LEARNING ENGLISH AT ITS PEAK!

Strengthening and enhancing the use of English as the medium of instruction is the cry of Congressman Eduardo Gullas and his other colleagues to alleviate the low English Proficiency in the country. This cry is also known as House Bill 5619 which seeks its approval, by the majority of the House of Representative then by the Senate and finally by the Chief Executive. If ever approved the bill becomes a law, thereby compelling the authorities to follow.

  

If this bill becomes a law, will this be the answer of the country's pathetic skills in using English as a language?

 

This bill is not anymore new to everybody. In 2003, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo passed the Executive Order 210 to enhance English proficiency of the nation. The said order favour English as the second language. However, this was questioned by a group of professors and language experts who filed a petition at the Supreme Court because it strengthens English as the medium of instruction thereby subverts the present status of Filipino in non-Tagalog areas and violates the constitutional injunction that the regional language shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction.

 

Today, the Department of Education still uses the Bilingual Teaching Policy. Under this policy, subjects like Social Studies, Values and Character Education, Industrial Arts, Home Economics and Physical Education are taught in Filipino. Other subjects are taught in English but some teachers teach English in "Tag-lish".  

 

Some experts believed that learning is best transferred when it made through the use of the mother tongue as medium of instruction. Others stated that to learn English, one must not fear. Purists expressed that all languages are equally perfect and complete and there's nothing to fear English. They further believed that teachers should change their attitudes and methods to allay thier local students' fear of learning a foreign language. Therefore, emotional barriers that impedes students' learning will be removed. Studies also revealed that mastery of the language is not attained because learners have limited exposure to English thereby making it as a key to learn the language.

 

Gullas and other authors of the bill said, that if the medium of instruction will not change, then English proficiency in the country will continue to be declining. The bill according to them is about aiming the labor force participants with the language skills necessary  for them to compete aggressively in all gainful job markets here and abroad.

 

Among the salient points of the House Bill 5619 include; (a) the use of English, Filipino or the regional / native language from pre-school to grade 3, (b) the use of English as the teaching language in all academic subjects from grade 4 to 6 and in all levels in High Schools, (c) teaching of English and Filipino as separate subjects in all levels of Elementary and High Schools, (d) promotion of English as language of interaction, and (e) the use of English as the language of assessment in all government examinations and in entrance tests of public schools,universities and colleges.

 

Philippine lawmakers are fond of making laws for the reasons that people will look up to them, that they have done something while they are in the position and / or they make laws for their own satisfaction. One of my law professors expressed that law makers are effective in making laws but defective in implementing thereof.

 

Problems will be expected as the House Bill 5619 becomes a law unless some factors are taken into considerations. Hunger or malnutrition, for instance, still affects the country thereby impedes, prevents and stops the students' capacity to learn.  Incompetent teachers, who need extensive and intensive training must be imposed as soon as possible. In my case, when I was a teacher in the public elementary school, I wasn't able to attend a traning which was delivered by a firsthand trainor. All were echoed trainings! Absolutely, the learnings were very different.

The absence or defective facilities also played its role to promote learning. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation and acquisition must be done for this purpose. Distractions nearby school premises like internet games must also be controlled in order not to aggravate the poor performance in school. 

Lastly, but less likely to be solved, is the attitude towards learning. The country may have its best laws, competent teachers, effective facilities and other requirements to promote effective learning, however, if people have negative attitude towards it, still everything is inutile. Attitude is a paramount importance in learning. One cannot  expedite his learning effectively, if he is forced.