Rachel Ann L.

Reyes PHDBE508
Ph.D. Bilingual Education Mark Fabella, Ph.D.

English Language Program for Filipino ELs

WHO ARE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS?

ELs correspond to a large and growing population in our nation’s schools. From 1990s to the present time, they are continuously increasing
in number – according to Maxwell (2009), the population had jumped to 5.1 million.
ELs represent 350 different language groups (Garcia et. al., 2009). There are a lot of factors that are important to consider such as EL’s rich
literacy and prior schooling experiences (New Levine & McCloskey, 2009; Pransky, 2008), EL’s experiencing major disruptions in their families’ lives
such as poverty, war, long-term stress, etc. In a nutshell, the nation’s ELs come from diverse personal, linguistic, cultural, educational, and
socioeconomic backgrounds.

RATIONALE OF THIS PROGRAM

The Philippines, an archipelago with an ever-expanding population, a linguistically diverse nation with a great influence of colonial
education, STILL experiences a major language gap. It STILL encounters language problems especially in choosing the best medium of instruction –
either English or other native languages. And this, greatly affected the Philippine education up until now. According to The Standard (2014),
Philippines is still stuck as Third World Country – having corruption as the major factor. Thus, it is still a nation that highly values the presence of
their families.
In this country, English fluency is one of the most useful skills of every educated Filipino. It is a part of our culture and global identity as a
bilingual nation. The English language is foremost in its importance as to the acquisition of education not only because this is a universal language
but because this is used in almost all types of instruction and in national and international examinations (Leyaley, 2016). Moreover, our country is
considered as the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), as declared by Transcom Philippines – overtaken India as top destination hub for call center
industry (Subramaniam, 2013) – and more investors are taking part in the opportunities outside NCR like Clark, Iloilo, Davao, and Cebu (MB, 2015).
Additionally, the increasing number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), as recorded by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), there are
now 12 million OFWs abroad. Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data showed that the Aquino government has breached the
two-million mark in OFW deployment processing in 2013, the highest record in the history of Philippine labor export.
The English language is well entrenched in Philippine formal education. It is also the language of commerce and law. Furthermore, it is
everywhere the country – it can be learned through life experience. It is considered as a major subject and is taught in the Philippines from grade
one to college and is the medium of instructions in many schools. Most school textbooks for subjects such as Biology, Physics, Mathematics and
others are printed in English and are rarely has Filipino versions. Also, for highly technical subjects such as nursing, medicine, computing, and
calculus, English is the preferred medium for textbooks, communication, etc. Aside from education, it is also used in religious affairs, print and
broadcast media, and business. Movies and TV programs in English are not subtitled and are expected to be directly understood.
According to Chavez (2014), language success in the Philippines is due to its approach to learning English, not just teaching it. English is not
only taught in schools, but also it has a wide exposure outside the classroom. It is not just taught as a subject, but as a working language and a
means of communication.
However, despite the ease of using English in daily life, majority of the Filipinos still encounter difficulty learning and utilizing it proficiently.
In addition, reports stated that there is deterioration in the level of proficiency of Filipinos in English manifested in their poor performance in
International English tests. Many researchers have proven that the English language proficiency of Filipinos has deteriorated over the years
(Leyaley, 2016). The decline prompted the government to issue Executive Order 210 which orders the Department of Education to use English as a
second language in the elementary and made it the medium of instruction in the high school.
With the help of this one-month English language program designed for Filipino ELLs. Grounded by Jim Cummins’ basic interpersonal
communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) -- Academic success requires the development of communicative
