The advantage we lost

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor ERIC T. LORETIZO Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Station only confirmed what we already know: that the proficiency in English of Filipinos has declined drastically in the past 12 years. Since the survey was done only on the second week of March this year, its results can be said to be very updated, indeed.

It is very ironic that now, when virtually the whole world is accepting that English is the most popular medium of communication everywhere, the Filipino, whose proud boast used to be that he was far ahead of other Asian countries as far as the ability to speak English is concerned, is now taking a back seat to the so-called late-comers. Our English-speaking skills used to be the edge that our compatriots abroad had over other peoples. The members of the generation that had learned their 3R's, as well as their history, social science and other subjects with English as the medium of instruction are now the ones who have captured the high-paying jobs and work privileges, not only here and in English-speaking countries, but also in others where citizens are doing their best to also acquire English-speaking skills.

Warnings had been made to our education officials, to our national leaders when they opted for the shift in teaching techniques and imposed the use what they call "Pilipino" as the medium of instruction. Now we are reaping the whirlwind of that decision, as we watch the Japanese, the Chinese, the Malaysian and Indonesians catching up or, perhaps, in some cases, already overtaking us, as far as facility in English is concerned.

Now it is not only the students who are deficient in speaking or understanding English, even their teachers have been found to be deficient, too.

Perhaps she meant it as a joke, but she could have spoken in exasperation when the President told the teachers to beef up their English speaking capacity by watching the children's TV show, Sesame Street, when she addressed them in a Manila academy recently. The question now is, how long will it take for us to regain the advantage that we used to have a mere decade ago?*