Sunday, August 01, 2004

Medium of instruction revisited

In his column Separate Opinion at the Philippine Daily Inquirer today, Isagani A. Cruz touches once again the issue of the medium of instruction. He observes the sudden decline of the english language since the inception of the bilingual policy of the DepEd which started either during the late 70's or early 80's. I vaguely remember because I didn't care then. He stated that the public schools have seen to the quiet murder of the English language in the Philippines. Maybe this is inaccurate. I wonder if anyone has done a study on the effects of the change of the medium of instruction in private schools. What I know is that I've read some years back that Law schools have been complaining about the decline in the quality of their students in speaking and writing the english language, a language that is a vital tool in the practice of the professsion.

Cruz started his article with when english was the medium of instruction in our schools, practically every Filipino, including those in the barrios, understood and spoke the language Although he did not deny that ...Some of them used what was then carabao English Talking about murdering the language, I had a work ed teacher in elementary whose pronunciation we fondly imitated. "For exampel, the pineppel is on the tebwel." I am not divulging what region he comes from, though. I guess he would be very old by now, if he hasn't died yet. Anyway, I wonder who murdered the english language more. Them then, or us now? Or is it a matter of meaning? I guess it will all depend on what murdering the language actually mean.

I have not really formed an opinion on what the medium of instruction should be. I have heard a lot of debates on the issue and true to my nature, I see each and every point, I jsut couldn't make up my mind. Maybe writing about it would give me ample time to review the pros and cons. If you have other points for me to consider, I shall welcome them with open arms.

The greatest proponents of using the lingua franca (whatever that is as Visayans will deny that it is Tagalog or the new Filipino for that matter) as the medium of instruction, are the nationalists. They claim inter alia that the language is not ours, and on the contrary, is that of our oppressors. I had a friend who went as far as claiming that the language is a form of bondage and that our mastery of the language only serves us to be better yayas and servants in other countries where english is widely spoken. I shall not dignify that with further scrutiny. Also, it is stated that together with our fondness for the english language comes our penchant for everything American. Care to dispute that?

On the other hand, we hear proponents of english as saying that it would not be practical to change the medium of instruction as it would mean changing our books and inventing new terminologies, etc. That we have an advantage over other nations in terms of providing manpower in other countries because of our mastery of the english language.

There are more but I think the issue have been debated upon time and again that you are all familiar with them by now. So, what do I think about all these?
I wonder what would have become of the Philippines if we were not colonized. There would have been no Jose Rizal to write the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo? No Franz Arcellana or Nick Joaquin? But that would be lame. No matter what language they would have been taught with, they would have written just as eloquently, in my opinion. We would have not accessed more books? But what about Japan, Malaysia and other asian countries? They did not use english books, did they? What about European countries like Germany? They never used English references and yet, they are much better off than we are.

And yet, I think to change the medium of instruction at this time would be too late. We see our Asian neighbors trying to learn english with much interest. Why, because no matter what we say, America is still a force to contend with and their language is widely spoken in most countries than any other. As the world is getting smaller everyday by globalization, we are entering a new age. An age of information, as foreseen by Alvin Toffler, that guru of world trends who wrote Future Shock and the Third Wave. If this is true, as it is, language will play a major part in world trade and right now, english is common ground. While I don't deny the fact that we should change our medium of instruction, I say we should have done that several decades ago. Perhaps just right after we gained independence in 1946. If my assessment is right, then, there is still hope for the Filipino because we once wrote and spoke english well.

And as an afterthought, with the proliferation of the Chinese in different countries and controlling trade everywhere they are, do you think we ought to learn Mandarin, as well? So, Mandarin anyone?

33 comments:

batjay said...

para sa akin ay dapat english pa rin ang meduim of instruction. malaking advantage pa rin para sa ating mga pinoy ang matuto nito. aminin natin, talagang force to reckon with ang salitang english.

ngayon, tama ka rin tito rolly. yung mga hapon at german, di naman natuto ng english pero angat sila sa atin. pati nga yung mga singaporean ay kung ganoon na lang kung i murder ang english. ang kinangingitngit ko pa nga ay pati ang mga malaysian at mga thai na nung araw ay pinipitik pitik lang natin. nauna na silang lahat. hehe... it will take more than language to get ahead. we need to change our mindsets. we need to open our eyes and see what's happening around our world. we need to stop being so full of ourselves and make a move on. tapos na yung araw na lamang tayo sa mga neighbors natin both in english language speaking skills and ability as a nation to progress.

Anonymous said...

