UV Journal of Research 2013 English language among Filipinos: Politico-economic influence andAn socialautoethnography outcome of Brian A. Vasquez Center for Research and Development University of the Visayas [email protected]; [email protected] Submitted: March 21, 2012 Accepted:December 14, 2012 Earlier versions of this paper: Vasquez, BA (2012, April). Effects of English-centered curriculum among bilingual and multilingual Filipino students: An autoethnography, Paper presented at the 6th Aletheia University International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Cross-cultural Studies, Taiwan, p. 97-107. Vasquez, BA (2012, July Reprint). Effects of English-centered curriculum among bilingual and multilingual Filipino students: An autoethnography, Foreign Language Teaching and Cross- cultural Studies, Taiwan, p. 306-322. (ISSN 1998-4669.) ABSTRACT most curricula are centered on the English language as the medium of instruction. UntilDeeply today, rooted most with of the the classes influence are taughtof the inAmerican English while culture inconspicuously to Philippine discourageEducation, the use of the lingua franca during discussions and even within school premises. The culture of reverse ethnocentricity in communication is motivated by the assumed status symbol in the community. This autoethnographic study analyzed the positive and ill effects of English-centered curriculum among bilingual and multilingual Filipino students. Noble consequences include: (1) considerably comprehensible to good command of the International language; (2) prodigious chances of employability in the English language as a status symbol has unfavorable effects which include: (1)in foreign poor mastery countries; of andthe lingua(3) tourism, franca educationboth in oral and and business written attraction. communication; Proficiency (2) perceiving the lingua franca as a second-class language; (3) stereotypes and inferiority among non-English and poor-English speaker; (4) challenged cultural identity; and (5) threatened nationalism and patriotism. Keywords: autoethnography, bilingual/multilingual, culture, English, Filipino “For many years, invasion and conquest for all functions; (2) choose to use the newly have been major forces in bringing different introduced language instead of the native language speaking groups in contact. When language in all functions; or (3) choose to languages come in contact, three principle use the native language in some domains and outcomes are possible: (1) a population may the additional language in others.” (Sharon decide to continue using their native language Clampitt-Dunlap, 1995). 184 UV Journal of Research I. INTRODUCTION III. METHOD The third millennium brought us to the issue This is an autoethnography (Maréchal, 2010) of globalization which leads us to learn English of my life as a: (1) multilingual student; and (2) to be competent (Engram & Sasaki, 2003). teacher for bilingual and multilingual students. Marcos Fleury (2011) claimed that: (1) English is I was also doing content analysis of relevant spoken by more people than any other language, narrative materials to analyze and substantiate after Chinese-Mandarin; and (2) English is the my observations and experiences. international language in almost all aspects, if not Sampling. I am sampling my personal all. Currently, almost all non-English speaking experiences in this study. There is no term nations are trying to make their people learn utilized in sampling auto narrative studies – thus, English as their second language. In the Philippines, though an etymologically- as “purposively sampling personal experiences engineered (Clampitt-Dunlap, 1995) Filipino is ofI will the coin researcher the word himself “autosampling” that is substantialwhich I define to the domain of inquiry”. My experiences were its own lingua franca chronicled to position my observations in a the national official language and each region has clearer context. Constitution of the Republic(official ofauxiliary), the Philippines, English Furthermore, 18 books, 31 journal articles, is the official medium of instruction (Lewis, 2009; 9 news articles, 4 blogs, 1 thesis, 2 government to 175 languages contingent to the means of documents, 2 documents from international 1987). McFarland (1993) identified about 120 institutions, 1 class notes, and 1 conference paper classification.We Filipinos Four are knownof which to behave good no in Englishknown parallel evidence to my experiences, observation whichidentified makes speakers. us in-demand in the global market. andwere assertions. sampled to confirm my claims and to provide Though there are plenty of advantages in learning English, I have observed that there are also IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION disadvantages. Thus, it is the intention of this Demographics. The 1987 Constitution of undertaking to explore and analyze these based the Republic of the Philippines declares that the from my personal experiences and observations. national language of the Philippines is Filipino and for tenacities of formal instruction and universal II. ATHEORETICAL STANCE communication, English. The Department of My study followed an atheoretical stance. Education, Culture and Sports promulgated A priori were suspended prior to the actual data Bilingualism Policy thru its Department Order No. collection (Polit & Beck, 2008). Literature review 52, s.1987. done after data were gathered. An inductive “Bilingual Education aims at the processand identification was tracked of theoretical as summarized framework in were the achievement of competence in both schematic diagram below (Berg, 2001): Filipino and English at the national level, through the teaching of both languages Figure 1. Inductive Research Process. and their use as media of instruction at all levels.” (DECS order No. 52, s. 1987). The goals were to: (1) enhance learning by amalgamating bilingualism or multilingualism to attain quality education; (2) propagate Filipino as Vasquez, B. A. 185 the language of literacy; (3) promote the growth child, which the child is very much comfortable, of Filipino as a philological emblem of unanimity the language of his mind and heart, has only and personality of the country; and (4) to cultivate become an auxiliary medium of instruction. He and elaborate Filipino as a language of scholarly further claimed that it may unintentionally propel discourse. an erroneous signal to the child: the awareness The Philippines has a simple literacy rate of that his identity is not adequate because the 93.4% with a functional literacy rate of 84.1% very hallmark of his origin, his own language, is (Republic of the Philippines National Statistics reckoned inadequate. Though we speak English in school and Programme, 2009) and that it is about equal for everyone is expected to be very good at it, I bothOffice gender of the, (Central 2009; United Intelligence Nations Agency, Development 2009). have observed that, for most of us, English My Autoethnography as a Student. I was comprehension skill is not so good. We may cultured in a prestigious private primary and understand what we hear and read cursorily, but secondary education in Cebu City where English not really to the extent of capturing its perfect is emphasized as the mode of instruction. essence. Speaking the dialect is highly discouraged. Every I think my experience is further explained by time I speak my native tongue, I am obliged to pay Dioko (2007). He stressed that in some Philippine 25 centavos per word for noncompliance to the classroom where English is the sole mode of English Zone Campaign of the institution. This instruction, dual task for the learner will occur: is one of the double standards I have observed (1) learning the new language as it is – already in the Philippine Education System. Educators ostentatiously emphasize nationalism and concepts and skills in the target lesson. As far as patriotism, but they are confusing the learners by mya difficult recollection work isin concerned, itself; and I (2)stepped learning into the discouraging them to speak their lingua franca. All classroom where straight English instructions the while in my young years, I thought it was the best and the only acceptable language to use and Dioko was right, it is necessary for the learner to inferiority begin to sink into my system. I began were given – and I admit, I encountered difficulties. to compare my English competency to others and learn the lessons: became more vigilant not to commit errors to learn English first before they are expected to “Such is the scenario today in Philippines Later on, I was consumed by the system and schools-elementary schools, especially. As becameavoid mortification one of them. from I peers.begin to acknowledge the child steps into the classrooms for the errors from peers and begin to laugh at their first time, he is immediately confronted mistakes. This is a classic example on how with a language which is not his home the English language mandated by political language. His teacher begins talking to structure (Sankoff, 2001) ill-marked the social him in a strange tongue. And he is made structure. English as a medium of instruction, had to learn to read words and registers with unfamiliar sounds. One can just imagine 1953). On the other hand, this system had the feeling of inadequacy the child feels. contributed to class identification (Weinreich, Lifted from the friendly environment of the home, his alienation is at once made improved my English proficiency. I begin to attain consummate with