A Discussion on Book Review of Filipino English and Taglish:
Language Switching from Multiple Perspectives
Christian Joni S. Gregorio, LPT
Bulacan State University
Philippines
Introduction
In Philippines, it is a common practice to switch between two or more languages
among bilinguals and multi-linguals. It can be traced back when English was introduced to
the Philippine education system in the 1900s at the time of the American occupation. This
event sustained in the post-colonial years and led to the Philippines being recognized
globally as one of the largest English-speaking nations due to its majority of population
having at least some degree of fluency in the language (Cabigon, 2015). He also stated that
English has always been one of the official languages of the Philippines and is spoken by
more than 14 million Filipino. Therefore, using Filipino English or Taglish is prevalent in
the Philippine setting. However, there is a limited resources and studies that you will find
regarding this topic in the academe.
In relation to the point given above, this paper aims to examine a Book Review of
Ma. Lourdes G. Tayao regarding Roger M. Thompson’s book Filipino English and
Taglish: Language Switching from Multiple Perspectives. The book focuses on present
state of English use in the Philippines and decreasing level of proficiency in English among
Filipinos which in return, caused some concern to Thompson over the future of English in
the Philippines.
Thompson expressed his observations based on a framework made by a
sociolinguist, Rodney Moag. In Moag’s framework, he proposes that there is a process or
cycle of English in non-native English-speaking countries. He further explained that the
cycle starts when the English language was transplanted in a country. Indigenization or
nativization would come after; to be followed by restriction and ultimately extinction when
the transplant ceases to be a second language and becomes a foreign language resulting in
diminishing competence in language among the new generation of speakers of the once
colonized country (see Moag’s framework, 1982)
However, according to Gonzales (1997), extinction won’t be the end process of
English in the country, but rather a revivification with rapid and significant linguistic
changes in a least two sociolects. He further pointed out two possible scenario that would
likely to happen:
“A colloquial mesolect for everyday communication and an acrolect closer to an
international standard for mutual intelligibility with the other users of English as an
international auxiliary language.” (Gonzales, 1997)
One possible outcome also would be the continuing usage of code-switching or
code-mixing in the country which according to Tayao (2014) is proving to be true in the
Philippine situation and which could be taken as a sign of creolization and/or the ultimate
demise of English in the country.
Future of English in the Philippines
The review proceeds with the discussion regarding Thompson adopting multiple
perspectives in different interlocutors in varied domains, modes and locales. Additionally,
he did not focus on the linguistic features of Taglish as his framework was also based on
Fairclough’s (1995) suggestion. Thompson (2003) pointed out that to understand how
Filipino language switching works in discourse, we need to look beyond an analysis of the
language itself. We must not only look at when Taglish is used, but we must also look at
the social effect of Taglish in the promotion of certain ideologies” (4). Tayao (2014) added
that Thompson suggests that we should not focus on what but instead turn our attention to
the whys pertaining to the linguistic phenomenon of code-switching. He also focuses on
the context or sociopolitical conditions that gave rise to the phenomenon and does not limit
attention to the phenomenon itself.
In order to analyze the problem of the study further, Thompson raised three research
questions that examined different perspective, using varied data and drawing a specific
methodology to arrive at answers to the question raised. Finally, reporting results in a
particular section or part of the book. The table below presents schematically the contents
of the book as provided by Tayao (2014):
Table 1. The table shows Thompson’s schematic table of the contents of his book
To conclude his book, Thompson stated that the future of English in the Philippines
does not look good and based on Moag’s model of the fate of transplanted colonial
languages that starts with transportation or transplantation to be followed by expansion,
then by nativization or indigenization, next by restriction that finally ends with extinction
or demise excluding some large number of lexical terms, he predicted that:
“Once an intellectualized version of Filipino is accepted for a wide variety of
scientific, technical, and professional purposes, English will die out except among
an elite few, as French did centuries ago in England. English will then have
completed its life cycle in the Philippines.” (Thompson, 2003)
Filipino English or Taglish?
