http://www.fnf.org.ph/talakayan/liberal_topic.php?id=240 Filipino vs. English as the medium of instruction The English vs. Filipino debate is once again a hot topic. A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the government?s policy of using English as the medium of instruction in our schools. According to those who filed the petition, the push for the use of English in our classrooms will only lead to further deterioration of what?s already been described as a rather inferior quality of education. Those who support the 2003 Executive Order filed by President Arroyo on the other hand argue that doing away with English as the medium of instruction will inevitably hurt the country and our people more because they …show more content…
Right from the start, when Spain claimed the Philippines as its colony in 1521, it was clear how the Spaniards thought of their mission. They called the natives indios or Indians, and set out to redeem their savage and ignorant souls with religion - Roman Catholicism. More than three centuries and a bloody revolution later, the indios had wholeheartedly embraced Catholicism, but just as wholeheartedly rejected Spanish rule. By this time, only the Filipino rich and educated elite were literate in Spanish. Ironically, from this same exclusive set came the founders of a secret society that pushed for reform and independence. In 1898, after a mock battle at Manila Bay, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. Although there was also a bloody but short-lived Philippine-American Revolution, it took a shorter time for the Americans to pacify and befriend the Filipinos. Unlike Spain's strategy, America's means of attack and assimilation was not religion. It was mass education. Thus, less than half a century later, the Filipinos had
As our nation shifts towards a more culturally diverse population both educators and families have to find a common ground to ensure that English Language Learners are academically successful. All stakeholders must carefully consider the social cultural impact on an ELL education. The process of raising bilingual learners take more than a language a school and a language learned at home. The transition must have a purpose and a goal.
The debate on whether the United States should make English the official language has been raging within the borders of the country for decades. Several bills have been presented to Congress over the years, but have stagnated due to the opposition on either side. Though there would certainly be drawbacks to introducing English as the official language of the United States, there would also be immeasurable benefit. Not only would an official language streamline government processes and reduce government spending, it would also aid the United States by unifying its’ people.
Many of their learning needs are similar to those of other children and young people learning in our schools. However, these learners also have distinct and different needs from other learners by virtue of the fact that they are learning in and through another language, and that they come from cultural backgrounds and communities with different understandings and expectations of education, language and learning”. (NALDIC, 1999).
The fifteenth chapter of Susan Tamasi and Lamont Antieau’s Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US is titled “Official English.” This particular chapter briefly looks into the history of linguistic laws in the United States followed by an examination of whether or not the United States should have English as its official language. Tamasi and Antieau provide multiple convincing arguments for each side of this issue, which consists of those for English as the sole language of government and those against such a measure. Overall, however, there are many underlying beliefs and nonlinguistic concepts—like national identity and history, politics, and economics—related to language and its usage in America. First of all, Tamasi and Antieau debunk
Another victory through the Treaty of Paris was the possession of the Philippines. Though the Filipino independence leader Emilio Aguinaldo had aided in the defeat of Spain in 1898, USA refused independence to the Islands and a vicious three year war ensued. A civil government was created after the capture of Aguinaldo under William Taft and this showed a drastic change in American foreign policy. They could no longer justify interference with the excuse of the islands being within its sphere of influence but McKinley argued that America had the role to “uplift and civilize and christianize [Filipinos] as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died." McKinley was either unaware or simply chose not to inform the people that, except for some Muslim tribesmen in the south, the Filipinos were Roman Catholics, and, therefore, already Christians. In reality, the annexation of the Philippines was the centerpiece of the "large policy" pushed by the imperialist cabal to enlist the United States in the ranks of the great powers.
America's short war with Spain in 1898 was the nation's first step on the pathway to becoming a world power. The U.S. victory brought with it the unintended possession of the Philippines and a vested interest in the politics of the Pacific region that would ultimately lead to conflict with Japan. As an immediate outcome of the war, America found itself embroiled in an insurgency in the Philippines that closely mimicked the conflict in Vietnam over 60 years later.
1899 marked the year when America set its sites from the Spanish to the First Philippine Republic plunging American into yet another war ending with the temporary annexation of the Philippine Islands spreading American imperialism to the Far East. Within one year of winning their independence from
10, 1898), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.” Cuba also became an United States protectorate. The treaty ended up causing a heated debate in the U.S. However, there were Philippine insurgents who fought the Spanish rule in the war who quickly turned against the new residents. Almost 10 times more American lives were lost subduing the insurgents than in beating the Spanish. “Nevertheless, President McKinley's expansionist policies were supported by the American public, who seemed more than willing to accept the blessings and curses of their new expanding empire.”
no person has the right, enlightenment, or claim to have the government or any officials communicate, perform, or provide services or materials in a language other than English
One hundred years ago, in 1898, the United States was fighting the Spanish-American War. The victory over Spain made the United States a colonial power. The Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the formerly independent nation of Hawaii, became American possessions.
Even though other countries have their own official language, not making English the official language in the U.S. will help preserve the different cultures that decide to live in the US. Communities are built based on cultures and the U. S. economy depends on other countries and their people.
From 1899 to 1903 the Filipino’s turned against the United States. McKinley decided to hold his possession of the island resulting in a long bloody war. Originally the colonial administration sought out to make the Philippines their version of what thought was right.Press released terrible doings of American troops such as burning villages, torturing prisoners of war, raping and executing civilians. Mark Twain stated “We have gone to conquer” instead of doing what the McKinley administration justified as to “uplift and civilize and Christianize”(672). After the colonial administration took control they started to modernize the islands. Railroads and harbors were expanded, American schoolteachers and public health officials arrived and they
The Spanish-American War of 1898 finished Spain's pilgrim realm in the Western Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power. U.S. Triumph in the war created a peace settlement that constrained the Spanish to give up claims on Cuba, and to surrender sway over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States additionally attached the free province of Hawaii
Who can argue against the fact that a successful government must be unified in, if nothing else, its communications? However, the debate over the official language spread deep. Remembering the previous paragraph, foreigners will be here no matter what. They are the majority in some communities. This means that there is a whole population of consumers speaking and understanding only a language other than English.
After the Spanish colonization for about 360 years, America came and made the Philippines an independent country. US then turned on them and colonized