Tito Rolly,
Para sa akin ang medium of instruction ay dapat naayon sa pagiging practical upang unang-una ay maging formal ang maging pagtuturo ng isang teacher at ikalawa ay upang sa lalong maintindihan ng estudyante ang kanilang pinag-aaralan. Halimbawa ay Pilipino language para pag-aralan natin ang Philippine History pero English para pag-aralan ang World History. Dapat lamang na ituro ang Science and Math sa English. Mas madali kasi iyong One Times Two kaysa Isa paramihin sa Dalawa na pareho rin namang naiintidihan ng mga nag-aaral. Mas malilito pa nga ang mag-aaral pagdating sa pagtatagalog ng square-root, exponents and variables.
Ganunpaman, dapat din maging flexible ang mga teachers not to use pure English in their instructions at the same time encouraging and motivating their students to aspire and be aware of correct or proper use of the English Language.
- Santi

Jdavies said...

tito rolly I think the medium of instruction should not be uniform all across the Philippines, it shuold be determined by the need of the students. Well, just a wild idea. I am always open to a more multi-lingual approach. Let's say for primary, an infusion of english and filipino should be used to drive to the point and make sure everyone learns the topic at hand. Perhaps after that focus more on any particular language as they go to intermediate school. Different regions may need to adjust just so everybody understands everybody.

I have this idea of breeding Filipinos as multi-linguals. It can be a good advantage in the future over other SOutheast Asian neighbors, I mean, our phonetic pronounciation of Filipino and our use of a little Spanish and English makes it easy for our tongues to adjust to many other languages. If we start people young with multiple language approach, we might end up breeding a people proud of diversity and are culturally sensitive. I think we need that asap, more than just English. So your right, Mandarin,too, English, Spanish, Japanese.

Maybe I'm biased coz I love languages but who knows... in the future we'll be a nation of translators :D

rolly said...

Batjay, what you say might be pathetic but true. I say this with regret but we are indeed at the bottom and may be losing our only edge as using the english language as a second language. Unless we clean up our act, we might hit rock bottom.

Santi actually, what you are saying is the real concept behind the bilingual policy. Somewhere along the line, educators misunderstood and thought they can teach in taglish. As a result, we see a decline in both languages. At least that's from my point of view, ha. Anyway, in a scenario where a student gives out a correct answer but used the wrong language, should not be told s/he is wrong outrightly. I believe that in this scenario, the best thing to do is to accept the answer first as correct, then ask the student to say it in the target target language helping him/her out express it correctly. Tama kaya yun?

Jardine that is a very good idea. As a matter of fact, we are trying it out in our school. Our students start learning different foreign languages. We have Spanish, German, French, Mandarin and Nippongo. I may be divulging too much information so I'll leave you to figure out how it's done. ;-)

Thanks to all of you for your quick responses.

Anonymous said...

Tito Rolly,
I am not really suggesting a medium of instruction/study in bilingual form, I find this very informal. I just like to point out that teachers should allow room for leniency if their students find it difficult to follow the subject in purely English medium. I agree with you that it will really be a problem if subjects will be taught or learned using bilingual instructions. This is only good in oral discussions but should not be applied when the teacher is giving and/or the students are answering test papers. Dapat sana nating ipaunawa sa mga bata na from time to time kailangan nating maging "bilingual" para lang magkaintindihan ng maayos, pero there is a need for us to learn the real or proper use of the language.
- Santi

rolly said...

Ah yes, Santi. The message is more important than the medium.

Sassy Lawyer said...

If the entire country only spoke one language instead of a variety of dialects, I'd say let's go for nationalizing the medium of instruction. But that's not the case. The issue alone of which dialect should be chosen is a big issue. Sure, Filipino is the national language. But it is really not much different from Tagalog. If the primary criterion would be what the most widely spoken dialect is (I think that to be fair, it should be an important considederation), I think that the Visayan dialect would beat Tagalog any time.

The main objection against having Filipino as the medium of instruction is the limitation. Filipino has not yet evolved to encompass concepts like longitude and latitude. In my kids' HEKASI (used to be Social Studies)--which by the way was given a new name again--the Filipinization of the terms as longitud and latitud is ridiculous. Like Pidgin (no offense meant) English. If their computer books were Filipinized... do we even have terms for hard drive and motherboard. Kasi, if we're just going to borrow the words and put them in quotes, 'di ba self-defeating? We lose the chance to be adept at the English language; wala namang added benefit sa proficiency sa Filipino.

Dr. Emer said...

I think the problem lies not on what medium of instruction we choose, but rather on HOW WELL we learn and understand what we are taught. Kahit nga Tagalog, minsan mapapansin mo, mali pa din grammar ng mga Pilipino. Pati ang sariling wika, kung iisipin po, nagiging "carabao Tagalog" na din.

