Mike Cabigon writes a commentary on the roundtable discussion organised by the British Council in the Philippines on the state of English in the country. Stakeholders from the academe, government, international funding organisations and corporate sector were convened to weigh in on the question at hand. The discussion led to the conclusion that the Philippines is doing just fine in English, that we still have that advantage in the language over our Asian neighbours. However, initiatives need to be taken to ensure that we do not get left behind. There is a need to reinforce the teaching and learning of English particularly with the impending ASEAN economic integration and the massive initiatives of our neighbours to enhance English teaching in their education systems.

Source: http://www.elgazette.com/features/special-features/338-philippines-to-ra...

Commentary by Mike Cabigon, Manager, English for Education Systems

There is a prevailing opinion, as there is no research data to support the claim, particularly from the business process outsourcing and corporate sectors that the quality of English in the workforce and current labour pool is declining. In addition, the current education reform has extended basic education to 12 years and recommending mother-tongue based, multilingual education from kindergarten to Grade 3. This extension effectively relegates general education subjects in higher education, particularly English, into senior high school resulting in only one English subject when students proceed to university. With this issue at hand, our work in English in the Philippines include providing teacher training in teaching and learning of English in schools. Opportunities for the UK higher education and ELT sectors include: 1) ELT research collaborations between UK and PH institutions, 2) public academic lectures by ELT experts from UK universities, and 3) volunteer English teaching assistant schemes for UK students.

For further information, please contact Mike Cabigon at mike.cabigon@britishcouncil.org.ph