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The Perspectives of Millennials on

the Evolution of the FIlipino Vocabulary
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A Master’s Thesis
presented to the
Faculty of the School of Graduate Studies
Laguna College of Business and Arts

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In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION
Major in English

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By

Mico Manaig
Wildjonne Caparas

December 2018

Chapter 1
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THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Tagalog (Filipino) belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of

the Austronesian language family. The name of the language is derived
from tagá-ílog, from tagá– ‘native’+ ílog ‘river’ It is spoken by 21.5
million people as a first language and as a second language by a great
majority of Filipinos. Tagalog is also spoken in Canada, Guam, Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and USA. The total
number of speakers of Tagalog worldwide is estimated to be 24.2
million (Ethnologue). It is the sixth most-spoken language in the U.S.
and the ligua franca of Filipinos anywhere in the world.

Tagalog was originally native to the southern part of Luzon, prior to

spreading as a second language over all the islands of the Philippine
archipelago, due to its selection as the basis for Filipino, the national
language of the Philippines, in 1937 and to the fact that Tagalog is
spoken in the Philippine capital of Manila, the largest city of the
country. From 1961 to 1987, Tagalog was also known as Pilipino. In
1987, the name was changed to Filipino.

The learning of vocabulary is an important part in foreign language

learning. The meanings of new words are very frequently emphasized,
whether in books or in verbal communication. Vocabulary is considered
as central in language teaching and is of paramount importance to a
language learner. Vocabulary is a basic of one learns a foreign
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language. Few research indicate that teaching vocabulary can be

considered as problematic, as some teachers are not really sure about
the best practice in the teaching and sometimes not really aware how
to start forming an instructional emphasis on the vocabulary learning
(Berne & Blachowicz, 2008). Through this article, the writer
summarizes the related research that focus on the importance of
vocabulary and explains many techniques used by some English
teachers and lecturers when teaching English, as well as writer’s
personal view of the issues.
Social media gives birth to the most unexpected trends. Language, in
particular, evolves so organically online that you could easily fill a
dictionary with terms that came about on Facebook posts and Twitter
threads. From "facepalm" to "jejemon" to "bae," these words slip into
our lexicon without our knowing it, and we end up using them in the
real world without a second thought.This year saw many new words
and phrases surface via social media, and chances are you've used at
least a few of them recently. Move over, astig, repapips, tsikot, dehins,
ermats, and erpats – a new generation of flipped-around words is taking
over.Switching syllables has been a staple of Filipino slang since the
'70s, and it looks like it's getting a notable resurgence in 2017. Lodi is
for idol, werpa is for power, petmalu is for malupit (badass), and orbs is
for bro. We're not entirely sure why these particular words were chosen
for the flip-around treatment, but they're quickly seeping into people's
vocabulary nonetheless. Naturally, some find this new batch of slang
confounding and corny, but it can not underestimate the power of viral
words.
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The filipino language, which is known for its dynamic characteristic, is

becoming increasingly flexible nowadays. Why? Because people today
or the one’s called millenials or younger generations, tend to coin new
words which they use in their daily conversations. The habit of using
and prioritizing newly coined words may lead evident change in the
Language communication of the filipino system. many can point out
that technology and social media has a major role in affecting many
languange system in the philippines because teenagers is largely
engaged in the accessibility to mobile phones; going online at least
occasionally from a mobile device and had an access to the different
social media sites where teenagers are engage in some form of online
personal communication and as a result youth tend to learn and adapt
new words that became part of their communication. However, does it
really help many students become proficient in language? The words
have spoken by students nowadays are “Jejemons” "Gay lingo" and
here comes the (# )Hashtag, LODI, petmalu and other words used by
the millennials. Youth are creative and inventive in playing words that
they used in their everyday vocabulary words. Another factor that
affects the languange is colonialism and one of the negative effects of
a colonized society like, is the absence of the nationalism cause many
tend to use other country's languange after learning them. Colonial
mentality is defined as the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority
and a form of internalized racial oppression. It is deemed a direct
consequence of the Philippines’ long history of colonialism.
Colonization is indeed a process of identity displacement, since it has
effectively changed the former selves as the "new selves." One great
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example of te filipino's colonial mentality is being addicted to

kpop,kdramas,kfoods and other korean related things that resulted in
learning the korean languange and korean culture. Many are eager to
learn theirs while most of them do not realize that fogetting their own.
The reality is here, it is important for people to understand and accept
the fact this generation will always be using mobile devices, internet,
and social media to communicate with one another due to the
innovation of technology. The aim of study is to know the perspectives
of millenials on the evaluation on the evolution of the Filipino
vocabulary