Whatever is taught, kahit na Cebuano o Ilonggo o Nipongo pa yan, dapat matutunan nating lahat ng gamitin ng maayos. Ang problema, hindi lahat ganoong ka-seryosong matuto. The kids of today enjoy computer games and gimmicks galore more than learning or reading. And if they do read, what do they read? Harry Potter? I've got nothing against Harry Potter, but if one's world revolves only around the Hogwarts school and games like Ragnarok, I think the future really looks bleak.

rolly said...

Sassy, the fact will remain that we are living in islands and that we have evolved different languages. We've got to learn to live with that. And besides, I believe with globalization, the issue of what medium of instruction should be used is sealed for the moment. It should be in english.

BTW, I believe linguists do not call them dialects anymore. While swardspeak or jive can be called dialects, visayan, ilocano, etc. are now referred to as languages.

rolly said...

Doc EmerWhile I agree that the more pressing issue is what things are taught, still, the how is not separate. The corollary question is will the students learn better in this medium or not?

A long time ago, it has always been a losing battle with the tv. Now, may computer pa. Pano na mga anak natin,no?

iskolar I agree.

Sassy Lawyer said...

Talaga? Languages na lahat yun? Does that mean there is now a different set of criteria to be considered a language rather than a dialect? I always thought that swardtalk etc. were more like slang rather than dialects.

batjay said...

language daw is a dialect with an army. hehe.

pero by definition - it should really be language. for instance cebuano is more than a variety or subdivision of tagalog or malay.

rolly said...

Sassy I think the difference is that dialects are branches of a single language. Hence, a speaker of dialect a understands to a large extent, a speaker of dialect b. LAnguages have major differences and would not be understandable to any of their speakers. Parang ganon. Hence, ilocano, visayan,etc. are languages while Bulacan and Batangas Tagalog are dialects.

Anonymous said...

bos, pede ba makialam? nung araw e inatasan si lope k. santos na isalin sa pilipino ang ilang accounting terms, gaya ng assets at iba-ibang uri nito: frozen, liquid at fixed. eto ang translasyon ni ka lope: ang assets ay pag-aari, ang frozen assets ay pag-aaring pinatigas, ang liquid assets ay pag-aaring tumutulo, at ang fixed assets ay pag-aaring ipinako.

masakit di po ba?

- pakialamero

BongK said...

pabanat na din ka Rolly..

naniniwala ako ng hindi na kailangang palitan pa ang "english" as medium of instruction, bagkus pagbutihan pa. At kung kakayanin pa eh, dapat din mag aral ng ibang language (katulad ng Mandarin) para sa pang ekonomiyang kaunlaran ng bansa (dahil globalization na nga)..

nung ako ay pinagpalang pag aralin sa ibang bansa ng aking kasalukuyan opisinang pinaglilingkuran (isa ako sa apat ng Pinoy na pinadala), ang aking mga kamag-aral ay lahat galing sa Southeast Asian countries.. kapansin pansin ang husay ng mga kamag-aral kong galing Malaysia at Thailand sa pagsasalita nila ng Mandarin.. sana tayo ding mga pinoy ay mag aral ng ibang wika upang hindi tayo mapag iwanan sa mga usaping hindi lamang pang ekonomiya, kungdi na rin pang politika at kultura..

".. If my assessment is right, then, there is still hope for the Filipino because we once wrote and spoke english well..." Ka Rolly, oo naman na talagang may pag asa pa tayong mga pinoy.. I HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR FILIPINOS

rolly said...

pakialamero lubos mo kong pinatawa dun a. Pwedeng pwede kang makialam dito. Gusto ko ngang marinig ang mga opinyon ng ibang tao.

Anyway, ang alam ko, may mga libro na ng economics sa tagalog. Kinaya nilang tagalugin. Di ko lang alam kung ano epekto nito sa pag-aaral. Kung mas madaling naintindihan, humirap lalo o pareho lang. Dapat siguro magsagawa ng isang study. O baka naman di ko lang alam na meron na.

Bong K, bumanat ka lang ng bumanat. Tulad ng aking sagot kay Jardine, na-introduce na namin sa aming paaralan ang pagaaral ng iba't-ibang lenggwahe at kasama na diyan ang Mandarin. Mabuti naman at marami pa ring di nawawalan ng tiwala sa kakayahan nating mga pinoy.

