My Reaction Paper

The article of Audrey Morallo ‘Filipino graduates’ English skills lower than target for Cab drivers in Dubai, study says’ (philstar.com, February 8, 2018) is a news about how the english skills of Filipino College graduates is lower than high school students in Thailand and Cab drivers in Dubai. It was stated by Rex Wallen Tan, a general manager of Hopkins International Patterns that the average English proficiency scorebof Philippines College graduates was 631.4 which are lower than the cab drivers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Tan explained that in terms of Common European Framework of Referenceof Languages, the level of Filipino College graduates was at B1, lower than the B2 target for Thai high school graduates given the ratings of A1 as represented basic user and C2 as proficient users. This is also the reason why graduates are not being hired by the companies. The low level of proficiency of Filipino graduates stand as a warning that Philippines is “sitting on a landmine”, stated by the president of GAIN, Monette Ituralde-Hamlin.

According to Tan, the results of the study revealed that graduates of education major who participated in the study scored low in English proficiency. Despite this, they were still able to graduate. Some speakers supported the idea of adoption of National English Standards and slowly require schools to level up.

Upon reading the article, I felt belittled, because Filipino college graduates were being compared to cab drivers in Dubai in terms of English skills. We Filipinos are known to be fluent in English Language in terms of communication. I am aware that studying English Language is hard especially if English Language is your second language. I sympathize to those students that were compared to cab drivers in Dubai . They might lose self-confidence because of that. And also, this is the sign for us to improve our English language skills, not just for everyday communication, but also to promote Philippines globally.

Mike Cabigon’s article ‘State of English Language in the Philippines, Should We be Concerned’ (britishcouncil.ph) states that the English proficiency of the Filipinos is one of the country’s strength, making the Philippines to be recognized globally. However, due to some circumstances, the country needs to step up its effort in improving the use of the said language. Enhancing the proficiency in English language will help the Philppines to gain opportunities in the area of tourism, and also to promote Philippines globally.

“To maintain the Philippines’ strength as a major ESL destination, we need to address the gap in
qualified ESL teachers and the issues around ensuring the quality of ESL schools. This also
includes exploring how we can extend incentives to ESL schools and teachers,” stated by Renee
Marie Reyes, the Chief of the ESL Market Development Group under the Department of
Tourism (DOT). DOT is encouraging local ESL schools to offer structured tour packages to ESL
learners, the majority of whom come from South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, by
incorporating English learning activities into the travel experience.

Dr. Alonzo, the Dean of the University of Philppines College of Education, stated that “English is a skill to be used for communication, rather than set of facts to be learned”. The proficiency in English skills should be improve, especially those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. Meanwhile, the Country Director of the British Council Philippines, Nicholas Thomas stated that having a wider knowledge in English is their sole purpose.

My response to this article is that I am grateful to those higher ups for being concerned about our English skills proficiency, specially when using English language for communication. That even if the use of English language fall behind, they find ways for it to improve and help students to learn and understand it better. I am aware that studying English language is kind of difficult since it is not our Mother Tongue. But being proficient in English language promotes our to the higher level, especially when it comes to business. As part of the younger generation, it is an opportunity to be enrolled in a course taht studies the English language. It will be a big help and an opportunity for me to study English no matter how difficult it is, because I know one day, the things I learned will contribute something to our country.