By: Myda Jane P. Luna
Philippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and vast majority of educated Filipinos. In the Philippines, English is taught in schools and is one of the two official languages in schools and different institutions. According to Bautista and Bolton (2008), speaking English has been campaigned when the Thomasites arrived in the country for education as part of the US Benevolence Assimilation. A census states that nobody in the Philippines spoke English in 1901 and in 1908, around 47% claimed to speak English (Gonzales 1996). English was only retained as an official language along with Filipino after the World War II Independence of 1946.
Unlike Spanish, wherein only the elites could speak and use the language, English is widely used in the country by the elites and the ordinary people. Long before children enter formal schooling, they already know simple English. Parents and relatives, who know how to speak English, talk and play to children using the language, regardless of the accuracy of grammar, structure and standards. A very evident example is when parents teach their children with famous “close-open’’ (closing and opening of palms), and “beautiful eyes” (twinkling of eyes). Children also learn simple English through basic courtesies parents teach then, the “please”, “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, etc. Also at early ages, children sing nursery rhymes and are trained and practiced to answer simple questions like “What is your name?”, “How old are you?”, and “Where do you live?” Children then learn English and gain basic knowledge, vocabulary and familiarity of the language before entering formal school.
Kachru groups the different Englishes into circles: inner, outer, and expanding circle. Philippine English belongs to the outer circle wherein English functions primarily as institutionalized additional language. Bautista (2000) claims that Philippine English is not only legitimate but an institutionalized and standardized, variety of English, as well. This has been brought by the works of John Platt, John Pride and Braj Kachru. It brought a shift with regard to the appraisement of English varieties.
English has been easier to accept and adapt because Americans were once colonizers, and until now, we are still influenced in so many ways. Filipinos do not also see English as a foreign language because in some areas or societies in the country, English is considered a second or primary language. Some Filipinos might be a little hesitant on using the language since it is said to be inferior from the other varieties, but it is the speaker’s attitude towards the language that elevates it to prestige. For most of the Filipinos, English is the language of power and progress.
exegesis 