MATH

SELINA VERNETTE V. AMAZONA 02/21/19

MIA CARMELA A. NABOR
X-THOMSON MRS. DEGUZMAN

LEVEL OF INTEREST OF GRADE TEN THOMSIN IN SPANISH SUBJECT

INTRODUCTION

The implementation of the Special Program in Foreign Language (SPFL) in Spanish by the

Department of Education (DepEd) is a prudent investment to restore the four-century old socio-cultural

ties between Spain and the Philippines particularly in the field of educational improvement. By

incorporating SPFL in the new K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, DepEd was able to successfully

reinculcate the teaching of Spanish language and culture in the Philippine secondary education system.

This special program was initially offered at the third- and fourth-year high school levels in 15 pilot

schools in 2009. After five years of rigid implementation by highly trained and committed Filipino-

teachers, Spanish has become the biggest SPFL program of DepEd, overtaking other foreign language

programs in terms of expanding the career opportunities and possibilities for employability among high

school students under the new K to 12 education system in 72 public secondary schools.

Department of Education and the University of Alcala (Alcalá de Henares, Spain)

recently signed an agreement to strengthen the education and cultural ties between Spain and the

Philippines. The University of Alcala in Madrid is one of the oldest universities in Europe with more than

500 years of history. The university is known for its active efforts to promote Spanish language in both

studies and the Cervantes prize. DepEd and University of Alcala have agreed to implement programs that

will strengthen the academic, educational and cultural activities that will benefit both parties. One of these

is the inclusion of Spanish language in the curriculum of 15 pilot secondary schools in the Philippines.

The program seeks to develop students’ skills in listening, reading, writing, speaking, and viewing as

fundamental to acquiring communicative competence in a second foreign language. With this agreement,

the students and teachers will not only learn to master the basics of Spanish language, but also be exposed

to more opportunities of interaction in the international arena. Bringing back the Spanish language in the
school curriculum would help us understand and connect with our past. Many of the works of our

forefathers, including our national hero Jose Rizal, which were written in Spanish, remain significant up

to this day.

The programme begins with Spanish, for historical reasons and because of its relationship to the

Philippine national language (according to various sources, between 20% and 33% of Tagalog words are

of Spanish origin). The programme will therefore benefit 70 pupils in each of the 17 schools selected: a

total of 1,190 pupils. Considering that Spanish is not offered even as an optional subject in the state-run

education system in the Philippines, this is a significant step forward. To adequately assess its scope, it is

worth recalling that in the Philippines there are 5,078 state secondary schools, with 5,072,210 pupils, plus

another 3,377 private secondary schools, with 1,290,792 pupils (2007).

It is important to point out that Spanish never replaced the vernacular Philippine tongues and no-

one ever tried to make it. The Filipinos never abandoned their own languages. Spanish, despite being an

official language between 1565 and 1987, was never a threat to the Philippines’ linguistic diversity. Quite

the contrary, it broadened it further, through its own presence and the emergence of Creole tongues

known generically as Chavacano.

In some degree programmes (History, Law), Spanish is still extremely useful, not least in order to

understand the original Philippine documents. Students are now studying Spanish to enhance their

chances of being able to emigrate to the US, because they know that it is the second language there and

that, consequently, they will have better employment opportunities if they speak it. Careers (of children or

elderly people) who have emigrated to Spain have found that learning Spanish has opened new doors for

them.

Accordingly, Spanish is now perceived as an instrument of communication, with 400 million

speakers and, even more importantly, as the second language in the US. It has become a channel towards

new opportunities and a way to climb the employment ladder. Spanish is starting to be less associated

with Spain, the colonial past and the history and literature of the Philippines. In a way, we are witnessing

a decoupling between the Spanish and Philippine identities and the Spanish language. This is pivotal: it is
a useful tool, with no further connotations. It is as successful as English as a universal tongue: most do

not learn it for historical or literary causes, but for practical reasons.