At the beginning of the review, Tayao raised some questions that came to her mind
when she starts to read the book. One question inquires:
“Is the writer saying that Filipino English and Taglish are two distinct varieties of
English used in the Philippines or is he using those two terms to refer to just one
variety, the one currently used by a good number of Filipinos, one that is marked
by code-switching and the blending of two languages – American English, a
transplanted foreign language resulting from colonization, and Tagalog, one of the
indigenous languages native to the country?”
This question came from the author’s observation regarding the title of the book,
specifically the use of two variables: Filipino English and Taglish. But after discussing the
gist of the book, she also provided a definite answer to such questions. According to Tayao
(2014), the construct in Thompson’s title do not seem to refer to two distinct varieties of
English used by Filipinos except for a few incidental remarks that may be said to refer to
Filipino English, that is, English used by Filipinos. She then described the kind of English
language that is being utilized here in the Philippines – an evolving Philippine variety of
English which is based on American English, one of the official languages in the country.
Finally, the author concluded that everything said in the Thompson’s book pertains to
Taglish.
Product or Process?
In her introduction, Tayao also inquired a second question to whether Thompson
is referring to the product itself, that is Taglish, the variety now in place and seemingly
gaining ground, or is he looking at the process, that is, the different stages of development
of Filipino English leading up to Taglish and venturing a guess as to what lies beyond? She
then proceeds with providing a clear answer to her own questions wherein she stated that
Thompson may be focusing more on the process whereby Taglish results from the
dynamics of the restriction phase in the so-called life cycle of a transplanted colonial
language. But Tayao (2014) isn’t convinced with Thompson’s point as his fixation with
Moag’s theoretical construct has circumscribed Thompson’s study and used it simply to
prove a point and evidence in his conclusion. Because of this point, Tayao hypothesized
that his claim – a dismal future of English in the country – is open to question.
Some Commendable Features
In the latter part of the review, the author presented some commendable features
in Thompson’s work. One of the things Tayao mentioned is the use of ideologies
underlying the shifts in a language switching or code-switching. It is because on adopting
Fairclough’s (1995) suggestion, he was able to look beyond an analysis of the language
itself on a better understanding of code-switching in discourse.
Another case to prove her point is when Thompson decided to investigate the
social support given in English outside the classroom in his Part B of study. Because of
this, it can be determined if English can be maintained as a second language stemmed from
Ferguson’s (1959) concept of diglossia and Fishman’s (1967) extension of the meaning of
that term to explain why two different forms of a language or any two or more languages,
whether related or not, can maintain a stable relationship with each other over several
generations.
Tayao also mentioned the notable research design of Thompson as he used
multiple perspectives (historical, sociological, sociopolitical, and discoursal). According
to her, the book provides a rich source of possible instruments to use in sociolinguistic
research. The write-up of the research – a three-part presentation – were also commended
by the author.
Poor LPP leads to a country of English-speaking Zone
There are some concerns regarding the current Language Planning and Policy here
in the Philippines and it’s directly affecting our current and future generations – particularly
in their curriculum. Some scholar suggests that if not retrofitted, it would lead to a country
of English-speaking zone but can’t use it in higher levels of thinking and discoursing
(Demetrio and Liwanag, 2014). They further added that other graduates without the
adequate English proficiency could not as well use the national and regional languages in
higher levels of thinking and discoursing.
Their statement was formulated after they studied the Language Policies and and
Practices of Philippines and Thailand. Moreover, the efficiency in the way Thailand makes
use of its comparatively weaker educational infrastructure and culture could have been the
result of its insistence on using Thai as the primary medium of instruction. The country
may not produce many English-speaking graduates, but the majority of its Thai-speaking
graduates can actually use the Thai language in higher levels of thinking and discoursing.
Finally, they concluded that this capability is what powers Thailand through their
continuing progress.
