Language Shifts

For my senior paper (thesis as we refer to it here in the Philippines) in college I decided to focus on how the alterations of our language as Filipinos affects our decision making abilities. My paper was focused on the Filipino students who have been given the opportunity to study in BYUH. I talked about how the alterations in language as influenced by our long history of colonizations shapes the decisions we make towards the end of this study abroad opportunity.  I have put in a lot of time and effort for this paper and the things that I have gathered where very surprising.  Well I won't be discussing this paper in this post but what I have to say is somewhat relevant to it.

The reason why I mentioned my senior paper has something to do with the current trend (phenomena) that I have observed ever since I got back here in the Philippines.  I was only gone for almost 3 years but I have to say that though some things are still the same there are a lot that have changed as well.  Ever since I got back I noticed that most parents who has kids ages 4 years old and below communicates with their children using the English language. I know this is not a new scenario especially here in the Philippines but what disturbs interests me is how this phenomena is shaping who the future Filipinos will be and also how rampant this is happening.

One key figure that I used to help support my claim on my senior paper and I think will help me clearly express what I am trying to convey in writing this blog entry is Ngugi wa Thiong’o.  One of his main arguments (referring to the African experience of the colonization of language) is that by removing the native language in the children's education you are separating alienating them to their culture and history.  This has been a long issue here in the Philippines and if my sources are right the government is trying to do something about it through the launching of the new K-12 program.  One of the goals of this program is to build language proficiency through the use of the student mother tongue (native language).  I think if this will be done effectively this could be a great start in the process of decolonization of the mind here in the Philippines.  I also believe that it could be a key in producing a new generation of bright minds here in the Philippines.  We hardly recognize it but it has been studied that our intellectual developments is greatly influenced by the language which we are taught with.  Using a foreign language in the early years of formal education causes delay in the learning process.  I will talk about this study in a later post.

Language is what ties us to our history and to our culture.  Some countries lost their native languages because they were forced to speak their colonizers language.  On the other hand us Filipinos are the ones who are throwing our native language off the garbage bin.  Do we really think that what we are doing with our language is for the better of us as people and as a nation?  Do we really have to communicate with out kids (especially those who are from mono-cultural family) using the English language or are we just using it to fit in?

What triggered this phenomena is still not that clear to me. Well, of course I have some things in my mind but I just cannot speak for everybody. I know for sure they have their own reasons for doing such. I have nothing against parents like the ones I am talking about, it's their own children they are dealing with and I am not in the position to interfere with them. The purpose of this entry is not too offend or to tell these parents what they should.  I wrote this just to serve as a reminder for us to step back and contemplate on our actions.  I know for some this is not an issue but I just have to remind you that I am a Communications Studies major so these things are of great interest to me.

I personally do not have any issues with the use of the English language, I use it everyday, I use it to speak to my husband, it was the language from which I earned my bachelor's degree, it is the language that my son needs to embrace and it is the language in which we are able to connect with the world.  But like everything else too much of it is not good too.  I hope all of us will be able to see what we will be losing if we lose our native language.  Can you imagine if these 4 years old kids grow with just the English language, the Philippines in 15 years or so will mostly be populated by Filipinos who does not even know how to speak their own language.  Language says a lot about us and our identity despite the fact that we do not fully recognize the impact it is making in our life.