|
Proem
The
present Constitution in Article XIV, Section 7 says, "The
regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in
the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction
therein."
In
Region 7 where we belong, the regional language is the Sugboanon
Bisayan. It ought to be an auxiliary medium of instruction
in our schools. We ought to study our first language, which
is Sugboanon Bisayan.
The
paradox of the situation is, we study English as a second
language in school and Filipino as a third language but we
do not study our first language, which is Sugboanon Bisayan.
Correcting
the Anomaly
As
an educator and an advocate of Sugboanon Bisayan, I have tried
to correct this anomalous situation. After searching for a
solution, I was able to salvage one subject in college that
could be taught using the Sugboanon Bisayan language. A CHED
Memorandum allowed the teaching of the subject in local literature
using the local language. So, since the year 1998 I have been
teaching this subject in the Department of Engineering in
the University of Bohol using the standardized Sugboanon Bisayan.
In
our desire to increase the capability of teaching the Sugboanon
Bisayan, the CHED Region 7 allowed the offering of one subject
in the Graduate School devoted to the study of the Sugboanon
Bisayan language. However, it is sad to note that nobody would
enroll in the subject.
Cordova,
Cebu
Last
May 8, 2007 local election, Atty. Adelino Sitoy was elected
Mayor of the town of Cordova, Cebu. He is the same Adelino
Sitoy who is the prime mover of Lubas Sa Dagang Bisaya (LUDABI).
His first project as a Mayor was to ask permission from the
Department of Education to allow the teaching of Sugboanon
Bisayan in the Elementary Grades. The permission was granted.
The
Teachers
The
basic principle is - you could not teach what you do not know.
In order to properly teach the Sugboanon Bisayan language,
the teachers must be taught the correct grammatical use of
the language.
The
University of Bohol Graduate School has already the subject
in its Master in Education program. So what we are doing now
is that the teachers in Cordova, Cebu are enrolled at the
University of Bohol and I, as the teacher will be the one
to go to Cordova, Cebu every Sunday in order to teach the
subject in Sugboanon Bisayan. In this manner, the teachers
in Cordova have the incentive to study because they earn units
in the Master's degree. As a further incentive, Mayor Sitoy
agreed to subsidize the tuition fees of the teachers.
Teacher's
Reaction
I
have already tried to gather some teachers in the University
of Bohol to teach them the grammatical Sugboanon Bisayan.
I started from the easy topics going to the difficult. However,
the teaching strategy failed. Along the way the teachers would
always compare the Sugboanon Bisayan to the English language.
No amount of information that Sugboanon Bisayan is a different
language with a different grammar can make the teachers let
go of their mind set in the English grammar.
In
Cordova, Cebu, I tried a different strategy. I started from
the higher intricacies of the Sugboanon language. I discussed
the philosophy, psychology, paradigm, syntax, etc. of the
Sugboanon language. I started from a level not usually encountered
by Elementary School teachers in their study of the English
language, and tend to go down to the easier level.
The
strategy was successful. The school teachers of Cordova, Cebu
are convinced that Sugboanon is a language worth studying
because its complexities, even though different from English,
is comparable to the English language.
The
Request
The
teachers in Cordova, Cebu are now convinced that there are
many aspects of Sugboanon that they must learn. They now request
that a regular Master's Degree program be offered so that
they can have a Master's Degreein Sugboanon Bisayan. I am
now trying to develop that program, which I temporarily call
Master of Arts in Teaching Sugboanon Bisayan.
In
the province of Cebu, this project of Mayor Sitoy has caught
the attention of almost anybody of consequence in the province
including the Provincial Governor. It is envisioned that this
project would cause the revival of the Sugboanon language.
|