Theoretical Framework
In a country divided into many ethnic groups depending on regions,
there are about 170 dialects and 8 major languages that boast of a
million or more users with Tagalog being one of them. Since it’s the
language spoken among natives of Central Luzon that houses the
capital city of Manila, Tagalog is looked upon in a higher level among
all languages as far as social, historical and political aspects are
concern. Logically it has gained the edge, thus, during the drafting of
the 1935 constitution under then President Manuel L. Quezon, Tagalog
was declared as the national language of the Philippines. This has lead
to hurt feelings and silent uproar among speakers of the other
languages. The Philippine government, with its strong adherence to
democracy where sovereignty reigns in the people, has made a move
to unite everyone under one language that solidifies all Pilipinos. They
then adapted “Filipino” as the general term that would refer to the
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name of the country’s national language. But still no one can deny that
generally speaking: Filipino is Tagalog and Tagalog is Filipino, one just
needs to understand the national issue that surrounded it. Some
language experts consider Filipino as a version of “Tagalog plus
others”. This is because Filipino has become the ever-evolving Tagalog
with the inclusion of many new and invented words mostly foreign in
origin. When you take a stroll in downtown Manila, you’ll commonly
encounter the younger generation of Pilipinos speak Tagalog with a lot
of twist and twang. These are accepted, and can be called
“Sophisticated Tagalog” or “Modernized Filipino.” Thousands of years
ago, inhabitants from the Malayan Archipelago and later the
Mongoloids coming from parts of Southeast Asia had reached the
Philippines by crossing through land bridges. Then the period
from early 7000 BC untill 3000 BC saw large numbers of people from
places like the Malay Peninsula, Indonesian islands, Vietnam and China
setting foot on the hundreds of beautiful tropical islands of the country.
All these immigrants have made their own significant contributions to
the birth of all the dialects spoken in every province of the Philippines,
including the soon to become popular Tagalog language. Tagalog was
derived from the words “taga-ilog”, which means “from the river” or
“river dweller”, and came from Sanskrit. There are not many
documents that will confirm the earliest sources of the Tagalog
language, but there is a theory that says it’s an Austronesian language
used by the Malayo-Polynesian race or a language developed by
Sanskrit gurus who were long time settlers of the Philippines. Tagalog’s
initial developments have got to do with the major influences from the
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Malays and the Chinese, and later on from its major colonizers, the
Spanish and Americans. It’s known to have its own unique writing
system that originated from an ancient script called “Pagbabaybay or
Baybayin” that uses syllabication.

Figure 1: Research Paradigm

Central Question

The main objective of this phenomenological inquiry is to look

into

the essence of the Perspective of Millenials on the Evolution of

the Filipino Vocabulary

Corollary Questions

1. How do the coresearcher describe their experiences with regard

to technology?

2. What emerging themes arise from the study?

3. Based on the result what output can be proposed?

Significance of the Study

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The findings of the study may provide vital information regarding

the public speaking issues currently experiencing by the senior high

school learners. The study may benefit the following:

The Nation. This study will informed in the nation what is

happening with our vocabulary.

The Community. To let the society realized what is new in our

vocabulary.

The Millenials. For them to understand the difference between

the old and new vocabulary.

The Linguistic. To study more of the structures of the

language/vocabulary.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

The study will focus and selected senior high school residing and

studying Calamba,with ages ranging from 16-18 years old regardless of

their gender preference.

Definition of Terms
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For a better understanding of this study, terms are defined

operationally.

Perspective. A particular attitude toward or way of regarding

something; a point of view,

Millenials. A person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st

century.

Evolution. The gradual development of something especially

from a simple to a more complex form.

Filipino. A native or national of the Philippines, or a Filipino

descent.

Vocabulary. The body of words used in particular language.

