LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION POLICIES

EDUCATION POLICIES

Education policy consists of the principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as
the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems.

IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION POLICIES

Once all the elements of the education system are addressed, providing children with instruction in a language
they use and understand has the potential to significantly improve student reading outcomes and help students
develop the literacy skills they need to be successful in school and life.

EVOLVING LANGUAGE POLICIES

The Philippines' language-in-education policy has evolved with the structures of the state and its institutions
over a long period of time. By and large, the policy in place has always been reflective of the desire of the
government or administration in power and embodied in its fundamental law: the Constitution.

ISSUES AT HAND

A closer examination of previous policies and by looking at research on responsive language-in-education

policy, the Bilingual Education Policy (BEP) that was in place before MTBMLE, was a dismal failure as
evidenced by its products, many of them teachers who arestill teaching who, according to Bautista, “have been
reported as greatly deficient in their English language skills.

The deficiency in the second language (L2) is a default in the BEP because there was no emphasis in the
mastery of the first language (L1) of the learners as a condition to acquiring with proficiency a second or third
language later on.

INSTABILITY: CHANGING LEADERSHIPS

It may be recalled that in 2009, the Department of Education issued DepEd Order No. 74 s. 2009
institutionalizing MTBMLE. The issuance of the Order was at first unanticipated because of at least one
reason: President Arroyo was supportive of the Gullas’ English Only Bill as it feeds into her agenda of
expanding the BPO sector where frontline service workers need to be proficient in the English language.

LANGUAGE ON EDUCATION POLICIES IN THE PHIILIPPINES THROUGH THE YEARS

SPANISH COLONIZATION (1565-1898)

1956 - The King of Spain (Felipe II) gave instruction that learning indigenous languages by the friars was
inadequate for missionaries, instead, the friars should teach Spanish to natives.

1603 - requires the teaching of the Spanish language to the natives who were willing to learn, but at the same
time the Crown government demanded friars to learn indigenous languages probably because some of friars
were reluctant or incompetent to master indigenous languages.

1634- Felipe IV issued a decree demanding that the colonial government should teach Spanish to all natives.

1686 - Carlos II issued a decree in which he complained that former decrees had not been observed and stated
there would be punishment if not observed.

1768 - Establishment of schools and prohibited any other language than Spanish in schools. It is stated that
official jobs could be given to those speaking Spanish as an incentive to learning of Spanish.

1863 - prescribe that Spanish was to be the sole of medium instruction in order to facilitate the need to learn
Spanish, so that literacy in Spanish appeared to be the major purpose of the curriculum. The decree provided
that natives who could not speak, read and write Spanish five years after the issuance was not to be permitted
to hold salaried government positions.
AMERICAN COLONIZATION (1898- 1990)

After the Spanish – American War, the US Government sent Thomasites to the Philippines. They made it a
point to teach English to the Filipinos. Every child from age 7 was required to register in schools located in
their own town or province. The students were given free school materials

1925 - MONROE EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION found in the survey the slow progress of Filipino
students in learning English in school.

1932 - The medium of instruction in primary education will be the native language on (1932-1933)

COMMONWEALTH CONSTITUT (1935- 1942)

1936 - Commonwealth Act No. 184 -an act to establish a national language institute and define its power and
duties.

1937 - Executive Order No. 134 - stating that the national language will be based on Tagalog.

1939 - They submitted the recommendation that “Tagalog” will be the official national language.

1940 - Executive Order No. 263 - authorizing the printing of the dictionary and grammar of the national
language, and fixing the day from which said language shall be used and taught in the public and private
schools of the Philippines.

Commonwealth Act No. 570 Section 1 -The Filipino national language is declared one of the official languages
of the Philippines.

Commonwealth Act No. 570 Section 2 - for the purpose of this act, all textbooks for the primary schools
written in the national language or which are necessary for the propagation thereof, by the medium of public
and private schools and other agencies and methods of popularization, shall be prepared under the supervision
of the bureau of education, subject to the approval of the institute of national language in so far as its language
form is connected.

JAPANESE PERIOD (1942-1945)

Nippongo and culture were aggressively propagated. They were offered as compulsory courses in schools. The
Commander-in-chief of the Japanese Imperial Forces ordered the prohibition of the use of English.

1943 - Executive Order No. 10 - The Filipino language bloomed. It was used as the official language of the
country from elementary to college level in teaching Philippine history and character education.

1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION (1987)

ARTICLE XIV, SECTIONS 6 AND 7 Provided the legal basis for the various language policies that are being
implemented in the country. Resolved the issue on the national language since the 1935 and 1973 Philippine
charters were not clear about this.

THE PHILIPPINE BILINGUAL EDUCATION POLICY (BEP) It was first implemented in 1974 when DECS
issued Order no. 25 s. 1974 titled “Implementing Guidelines for the Policy on Bilingual Education”.

BEP in the Philippines is defined operationally as separating the use of Filipino and English as the medium of
instruction in specific subject areas.
FILIPINO for social sciences, MAPEH, home economics, practical arts, and character education.

ENGLISH for science, mathematics, and technology subjects. Regional languages shall be used as an auxiliary
languages in Grades I and II
THE LANGUAGE POLICY OF THE COMMISION ON HIGHER EDUCTION

1994 Republic Act No. 7722 also called as the Higher Education Act 1994. creating Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) was assigned.

