CLARIFYING ISSUES ON SCHOOL CHILDREN’S MISTAKEN NOTION BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND DIALECT

ELEN M. DECENA There must he some truth to the saying “A teacher affects ail eternity.” Indeed, whatever a teacher says or does before his/ her students sticks with the latter for the longest time. Frankly thouel, I don’t seem to find any problem with students retaining whatever is good and true about what their teacher ever said; it is what is bad or wrong or false which bothers me more.

Take the elementary distinction between language and dialect. For the longest time our teachers In the earlier years of our instruction, taught us that language is a means of communication spoken by a majority of people while dialect is that spoken by a few.

So that many of our teachers taught us that English, German, French, Spanish and other major romantic tongues, are languages. While those spoken by a few like llocano, Waray, Pangalatok, Kanakana-ey, Kapampangan, and the like a dialects. I even remember a time when one of our teachers told us that a language is spoken a million people or over, and that anything less than that, is a dialect.

This has resulted in disastrous consequences to many generations of students who were taught this wrong concept. So that when one goes for an interview and he is asked how many languages he speaks, he almost instantly answers, one or two. English and Filipino. Thinking that his native tongue is not a language in itself, he loses the chance of making it known that he knows other Philippine native languages.

But to settle the score, what really Is language? How about dialect? To be more precise about It, language as correctly Indicated by our teachers, is a medium of communication; it is manner by which people receive messages and send feedbacks In return. While dialect is the regional or zonal variation of a language.

All media of communication whether spoken by many or a few are considered languages. Kapampangan like French, English or Spanish is a language by Itself. No matter how little Its speakers are compared to these major romantic languages.

A dialect is the variation of a language depending on the region or district where it is spoken. So going back to Kapampangan which is a language by itself; It is also a dialect. There are variations or “versions” in the way it Is spoken depending on where you come from. That is the dialect. For Instance, the infinitive “to drop by” in English is expressed differently in the upper compared to the lower portion of Pampanga. Kapampangans from Angeles City, would most likely say, “salangin while those from Candaba may say “mampit.” Both words are Kapampangan though different , practically mean the same. Thus, the Kapampangan spoken the way it is by people in Angeles City varies with that found in Candaba, this is the dialect. Sadly, this misconception has been perpetrated by many teachers in the past. It is hoped that the new breed of teachers “will affect eternity” for the better.

-o0oThe author is Teacher III at Cacutud Elementary School, Arayat West District