Philippine english: alarming scenario!
Monday, September 18, 2006
What is happening with our high-school graduates? Would the Philippine government do something about it, please? What am I talking about? This one: an essay written by a female computer engineering freshman as her reaction paper for the Intramurals 2006 held just recently.
I am posting this to alarm all private and public high schools the kind of graduates they produce. Much has to be done, my God. Read the essay below copied verbatim from the original report.
I do not if this student even understood what she wrote. I don't want to sound mean, however, here's a piece of my thought: "Go back to elementary girl".
filed [Inspirational Articles]
I am posting this to alarm all private and public high schools the kind of graduates they produce. Much has to be done, my God. Read the essay below copied verbatim from the original report.
"The schedule for this opening is exactly 3PM but my classmates and I went to the gym or commonly called Anselmo Bustus Sports Complex at 1:00PM because we all know that they're were lot of students will watched. Fortunately, I sitted at the westside, wherein that is the hidden front. It so very hot inside and many faces of students will see. When 3:00 PM reached, the program was started. Shouts and joys was present at all times especially when the players of each colleges were introduced by the emcee and afterwards the competition of cheerdance."
"The next part of the program is the competition for Ms. Intrams '06 which the participants came from different colleges of University of San Carlos. Much voices hear from the audience who will be their bit. When all the muses dance and ramp many supporters were supports at all. For me, my bit is from the commerce but I don't know why all the judges made her as first runner-up. She's really had all and perfect. I can't do anything, so, as what the saying goes "the more its demand, the more its hit", thats why the nursing representative grab for winning the Ms. Intrams 06."
"I know she deserves everything to win but my only one bit is totally commerce student and I can't take it that nursing student wins and that's final."
"Its so nice this feeling that I have inside to be with this opening of USC Intramurals '06."
I do not if this student even understood what she wrote. I don't want to sound mean, however, here's a piece of my thought: "Go back to elementary girl".
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Labels: Education Articles
14 Comments:
Sad. We used to be the best english speaking country in asia. Though I admit I'm not also good with the language, but I think that girl needs help more than I do. BTW, thanks for the nomination. Take care.
18 September, 2006
hehehe.. tinagalog nalang sana nya.. kakahiya naman hehehe
18 September, 2006
english proficiency among public gradeschool and highschool students are really alarming. they are actually brought up with "carabao english" as what they watch on television. i think teachers aswell should also be credible and fluent in speaking in english for them to be emulated by the students.
19 September, 2006
hmmm.
nahiya tuloy ako bigla. jowsko.
19 September, 2006
nakakahiya naman, nahiya rin ako..
Hindi ako ganoon kagaling sa ingles, pero grabe naman yan. Siguro tama nga na bumababa na talaga ang english proficiency ng mga kabataan ngayon.
Ang tanong, ano ang dahilan at bakit?
21 September, 2006
ouch!! that only reminds me of my not so good skill in english language. adding up the fact that it is one of the most sought of skill by employers and best weapon to be hired as call center agent(or the likes) which is bdw seems the only job posted in classified ads nowadays.grrrr
blame it on pulic schools with incompetent teachers and malnutrition(probably the main thing-w/c can be attributed to poverty bla bla.... long story).
i'm also a product of a public gradeschool up to highschool so i know what it is to be deprived of the right to learn things that other previledged ones do. yes, i am referring to the poor quality of education being rendered in public schools(where, unfortunately, most of our young gen are in).
21 September, 2006
i also graduated from a public highschool, but my english isn't that bad, I think. I've taken into heart my basic grammar lessons :-)
21 September, 2006
I work in a medical transcription company. The founder is American and he brought young college graduates from the north to Manila to work for him. My english is not perfect but I always try to improve. These young ladies are aware that they need to work extremely hard to make it in this business. I noticed that they have a difficult time understanding some topics on english grammar. So I asked them how was english taught in their province. Their answers shocked me. Some said the teachers skipped verb tenses. The others said their teachers assigned topics then asked them to do a report in front of the class.
These ladies have a lot of potential. I really hope the government can do something about this.
26 September, 2006
English_woman~~~True, it is never late to start now. The problem I see are the teachers themselves. What would you expect from the graduates when the teachers, whom supposedly are role models, are themselves, incompetent? It's a situation of a blind leading the blind....
26 September, 2006
I believe that we should not only look at our high schools. There is a great need for a review of all English language curricula across all levels. The government and the private sectors must work together.
Grade school English must focus on language proficiency - the basics and foundations of the language. the secondary and tertiary levels should then focus on both language proficiency and language capacity.
08 October, 2006
Did you know that there will be a 280,000 employee shortage for the BPO industry from 2007-2010? (Entrepreneur Magazine, November).
Did you know that only 3% of all call center applicants get hired?
