State of English in the Philippines: Should

We Be Concerned?

by Mike Cabigon
Published in November 2015
The Philippines is recognized globally as one of the largest English-speaking nations
with majority of its population having at least some degree of fluency in the language.
English has always been one of the official languages of the Philippines and is spoken
by more than 14 million Filipinos. It is the language of commerce and law, as well as the
primary medium of instruction in education. 

Proficiency in the language is also one of the country’s strengths that has helped drive
the economy and even made the Philippines the top voice outsourcing destination in the
world, surpassing India in 2012. The influx of foreign learners of English is also on the
rise due to the relatively more affordable but quality English as a Second Language
(ESL) programs being offered locally.

However, in a recent roundtable discussion organized by the British Council, key

stakeholders from the government, academe, private, and non-government sectors
acknowledged that even if the Philippines is doing fine in terms of English competency,
concerns on how much of a competitive advantage it still is for the country were raised.
The stakeholders agreed that the country needs to step up its efforts in improving the
teaching and learning of English, developing it as a vital skill of the workforce. This is an
initiative that could potentially strengthen the Philippines' distinct advantage in this part
of the world, particularly with the upcoming ASEAN economic integration.

Gaps and Recommendations 

Enhancing the teaching of English in the Philippines presents opportunities for the
country in the area of tourism. 

"...We need to address the gap in qualified ESL teachers and the issues around
ensuring the quality of ESL schools."
“To maintain the Philippines’ strength as a major ESL destination, we need to address
the gap in qualified ESL teachers and the issues around ensuring the quality of ESL
schools. This also includes exploring how we can extend incentives to ESL schools and
teachers,” shares Renee Marie Reyes, the Chief of the ESL Market Development Group
under the Department of Tourism (DOT). DOT is encouraging local ESL schools to offer
structured tour packages to ESL learners, the majority of whom come from South
Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, by incorporating English learning activities into the
travel experience.

Other participants from the government sector underscored the need for an interagency
government body to regulate and support ESL provision in the country in order to further
capitalize on its economic potential. 

Representatives from the academe focused on teacher training and professional

development, highlighting the need for skills in differentiated instruction, materials
development, and knowledge sharing.

Dr. Rosario Alonzo, Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Education, says
that the College ensures this by emphasizing to its students that English is a skill to be
used for communication. Education students focus on learner-centred teaching, and are
taught to ask learners to do meaningful tasks using English. 

“Our future teachers should ensure that English is a means of communication,

rather than a set of facts to be learned,” says Dr. Alonzo.
“Our future teachers should ensure that English is a means of communication, rather
than a set of facts to be learned,” says Dr. Alonzo. In the same way, the Department of
Education focuses on the needs of learners and ensures that they learn the English
language holistically, as specified under the K to 12 basic education framework.

There is also a greater imperative to further build on the English skills of the labour
force, particularly of those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. 
“The demand for BPO services from the Philippines requires more than 1.3 million
employees by 2016, which means that 300,000 more new employees need to be hired
by next year,” says Zoe Diaz de Rivera, the QCCI Manager and Master Trainer of the IT
and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

Representatives from the private sector also suggested corporate social responsibility
programs to support teacher development, particularly in English language proficiency
in teaching other subjects. They also recommend collaboration between the
government and the private sector to address teacher and student language proficiency
in the outlying communities.

The international and development organizations recognize the same gaps and agree
with the recommendations of the other sectors. In addition, they propose to have a
platform for information sharing and communication among stakeholders to avoid
duplicating initiatives. 

These statements were made amid the decline of the quality of English in the
Philippines while jobs in various industries that require certain levels of English
communication skills are left unfilled. Statistics from the IBPAP show that today, only
eight to 10 individuals are hired for every 100 applicants in the IT-BPO sector.

Nicholas Thomas, Country Director of the British Council Philippines, says that
developing a wider knowledge of the English language is one of the British Council’s
founding purposes.

“Part of our work is to share best practice in the teaching and learning of English with
partner countries all over the world. English has a distinctive place in the Philippine
education system, and retaining high standards of English is critically important for the
country’s economy and future development. We look forward to working with partners
on more initiatives to support the teaching and learning of English here,” says Mr.
Thomas.
Philippines improves English proficiency score,
ranks 18th overall
November 17, 2021 | 12:00 am
SUMMARY FIRST PARAGRAPH

The article titled “State of English in the Philippines: Should We Be Concerned?” written by Mike
Cabigon published in November 2015 stated that even if the Philippines is doing fine in terms of
English competency, the Philippines should have no grounds for complacency. Different
stakeholders from the government, academe, private, and non-government sectors agreed that
the country needs to make an extra effort in improving the teaching and learning of English. In
addition, according to Renee Marie Reyes, the Chief of the ESL Market Development Group
under the Department of Tourism, we need to address the gap in qualified ESL teachers and
the issues around ensuring the quality of ESL schools to maintain the Philippines’ strength as a
major ESL destination. The Department of Tourism suggested that the local ESL schools should
offer structured tour packages to ESL learners to which the majority of the tour will be joined by
different foreigners so that incorporating English learning activities can be a great help in the
travel experience. Whereas, the academe sector focused on teacher training and professional
development, highlighting the need for skills in differentiated instruction, materials development,
and knowledge sharing. Dr. Rosario Alonzo, Dean of the University of the Philippines College of
Education, said that “Our future teachers should ensure that English is a means of
communication, rather than a set of facts to be learned.” However, the representative of the
private sector recommended collaboration between the government and the private sector to
address teacher and student language proficiency in the outlying communities which are also
agreed by the international and development organizations. 

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