The Effects of Bilingual Instruction to Philippine

Education System

The Philippines is an archipelago wherein we live with different dialects

, intonations , words , and understanding . We live also with diverse
educational systems that are changing into time . We were colonized by
other countries that were richer and powerful than us . According to Bernabe
(1978 ) , the Philippines was colonized for over 300 years from 1565 to 1898
, the Filipinos were not allowed to go to school for fear that they would
revolt against their Spanish conquerors . Filipinos could not afford to go to
school due to financial matters and Filipinos were overpowered by the
Spaniards because of their way of living . Because of a treaty , we were free
from the hands of the Spaniards and through the help of the Americans ; we
gained something that is needed by every Filipino , the education . According
to Martin (1999 ) , education was the most important mission of America
and the first teachers that came in the country are called Thomasites who
only spoke English . And it was believed that English could unify the Filipinos
who spoke many diverse dialects .

Americans left a legacy of language that lasted for more than a

hundred years and English language was greatly used as a medium of
instruction in some schools in the Philippines . When we gained our
independence from America in 1945 , Philippine schools continued to use the
English Language as a medium of instruction but the Philippine government
allowed to use non-formal language that only use two languages at the
same time . It is recommended that English must be considered as our
second language because Filipino writers were encouraged to write in English
for Filipino readers (Sibuyan , 1967 ) . This means that we must not only
focus on the language we learnt first , we must also learn a language that
can be used universally and can contribute to the understanding of an
individual in the aspect of communication with other countries . BEP and
EDCOM have their different perspectives when it comes in the English
language , Bilingual Education Policy , according to DepEd (1974 ) , English
and Pilipino language must be used as medium of instruction to both
elementary and high school , depending on subjects . English must be for
English Communication Arts , Mathematics and Sciences while Pilipino must
be taught in Pilipino Communication Arts , Social Studies and History . The
two language stated by the BEP must be used according to the subject given
and can be understood well because the language used in the subject fits .
BEP recasts to refer Filipino as the language of literacy and scholarly
discourse while English is referred to international language for science and
technology (Bernardo , 2004 ) . English must only be taught for international
purposes while Filipino language focuses on the scholarly discourse . But
according to EDCOM , the Congressional Commission for Education ,
suggested that all subjects must be taught in Filipino except for English .
This only mean that students should only focus on the language they knew
first and master their first language that can able to help them understood
their subjects from elementary to high school . Some schools preferred the
English-only policy on it is the language of power , for upward mobility
reasons , for global communication and competitiveness necessities
(Bernardo , 2004 ) . According to Dr. Fely Pado , pedagogy also depends
on / upon the students ' language of home . Also the available resources for
students are American textbooks locally reprinted and copyright in the
Philippines , with a few inserts of stories written by Filipino writers .