THE DECLINE OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY IN THE PHILIPPINES

RODA S. JIMENEZ

Proficiency is the state or quality of being proficient; skill; competence. Being proficient is being competent to a specific field. English language has been the lingua franca and is widely used up to now. Doors of opportunity and success are widely open to those who are proficient in speaking the language. In fact, some people even enroll themselves to a special class to improve their English proficiency. With this, we must make reforms and adjustments on how the English language will be prioritized in schools, as part of our drive for global competitiveness.

In February 2018, an article published by the GMA News mentioned that the level of English proficiency of College graduates from the Philippines is lower than the target English proficiency of High school students in Thailand, according to a study conducted by the Hopkins International Partners, which is the official Philippine representative to the group called Test of English for International Communication ( TOEI C) .

Hopkins International Partners said Filipinos are ranked only third or fourth among the ASEAN countries in terms of English proficiency and that the Philippines’proficiency is on the decline while others are on the rise.

As an English teacher in a public high school in Bulacan, I can attest that in some way the English proficiency of most of our public high school students are really fading. There are still high school students that are classified as non-readers. In reality, students are promoted to Grade 10 and still cannot comprehend or even read.

Perhaps, the Department of Education’s lack of proper emphasis for English in the instruction of our learners is the main problem. Instead of allowing English to grow in conjunction with the teaching of Filipino, our national language, the resulting scenario was promoting Filipino in schools at the expense of English, when the ideal but also realizable scenario could be the mutual development of both English and Filipino as languages of instruction.

There are also public officials who are concerned of the worsening proficiency skills of the Filipinos. In fact, Senator Grace Poe has filed a resolution calling for an inquiry into the “decline” in English proficiency of Filipino students.

In Senate Resolution No. 622, Poe called for an assessment of the present curricula in elementary and high school in light of “reports of narrowing advantage of Filipino graduates in the global language.”

Accordingly, there’s a recent government study that shows only seven (7) percent of high school graduates can properly read, speak or understand English, and poorly trained teachers are partly blame. Education is a key to success. We should go with the flow of change and competence, throwing our best assets; OURSELVES.We really do not know who to blame in this present crisis that we are facing. The Department of Education, together with all the passionate English teachers in our country must make an immediate action to resolve the decline of English proficiency and make our country to be on top. In this world’s competition, being proficient in English language is now an obligation.