Bilingualism and Bilingual Education

1. A Report by
CHRISTINE JOANNE LIBRERO-DESACADO
PhD Student in English
2nd
Semester, January 31, 2015

4. a.Introduction g. The Importance of Reading
b. Accommodation Varieties
of English
h. Use of the First Language in 2L
Teaching/Learning
c. Nationalism and Other Important
‘Realities’
i. The Teacher and Her Education
d. Problem of Separation of Codes:
The Mixing of Pilipino and English
j. Supportive Institutions in 2L,CC
Acquisition
e. Strategies in the Acquisition of
CC in a 2L Role of the Schools
f. Literature, Grammar (Structure)

6. 1985. In Communicative Language Teaching
Bikram K.Das, Editor
RELC Anthology Series No.14 pp.106-119
Singapore: University of Singapore Press

7. INTRODUCTION
The most important, goals of
language teaching, especially that
of second language (2L) teaching is
that of communicative competence
(CC)

8. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
The ability of the user of the 2L in
and out of the schoolroom
and actual life situations that call
for the use of 2L (Widdowson 1977, Strevens
1977, Littlewood 1981 ).

9. Communicative competence
The attainment of various levels
and types of CC

12. Most of the literature on 2L teaching
and learning including those on
teaching for communication or the
acquisition of CC deal with methods,
procedures/techniques, the nature of
language, structural and functional
views of language, the applications
of linguistic, psychological, and
sometimes sociological findings in the
teaching of a 2L.

13. Important points of CC (not as extensively
discussed in the literature)
(i)Accommodation Variety Implications of
accepting a 2L or non-native variety of
English
(ii)Important shifts in thinking among people
and other realities such as those of
nationalism, development of national
languages and their effects on 2L
(iii)Teacher training
(iv)Supportive institutions
(v)Some views on the relative importance
of grammar, literature, content subjects,
and that of reading and writing

14. not“Interference varieties”
1L interfering with 2L
Two languages have
accommodated each other
2L speaker accommodated
certain English intonational
patterns

15. Satisfy the international
standard criterion
Intonation takes a national
character
Acceptance of Native speakers
of non-native varieties

16. Satisfy the international
standard criterion
Intonation takes a national
character
Acceptance of Native speakers
of non-native varieties

17. Difficulties of with using first language
(British English or American English)
(i)It may clash head-on with many feelings
including those of nationalism
(ii)It may revive certain memories that
have to do with colonial past
(iii)We would ignore the educated non-
native variety which has characteristics
that are acceptable and do no violence
to English
(iv)It is practically impossible to get native
speaker models for large 2L learning
populations

18. Consequences in adapting the
educated 2L variety
(i)We must undertake both
rigorous linguistic and
pedagogical descriptions of 2L
variety
(ii)Make separate description of
the syntax (grammar, sentence
structure )

19. Accepting an educated 2L
variety as a model for
teaching and learning the 2L
imposes on the 2L that will be
less and less like the original
language which was
adopted( Prator 1968)

20. A program for the acquisition
of communicative
competence in a 2L must
take into account shifts in
national aspirations and
values especially those that
are related to language.

21. Issues which cannot be ignored:
(i)The shift in emphasis to the national
language puts the 2L in a position
where it no longer enjoys the loyalties
that people attached to it in the past
(ii)The time devoted to the 2L for its
acquisition
(iii)The finances devoted to its
propagation
(iv)The language domains in which it was
formerly used are reduced

22. Basis of Bilingual Education Program
 Goal of the government “that the Filipino shall
be competent to communicate in both English
and Pilipino”
English as language of instruction in Science and
Mathematics subjects
Pilipino in the Social Sciences and others
(Sibayan 1978a)
In assigning English for teaching, two languages
would be kept as separate codes. This goal has
not been achieved , however especially in
schools where Tagalog is the native language.

23. Basis of Bilingual Education Program
 The two languages have not been kept
apart, which has resulted in a mixture of the
two languages now known as Taglish
(Bautista 1980, Sibayan 1983)
Code switching deteriorated and the
children do not know “good” Pilipino either
thus making them incompetent in both
languages.
Those in charge of the development of
Pilipino are not worried about the spread of
the mixture.