skills in the content area along with the much-needed “content knowledge, use of higher-order thinking skills, and mastery of basic academic skills.
Both BICS and CALP are important for students to develop oral language skills and mastery of academic language to pursue educational success.
Each of the prominent problems ELLs in the Philippines encounter is given suggested activities – representing as solutions aiming to meet
the expected outcome. The Success Indicators provided are cited from the book Transforming Schools for English Learners by Corwin, 2011.
 Pronunciation lapses. Due to the differences of the structure of English with our local/native languages, we commonly mispronounce
words with sounds: /th/, /v/ and /b/, /f/ and /p/, /zh/,/z/ and /s/, silent /h/, unaccented vowel /uh/, /ae/ and /ei/, /e/ and /i/.
Moreover, in Filipino language, we are used to “Kung ano ang baybay, syang bigkas.” English has a different set of phonemes which is
greater in number than in Filipino. Being aware of these differences, students will be able to attain accuracy in pronunciation
approximating that of a native speaker.
 Poor vocabulary skill. Leyaley’s (2016) research found out that Institute of Teacher Education freshmen students have limited use of
vocabulary words that they cannot fully express and elaborate their ideas – affecting their comprehension. Through word walls,
teachers are aided to visually communicate the words and phrases needed for more efficient understanding of new subject matter, and
also provide the practice opportunities that students need to move the TWIPs from short- to long-term memory. A word wall is a
collection of words which are displayed in large visible letters on a wall, bulletin board, or other display surface in a classroom.
The word wall is designed to be an interactive tool for students and contains an array of words that can be used during writing
and reading (Filkins, 2016). Graves (2007) notes that “vocabulary instruction is most effective when learners are given both definitional
and contextual information, when they actively process the new word meanings, and when they experience multiple encounters with
words. Said somewhat differently, vocabulary instruction is most effective when it is rich, deep, and extended” (p, 14). Word walls have
long been a useful strategy for helping younger students process words multiple times, over the duration of the school year.
 Low English Proficiency. Leyaley’s research (2016) result was that English language proficiency of freshmen students who are enrolled
in the Institute of Teacher Education is described as Early Intermediate regardless of the type of school they graduated from, the
program they are enrolled in, and the honors they have received. They can read and write short paragraphs on familiar topics containing
previously taught vocabulary and sentence structures. They commonly make errors in word usage, pronunciation, and grammar. Adora
(2013) also further found out that majority of the regular third year students of Tabuk City National High School have poor and fair
proficiency level of the students.
 Specific Objectives Activities
Problem
Pronunciation To be able to pronounce the The teacher writes the
lapses on words words in a standard way by commonly mispronounced
often with the recognizing all the English words containing the target
ff. sounds: /th/, sounds and learning their sounds on the board.
/v/ and /b/, /f/ International Phonetic athlete, through, breathe,
and /p/, Alphabet (IPA). these, father, herb, honest,
/zh/,/z/ and /s/, honor, leisure, shepherd,
silent /h/, predicate, cleanliness,
unaccented centennial, education,
vowel /uh/, chocolate, is, ban, affidavit,
/ae/ and /ei/, appreciate, broccoli, coupon,
/e/ and /i/ corps
The teacher models each
word and individual
repetition follows.
The teacher then tells the
students that they are going
to hear one of the words and
must write what they hear.
What the students have
written is then checked and
compared.
The teacher leads a
discussion of what they heard
and what sounds they are
confusing.
The teacher gives feedback
and the sounds may then be
Time Expected Success Indicator
Fram Outcome
e
Acquire
10 accuracy in 1 – Pronunciation problems are so
hrs. pronunciation severe as to make speech virtually
unintelligible.
2 – Very hard to understand because
of pronunciation problems. Must
frequently repeat in order to make
self understood.
3 – Pronunciation problems
necessitate concentration on the part
of the listener and occasionally lead
to misunderstanding.
4 – Always intelligible, though one is
conscious of definite accent and
occasional inappropriate intonation
patterns.
5 – Pronunciation and intonation
approximates that of a native
speaker.
Source: California Dept. of Education
 modelled.

