Philippines Essay

I. Expected Argument – The academic progress of the students will increase because English is the medium used in international textbooks and schools. II. Rebuttal – The students’ academic progress may be hindered due to unfamiliarity with the language, especially more so with the less fortunate people in the country. III. Explanation For many in the Philippines, the fluent use of the English language has always indicated a level of superiority or better upbringing among its people. This and the fact that the English language is most commonly used in an international basis has lead people to believe that English is more valuable than the Filipino or any other indigenous language. This idea, I believe, is false. The English language is not a gauge of one’s intelligence, as subjects such as Science and Math do not need to revolve around the language. Recent studies have shown that students who study in their own native tongue have obtained the highest scores, for example students from Japan and Korea. Eduardo Gullas, an old lawmaker from Cebu, says that Filipino children failed in the recent math and science tests given by DepEd because they have poor English. He also added: â€Å"To begin with, math and science manuals and most other books for that matter are in English, so learning becomes extremely difficult if the student has deficient English.† Also, using English puts poorer student at a disadvantage. Not everyone speaks English at home so children from Tagalog speaking home are less likely to understand the lessons. Also, the students would also be more concerned whether their use of English was correct and be more hesitant to recite and speak in class, thus hindering their educational development. IV. Examples 1. Malaysia said it will drop English as the language of instruction for math and science in schools, in a highly sensitive decision that has split opinion in the multiethnic country. The government cited a 2008 survey which found that students’ performance in math and science had fallen since it had been taught in English, and that rural children were hit particularly hard. 2. An article by Saffir Rammah states that; â€Å"We (Academy of the Punjab in North America) believe that the native language is the only genuine and true medium of expression for any nationality, in particular for communicating their emotions and feelings to each other. Millions of Punjabi sons and daughters who even today write letters to their Punjabi speaking parents, friends and other loved ones in Urdu or English are missing the most basic and vital mode of communications available to human beings – their own mother tongue. If we sit down for a few moments and ponder on this phenomena, we will soon come to the conclusion that it is a crime against a whole nation to deprive them the proper training in written expression in their own language† and that, â€Å"that the use of Urdu as the medium of instructions in schools is the main cause of low literacy rate in West Punjab and is one of the main impediments of economic growth and development of civil society. We take note of the fact that all developed nations, including the â€Å"Asian Tigers† that have recently made major strides in economic development, use their native languages as medium of instructions in schools. We are convinced that education in Punjabi is a must for the educational, economic and civil development of West Punjab.† 3. In a study done in 2006, 52% of Filipino students prefer bilingual classes with both English and Filipino rather than pure and straight English in subjects like Math and Science because it’s too hard to understand and because some words have no direct Filipino-English meanings.