24. Schools are partners of society to
accomplish many of the goals
of the society.
The teaching and learning of a
2L for intranational and
international purposes revolve
around school programs and
depends on many factors.

25. LITERATURE, GRAMMAR (Structure)
Teaching of English as a 2L should not be
dominated by the use of literary pieces. It
should extend in teaching English for
Science and Technology (EST) and
English for Special Purposes (ESP).
It is the duty of the subject to teach the
language neede to learn the content of
the subject being taught.

26. In an environment where 2L is
used of intranational purposes,
the ability to READ is more
important than the ability to
speak.
Reading is the one single tool
that enables the learner to
continue learning in the 2L.

27. More time and effort should be
devoted to reading in the 2L to
get a feel of the cohesion (Widdowson
1978) of the passages and to learn
usage. E.g. content subjects,
ESP and technology plus the
application of what is read.

28. Second Language learning now
emerges as a process and a task
which for its further improvement
requires an ever-deepening
knowledge of its three elements :
the mind of the learner , the nature
of the learner, and the skill of the
teachers (Strevens, 1977:11)

29. Another important element is the
support of the society, considering the
rapidly growing discipline of
sociolinguistics. This promises exciting
studies in bilingual education,
multilingualism, language
identity,language and nationalism,
language and socioeconomic
development, the politics of langauge,
the language of protest, etc.

30. Knowledge of the mentioned elements
are needed for a greater understanding
of how a people and a nation may
improve the teaching, use, and related
programs involving a 2L.

31. More studies are required and
non-school institutions like mass
communication media-radio,
television, the movies, the
theater, newspapers,
magazines, even the comics
are encouraged in the
acquisition of CC in the 2L.*

32. II.ENGLISH AND PILIPINO IN
SCIENCE TEACHING AND
LEARNING: SOME
THEORETICAL AND
PRAGMATIC CONSIDERATIONS
1983. In Science Teaching in the Philippines
Marie S. Fernandez, Editor
Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press
pp.43-49.reprinted with permission

33. The Teacher of Science
Common Practice in Philippine Schools
English or language teacher to teach
language or English so that science or
mathematics or physics teacher may be
able to teach science or math or physics
It is not the duty of the English teacher
or English Department to teach English
so that pupils may know their biology
or physics or mathematics

34. The duty of the English teacher is to
teach students good poetry, good
essays , good novels, good plays, etc.,
and of course, write. But it is not her
duty to correct papers in chemistry, in
physics, in biology, etc. That is not her
field of scholarship.
A good paper in chemistry can be
taught and judge only by the teacher
of chemistry, not by the English
teacher.

35. Points :
Every area of knowledge or discipline
has its own way of using a language .
It is the subject teacher
who has to teach the
language of his subject
matter.

36. Science and Language
“Science is mainly linguistic.”-Berlo
Most of the procedures of science are linguistic, They
seek the construction of reality through the development of
true and valid propositions…The scientist communicates
in order to affect his environment. In order to do so, he
makes observations, he makes inferences (both deductive
and inductive), and he makes judgments.
The scientist’s basic purpose is the reduction
of uncertainty, the development of structure.
(Berlo 1960:274)

37. What this means therefore is that
unless the scientist is proficient in
language , he would not be able
to state his observations correctly
and precisely;he would not be
able to explain well;and worse, he
cannot predict events. He has to
do all these using language.

38. The Language of Science
Two Characteristics :
(i)That vocabulary items
and expressions have
more precise and specific
meanings that say, those of
poetry, and are understood in the
same way by those who have to
study and learn in that science
e.g.,there is a language of physics

39. The Language of Science
Two Characteristics :
(ii)That the language of
science has a tradition
which means that it
can be learned because
it is systematized through
usage and tradition.

40. The Language of Science
A prime requirement of scientific
findings is that they shay be
communicable to others. Anyone
who learns any particular branch
of science has to learn the usages
and traditions of the use of
science.