***

The teacher asks the students

To be able to apply the right
stress and intonation of
every word/phrase
to watch and listen carefully
to the interactive video on
stress and intonation. 15
hrs.
The interactive video asks the
students to imitate the stress
and intonation of the
words/phrases – with the
teacher’s guidance.

To be able to be acquainted Using Word Walls

with the three tiers of
vocabulary:
• Tier 1 includes basic words
Poor or phrases that do not need
Vocabulary skill explanation, are commonly
used in everyday
conversation, and are
familiar to most English-
fluent students (e.g., blue,
pencil, chair).
• Tier 2 includes words or
phrases that are used often
and included in a variety of
contexts but that need
explanation because they
are more descriptive or
precise— conductor rather
than the Tier 1 driver, for
example, or pleased rather
than the Tier 1 happy.
Teachers and students should
work together to determine
which words should go on
the word wall.
Include words from the Three
Tiers of Vocabulary. Words
should be added gradually —
a general guideline is five
words per week.
The teacher provides enough
practice so that words are
read and spelled
automatically and make sure
that words from the wall are
always spelled correctly in
their daily writing and used in
their daily discussion.
1 – Vocabulary limitations are so
Gain broader severe as to make conversations
vocabulary virtually impossible.
2 – Misuse of words and very limited
vocabulary make comprehension
quite difficulty.
3 – Frequently uses the wrong words.
Conversation is somewhat limited
20 because of inadequate vocabulary.
hour 4 – Occasionally uses inappropriate
s terms and/or must rephrase ideas
because of inadequate
understanding of vocabulary.
5 – Use of vocabulary and idioms
approximates that of a native
speaker.
Source: California Dept. of Education
 Calderon (2007) also places
such linking words as so, at,
into, within, by, if, then, and
because in this category.
• Tier 3 includes words or
phrases that are not
commonly used, are limited
to a particular context, and
are not likely to be used
outside the classroom (e.g.,
photosynthesis, quadratic
equation, iambic
pentameter).

Ref. Beck, McKoewen, and

Kucan (2002)
Haynes and Zacarian (2010)
To be able to communicate The teacher immerses the
with high English proficiency. students in English-only
Low English environments and asks them
Proficiency to communicate using
English.
The teacher groups the class
and asks to perform a skit
presenting how English is
used in different contexts
such as in school, at the mall,
at the market, at work, etc.
ESL Levels
Level 1-Starting
At L1, students initially have limited
or no understanding of English. They
25 Communicative rarely use English for
hrs. Competence communication.
They respond nonverbally to simple
English fluency commands, statements, and
questions. As their oral
comprehension increases, they begin
to imitate the verbalizations of
others by using single words or
simple phrases, and they begin to use
English spontaneously.

The teacher groups the At the earliest stage, these learners

students. They will watch construct meaning from text
English movies and retell the primarily through illustrations,
story in front of the class. graphs, maps, and tables.

The students choose their
favorite English song and
interpret in class.
The teacher pairs the
students and asks each pair
to converse in English in
three minutes about a topic
randomly picked by the
teacher.
Level 2-Emerging
At L2, students can understand
phrases and short sentences. They
can communicate limited
information in simple everyday and
routine situations by using
memorized phrases, groups of
words, and formulae.
They can use selected simple
structures correctly but still
systematically produce basic errors.
Students begin to use general
academic vocabulary and familiar
everyday expressions. Errors in
writing are present that often hinder
communication.
Level 3-Developing
At L3, students understand more
complex speech but still may require
some repetition.
They use English spontaneously but
may have difficulty expressing all
their thoughts due to a restricted
vocabulary and a limited command
of language structure. Students at
this level speak in simple sentences,
which are comprehensible and
appropriate, but which are
frequently marked by grammatical
errors. Proficiency in reading may
vary considerably.
Students are most successful
constructing meaning from texts for
which they have background
knowledge upon which to build.

Level 4-Expanding
At L4, students’ language skills are
adequate for most day-to-day
communication needs.

They communicate in English in new

or unfamiliar settings but have
occasional difficulty with complex
structures and abstract academic
concepts.

Students at this level may read with

considerable fluency and are able to
locate and identify the specific facts
within the text. However, they may
not understand texts in which the
concepts are presented in a
decontextualized manner, the
sentence structure is complex, or the
vocabulary is abstract or has multiple
meanings.

They can read

independently but may have
occasional comprehension problems,
especially when processing grade-
level information.

Level 5-Bridging
At L5, students can express
themselves fluently and
 spontaneously on a wide range of
personal, general, academic, or social
topics in a variety of contexts. They
are poised to function in an
environment with native speaking
peers with minimal language support
or guidance.

Students have a good command of

technical and academic vocabulary as
well of idiomatic expressions and
colloquialisms. They can produce
clear, smoothly flowing, well-
structured texts of differing lengths
and degrees of linguistic complexity.

Errors are minimal, difficult to spot,

and generally corrected when they
occur.

Copyright © 2006 Teachers of English

to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

References:

Leyaley, Rhonda Vail. (2016) THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY OF FRESHMEN STUDENTS IN THE INSTITUTE OF TEACHER EDUCATION,
KALINGA APAYAO STATE COLLEGE. International Journal of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences. Vol. 5 No. 2.

Zacarian, Debbie. (2011) TRANSFORMING SCHOOLS FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS: A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL LEADERS. Corwin. A
SAGE Company.