Tabuk City is the melting point of most tribes from other municipalities in the Province of Kalinga. People from neighboring provinces also settle within the City thereby creating a community of diverse individuals. Diverse cultures, beliefs, and dialects or languages also come to merge in this community.
In a community of diverse culture and language, one must find something in common to preserve a harmonious relationship among the dwellers. This may be traced back to the old story of how the Tower of Babel have fallen because of their problem in language.
In a bigger picture, Philippines is marked as 8th among 240 countries in terms of ethnic diversity. It means that the country is multicultural. Hence, the country also has language differences. But to combat misunderstanding, Manuel L. Quezon brilliantly made Filipino as the National Language to bind its people. By using one unique language around the archipelago, communication is then made easy.
In a global perspective, English is the language of communication. The English language is the binding factor for nations to meet. It is the language of law and business and economics.
In the status quo, there are millions of Filipinos abroad. All trying to look for good fortune. Whatever profession you have finished as long as you possess the skills needed by an employer, you are inn for a job. But the most important is you know how to speak the international language.
Students nowadays seem to miss look the importance of the English language. Erroneous grammar in writing and speaking is very obvious. When a teacher tries to correct them, almost all will say “ma’am, as long as it is understood”. Then the language (English) teacher will go on with another cliché sermon saying that words should be pronounced properly. What for is the use of pronunciation if words aren’t pronounced the way they used to be? And it is even heart-wrecking when a professional answers the same. The STANDARD language is set. Therefore, one must at least try his best to cling to this standard.
If you ask the high-schoolers today where they want to work, it is not surprising to know that 8 out of 10 will answer ‘ABROAD’. These lads and lasses are not to be blamed for such kind of mentality because of the current economic situation now in the country. Thus, it is a must to equip these students with something that they will use to land for a good job in the future. In this case, use of the English Language is one of the most skill that students nowadays should learn to prepare them meet the real world.
In 2016, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducted a survey on the ‘must have’ skills of an employee. Surprisingly, communication skills ranked 1st.
Thus, making the students fluent in using the English Language would mean, they have an edge in job hiring.
Taken into account the implementation of the Senior High School in the country, it is a notion that if one graduates from the said program, he is equipped with skills needed to work on his own. And according to NACE, communication skills is the number one skill to be developed.
Taking the English subject for granted is a nuisance act. Students must take the language seriously and at least try his best. They must be proficient in employing the English Language.
Teachers on the other hand, are not native speakers of the English Language, but there is a so-called standard English language that teachers tail. By this, producing graduates with high communicative skills is not impossible.
By ROSELYN LAO-ING DAO-WAN
