Despite a number of studies confirming that learning is faster using the native language, government officials are still pushing for the adoption of English as a medium on instruction (MOI) in Philippine schools.

A check on the bills filed in the 14th Congress shows that there are three bills—House Bills 230, 305, 406—seeking for either the re-instatement or enhancement of the use of English as a medium of instruction.

The three bills propose the use of English, Filipino or the regional languages as MOI in all subjects from pre-school to Grade II. They prescribe the use of English for all academic subjects from Grade III up to the secondary level.

Proponents of these bills claim that the decline in the English proficiency of the Filipinos and the deterioration of the quality of the education have eroded the competitiveness of the Filipinos.

Rep. Eduardo Gullas, author of HB 305, said in the bill’s explanatory note that the proposed legislation aims to correct the defects of the current Bilingual Education Program (BEP) of the Department of the Education, which was introduced in 1974.

The BEP mandated the teaching not only of Filipino as a subject in all levels but also the use of Filipino as MOI in Social Studies, Character Education, Values Education, Physical Education, Industrial Arts and Home Economics.

Gullas said learning of the English language suffered a setback when the BEP was introduced in 1974. "The use of Filipino as a medium of instruction in the subjects mentioned earlier has limited the exposure of the learner to English, and since exposure is basic to language learning, mastery of the language is not attained."

The policy, Gullas said, results in language interference since targeting the learning of English and Filipino is difficult especially in the lower grades.

Competitiveness

Reps. Raul del Mar and Luis Villafuerte—authors of HB 446 and 230, respectively—believe that their proposed legislation will raise the level of English language proficiency and will help the Filipinos remain competitive.

Del Mar, whose bill also proposes the use of English as the language of assessment in the government examinations and entrance tests in public schools, colleges and universities, said "the accepted view is that without English language proficiency, it is difficult for a Filipino to get jobs anywhere in this country and anywhere in the world. The key to better jobs here or overseas is English,"

Sub-standard English

Businessmen have been complaining of college graduates who are not proficient in English. In 2006, the European Chamber of Commerce estimated that 75 percent of the around 400,000 college graduates have substandard English skills.

Jayjay Viray, general manager of jobhunting website JobsDB.com, said most of their clients complained of applicants who lack good communication skills and have trouble expressing themselves in English. She added that most vacancies in the marketing and business sector require applicants to speak in English.

"When you are looking for a job you are actually selling yourself," Viray told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak. "Even if you have the skills and you do not know how to communicate with your prospective employers, they’ll never know your abilities. In most cases, it’s the initial conversation with them [prospective employers] that matters."

The growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country is one of the sectors that have difficulty in filling up positions due to low recruitment yield and lack of applicants fluent in English. A 2007 study by the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Outsource2Philippines.com showed that 46 percent of the companies surveyed found only 6 to 20 percents of applicants qualified.

"If we continue with what we are having this moment, we might not have enough workers to meet future demand," said Jamea Garcia, executive director for talent of BPAP. BPAP estimates that the outsourcing industry will provide 1 million jobs by 2010.

Here comes EO 210

This growth in the information and technology sector is one of the reasons cited by government in justifying the need to improve English proficiency. In 2003,

President Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 210, which strengthens use of the English language as a second language in the educational system.

"There is a need to develop the aptitude, competence and proficiency of our students in the English language to maintain and improve their competitive edge in emerging and fast-growing local and international industries, particularly in the area of information and communications technology," the order reads.

According to the order, English should be taught as a second language starting with Grade 1 and should be taught as the medium of instruction for English, Mathematics and Science from at least Grade 3. Filipino language will be used as MOI for Filipino and Araling Panlipunan.

It also mandates the use of English as the primary medium of instruction in all public and private secondary schools. The percentage of time allotment for learning areas conducted in English language, the law said, should not be less than 70 percent of the total time allotment for all learning areas in the secondary level.

However, EO 210 and its implementing rules and regulation were questioned last year by a group of professors and language experts. The professors and language experts filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the orders.

"While the title of the EO purports to strengthen the use of English as a second language, analyses of the contents show that the EO actually strengthens English as the medium of instruction," the petition said.

Petitioners argued that the (1) EO subverts the present status of Filipino in non-Tagalog areas, and violates the constitutional injunction that the regional language shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction, (2) violates the constitutional duty to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino language in the educational system and (3) "undermines the letter and spirit of the Constitution on the national language."

‘Mother tongue is best’

Language experts also criticized the EO 210 and the pending bills because they go against the findings of previous studies that learning is faster when the mother tongue is used as medium of instruction, particularly during the child’s early years in school.

A World Bank-funded study in 1994 by Nadine Dutcher and G. Richard Tucker concludes that individuals easily develop cognitive skills and master content material when they are taught in a familiar language. The study also found out developing the child’s cognitive skills through the first language is more effective than exposure to the second language.

Similarly, the 1991 Congressional Report of the Congressional Commission on Education recommended the use of the vernacular and Filipino as the medium of instruction for basic education.

In a CEO forum on English last year, Patricia B. Licuanan, president of Miriam College, said empirical evidence has shown the damaging effects of English on Filipino student learning since the 1925, when the Monroe Survey Commission found out that foreign language handicap was the greatest problem of the Philippine educational system. Back then, the American colonial government prescribed the use of English as medium of instruction.

"When English is used, students do not learn well, and at times do not learn at all," Licuanan said. "Using English as medium of instruction in some subject areas [Math and Science] prevents students from learning as much as they could in their mother tongue."

Ricardo Ma. Nolasco, chair of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, said the basic weakness in Philippine education is the fact that many students do not understand their teacher and cannot follow the lesson because "the language in school is one they can hardly speak or understand."

Nolasco told us that what the country need is a law mandating the use of the children’s first language from pre-school to Grade 6 and adopt the bilingual system in high school. He added that this would allow learners to develop cognitive and linguistic skills in their mother tongue, build solid foundation for learning other subjects and eventually transfer skills and knowledge to the prescribed languages.

National Artist for Literature and UP College of Arts and Letters Dean Virgilio Almario said in an interview that the use of Filipino language is not tantamount to the decline in English proficiency.

"Even if all classes will be conducted in Filipino, English will not die because it will remain to be a necessity," said Almario, who is among those who filed the petition challenging EO 210.

Train the teachers

Almario added that in order to improve the English proficiency of students, there is a need to re-train the teachers because most of them are also not proficient in English.

Results of self-assessment test conducted by the DEPED in 2004 showed that one out of five public high school teachers is proficient in the English language. Even Deped Secretary Jesli Lapuz himself told us that he hears stories of students complaining that their teacher is not good in English.

Carleen Sedilla, a former public high school English teacher in Caloocan and now the principal of Caloocan City Science High School, said the situation is aggravated by students’ limited exposure to the language. "Before, they can learn English by watching cartoons and TV shows. Now, everything is in Filipino."

"Do you expect them to learn if they have limited exposure to the English language and if their teachers do not speak good English?" she said. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)

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