English in private schools

Many parents send their children to private schools because of their impression that private school students speak better English than their public school counterparts. There is anecdotal evidence that this is not true. In the last two Voice of Asia national finals, public school contestants held their own against private school contestants. In the annual elimination contests held by the English Speaking Union Philippines, it is not unusual to have public school students reaching the final round or even becoming champions.

Nevertheless, there is a general impression among parents that Ateneo and La Salle students speak better English than UP students (to take only the best private and public schools) or that the students in the nearest private schools speak English to each other, unlike students in the nearest public school who allegedly speak to each other in the local language.

Whether this impression is accurate or not is not the issue. Many parents put their money where their impressions are. Because I have worked most of my life in private schools (although I taught in UP Diliman some years back and also briefly in a public elementary school in Quezon City even earlier), I need to protect the financial interests of private schools. (This is a disclosure, so my motives are transparent.)

How do we ensure that private school students learn English well, despite Section 4 of Republic Act 10533 (the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013)?

Section 4 says that “For kindergarten and the first three (3) years of elementary education, instruction, teaching materials and assessment shall be in the regional or native language of the learners. The Department of Education (DepEd) shall formulate a mother language transition program from Grade 4 to Grade 6 so that Filipino and English shall be gradually introduced as languages of instruction until such time when these two (2) languages can become the primary languages of instruction at the secondary level.”

The provision mandates that “the regional or native language of the learners” should be the “primary language of instruction” until the secondary level (or Grade 7). The main language of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 6, therefore, is the Mother Tongue.

How is “Mother Tongue” defined by the law? Section 4 says: “For purposes of this Act, mother language or first Language (LI) refers to language or languages first learned by a child, which he/she identifies with, is identified as a native language user of by others, which he/she knows best, or uses most.”

Lawyers may argue about whether the word “or” in “or uses most” means that any of the conditions may be fulfilled in order for the definition to make sense. Grammatically, though, there is no question. There are two “which” words. The first “which” refers to the two phrases “he/she identifies with” and “is identified as a native language user of by others.” The second “which” refers to “he/she knows best” and “or uses most.” The old way of diagramming sentences easily shows this. (I like using the old way of teaching grammar using diagramming. Relationships between words in a sentence are much easier to see.)

The phrases that are referred to by the second “which” modify the phrases that are referred to by the first “which.” If that confuses you, don’t worry. It will confuse anyone below the age of 65, because diagramming went out of fashion among English teachers about 40 years ago.

The important thing to realize is that the mother tongue is the language identified as a native language. To find out if English is the native language of your child, just ask any American if your child is a native speaker of English. Obviously, the chances are that the American will say no.

In fact, even in discussions of English after the term “native speaker” fell out of fashion, the English that Filipinos use is classified as being in the “outer circle.” The “outer circle” is defined by linguists as “countries where English is not the native tongue.” That is as clear as we can get. Linguists themselves say that English is not the native or mother tongue of Filipinos.

Legally, then, private schools cannot use English as their medium of instruction. Private schools are forced by the law to use the Mother Tongue as the medium of instruction, exclusively from Grade 1 to 3, and primarily from Grade 4 to 6.

How, then, can private schools teach English well (and even better than public schools) in the light of this legal constraint?

There is a legal way to do this. It is also a much better way to teach English to students in private schools.

Remember that the law mandates the use of the Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction, but only as a medium of instruction. It does not prohibit the use of any other language in school.

Remember also that private schools often have non-Filipino students. There are a lot of Koreans, Nepalese, Iranians, and so on in our private elementary schools today. Clearly, these students do not have a Philippine vernacular language as their Mother Tongue.

Given these two conditions, I can recommend a way of teaching English effectively while using various vernacular and foreign Mother Tongues as mediums of instruction. (To be continued)

Read Part 1 here