Importance Of English Language In The Philippines

The Philippine archipelago comprises of Filipinos who’s linguistically and culturally diverse. In fact, there are 171 living languages being spoken in the Philippines today. However, these languages do no merely reflect governmental and educational policies. The current constitution of Philippines states that both Filipino (Tagalog) and English are the official languages of the country. The concept of what language should be used as a medium of instruction is an occurring debate in the Philippines then and now. In this paper, you will see how the English language adapted in the educational system of the Philippines and how the mother tongue language sporadically spread in the Philippines. In 2003, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) signed the Executive Order No. 20, which aims to strengthen the use of the English language “to maintain and improve their competitive edge in emerging and fast-growing local and international industries, particularly in the area of information and communications technology” (citation). In this order, the overall goal for the teachers or educators in general in the Philippines is that English must be …show more content…
In the Philippines, 70% of the minority language students do not even converse and comprehend English easily thus, making the students difficult to master their own lessons. However, if they use a language that is more acquainted to them from their previous schools, then they will more likely to understand and appreciate the lessons being taught in school. This is when the Multilingual Education (MLE) comes into play (citation). The purpose of this is that the students are taught in their native language, specifically in the subjects of Math and Science. While the students are learning the concepts in their native language, the teachers are also welcome to speak the English