TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE ON ADDRESSING LANGUAGE ISSUES

MICAH PEARL B. MANALANG

author is Teacher III

In addressing language issues in a developing country like the Philippines, Powerless in Policy, Powerful in Practice: Critical Insights on Pedagogical Code Switching in the Philippine Context by Paolo Nino M. Valdez, pointed out 3 significant points, first, in addition to improving communication efficiency (Baustista, 1999), code switching helps instructors and students to negotiate meaning by using linguistic resources in English and Filipino. Access to cognitively challenging information in the subject areas (typically in English) is provided through code switching. Second, because language usage is frequently associated with changes in identity (Myers-Scotton, 1993), it is clear that code flipping negotiates power relations between instructors and pupils. Because classrooms are "a crucible where the prime elements of education—ideas and ideologies, policies and plans, materials and methods, teachers [and the taught]—all mix together to produce exclusive and at times explosive environments that might help or hinder the creation and utilization of learning opportunities" (Kumaravadivelu, 1999, p. 454). Finally, code flipping acts as a linguistic metaphor for instructors and students to identify themselves as part of one community that reflects a broader society. Bilingualism in the classroom, based on Tupas' (1998) concept of code switching as resistance, might be viewed as a counterdiscourse to prevailing conceptions that CS "reflects poor linguistic knowledge" (Bernardo, 2005, p. 163). Schools, through language restrictions, speak English campaigns, and even evaluation systems, have greatly legitimized the repressive but "normative status quo" (Benesch, 1993, p. 707). "Another kind of lingua franca, one that seemed to originate from no one in particular and so could address anyone in general" (Vicente, 2008, p. 108). As a result, code swapping, like other instructional approaches, represents the diverse cultural practices originating from histories in the classroom, societal challenges and injustices (Pennycook, 1994). Code switching in topic area classrooms in the Philippines was examined, and it appears to be a feasible choice for teaching and learning since it can be utilized for curriculum access, classroom management, and interpersonal interactions. As a result, it is necessary to operationally "redefine" what constitutes a medium of teaching. Instead of oversimplified arguments about allocating languages to teach certain courses, which are often monolingual biased and discriminatory, it should be inclusive in the sense that it does not "isolate the classroom from the society in which it is situated" (McLellan & Chua-Wong, 2002, p. 13). In the classroom, code switching is used to regulate authority and identity among speakers (particularly the instructor). Similarly, community knowledge has highlighted the multifaceted applications of CS in indexing identity not just in the classroom but also in the nearby community, as well as indicating interlocutors' dynamic roles as they engage in classroom contexts.

-oOoThe author is Teacher II at San Roque Elem. School, Floridablanca East District