UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

College of Arts and Sciences

Padre Faura, Ermita, Manila

Communication 3
Panel Discussion: Agenda

Submitted to
Prof. Mikee Inton

Hufflepuff
Janine Butial, as the moderator
Adelaide Elpidama
Kevin Espiritu
Eunice Marie Marasigan
Janelle Mia San Miguel, as the secretary

March 2, 2010
I. What can be done about the inefficiency of a great number of Filipino students in English

communication?

A. The English language has now become a global lingua franca that enables different

countries to interact with each other.

B. Other Asian countries including China and India have made improvements in terms of

English proficiency.

C. English communication skills are essential in and out of the academia.

D. Sadly, more and more Filipino students are becoming alienated from English thus

becoming incompetent in effective English communication.

II. Several surveys show a significant decline in English proficiency among the Filipinos, including

the students, along with some possible causes and effects of such occurrence.

A. According to the 2005 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey

conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), functional literacy is low

among parts of the country that are not so economically well-off.

B. KAAKBAY CDI, a non government organization announced that 19 out of 100

public schools were competent to teach English.

C. According to the Department of Education (DepEd), elementary students got a failing

average of 59% in English while high school students got 51% in the academic year

2004-2005.

D. In a 2006 survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS), fewer Filipinos

understand, read, write, speak, and think in English compared to the 1993 figures.
E. In the 2008 International English Language Testing System exam for those who seek to

enter Australia as workers, migrants, or students, the Philippines’ average overall score

was 6.69, which was below the 7 passing score of the Australian government.

F. In the 2008 SWS survey, eight percent of the respondents said they were not competent in

any way when it comes to the English language, a decline of six percentage points over

the 2006 figures.

G. In some way, the teachers themselves may have contributed to this incompetence among

students by teaching the latter inaccurate English lessons.

H. In a 2004 self- assessment test conducted by the DepEd, only one out of every five public

school teachers is proficient in the English language.

I. In 2005, more than half of the country’s 458,282 public school teacher had little or no

training in English as wells as Science and Math thus reflected in the students’

performance in the National Achievement Test.

J. Other causes of the deteriorating level of English proficiency in the country include the

poor quality of resources and teaching materials used in schools as well as low budget

allocated to the education sector.

K. This decline in the level of competency among students and teachers significantly affects

not only their personal lives but also their career.

L. A 2006 survey conducted by the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines

showed that poor spoken English is one of the reasons job applicants fail to make it past

the initial interview.

 M. One of the sectors that would most likely be affected by this development is business

process outsourcing, which operates call centers and is one of the fastest growing sectors

in the country.

III. In order to adapt to a fast-paced global community where economic competitions are stiff, we

have to set long-term goals that will enable us to cope with the developments in this community.

A. There is a need to enhance the quality of the education that a student receives from their

mentors at school.

B. Consequently, there must be an improvement in the training of English teachers as well

as those from other subjects to ensure accuracy in their teaching performance.

C. Along with these goals, there is a need for English education to become holistic.

IV. The goals and objectives stated previously can be achieved in many ways.

A. This can be done through early introduction to the English language especially during hte

formative years of a student.

B. DepEd, together with other governing bodies in the education sector, must strictly

implement the use of English as a medium of instruction in all subjects excluding

Filipino courses.

C. There should also be an integration and enhancement of English language programs in

elementary and secondary departments in educational institutions.

D. There should also be assigned college educational institutions for monitoring and

regulating any improvement or setbacks.

E. Moreover, there should be a consistent English proficiency assessment test to be

conducted which shall be participated by grade school, high school, and college students.
F. Another way of achieving our goals would be conducting of seminars and trainings for

the teachers and students to further enhance the English skills as well as to introdyce

them to changes in the language.