41. The Language of Science
Two ways of transmitting
knowledge:
(i)Oral speech or word of mouth
(ii)Writing
It is obvious that to really learn science and to do it
through the language of that science is to know
the accumulated knowledge through the written
form.

42. Pilipino and English and Science
Most of the scientific literature in the Philippines and
in Philippine life today are available in English.
Except for bits of information, Pilipino does not
have this literature. Scientists in all fields still have to
start a tradition of communicating findings in
science, past, present, and future, through Pilipino.
Which means that, in order for Pilipino to be usable
as the language of science two things need to be
done :
(i)Translate definitive scientific treatises into Pilipino
and
(ii) Publish original research in Pilipino.
Both are difficult and expensive undertakings.

43. Return to English as the Sole Medium of Instruction
in the Schools
The idea of returning to English as the sole medium
of instruction in the schools which advocated by
some people including a number of educators will
not only be a terrible mistake; it is no guarantee
that English will automatically make the learning of
science or any of the other subjects.
The Filipino Classroom Teacher and Change in
Programs
Real honest to goodness science in Philippine
schools should be participated by everyone :
teachers, students, parents, supervisors,
administrators, those in government and the
general public-mass communication media must
support the learning of English well, if we have to
have a bilingual policy.*

45. Introduction
There is no problem that is vexing and loaded with emotion and
conflicting interests as the language problem. The desire of each
individual to use his native language, national aspirations for a
unifying language , the stress upon English for economic, scientific,
and other pursuits, the desire of a few to perpetuate Spanish, and
the basic right of the people to share in the decision as to the
language they will use – all these compound the difficulty.
-Problems and Progress of the Public educational system of the Philippines in 1960
The Filipinos today wants to be proficient in English so that he
may be able to participate fully in the pursuit of his scientific,
economic, and world activity contracts. But the time is not far
when the average Filipino will be embarrassed unless he knows
the national language. At the same time he must know his
native tongue so that, he may be able to express his intimate
longings with his own people.

46. Most important problems of bilingual education :
1.The difficulty of visualizing or defining the
functions of each language used in school
2.The difficulty of deciding when to make the
introduction, transition, and /or cut off point
of the various languages in the schools
3.The problem of low level achievement in
school subjects
4.The problem if divided linguistic allegiance
or the problem which takes the shape of
“Should we teach Filipinos to speak like
Americans?”
5.The problem of language mixture

47. The Difficulty of Visualizing or Defining the
Functions of Languages in School
English is used among other reasons
because it is the language that is used in
government, science, commerce, and
industry. It is the principal language used in
the newspapers. It is the chief means od
getting an education.
Tagalog is taught as the basis of the
national language which is called Pilipino.
And Spanish is required in college because
some think that Filipino should know his past
and his cultural link with Spain.

48. The Difficulty of Visualizing or Defining the
Functions of Languages in School
The lack of a tradition of resistance
to bilingualism or multilingualism in
the country (most Filipinos are
bilingual in two Philippine
languages) has resulted in the
indifference to the use of several
languages in the schools.

49. The Difficulty of Deciding the entry, Transition,
and Cut-off Points
The survey team (1960) recommended that only one
second language should be introduced at a time.
Many people think that the introduction of the two
second languages at the same time is confusing to
the child. Entry and Cut off point problems:
1.When should reading be introduced in the teaching
of English;
2.When should English be introduced as the medium
of classroom instruction

50. The Problem of Divided Linguistic Allegiance or
Should we teach Filipinos to Speak like Americans?
It is ofcourse not possible to make Filipinos speak like
Americans.
If English spoken by Filipinos is understood by other
Filipinos, that should be good enough.
The Problem of Language Mixture
“The ideal bilingual,” according to Weinrich, “switches from one
language to the other according to appropriate changes in
the speech situation (interlocutors, topics,etc.), but not in an
unchanged speech situation, and certainly not within a single
sentence.
The problems of bilingualism in the Philippines stem from our
desire to have three separate yet integrated identities: the
desire to belong to a particular Philippine group, and the desire
to belong to the Filipino nation with Pilipino; and the desire to
belong to the world with English.*