Portillas, Aldin Faith
English language has been considered as international language for most countries use English as their medium of instruction and communication. Filipinos were introduced to the English language in 1762 by British invaders, not Americans and the implementation of English language as the media of instructions starts with the language provision in the 1987 constitution of Republic of the Philippines which are embodied in Article XIV, sec 6 and 7 provided the legal basis for the various language policies that are being implemented in the country. The policy was first implemented in 1974 when DECS issued department order No. 25. 1974 entitled Implementing guidelines for the policy on Bilingual education. Bilingual Education Policy (BEP) in the Philippines is defined operationally as the separate use of Filipino and English as the media of instruction in specific subject areas.” As embodied in the DECS Order, Filipino shall be used as medium of instruction in social studies/social sciences, music, arts, physical education, home economics, practical arts and character education. English, on the other hand is allocated to science, mathematics, and technology subjects.
The need to be proficient in the use of English among non-native speakers has become a global phenomenon. Today, educators are faced with the challenge of addressing the needs of the growing number of students whose primary language is not English (Gibson, 2003).Since the Philippines embraced the English language from British and American colonizers, the Philippines today is the fifth largest English-speaking country in the world and second in the continent of Asia.Cruz (2004) stated in a relatively recent newspaper column that even at this time, most of the official notices, laws, court decisions, bar and board examinations and even the Constitution, are mostly in English. However, some of the educators still believe that the use of English in schools will only put the poor students at a disadvantage, because English will slow their intellectual development; It will alienate the students from their cultural heritage; It will weaken their emotional security and self-worth; and Inferiority complex may emerge in the lower class. But these possible results didn’t affect the beliefs of those who support EO 210, especially when news from the Kalinga district emerged showing the 300 percent improvement of the students after using English as a second language in teaching. Some followers of EO 210 believe that removing English in the teaching system will only cause some bad effects like: Lower-income students will never learn to speak the language; only the children of well-to-do families could find other alternative ways to learn; and the economic growth will suffer due to the shrinking number of people who are proficient in English.
The implementation of the English language as medium of instruction in the Philippines doesn’t mean that we have to forget our native language. Though English is given much time, focus and priority, Filipino is still considered essential. The argument of whether or not English should be the medium of instruction may seem endless, but in some countries like Japan, teaching English has become a billion-dollar industry and this same scenario is also happening in other East Asian countries. The implementation of English language is very useful to all Filipino citizen it is a bridge of communication and understanding in spite of many cultures and countries we had.
