An Expository Essay on Teaching-Learning Issues: A Philippine Perspective
Philippines has adapted English as its second language wherein Filipinos use
the aforementioned language in communication, both oral and written. English is
apparently used as the medium of instruction especially in the academic field. The
Department of Education implements teaching English in early years of learning (i.e.
pre-school and elementary), but what happens when the foundation of teaching the
English language seems to be chaotic and vague? What happens to the pupils’
English communication skills? What happens when they leave the premises in their
school/university if there are still unresolved issues in developing their English
language learning? Philippine education has immensely developed issues regarding
the teaching-learning on the English language to second language learners.
Poor reading comprehension and fluency in public schools is the most
prevalent issue in teaching English to the pupils. The pupils’ performance in reading
comprehension seems to be very low because most of them lack the interest in
reading. Although there is a mini-library from each classroom, but still pupils are not
fond of reading. Instead, they only enjoy seeing illustrations found in literature books.
The function of the mini-library is unfortunately for the purpose of teacher’s
evaluation. Teachers are required to have reading books in their mini-library to
supplement the reading skills of the pupils, but the result could be disappointing.
These books did not nurture the pupils’ reading comprehension and fluency.
Additionally, it is so hard for the teachers to teach English to non-readers. These
pupils are absolute beginners, and have blank knowledge on the English language.
Moreover, the lack of instructional materials paved the way in giving additional
problems to the pupils’ reading comprehension skills. Teachers are responsible for
finding appropriate materials to enrich the pupils’ learning and not just depend on the
supervision from higher educational position. For instance, Philippine Informal
Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) and Integrative Collaborative Learning (ICL) are the
tools needed in measuring and describing reading performance of the pupils. These
tools are beneficial to the pupils if and only if these are used effectively and
efficiently.
The foundations of English are also crucial in the pupils’ learning acquisition.
Whenever we say foundations of English, it pertains to the building blocks of a
language: the grammar. Pupils, who have poor foundations of English, tend to result
errors in the technical aspect of English. Learning a language should start in learning
the grammar. This is where we suspect pupils in their gradual nurturing of a second
language. Together with the other language skills (i.e. listening, speaking, and
reading), these should also be honed for these aforementioned skills are significant
in the pupils’ development of language learning.
The system on mismatched teachers is another scourge the Philippine
education has faced. There are many professionals who excel in their own field (i.e.
information technology, psychology, medicine, and engineering), yet they are in the
midst of teaching English. This mismatched usually occurs in tertiary education.
Moreover, this has resulted to thousands of unemployed and underemployed
professionals who ended up in academe. There is more likely an education gap
happening in this kind of situation.
Lastly, plagiarism is another flagrant issue in teaching-learning English.
Students tend to do the “copy-paste” every time they are assigned to do essay
activities. In the same way, they copy words from the internet without acknowledging
or citing the original author. Students cannot excel in their English proficiency with
this kind of attitude. They should be oriented and trained to become an authentic
writer. More importantly, students’ attitude should be looked into. For teachers to be
aware of the students’ essay, they should be introduced to online softwares that
generate plagiarized texts, and ask soft copies of the student’s essay.
As has been noted, these are the issues that have been addressed by public
and private teachers handling English classes. To reiterate these issues, these are
poor reading comprehension skills, foundations of English, mismatched teachers,
and plagiarism. These issues hinder the teaching abilities of the teacher. Extensive
research regarding these particular and significant issues is a good start to renew
the educational system in the Philippines, and provide quality education to Filipino
people.
