LESSON 1

• The Philippines is a multilingual nation with over 100 indigenous languages, but English permeates public and private life in an unusual way for an Asian country
• This is due to the American colonial period from 1898-1946, during which a major effort was made to teach English, leading to its widespread use after independence
• Philippine English has developed as a distinct variety with its own accent, vocabulary, and grammatical variations, as well as a body of creative writing
• English proficiency has declined in recent years even as demand for English has increased, especially in the booming call center industry
• The role of English is controversial


  Some see it as perpetuating "social inequality", hindering authentic nationalism, and reflecting a "colonized mentality"
• Others argue English is crucial for economic opportunities

  But question whether it should be the main language of education over local "mother tongues"
• Issues of language rights, identity, power, and equity are hotly debated regarding English's role in Philippine society
• Structure of the book

  • Part I covers the sociolinguistic context of English in the Philippines, including its origins, role in education/media, and theoretical issues
  • Part II focuses on linguistic description of Philippine English accents, vocabulary, grammar, and use in call centers
  • Part III looks at Philippine literature written in English, covering different genres, time periods, and diasporic writers
  • Part IV provides a bibliography of academic literature on the topic
• Important chapters/authors highlighted


  • Gonzalez, Bernardo, Dayag on origins/development of English in Philippine society/education/media
  • Tupas, Manarpaac, Rafael on theoretical linguistic/literary/anthropological questions
  • Bautista, Bolton, Butler on Philippine English accents, vocabulary, grammar
  • Lockwood, Forey, Price on English in Philippine call centers
  • Martin on literary education and early Philippine writing in American colonial period
  • Tope on stylistic analysis of language use by Philippine English writers
  • Abad, Hidalgo, Hau on short fiction, poetry, and novels
  • Yuson on diasporic Filipino writers
  • Dumdum, Mo, Mojares on regional Philippine English literature outside Manila
• The passage discusses the complex multilingual landscape of the Philippines, both historically and in the current era of globalization
• It contrasts this with the common debates over language policies that pit English (the former colonial language/global lingua franca) against a single national language claimed as the "authentic voice of the people"
• During the late 19th century era of the Philippine nationalist leader Jose Rizal, the language situation was quite different
• During the late 19th century:


  • There was no single dominant "international language" yet
  • Filipino leaders were multilingual, writing to others in languages like German, English, French, Spanish, Tagalog, and Latin
  • Spanish, though a marker of elite/colonial status, was preferred by some over local languages like Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano
  • The term "Filipino" referred only to the Spanish creole population, not all inhabitants of the islands
  • It was only later during the American colonial period that "Filipino" came to mean all islanders
• Today, in the era of globalization, the Filipino diaspora in the U.S. exceeds 2 million and millions of overseas Filipino workers take their English abroad
• English, once viewed negatively as an "ugly, commercially debased language", now provides jobs for many Filipinos
• Overall, it highlights the intricate multilingual realities of the Philippines across different eras, contrasted with oversimplified language policy debates