Language courses whether Filipino or English should be taught in that language

Literature subject may be taught in Filipino, English or any language as long as there are enough instructional
materials for the same and both students and instructors/ professors are competent in the language.

Courses in the humanities and social sciences should preferably be taught in Filipino,
K-12 Program and Mother Tongue — Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)

K-12 program sought to build proficiency through language via MTB-MLE, introduced in 2012. the mother
tongue or first language refers to language or dialects first learned by a child and with child identifies with.

Kinder to Grade 3 Mother tongue is the medium of instruction.

Grade 4-6 mother tongue transition program which English and Filipino are introduced as media of instruction.

Junior and Senior High School English and Filipino will become the primary language of instruction.

2017 House Bill No. 5091 "An Act to Strengthen and Enhance the use of English as the medium of instruction
in Educational System"

English shall be taught as second language, starting with Grade I and shall be used as MOI for English,
Mathematics and Science at least the third-grade level.

Filipino language shall continue to be MOI in learning areas of Filipino and Araling Panlipunan.

Language choice, also known as diction, refers to the choice of words and style of expression an author uses,
whether in speech or writing. Language choice varies from one situation or text to another, even coming from
the same author

TYPES OF LANGUAGE CHOICES:

FORMAL LANGUANGE - Formal diction is the use of sophisticated language that is free of slang and
colloquialism. Formal language choices are typically grammatically correct and use complex sentence
structures and vocabulary.

You might recognize formal language from things like textbooks, business documents, and legal papers.
Formal language indicates the author’s knowledge and authority on the subject of discussion, and so can be
used to position the writer as superior in some way.

 employer and an employee, a teacher and a student, a customer and a shop manager etc.
 academia, conferences, debates, public speeches, interviews

E.g. Formal: I’m disinclined to inform you of the negative implications of your behavior, but you appear
agitated.

A more informal way to say this is, "I hate to tell you, but you seem upset." The phrases "disinclined to
inform," and "appear agitated," signal a more formal writing style and change the meaning of the sentence so
that the person being addressed might feel a little chastised.

INFORMAL LANGUAGE - on the other hand, is more like a conversation and is used more often in
narrative literature. This casual language is more life-like and makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing
a conversation in the “real world.

 Informal language serves the purpose of day-to-day communication, such as text messages and
casual conversations.
 informal language is the preferred language style for any kind of communication that is personal
rather than official.

COLLOQUIAL - Colloquial phrases and expressions are informal in nature and typically represent a manner
of speaking that is particular to a certain region. One of the more common colloquialisms in the US is “ya’ll” (a
combination of “you” and “all”) which is most prevalent in the southern states, but they can also be an entire
phrase.

EXAMPLE OF COLLOQUIAL:

 Anyways (anyway)
 A bunch of people (a number of people)
  We have a deal (We have an agreement)
 Fixing to leave (preparing to leave)
 Kid, kids (child, children)
 Okay, o.k., ok (all right)
 Pretty good (very good)

SLANG

These are informal words that originated from a particular group of people and gained popularity. Slang is
often a new word, or a shortened or modified version of an existing word. Slang can also be a new meaning for
a word.

POETIC

This is the use of words that have an artistic, lyrical feel that often relate to a particular theme. Poetic language
can also be highly descriptive and use a lot of imagery. While it’s hard to describe this type of language, it is
easily recognizable in songs and poetry.

PEDANTIC

This form of language uses formal language to such a degree that the meaning can be unclear to the “average”
person. Pedantic language use often seeks to position the speaker as intelligent, or superior.

E.g. “I do not like speaking to Amy, I feel as though I need to have a thesaurus and a dictionary on hand every
time we have a conversation.”

ABSTRACT

This is language an author uses when they want to describe something intangible, or abstract, like ideas or
emotions. This type of language is often associated with poetry, although it is slightly different from poetic
diction in that it doesn't "sound" as lyrical.

Example: On her vacation, she had beautiful weather at the beach.

Revised: On her vacation at the beach, Nancy enjoyed the powder-blue sky dotted with puffy, white clouds,
and the sun sparkled on the azure ocean water.

CONCRETE

on the other hand, is quite easy to describe with words. This is the use of language to communicate the literal
meaning of something. For example the sentence, “I ate a banana” is not open for interpretation.

Example: Sandy's dress was green.

Revised: Sandy's micro mini-dress was the color of lime green Jell-O.

HOW TO ANALYZE LANGUAGE CHOICE IN WRITING

CONNOTATION

Connotation means the implied or suggested meaning that is attached to a word (also called an emotional tag).
For example, calling your friend’s cat “obese” instead of “chunky” might imply that you think he is unhealthy,
and it might make your friend defensive about the care of their feline friend.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when analyzing the connotations of an author’s language choice.

1. What does this word (or phrase) imply?

2. Is there an emotional tag attached?

3. What is the tone of the chosen words?

DENOTATION

If connotation is the implied meaning of words, then denotation is the literal meaning of words. There is little
to no room for interpretation with denotative language, but it can still carry meaning.

Some questions to ask of this language choice are:

1. What does this word (or phrase) mean literally?

2. Is there a purpose for this word choice?

3. Does it convey a type of literature, location, or people group?