Salamat sa pagbisita nyong dalawa. Balik lang. :-)

Anonymous said...

hi tito rolly,

nung high school ako, may electives kami na foreign language - spanish and nihonggo. what was taught were only the basics. medyo naloka ako kasi, english then the teacher translates it to spanish and nihonggo.

as for isagani cruz' comments, i had heard the same reaction from one of my college professors.
i still believe that math and science should be taught in english.

rolly said...

mari nung high school din ako, we had to learn spanish. Tuloy yun till college. 2 semesters. La rin. di rin ako natuto kasi wala naman akong kausap sa ganong lenggwahe kasi.

Iba na pala url mo kaya di ko ma-access sa links ko. :-)

cathy said...

Ginawang bilingual pero ang mga companies naman ang
ginagamit sa interview ay English. Ang mga IQ test sa English.

Wari ba ay maruyang niluto para ipakain sa bisitang
ang gusto ay banana fritters.

Magulo ba. Talagang magulo ako.

cathy said...

Ginawang bilingual pero ang mga companies naman ang
ginagamit sa interview ay English. Ang mga IQ test sa English.

Wari ba ay maruyang niluto para ipakain sa bisitang
ang gusto ay banana fritters.

Magulo ba. Talagang magulo ako.

rolly said...

Di ka magulo, Cat. As a matter of fact, tama ang sinabi mo. Ewan ko ba kung bakit naging English is the language of the brain, while tagalog, of the heart. Actually, I don't believe that there are subjects that could have been harder to teach in Filipino. nakasanayan na lang kasi natin na ang mga libro natin sa English. Like I said, bakit ang ibang bansa that didn't have english, umunlad. Tingnan mo Japan, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, etc, etc... Kahit anman anong terminology gamitin, matututunan din natin yon kasi pareho namang first time lang natin madidinig di ba?

rolly said...

Doc the last movie I saw was in March pa. I seldom see the movies these days. Nakita ko na trailer nung sinasabi mo. Intriguing nga. Asimov ba naman.

Bong K you can reach me at rolly_santos43@yahoo.com.

Jdavies said...

We don't have to be sad that we have such diversity and that we are such a divided people... I think we should take pride in that diversity and celebrate it. I hope somebody will teach me bisaya or ilonggo... etc... it's something to be proud of. Anyways I think with the advancement of tech and communication and translation software language becomes arbitrary... what matters it seems is the inherrent desire to communicate - if we stop to listen or intend to communicate it all ends there (im not talking about iraq :-)) but still cultures are beyond technology... so proficiency in languages would be great in a globalized world. even if it will be governed with english or mandarin... he philippines has the advantage of being in the crossroads of many cultures - spanish, arab, chinese, indian, japanese, american... we have that in history and in the way things are set up now... so in the future I really hope we'll be the champion when it comes to world citizenship... pinoys with our diasporic experience makes us such terrific world citizens. I hope my dream comes true, someday.

rolly said...

Arturo Abera Salamat sa pagbisita mo sa aking munting silid dito sa cyber space. Kung babasahin mong maigi ang aking opinyon na aking isinulat dito, makikita mo na hindi ko kailanman na sinabi na ang pag-unlad ay dulot lamang ng pagsasalita ng ibang wika. Patunay dito, sinabi ko, bilang ehemplo ang mga bansang Hapon, Alemanya at kung anu-ano pang mga bansa na umunlad gamit ang kanilang sariling wika at teknolohiya.

Ang akin lamang sinasabi sa bandang huli ay hindi rin naman natin dapat iwasan ang pag-aaral ng wikang inggles dahil ito ay isa ng wikang pandaigdig. Kung sa iyohng palagay ay hindi tayo dapat sumali muna sa globalisasyon, nirerespeto ko iyon. Subalit payag ka ba na tayo'y tuluyan ng iwan ng ating mga karatig bansa sa pag-unlad at pagyaman dahil sila ay sama-sama na at tulung-tulong na upang marating ang tagumpay habang tayo ay nananatili pa rin sa paggamit ng araro't kalabaw?

PS.

Hindi ko po sinabi na ako'y mahilig uminggles. Ako po ay Pilipino at hindi ko kailanman ikinahiya ang aking wika. Kung inyo pong mamarapatin ay baka pwede po kayong maghalughog ng kaunti sa aking silid na ito at matunghayan at mabasa ang aking isinulat na aking inaalay kay Olga. Makikita nyo po ito sa aking mga paboritong akda na matatagpuan sa ibaba ng kaliwang bahagi ng aking template.

