideas about language are coordinated. On the other hand, Rubin (1976) in Rico & Weed (2002), defined language planning as the study of solutions to language problems by authorized government organization. It is with this that the local government unit plays a very significant role to revitalize the Chabacano language in Cavite City. Robinson (1988) in Rico & Weed (2002) stated that language planning is official, government-level activity concerning the selection and promotion a unified administrative language or languages. It represents a coherent effort by individuals, groups, or organizations to influence language use or development. Banking on these ideas, this research proposed language planning policy formulation which must be headed by the Cavite City Local Government Unit Officials.

LP takes place by following the steps of formulation, codification, elaboration, and implementation.

1. Formulation – This is where the process of deliberation and decision making is acted upon. It must be given that the Cavite City – LGU’s goal is to revitalize the Chabacano

120 language for purposes of cultural preservation in general, and language preservation in particular. This rich heritage of the City should be treated with high significance parallel to political, social, and economic developments. It may also be in a form of a city ordinance where Chabacano shall be used in power domains such as politics, business, education, among others.

2. Codification – This refers to the technical preparation or putting the policy in effect. Preparation also means consulting the community’s practices (i.e. feelings, attitudes, values, loyalties, preferences, etc.). The Cavite City’s cultural and tourism agencies may be tapped in this process. Stakeholders’ consultation through public meetings must be conducted with LGU officials, scholars and experts from the academe, cultural and language institutions and agencies, religious group leaders, business leaders in the community, and a good number of speaking locales. These sectors, as language users, may give rich and meaningful insights in revitalizing the Chabacano language.

3. Elaboration – This stage pertains to strengthening of what has been decided upon by the language planners and normally being handled a language agency. If the one on top of planning the Chabacano language is the Cavite City – LGU, its sole responsibility is to carefully plan the mutually intelligible language by producing tangible outputs that the speech community could make use of. One example is through standardization of the ortography.

4. Implementation – This is the procedure where the plan is executed, brings change, and measures effectiveness. Examples are production dictionaries and thesaurus, where people could consult; teaching and other reading materials across all ages, so that people will have the variety to read from; print and broadcast media publications, for the purpose of language recall and loyalty; celebration of masses that people can hear regularly; and schools where Chabacano is used and taught as part of the MTB-MLE program of the Department of Education.

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122 Proposed Language Planning Framework for Chabacano Language in Cavite City

Local Government Unit

Formulation Codification Elaboration Implementation

LGU deliberation and decision on Consultation with stakeholders. Creation of tangible materials like Massive the wide use of Chabacano Research and documentation of dictionaries, teaching materials, implementation and use language in Cavite City. Chabacano words actively used. religious readings, street and of Chabacano in the Preparation of ortography establishment signages, use of power domains. Passing a City Ordinance on the Chabacano in meeting sessions, use of Chabacano in power producing literary and journalistic Evaluation can be domains (politics, basic education competitions, etc. handled by language from Grades 1-3, print and radio, agencies, research and masses celebration, signages in academic institutions as streets and establishments). regards effectiveness of the language.

Revitalized Chabacano Language in Cavite City

123 Conclusion

In summary, the Local Government Unit must act as the primary initiator for the revitalization of the Chabacano language in Cavite City. Passing an ordinance may be the best initial step that the LGU can do, followed by a massive public and stakeholders’ consultation to determine people’s loyalty and feeling toward the language. Academic undertaking in a form of research and documentation should also take place to gather and generate linguistic data. After which, in order to strengthen the language, written materials must be produced and reproduced to heighten language’s awareness and familiarity among its users in various speech communities. Incentivization model may also be considered especially for people, learning institutions, and socio-civic organizations who will advocate, with tangible outputs, Chabacano language. It is best when literacy materials such as dictionaries, literary pieces, popular culture competitions, advertisements, print and radio materials, journalistic writing, public fora, discussions, and debates, street and establishment signages, religious’ homilies, among others be held in Chabacano. And after all of these, evaluation must be done as regards effectiveness, usability, practicality, and loyalty of the people to the Chabacano language in political, social, demographic, cultural, and linguistic factors.

References

Baker, C. (1993). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Great Britain: WBC print.

Constantino, P. (2005). Filipino at pagpaplanong pangwika. QC: UP press.

Escalante, E. (2005). Chabacano for everyone. Cavite:

Eastman, C. (1971). Language planning: an introduction. USA: Chandler & Sharp.

Fishman, J. (1974). Advances in language planning. Paris: Mouton.

Hurley, J. (2005). The foundations of dual language instruction. USA: Pearson.

Rico, L & Weed, K. (2002). The cross-cultural, language, and academic development. USA: Alllyn & Bacon.

Pareja, T. (2014). The Chabacano of Cavite City. Unpublished research.

Pangilinan, W. (2009). Paglulunsad ng Dia de Chabacano. Newspaper article.

Romanillos, E. (2006). Chabacano studies. Philippines: Cavite historical society.

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