Introduction and Basic Facts

• The spread of English around the world has offered us a diverse range of varieties of English.
• Within the framework of Postcolonial English varieties, I have investigated the Philippine variety of English, which was a result of and emerged from its colonial background.
• In Braj Kachru’s model of World English dialects, Philippine English belongs to what are called the ‘outer circle’ countries and is used in the major institutions as a legacy of colonisation.
• English has a great historical importance and serves as a lingua franca between the different ethnic and language groups in the Philippines.
• The origins of the Philippine variety of English can be traced back to the arrival of English in Philippine history.
• The present-day language situation in the Philippines includes different local languages and code-switching or code-mixing between the two official languages Filipino and English.
• Philippine English exhibits general, phonological, morpho-syntactical and lexical differences from General American English.
• The significance of Philippine English for a teacher of foreign languages lies in its historical importance and its role as a lingua franca.
• The impact of English on the Philippines is significant, as it serves as a common language between different ethnic and language groups.
• The Philippines are located in Southeast Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam.
• The land has an area of 298,170 km² and is slightly larger than Arizona.
• The biggest islands in the Philippines are: Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, Cebu, Leyte, Mindoro, Panay and Palawan.
• Only 1000 islands in the Philippines are bigger than 1 km².
• An estimated population of 91,077,287 (July 2007) lives in the Philippines.
• The capital of the Philippines is Manila and the largest town is Quezon City.
• Religious affiliations in the Philippines include Roman Catholic 80.9%, Muslim 5%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%, Aglipayan 2%, other Christian 4.5%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.6% and none 0.1% (2000 census).
• In addition to a mixture of religions, there are also several languages spoken in the Philippines.
• The two official languages in the Philippines are Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English, but about 180 languages and dialects exist on the island.
• What percentage of the population in the Philippines is other, unspecified, and none?

  1.8%, 0.6%, and 0.1%
• The Philippines is located in Southeast Asia archipelago and what countries?


  South China Sea and East of Vietnam
• English in the Philippines serves as a common language between different?

  Ethnic and language groups