Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies

ACTIVITY 3 – LINGUISTIC RIGHTS AND THE PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE SITUATION

 The Charter of the United Nations (1945) commits its member nations in its general
articles to promoting “universal aspect for, and observance of, human rights and
fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”

 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and
freedom set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.

 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966, Article 27) states: “in
those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to
such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of the
group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use
their own language.”

 The UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,

Religious, and Linguistic Minorities: “that the promotion and protection of the rights of
persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities contribute to
the political and social stability of States in which they live.”

1. What do these international covenants have in common? What is the key message of
these treaties in relation to language, identity, and minorities?

These international covenants have the commonality and share the same goals which is the
equality and equity among people, whoever you are, no matter what race, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status. Another
commonality of these international covenants is the rights and freedom of everyone to practice
their own culture and to use their own language. I think the message is that no matter who you
are, you are protected by these treaties in relation to language, identity, and minorities. These is
somehow connected to cultural relativism because it promotes understanding of cultural
practices of other countries. Cultural relativism has something to do with the idea of we have no
rights to judge and discriminate the culture, beliefs, traditions and whatsoever of other countries.
Instead, we should respect and understand each the culture, language of every country no matter
how different it may be from our own cultures. These international covenants preserve the
diversity of the world.

2. How adequate or satisfactory are these covenants in protecting the individual and
collective right to use and cultivate one’s own language?

In my opinion, it is satisfactory because having these covenants give us the rights to use our own
language, it also protects us in using our own. These covenants preserve the different languages
in every country because it gives us the freedom and at the same time protection to use our own
language. But sadly, here in the Philippines, we Filipinos have this kind of mentality that if a
person knows how to speak in English and who is fluent when it comes to using the English
language, we conclude that he/she is intelligent, successful, and rich. Being able to speak English
was a sign of better opportunities, and majority of the parents nowadays made sure that their kids
are growing up knowing the English language as if it were their mother tongue. That’s why
majority of the children nowadays, they are having hard time speaking in Filipino and even their
mother tongue mainly because they are trained to use English as their first language. It’s sad to
think that we have these covenants in protecting the individual and collective right to use and
cultivate one’s own language, but we choose not to preserve our own, we choose not to use our
own. Hopefully, may we not reach the time that our own language especially our mother tongue
will slowly disappear and forgotten because it is not being use and no longer being said.

3. In the Philippines, how are linguistic rights protected? Does our Constitution say
anything about it? What about the educational policies that you know? Can you name a
policy that you believe protects our linguistic rights?
Any nation has legal basis/ legal mandates on the implementation of rules in terms of using a
language. Part of our discussions with Mrs. Tuble, we discussed that Language in Education
Policy is always anchored in the Language Policy. We discussed the implementation of the use
of mother tongue as a medium of instruction in the K-12 Curriculum.

 Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is the government’s banner

program for education as a salient part of the implementation of the K to 12 Basic
Education Program. Its significance is underscored by the passing of Republic Act 10523,
otherwise known as the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.”
 MTBMLE is education, formal or non - formal, in which the learner’s mother tongue and
additional languages are used in the classroom. Learners begin their education in the
language they understand best - their mother tongue - and develop a strong foundation in
their mother language before adding additional languages.

Research shows that learners who are taught in their mother tongue will easily learn. One of the
benefits of using mother tongue as a medium of instruction is to preserve the mother tongue
language. The implementation of using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction will
somehow help the students to embrace their mother tongue. It helps the mother tongue language
to stay alive because it is use as a medium of instruction. I think this somehow protect our
linguistic rights to use our mother tongue. It gives us the rights and privilege to use our very own
mother tongue as part of the medium of instruction in education. This means that as long as we
have these mandates, the mother tongue of every province in the Philippines will be preserve and
will continue to be alive and not forgotten because it is being used.

Different domains would have its preferred language. For each domain listed, try to determine
whether the language is used as a:

A. Primary language
B. Secondary language
C. Not used

The first domain was used as an example.

 Regional
Domain Filipino English
Languages
1 National Government Secondary Primary Not used
2 Local Government Secondary Not used Primary
3 Education Secondary Primary Not used
4 Courts Secondary Primary Not used
5 Businesses and Offices Secondary Primary Not used
6 Religion Primary Not used Secondary
7 Marketplace Secondary Not used Primary
8 Entertainment Primary Secondary Not used
9 Literature Secondary Primary Not used
10 Press Secondary Primary Not used

What can be said about the role of English, Filipino, and the regional languages in the
different domains? Why do you think there are differences in the preferred languages
across domains? Provide examples to justify your answer.

The language being used in each domain is different from one domain. There are instances that
we need to use the Filipino when speaking in informal situation or setting. On the other hand, we
use regional languages in non-formal setting. As mentioned in our discussion, the constitution of
the Philippines provides the use of Vernacular Languages as official auxiliary languages in
provinces where Filipino is not Lingua Franca. There are differences in the language preference
simply because it depends on the setting and the situation you are in. For instance, if you are in a
public market, it is suggested that you will use regional languages because if you use English in
the public market, we can’t deny the fact that they will laugh, they will judge you and call you
“pasosyal” or “maarte” or worse they will increase the price of what you are buying because they
assume that you are wealthy and rich. Another is when talking on a formal setting definitely you
will not speak your regional language, therefore you must speak English because this is our
universal language, and it is suggested to use in formal setting or situation. On the other hand, if
it is too formal to use English then you can speak Filipino.