Most of those who do not get hired? It's because of their poor English communication skills.
At AIEP, American Institute for English Proficiency, the English learning experience has been revolutionized. English, American Accent, and Conversation, and Culture are all taught by American and Filipino American specialists.
Visit the site at www.aiepro.org.
Thanks.
04 December, 2006
I agree that it is really quite a shame reading this kind of work from a university student. A fellow-Filipino reader of her composition won't help raising an eyebrow and eventually not even notice himself/herself bowing his/her head in the realization that most Filipino students now seem not capable of what used to be "EXCELLENT FILIPINO ENGLISH."
Kids nowadays are all into texting lingo. Almost everything is done in shortcut and words misspelled are kind of "ACCEPTABLE AND HIP." It is not even strange to see a kindergarten using texting lingo, and the parents, innocent of the long run effect of this would dare feel so proud of their child. They are proud because their child is a "techno" one. Nothing is wrong with being techno. It just has to be acted accordingly.
I used to correct composition works of high school students from two private schools. One was located in the province and one in QC. I would say that comparing the works of the "worst" ones from both schools; there was not
that much of a difference. Excuse me telling you that sitting with those theme notebooks, reading and correcting each, most of the times asking "What does this child mean in this?" A big HEADACHE... I even had to face the terrible fact that I had to fail a number of students in my class. Parents and fellow-teachers alike came to me to request that I give those students a passing mark! I did not. I was called a "heartless" for not heeding the request to pass those who should fail and "incompetent" for not being able to make all my students pass my class. English classes are one hour a day, time allocated is not enough most especially with a big class size. If I was incompetent because some of my students failed my class, then so it had been, in my mind, I had questioned educators who passed my students, who made them move up when their skills proved not fit to; I'd rather be incompetent and make my students retake the class in hopes that they will learn. I was not perfect, I had so much of my shortcomings and I regret the fact that I could have done better but I think this is one thing why, teachers give passing mark to students who do not deserve to pass. Poor them (students), they get to move up to a higher level (oh, yeah, because they paid sky-high school fees) at the moment when they have not mastered the skills they ought to have been; only to find themselves faced with harder tasks. Then the cycle of giving a passing mark continues until these children finish university. What has been wrong was left uncorrected. These same people would be walking round with their resume hunting for jobs. They are proud, yet uncertain because facts of them marching on graduation day are not hidden from them. Veritably saddening but let me point out too that there are those educators who consider their students and there are schools that do not tolerate passing undeserving students.
I am a product of three public schools, from elementary to university. I'd say that one or two of my english teachers were not supposed to have been there in front of us. They should have considered us, the pupils/students who were all dependent on every english sentence they'd utter for us to hear and understand. One of my teachers taught us prefixes for over a month! I realized long ago, she could have used most of those times teaching us better english skills, or at least actually motivated us to love the english language. The school one attends might be one factor but it should not be seen as the only one to be blamed. Parents and teachers should work hand in hand. There has to be a strong follow-up at home. Teachers cannot do everything; they have a part of the blame of course. But for now, blaming is of no use.
Reading text written in english is a helpful thing in learning it. A child should be encouraged to read at a very early age. I found out that just reading out loud (even with a little comprehension at first) is truly beneficial. Reading english texts out loud is like actually talking the english language. In so doing, one learns how the words are connected, how they are used, punctuated etc.
We can only hope, that we will get back what was once ours "Filipinos do excellent english"
Thanks for letting me air my thoughts.
13 August, 2007
Friends, this unfortunate situation would not have happened if the country had continued to make English the medium or language of instruction in all levels. During the '40s and '50s, students taught by the "Thomasites" (hundreds of American volunteers sent by the U.S. government on board the ship M/S Thomas) learned to speak and write correct English. They became excellent English teachers themselves. But then our nationalistic kuno government started insisting on making Tagalog or Filipino the language of instruction. What a bad move. OK, that would have been a good move if our country already was among the wealthiest and most self-sufficient nations in the world. (Even wealthy Singapore has retained English as the language of instruction up to the present.) Really, you won't learn a language well enough unless you speak it and write with it regularly--that is, most of the time.
27 July, 2008
Friends, this unfortunate situation would not have happened if the country had continued to make English the medium or language of instruction in all levels. During the '40s and '50s, students taught by the "Thomasites" (hundreds of American volunteers sent by the U.S. government on board the ship M/S Thomas) learned to speak and write correct English. They became excellent English teachers themselves. But then our nationalistic kuno government started insisting on making Tagalog or Filipino the language of instruction. What a bad move. OK, that would have been a good move if our country already was among the wealthiest and most self-sufficient nations in the world. (Even wealthy Singapore has retained English as the language of instruction up to the present.) Really, you won't learn a language well enough unless you speak it and write with it regularly--that is, most of the time.
27 July, 2008
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