Chapter 1

The Chapter 1, titled as The Speak, Read and Write English Movement is only fitting
as author Dinah F. Mindo cited from Sibayan and Gonzalez because English was the
only language allowed in the schools in all levels (Mindo, 2002). The
Americanization of Filipinos started with the massive scale of learning instruction and
education of the natives through English language. From 1901 -1902 experimentation
period in the use of textbooks and materials, followed by the development of the
education curricula prescribed in the Courses of Instruction for the Public Schools of the
Philippine Islands (Bulletin No. 7,s. 1904) up to the Monroe Educational Survey in
1925, the critical objective is how to best Americanize Filipino native by means of
learning English language.

Chapter 2

The Monroe Educational Survey had a push in the Indigenization of English Language
Movement that began to take shape even before the legislation for the survey started in
1924. The indigenous character of English develops because the existence of Filipinized
English was spoken by Filipino teachers and pupils with pronunciation and enunciation
being greatly influenced by the first language of the learner, a case of mother tongue
interference as cited by Dinah F. Mindo from the Report of the Survey Commission to
the Board of Educational Survey in 1925. The Education Curricula continued through
the framework of Filipinizing English that made several developments in the Primary,

Intermediate and Secondary Curriculum. There are also other platforms that direct to
strengthen the teaching of English such as issuances of official communications like the
annual reports/instructions, memoranda, bulletins and circulars. Not only studies are
conducted to improve the teaching of English, surveys and laws related to the
strengthening of the said language were initiated. And lastly, support institutions were
set-up for the further improvement and development of English language that evolved to
what is now described as The Indigenization of English Language Movement.

Chapter 3

The third chapter traces the conditions of English development during the era of several
enabling environment that pushed for the rising of the Vernacular and the Wikang
Pambansa Movement and the world political situations prevalent at that time that
enveloped our countrys significant and historical transformation. Several major events
during this time that affected the shaping of the English language in the Philippines are:
the adoption of the 1935 Constitution, the birth of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
in 1935, the transition government (1935-1946), and the establishment of the Republic of
the Philippines. As the author Dinah F. Mindo correctly pointed-out, these events
spawned the emergence of nationalism which found expression in the language, resulting
in the adoption of a national language and the use of the vernacular in teaching.

The establishment of the Institute of the National Language was instrumental in the
determination of which among the local languages will be identified as the Philippine

National Language. President Manuel L. Quezon proclaimed the national Language of

the Philippines based on Tagalog on December 30, 1937. The use of the vernaculars
was head-started by the Circular No. 71, series of 1939 and the Dept. Order No.4, series
of 1939 which directed that the local dialect be used as an auxiliary medium of
instruction in the primary grades. As it was cited in the Monroe Survey recommendation
the dialect should be used in giving instruction in the manners and morals. Sibayan and
Gonzales are correct in their appraisal that this period marked the end of the total
immersion the Filipino child in the English language in the schools (Mindo, 2002).

Chapter 4

This chapter precisely described the present state of the evolution of the English language
in the Philippine soil during this era. It encapsulates the circumstances why the English as
a second language fully developed into a movement. While in the socio-political context
the clamour for Nationalism and the hype of the anti-American movement in the Southeast was on the rise, other factors that sidelined the English language in its secondary
position as the fast developing quest for a national language develops such as the Iloilo
experiment aftermath that cited effectivity in the usage of the vernaculars in the first and
second grade though materials and teachers preparation in the vernaculars are lacking,
the Rizal experiment that concludes that the proficiency in English is directly related to
the number of years in which it has been used as a medium of classroom instruction side
by side with the usage of the Tagalog vernacular, and the direction set by the government

towards the adoption of a common national language to known as Filipino. These are
parts of the evolution and the advent of the second language teaching approach.

Chapter 5

As it is said in the language provision in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the
Philippines which are embodied in Article XIV, Sec. 6 and 7 provide the legal basis for
the various language policies that are being implemented in the country.
The ratification of the above-mentioned constitution resolved the issue on what the
national language is, since the 1935 and 1973 Philippine Charters were not clear about
this.
The provision are as follows:
1. Section 6. The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall
be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.
2. For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the
Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.

Bilingual education in the Philippines is defined operationally as the separate use of

Filipino and English as the media of instruction in specific subject areas. As embodied in
the DECS Order No. 25, Pilipino (changed to Filipino in 1987) shall be used as medium
of instruction in social studies/social sciences, music, arts, physical education, home
economics, practical arts and character education. English, on the other hand is allocated
to science, mathematics and technology subjects. The same subject allocation is provided

in the 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education which is disseminated through Department

Order No. 52, s. 1987.

The policy on Bilingual Education aims at the achievement of competence in both

Filipino and English at the national level, through the teaching of both languages and
their use as media of instruction at all levels. The regional languages shall be used as
auxiliary languages in Grades I and II. The aspiration of the Filipino nation is to have its
citizens possess skills in Filipino to enable them to perform their functions and duties in
order to meet the needs of the country in the community of nations.

Chapter 6

The last chapter started with the explanation of Domain/s of language. It is said that
domain is the area or activity in which particular language is used. Classified into three:
(1) controloing domains, (2) semi-controlling domains, and (3) non-controlling domains
(Sibayan, 1994). Mindo added that according to Sibayan the domains of power and
prestige, the domain that control the national and individual life of the people. As it is
well described in the chapter these domains dictate or determine the language or
languages that people have to acquire to be educated in the Philippines (Mindo, 2002).
The author illustrated what these domains are: government administration, legislation,
education, business/commerce/industry, judiciary, the professions, science and
technology and mass media. The use of English in these different domains greatly
contributed to the further development of the said language.

In the looking back page, notably the author compared the legacy in terms of language
acquisition among Filipinos laid by two different foreign ascenders Spaniards and
Americans. From thereon multitudes of changes and interventions imparted in the long
process of evolution of the English language in the Philippines, from the Thomasites, the
1935 Philippine Commonwealth Constitution, the birth of the Philippine Republic, the
intervention in the implementation of English up to long process of the rise of the
National Language, the bilingual movement and the present state of English along
different domains power.

Its been more than 100 years, and the English language we can say, have deeply rooted
not only in the minds of the Filipinos, but also in the deepest part of their native heart.