MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

THE PROSPECTS OF MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION AND LITERACY IN THE PHILIPPINES (A Reflection Paper)

by: Paulo C. Dorongon

          Bilingual or multilingual education is a common practice adopted by many countries. As such learners are expected to learn one or more languages aside from his or her mother tongue. As in the case of most Filipinos, learning a second or a foreign language means learning new culture, new grammar, new words, etc. Questions arise as to whether learners have the real capacity of learning two or more languages all at the same time. But how do learners really learn a language? According Chomsky (1959), language is not learned solely through a process of memorizing and repeating, but that the mind contains an active language processor, the language acquisition device (LAD) that generates rules through the unconscious acquisition of grammar.

            Learning two or more languages is quite interesting. Learners are exposed to different cultures, different grammatical structures, different words and sentence patterns which will later create a big problem in their language acquisition. Lado (1957) stated that when studying English as a second or foreign language, learners found it troublesome to master the language because of many grammatical devices that need to be considered. He added that it is important to keep in mind that a variety of formal devices may signal grammatical meanings. And it is this variety that causes many of the learning problems in mastering a foreign language, since the use of different devices by two languages will constitute a problem. Among the most frequent elements used in various languages to signal grammatical structure are word order, inflection (bound morphemes) correlation of forms, function words, intonation, stress, and pauses. Given this scenario, learning another language would not be an easy task to students; they need to master several grammatical elements and words which are entirely different from their native language.

            On the other hand, teachers are faced with different challenges and problems when teaching bilingual learners.  Sosa (1992) as stated by Diaz-Rico and Weed (1995) said that bilingual educators continue to face numerous challenges. Some of these are as follows:

o   The need to integrate innovations (cooperative learning ,etc) into bilingual education

o   The need to explore ways to avoid placing language minority students in programs that contribute to dropping out

o   The need to examine state policies that adversely affect LEP students (e.g., exit exams for graduation, remedial ESL classes).

With these, it is a challenge among educators to devise learning materials, and to create a teaching strategy that would meet the needs of L2 learners.

References:

Diaz-Rico, L. and Weed, K. (1995). The Crooscultural Language and Academic Development Handbook. Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon Company

Lado, R.  (1957). Linguistics across Cultures. USA: University of Michigan Press.

Chomsky, N. (1959). Review of B. F. Skinner,” Verbal Behavior.”  Language, 35, 26-28 .Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL TESOL CONVENTION AT CLARK EDUCATION CITY AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE

INTERNATIONAL TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) CONFERENCE ( November 25-27, 2010)

With Professor Rod Ellis, TESOL and Linguistic Professor of the University of Auckland, New Zealand

LSIS Teacher Attends International TESOL Conference-by Chrisha Faye Andal

            Teacher Paulo C. Dorongon, the high-school grammar and literature teacher of Living Stone International School has attended the recently concluded TESOL International Conference held at Clark Education City Australian College. TESOL, an acronym for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages aims at improving the teaching skills of English teachers. Teacher Paulo said that the conference exposed him to different teaching techniques and methodologies in the field of English Language Teaching. Moreover, the conference trained teachers on how to teach foreign students like Koreans, Americans, Chinese , Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Japanese;design curriculums and develop teaching methodologies appropriate for them “It was indeed and meaningful and informative convention. Aside from meeting different nationalities, I gained knowledge on how to improve my teaching styles in the ESL Teaching. I’m glad I have something to share to my colleagues and of course to the students; they will all benefit from it.” The lectures and teacher’s trainings were delivered by the world’s leading experts in Second Language Acquisition like Professor Rod Ellis of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, Professor Eva Bernat of the University of New South Wales in Australia, Professor Guzman of the University of the Philippines, and Professor Maria Dobrenov of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. The Conference has drawn thousand participants from De La Salle University, Philippine Normal University, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, University of New South Wales (Australia), University of Auckland (New Zealand), Taipei University and other Asian Universities.

LITERATURE: OUR PRIDE, OUR LIFE

To better understand literature, we have to have a better understanding of the world around us. The mere fact that we are living as a global community, signals a mutual understanding of a diversed cultural backgrounds of our neighbouring countries. This, however, can provide an unprecedented avenue for cultural awareness via literary appreciation.

Literature is a mirror of life. It reflects our identity as people and as a nation—that is knowing who we are, what we used to be, and what we become. So to speak, literature mirrors the culture of a nation. Studying a particular piece of literature of a certain country will give us insights about the existing customs and traditions in that country. The embodiment of these beliefs and traditions are transformed into a beautiful language we call creative literature.

The different literary devices, figurative languages and other components of literary composition play an important role in shaping the whole composition. As such, these devices and other components will guide us to fully appreciate the beauty embedded in every word of a literary piece. The notion that literature imitates human behaviour can only be understood if we, as readers would have an intellectual interpretation of the literary piece. But then again, a particular literary piece, say for example, a short story or a poem is worthy of different interpretations. These varied interpretations maybe based on the different experiences of readers. So how then can we have a professional interpretation of a literary piece? A reader-response theory in particular is one of the literary theories used to interpret a literary piece in various ways. One may interpret a short story, for example, which is entirely different from the interpretation of others. It only suggests that our interpretation of the different literary genres varies according to our perception of the world. As such, beautiful as it may, literature captures the beauty of anything!

Living Stone International School has always been committed to develop the talents of each learner. This is being realized by engaging its students to express their ideas, feelings, and thoughts through short stories, essays, and poetry compositions.

May this simple essay provides valuable insights for realization and discovery about LIFE!

-The blogger

MY FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS AT LIVING STONE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

http://www.lsis.edu.ph/

http://www.lsis.edu.ph/  

GREEN, GREEN ORCHARD--Paulo C. Dorongon

Come with me
          to the green, green orchard
For which
          precious trees await
Their leaves are fluttering
          in the breeze
Grassess dance in a swing
          like no ends
Where scent of the flowers
          are wafted by the breeze
Come with me
          come with me
To the green orchards
          of tranquility
Where trees
          are only get greener with age
Where birds chirp
          at their best
Carried by the cold
          and friendly wind.

  

                                   Developments in the Verbal System of Philippine English and Other World Englishes Seminar

                                                Linguistic Society of the Philippines annual lecture-forum

      of The Bonifacio P. Sibayan Distinguished Professorial Chair in Applied Linguistics

                                                Speaker: Professor Peter C. Collins, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

           De La Salle University, Manila