Language problem
Media
Part of Panorama
- Title
- Language problem
- Creator
- [Roces, Alfredo R.]
- Language
- English
- Source
- Volume XX (Issue No. 4) April 1968
- Year
- 1968
- Subject
- English language in foreign countries
- English language education for foreign speakers in elementary schools
- Foreign language education in elementary schools
- Second language acquisition
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- LANGUAGE PROBLEM We still have a language problem in this country; one which requires direction in our usage and in our educa tional system. Conflict of Pilipino and English should be faced squarely. We recall that about a year ago, an American teacher who had taught some years in this country stated that he ob served a decline in the mas tery of the English language among Filipino pupils over the years. He sought answers to the question of language in this country, particularly with writers, and inquired about the fate of English in this; country in the near fu ture. The conference discus sion was filled with slogans and witticisms but no one seemed to want to tackle the problem squarely. What is the future of the English lan guage here and what is the future of the Pilipino? Says George M. Guthrie in a published research report, “The Filipino Child and Philippine Society”: “The effect of the multi-lingual situation on the child is un known. We can speculate, with some supporting evid ence, that it leaves him with no well developed vocabulary in any language. This is a severe impediment to intellec tual growth in all spheres... Switching from one language to another means that the child will have great diffi culty reading more than the most elementary materials in each of the languages to which he is exposed. Al though he may be quite fluent in the vernacular the dearth of reading materials in his own tongue stunts his voca bulary growth. Even more important may be the effect of switching back and forth from English to a Philippine language such as Tagalog. These two languages have different words and have also different linguistic struc tures ...” “Recent studies on the use of the vernacular in the early grades have indicated that 46 Panorama children progress more rapid ly when taught in the verna cular. Much more work needs to be done in this area. We may speculate that the more the vernacular is used in elementary school instruc tion, the higher will be the performance of the pupil. This would be enhanced by an increasing volume of children’s literature in the vernacular. At the same time children’s literature in En glish would also increase in tellectual stimulation.” What we often forget is that any solution to the lan guage problem will take timei The element of time will be the only vindication or death of Pilipirio. At present mosjt of our writers were trained in English; this explains the dearth of both Pilipino writ ers and Pilipino readers. Perhaps the coming genera tions will slowly master Pili pino and begin to write in this language. It took an in tensive 48 years for English to subdue Spanish as the lan guage of the literate Filipino, and this was with the accom paniment of material and so cial attractions for the En glish-speaking generation. It will take time for a substan tial Pilipino literature to ap pear. The one key point is in the educational system and in children’s books. With a healthy group of Pilipino readers, there will arise the writers. However, it seems in this modern era impossible to conceive of our-ever aban doning English or the little Spanish we have, for that mat ter. — by A. R. Roces April 1968 47
- pages
- 46-47