“State of Academic Writing in the Philippine Context”

First let us define what is academic writing, “Academic writing refers to a style of
expression that researchers use to define the intellectual boundaries of their disciplines and their
specific areas of expertise. Characteristics of academic writing include a formal tone, use of the
third-person rather than first-person perspective (usually), a clear focus on the research problem
under investigation, and precise word choice. Like specialist languages adopted in other
professions, such as, law or medicine, academic writing is designed to convey agreed meaning
about complex ideas or concepts for a group of scholarly experts” (Hartley 2018).
From that definition we can conclude that academic writing is a writing done targeted at a
critical and informed audience, based on closely investigated knowledge; and intended to reinforce
or challenge concepts or arguments. It usually circulates within the academic world. In other
words, academic writing is usually done to expand and improve humanity’s knowledge. This can
also used to formulate solution for the world’s problems and make life easier. With that it mind,
how is the Philippines doing in utilizing this tool?
In my opinion Philippines as a country producing academic writing is still not that strong
compared to countries with large influence and great economy for example is the nations of United
States of America, Germany, India, and Great Britain. Why? Unites States in the modern times
have been the home of the greatest innovations and inventions, while Germany provided a lot of
concepts in Physics with Relativity one of its most significant, India is home of the first
mathematics and continues to be a powerhouse and lastly Great Britain started the Industrial
Revolution. With that in mind, what did the Philippines contribute to the academic world? There
are some for example, in 1966, Rodolfo Aquino isolated nine specific breeds of rice for the
International Rice Research Institute. His discoveries helped prevent famine in much of Asia.
Another example is, a method to formulate Erythromycin was discovered by Dr. Abelardo Aguilar
A doctor from Iloilo, Aguilar worked for the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company as
a researcher. Lastly in 2007, Jayme Navarro of Bacolod discovered a method of converting plastic
bags into fuel. So, there are definitely some GREAT discoveries made by Filipinos there are also
recognized and respected scientists who made their name not only in the Philippines but in the
international scene as well, an example of that is Lucille Abad, Senior science research specialist
and chief of the Chemistry Research Section, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI). She
developed a plant vitamin – an effective plant growth promoter using irradiated seaweeds. This
research has also been recognized by the Japan-based Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia.
Point taken the Philippines contributed to the academic world, but is it enough?
That is where the DepEd comes in. With the revisions of DepEd to the curriculum, they
intend to improve the state of academic writing in the Philippines by letting students be exposed
to how and why is it created. As early as 7th grade students can encounter Researches and as you
climb up more research will face them. In my opinion this is a great strategy by DepEd because as
we all know the Philippines lack the professionals right now. It is the sad reality of Filipinos
leaving the country because they love their family more than the country. Well, we can’t really
blame our professionals to leave here to find a better life in other countries. After all with the low
pay, lack of equipment here, how can they fully realize their potential right? As much as I want
our country to be successful with how the salary here I don’t think the efflux of Filipinos will stop
anytime soon. But with the plan of DepEd to expose young students to academic writing as well
as the continued focus on research in college then there might be hope for the Philippines after all.
More students equates to more possible academics, some may leave but many will stay after all
we Filipinos love our families more than anything else and leaving the country is not a great idea
for some. With that in mind, it guarantees that there will be Filipino scholars in the future and with
the training starting at a young age then they will be more accustomed to that and hopefully that
will make them more effective at writing.
Another problem I think academic writing faces here in the Philippines is the language
barrier. Yes, we Filipinos understand and speak basic English but can we really say that to our
fellow Filipinos in the provinces? There are researches written in Filipino and we are also trained
to but compare that to the amount of researches written in English by our own men. To sum it up,
in order for us to reach a larger audience we must write it in the universal language of English and
simply not all Filipinos are good at the language.
Another problem is MONEY. As well all know money runs the world and academic writing
depending on the project or concept will COST A LOT of money. Imagine one laboratory test will
cost around 5000 Philippine peso not all people have that kind of money. I know some scholars
use crowd funding, sponsorship and partnership but not all of people have access to that. We as
students especially don’t have the financial capability to do a research of large magnitude. That is
why professionals who earn money are better suited to these kind of things, but we are again
referred to the first problem which is the lack of professionals doing academic writing and Filipinos
going overseas to serve there.
Finally, another issue I think academic writing face here in the Philippines is the lack of
exposure to great works. For example in college, how many research papers make their way to
mainstream media? I seldom hear groundbreaking discoveries. I think the problem here is after the
requirement is done it will then be kept in the library, returned to the author etc. What if there are
some papers there that are viable and only needs to be backed up in order to be realized? I admit
the research papers that come out of Cayetano Science is still not good enough and teachers are
not at fault but the students are. Not all students take research seriously, after all it’s tiring, it’s
boring and most of all it takes a lot of time to finish. Most students look at it as as requirement but
not as the key to make our country better. I think we students should change our mentality
regarding these things but it’s not all our fault. Teachers should also promote great papers in order
to realize its potential and not collect dust somewhere.
To conclude my points on the state of academic writing In the Philippine context. I think
Philippines has a great potential, all countries have but we as a country still lack the focus and
priority to make us a powerhouse in the academic world. The government should focus on
promoting academic writing more and promote our professionals more so that they can be used to
make our country better and possibly making a mark on the history of the world as a natiom. We
have the potential and we started to become research-centric but that is just only the start. We
could improve significantly if we do things right. Filipinos must do everything as we can do
everything. Research, Theses, theories, concepts? We can do them all.
References:
Santos, A. (2017, November 26). State of Academic Writing in the Philippine Context - Essay.
Retrieved June 19, 2019, from https://www.essays24.com/essay/State-of-Academic-
Writing-in-the-Philippine-Context/80920.html

Academic Writing. Writing Center. Colorado Technical College; Hartley, James. Academic
Writing and Publishing: A Practical Guide. New York: Routledge, 2008. From
https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/academicwriting