Cultural Amnesia
Closing a speech community’s mind and the onset of cultural amnesia. This is
what Sugbo (2003) stated in his study when he reviewed the Language Policy and Local
Literature in the Philippines. This greatly affects our society as language and culture
intertwine. He further presented in his study that there is a growing dominance of English
according to a survey of the newspapers between the mid-1950s and the early 1970s. The
result was a gradual displacement of Waray from the pages of newspapers and the growing
disinterest in literary production in Waray.
Domination of Both Languages
To conclude this paper, the researcher hereby confers that both English and
Filipino have dominated the education system in the Philippines whereas English is seen
as the language of opportunities and have been used by Filipinos to work abroad and find
opportunities in the age of globalization while Filipino, on the other hand, is seen as the
language that can give identity to Filipinos, although not everyone agrees.
Will English and Filipino continue to dominate the country? With the current
ideologies and policies put in place, it will. However, as other language speakers continue
to fight for their identity and the right to be taught in their mother tongue, we might be able
to see some changes, allowing for recognition of other languages in the country, and maybe
even be given the same status as English and Filipino (Karunungan, 2019).
Code-switching as a Powerful Tool
Another conclusion that can be figured out based on Tayao’s review is that codeswitching can be utilized as a powerful tool if managed correctly. In relation to this point,
there are various studies that shows positive attitude towards code-switching, and it can be
utilized in our favor in the field of academe.
First among the list is conducted by Lee (2010) wherein he indicated that the study
shows that code switching is widely accepted by teachers in the teaching and learning of
English language in secondary schools in the state of Labuan. The research takes place at
Philippine’s neighbor country – Malaysia. He concluded in his paper that teachers do use
code switching in the classroom as they believe it helps students learn the target language.
The findings indicate that code switching is necessary when the situation requires the use
of mother tongue or the first language in the classroom (Lee, 2010).
Another study which takes place at Mindoro, Philippines. Karizza P. Sotelo, the
researcher, explored the tagalog-english code-switching types used for Mathematics
classroom instruction. She deduced that in her study that both languages are
complementary for instruction as using pure Tagalog or pure English during the discussion
poses limitations. She further added that speaking in pure Tagalog can be preventive as
Math terms that are essential in understanding math concepts are – most of the time – in
English and unless such terms will have an equivalent word in Tagalog, it will be
challenging on the part of the teachers. On the other hand, using pure English in the
teacher’s instruction would be a cause of concern since there are some considerations in
the teacher’s English language proficiency, lesson delivery, and student’s capacity to
understand the lesson. Therefore, Tagalog-English switching is both instrumental and
inevitable (Sotelo, 2020). She added that it is instrumental because it lessens students’
cognitive burden of understanding both language and content at once and can add insightful
ideas while speaking in Tagalog.
Lastly, is the study done by Gregorio (2021) wherein he examined the relationship
between the code-switching of Filipino teachers in classes and students’ confidence in their
Filipino classes. His work confers that code-switching of Filipino teachers makes the
students more comfortable to learn, less stressful and perceives code-switching as part of
their classroom instruction. The researcher also posits that students look at code-switching
this way because students in this generation are more exposed in English because of school,
media, signages and economic reasons (Gregorio, 2021).
Accepting English and Empowering Filipino Language.
Based on the conclusions presented, the researcher hereby recommends accepting
English and at the same time empowering Filipino language in our country should do no
harm. Moreover, it is unlikely that the presence of English in Filipino societies is the root
of the lack of success of the national language in our nation. It is more likely the resistance
of our people to a national language which they perceive as being forced upon them by a
dominant ethnic group. This statement was supported by Dardjowidjojo’s (1998) study in
his paper Strategies for a Successful National Language Policy: The Indonesian Case.
On the other hand, we should also focus on empowering Filipino language to
strengthen the core of our identity. Demetrio and Liwanag (2014) suggests that instead of
not attending to or blocking a more robust implementation of Filipino, the local leaders and
intellectuals should focus their energies in lobbying for a more inclusive
codification/elaboration of Filipino by proposing the adaptation of more vocabularies from
their regional languages and even the recognition of their idiosyncratic grammar as
legitimate variants of Filipino.
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