What Asia Can Learn From Philippines

About English Education

I’ve just come back from the Philippines where English is an official language, along
with the local Filipino language. This does not mean that everyone understands or
speaks English but it does mean that exposure to the language is so great that those
who do speak it can communicate quite fluently. I was impressed that even people who
had never stepped outside of the Philippines were fluent in English.
According to an Educational Testing Service (ETS) ranking based on TOEFL (Test of
English as a Foreign Language) scores for 2010, the Philippines ranked 35th out of 163
countries world wide. The only other Asian countries to score higher than the
Philippines were Singapore (ranked 3rd in the world with a score of 98), and India (19th
with a score of 92). Malaysia tied the Philippines for 35th place with a score of 88.
What about other Asian countries? Ranked at the bottom in the English test scores
were South Korea at 80th (score of 81), China at 105th (score 77) and Japan at 135th
place with a score of 70.
In the middle fell Taiwan (score 76), Thailand (score 75) and Vietnam (score 73).
Japan, in an attempt to rectify its low status and aiming to make its economy more
globally competitive, is considering introducing English education earlier, possibly in the
third year of elementary school. They may also start teaching some high school classes in
the target language.
Yet the Philippines has mastered English as a second language despite statistics that
show large swaths of the country — such as Mindanao and Eastern Visayas — have a
less than 30 percent elementary school graduation rate. Other claims estimate as many as
27.8 percent of school-age children nationwide either don’t attend, or never finish,
elementary school.
While introducing English earlier in the education system in Japan is a step in the right
direction, as the Philippines shows, English proficiency may not have that much to do
with early grade school education.
So, how has the Philippines managed to master English?
First, they had the foresight to understand the value of keeping the language imposed
on them during the sometimes brutal U.S. occupation of the Philippines from 1898-1946.
While the US helped plant the seeds for learning English, it was the country itself that
took enough interest to dedicate resources and attention to maintaining the language
after the Americans left. Japan saw no advantage to their exposure to English during
their U.S. occupation from 1945 to 1952 (ending in 1972 in Okinawa) and South Korea
abandoned Japanese language after being under Japanese rule from 1905 till the end
of WWII. Ditto Taiwan, under Japanese colonial rule from 1895 to 1945.
Next, the Philippines deserves credit for its approach to learning English which is much
different from that of Japan, China and South Korea, where English is seen more as a
subject in school than a means of communication. Despite a proliferation of English
language schools (for both children and adults) in these countries, and a keen interest
in studying English, these Asian countries remain at the bottom when it comes to
English proficiency.
Language success in the Philippines is due to its approach to learning English, not just
teaching it. Not only is English taught in schools, but the population is given another key
tool necessary for language acquisition: exposure outside the classroom.
English signs abound in the Philippines, and these signs are not there expressly for
foreign tourists. “Don’t block the driveway,” say signs on the roads in Cebu. “House for
sale,” informs a sign in front of a dwelling in the countryside. Company signs, road signs
and advertisements are in English (think about it — are any of those things taught in a
regular text-book based English language classroom?). Anyone has a chance to learn
English through life experience too.
One cannot overemphasize the role of exposure in learning a second language. Not
only does it allow people to experience the language firsthand, in real situations, but
exposure provides reinforcement, something Asian students rarely get outside the
classroom.
When I stepped into a taxi in Manila, the driver was listening to a radio news program
that featured two pundits discussing a recent bus accident — in both English and
Filipino simultaneously. The country also presents national and world news in English
on TV. These are not translations of news, as you often find in Asian countries, but
news reported in English by Filipino news anchors.
Asian universities hoping to attract more foreign students should consider how the
Philippines has significantly increased foreign student enrollments: top universities in
the Philippines teach all their classes in English.
As a result, Filipino universities are attracting students from Iran, Libya, Brazil, Russia,
China and Japan to earn graduate and post graduate degrees. These universities offer
an alternative for students who would normally look at much more expensive schools in
the US, UK and Australia.
It takes a certain amount of determination to learn a second language. Learning English
as a subject in school is not enough. If the Asian countries at the bottom of the TOEFL
score list want to improve, they need to start treating English as a working language and
a means of communication. They should consider not just better ways to teach English,
but better ways to learn it.