McKinleys questionable bequest: over 100 years of English in Philippine education

ALLAN B. I. BERNARDO

Lorraine B. Castro Michelle Q. Magdaong (Discussants)

Introduction
The English language has enjoyed a privileged status in Philippine formal education for more than a hundred years. In the Letter of Instruction to the Philippine Commission issued on April 7, 1900, US President William McKinley declared that English be the medium of instruction at all levels of the public educational system in the Philippines.

A Brief History
Although there were schools established during the Spanish colonial period from 1565 to 1898, the colonial government did not establish a systematic program for education. Indeed, the generally accepted policy was not to educate the Filipinos because the Spaniards feared that the Filipinos would revolt against Spain if they knew too much.

The English-only policy

According to Martin (1999: 133-4), the American colonial government decided to adopt the English-only policy for several reasons: 1. The American teachers could more effectively teach in English 2. English was thought to be the language that could unite the Filipinos from the different regions who spoke different languages or dialects 3. English was thought of as the language that would provide the Filipinos access to civilization the life of reason or prudence

The English-only policy

English was used as a medium of instruction with a pedagogy that assumed English was the primary language of the students (Alberca, 1994; Gonzales, this issue; Sibayan, 1967). The curriculum was largely filled with literacy-building courses such as reading, spelling, writing, composition, rhetoric, and literature (Martin, 1999:134). Both students and teachers were not allowed to utter a word in any language other than English.

Early criticisms on English-only policy

According to Salamanca (1968:86), two American scholars studied the state of public education in the Philippines (in 1904 and 1913) and both found low levels of English language proficiency among Filipino students.

Early criticisms on English-only policy

Based on his own studies, Saleeby (1924) recommended that three regional languages should be used together with English in elementary education. In 1913, the Vice Governor General of the Philippine Islands, George C. Butte, declared that all instruction in the elementary schools should be given in one of the nine native languages which is appropriate to the locality, as soon as the necessary textbooks can be provided and qualified teachers obtained (cited in Martin, 1999: 133)

Experimenting with bilingual education

The first real threat to the ascendancy of English in Philippine education came in 1939, when Jorge Bocobo became Secretary of Education. He issued an order to the effect that English be continued as a medium of instruction but that primary school teachers be allowed to use the local languages as a supplementary tool for instruction. According to Sibayan (1978), this order effectively began the bilingual policy in the Philippines, although the policy was never labeled as such.

Education using the vernaculars and teaching English as a second language

The Revised Philippine Education Program (Bureau of Public Schools, 1957), which provided for the use of vernaculars as language of instruction for the first two graders of elementary school. At these grades, English was taught as a subject but was not used as a medium of instruction.

The nationalist resistance to English

A stronger threat to the pre-eminence of English came during the late 1960s with the rise in the nationalist movement and of anti-imperialist, i.e., anti-colonial and anti-American sentiments. The use of English in the formal educational system became a target for this movement, and the writings of nationalist scholar Renato Constantino were particularly potent in crystallizing the negative attitudes towards the use of English in schools.

The Bilingual Education Policy

The Bilingual Education Policy (BEP) of 1974 mandated the use of English and Pilipino as media of instruction in elementary and high schools according to a set timetable. The goal was to develop students language proficiencies in both languages.

Bilingual Education in Philippine classrooms today

Today, it is possible to evaluate how English is used in Philippine schools by referring to recent studies of the use of language in Philippine Education. Brigham and Castillo (1999) conducted the most recent one, and they found that the implementation of the BEP was flawed on many counts. Some of their observations include the assertions that: 1. Language instruction in the Philippines, both in English and Filipino, emphasizes mechanics, structures and rules of language, and neglects the more important functional, creative and communication skills.

Bilingual Education in Philippine classrooms today

2. Many Filipino teachers are not adequately prepared to teach in either English or Filipino. In some cases, the language proficiency scores of the teachers were lower than those of their pupils. 3. There is a significant amount of resistance to the BEP, many teachers, students, and administrators, particularly in big cities in the southern islands of the Philippines, prefer an English-only policy for instruction. These sectors perceive that English is the language of power, upward social and economic mobility, global
communication and competitiveness (Castillo, 2000).

Competing Agenda, Competing Discourses

English for social integration and/or control The utility of English The pragmatic difficulties in shifting away from English The colonizing power of English The damaging effects of English for learning

Prospects for English in Philippine Education

Presently, English is still the principal language of instruction in Philippine formal education. This status is maintained by discourses that emphasize the role of English in integrating an ethnolinguistically diverse nation, in gaining access to intellectual and socioeconomic advancement, particularly in a global cultural and economic environment.

 English had failed as a language for developing national identity and national consciousness, and as a language for effective learning, particularly at the most critical stages of basic education. Today, the failure of English is particularly felt by the overwhelming majority of Filipinos who live in environments where English is an alien language and who go to schools that provide poor quality education in english.

Conclusion
English no longer enjoys the sole privileged role it enjoyed a hundred years ago It is uncertain how the specific role of English in Philippine education will develop in the near future.