Hindi rin po ako mayaman. Hindi ko po ikinahihiya na ako'y salat sa materyal na bagay ngunit hindi ko rin po makita ang relasyon ng wika o pag-unlad sa kung ako'y mayaman ngayon o hindi. Ikinalulungkot ko pong sabihin na mukhang magkaiba tayo ng panuntunan ng pag-asenso. Ako po ay hindi mahilig sa materyal na bagay. Tama na po sa akin na ako'y may bubong na tinutulugan, kumakain ng wasto sampu na ng aking mga anak na pawang nakakapag-aral din naman po sa isang paaralan. At higit sa lahat, kami ay namumuhay ng simple na bagama't salat sa yamang materyal ay masaya naman.

Doon po sa inyong huling sinabi, sana naman po ay lagyan natin ng konting paggalang ang ating mga puna sapagkat ako naman po ay handang makipag-kaibigan sa inyo. Maraming salamat po.

Salamat po.

Anonymous said...

should we use english or pilipino as a medium of instruction??Its a matter of striking a balance in using both languages! We can't deny the fact that english is a globally used language but we can't also leave behind our very own and common language since it serves as the only vehicle through which the filipino culture is effectively passed on which leads towards the preservation of our 'identity' as Filipinos.
The mastery of both languages will equip Filipinos for survival and development!

regarding the murder of english language..its always a teacher factor,schools and universities should train their teachers to be competent in teaching english.

rolly said...

Anonymous Thanks for visiting. Ang lalim ng nahukay mo sa archives ah.

Anyway, I agree completely that we ahve to be proficient with both languages. We should learn english but at the same time, gain mastery over our own.

I hope you sign your comments next time. Mas maganda kung magkakilala tayo.

Anonymous said...

pra skin...
dapat nating bigyang prioridad ang ating pambansang wika....
ayon nga kay DR. JOSE RIZAL

Anonymous said...

pra skin...
dapat nating bigyang prioridad ang ating pambansang wika....
ayon nga kay DR. JOSE RIZAL

Anonymous said...

pra skin...
dapat nating bigyang prioridad ang ating pambansang wika....
ayon nga kay DR. JOSE RIZAL

Anonymous said...

pra skin...
dapat nating bigyang prioridad ang ating pambansang wika....
ayon nga kay DR. JOSE RIZAL..
Ang hindi magmahal sa SARILING WIKA..ay MASAHOL PA ng MABAHO AT MALANSANG ISDA.,...
PAYAG BA KAYO RON....!?

Anonymous said...

nasa research ko po ang about the use of english as a medium of instruction in math and science ano po kaya ang talagang pwede kong pinaka mabigat na gawing dahilan kung bakit dapat talagang english ang gamitin sana po masagot nyo ko..salamat po.

rolly said...

anonymous Para sa akin, ang pinakamabigat pa ring dahilan ay ang pagiging available ng mga magagandang librong pwedeng gamitin sa paga-aral. Hindi magiging limitado ang options mo sa mga babasahing tagalog lamang kundi pwede mong gamitin ang mga banyagang libro at ang mga ito'y naiintindihan mo. After all, dahil sa layo na ng napag aralan sa larangan ng agham at matematika, pihadong mga salin na rin lamang ang mababasa mo sa wikang filipino.

Subalit palagay ko ay mas interesting kung ang research mo ay tungkol sa posibilidad ng paga-aral ng mga ito sa sariling wika pa rin. Good luck.

disclaimer said...

ang dami na talagang kumento ngayon tungkol sa usapan na ito. naniniwala ako na ang medium of instruction na dapat pairalin ay yung praktikal.

alam naman nating lahat na talagang napag iiwanan na ang bansa natin ngayon. ang mga bansang dating nasa likod lang natin ay hindi na natin matanaw tanaw sa taas nila ngayon.

sa aking palagay, napatunayan na natin kung gaano natin kamahal ang bansa natin at hindi na ito nararapat na gawin pang dahilan upang pigilan ang pag unlad ng bansa natin.

aminin man natin at hindi, magbulag bulagan man tayo, sa panahon ngayon, higit na matagumpay ang mga tao o indibidwal na nakapagsasalita ng mahusay sa english. may mga taong nakapagtapos ng kolehiyo ngunit hindi makapgsalita ng english at saan sila napupunta? sa mabababang uri ng trabaho, at kung saan napakababa ng sweldo. samantalang ang mga taong ni hindi man lang nakapagtapos ng kolehiyo ay nakakuha ng trabahong nababayaran sila ng malaki. yun na nga ang call center.

hindi ko nais na palayuin pa ang usapang ito. ngunit sa aking palagay, bilang isang estudyante na nakapg aral sa pampubliko at pribadong institusyon. isang napakahalagang bagay ang maging bihasa sa english. ngunit, kailangan pa ding ikonsidera na may mga ibang bagay na nararapat ituro sa filipino.