ESL Learners. They are the participants who are intended to

utilize the English language in communicating thoughts effectively.

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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the related literature and studies pertinent

to the study or research. The knowledge secured from these studies

previously conducted afforded the researcher a wide range of

information and insight which furnish the background for the

development of the study.

The goals of vocabulary learning

(According to Victoria University of Wellington 2012), Whether

designing a language course or planning our own course of study, it is

useful to be able to set learning goals that will allow us to use the

language in the ways we want to. When we plan the vocabulary goals

of a long-term course of study, we can look at three kinds of

information to help decide how much vocabulary needs to be learned:

the number of words in the language, the number of words known by

native speakers and the number of words needed to use the

language.The most ambitious goal is to know all of the language.

However, even native speakers do not know all the vocabulary of the
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language. There are numerous specialist vocabularies, such as those of

nuclear physics or computational linguistics, which are known only by

the small groups who specialise in those areas. Still, it is interesting to

have some idea of how many words there are in the language. This is

not an easy question to resolve because there are numerous other

questions which affect the way we answer it,(Victoria University of

Wellington 2012)

Dying Language

(Based on Brian Collisons, 2014) No Tagalog is not a dying language,

but that does not mean it can't die out in the next 100 years. Maybe
even sooner. As a second language learner of Tagalog and a linguist, I
have noticed some dangerous tendencies.Despite the fact it has
millions and millions of speakers, the domains in which it is used are
decreasing. Many L1 Tagalog speakers do not take you seriously if you
try to use Tagalog on the internet, and people rarely use it in the
academic situations.My Tagalog professor said that many Tagalog
words are being supplanted by English words in the lexicon, and many
Tagalog speakers nowadays do not even know the Tagalog words for
things, or how to speak the language in formal or academic
registers.The domains in which the language is used are mostly at
home. A lot of government work is done now in English, and all
academic work past early years of schooling are now too.There is very
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little consumer appetite for Tagalog literature and most people read
books in English. Tagalog is one of the only national languages for
which the entire Harry Potter series has not been translated.So far,
only one edition of the Sorcerer's Stone has been translated into
Tagalog, with an English cover. I assume the sequels are coming
eventually.It has been translated into 74 languages, including many
languages all around the Philippines, such as Malay, Khmer, Thai, and
Vietnamese some of which have much fewer speakers than Tagalog.
There is just no appetite for reading English books translated into
Tagalog.

Science of Language

(Based on Azumagakito,Suzuki,and Arita,2018) After communicative

interactions among agents, the biological evolution of agents occurs.
The population of the next generation is generated by repeating the
following procedures N times: a parent agent for the next generation
is selected by using a roulette wheel selection that is proportional to
the fitness (i.e., the probability that an agent is picked up as a parent
is proportional to its fitness), which produces an offspring that has
the same genotypes as the ones of its parent. Each genotype of the
offspring is mutated with the probability Pm . A mutation process
adds a small random value R(0, 2) to the original genetic value of an
offspring i (a i and p i ), where R(μ, σ2) is a normal random number
with the mean μ and variance σ2.
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Culture of Language

In addition subsequently, the population of languages evolves

according to the following four cultural processes: cultural change,
division, extinction, and fusion.We define a cultural change in
languages as a change in the position of the language in the
linguistic space due to the use of the language during successful
communication among agents. Basically, a successful communication
between a pair of agents moves the language used in the
communication toward the agents’ innate linguistic abilities, as
shown in Fig.

Learning Preferences

(According to Prensky,2014), The chapter will review research that

has been conducted about millennial students,identify characteristic
about the millennial generation and examining how their upbringing
and other variables have contributed to their distinct learning traits.
This is relevant to the goals of this study so that groundwork may be
laid for exploring millennials students learning preferences. The study
will seek to establish in what forms and frequencies these techniques
occur as well as the learner’ reaction. Sources suggest these
students are new and different learners from past generations and
an understanding of their traits and characteristics may be helpful for
educators. Millennials have been greatly shaped by their
environment, and sources suggest it is likely that connections exist
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between environmental factors and their learning preferences. For
example, as the customer service industry has grown in recent years
due to advancements in technology has also led them to expect a
moderate level of technology based learning in their classrooms.