JESSEMAR J.

WAO
MAED –ELT

CRITIC PAPER ON THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN SUPPORTING

MULTILINGUALISM BY BESSIE DENDRINOS

The article written by Dendrinos discussed about the importance of language testing
focusing on multilingualism aspects. There are two things she mentioned in the article in terms
of language testing and these are the monolingualism and the term multilingualism. In this
paper the two terms were given emphasis particularly on their part in the language testing. It is
clearly elaborated in the article that multilingualism could provide a positive impact to the
learners and or a negative contribution to the students specifically when they are being tested
such as assessing their knowledge in other language like English wherein grammar and
comprehension are all part of language proficiency test. In the Philippine contest in which
English is considered to be the second language, it is always included in any proficiency
examination whether an examination for Licensure or even in the periodical test and
assessments. This assessment encompasses various categories like English grammar and
comprehension, English literature, English vocabulary. These are necessary in the acquisition
of licenses of any Filipino professionals and also to any graduating college students or even
entering to college. In the examination almost 90% of the medium is in English and only 10%
of the Filipino language or in some cases where examinees majoring Filipino but still English
medium still dominate.

Monolingualism versus Multilingualism

In other country like Europe as mentioned in the paper, Language testing is quite big
industry specifically in English along with German, French, Spanish and Italian. Several
exams are done to be able obtain certification either English or other languages. Each
examinations are done in single language depending on the kind of examinations taken. Each
country mentioned above have various reasons l why language test are important to them. For
French testers language test is very important for promotion, and hiring so with Finland and
Greece. Accordingly, none of these test are developed to measure anything else than the test-
takers’ monolingual/monocultural skills and awareness.

In the local context like Philippines, language proficiency test is mandatory take for
example in hiring teachers. All teachers in the Department of Education should undergo
English proficiency test or what they called (EPT) exams. This examination has corresponding
scores which will affect to the total scoring of the registered qualified applicants. The 180 items
examinations includes grammar and comprehension, and vocabulary. The same situation in
the entrance examinations of the incoming university students where English proficiency test
is very vital. All the examinations stated are all monolingual in form which specifically focused
on English language. Which believed to have challenges. Test examiners somewhat forgotten
that high scores that may obtain by the examinee does not give guarantee on the skills that he
or she have. It does not mean clearly that when an examinee got high grades would be
considered as competent, there must be another way. This happened in Europe wherein if
people cannot be certified for their language competence they cannot be credited for their
knowledge. However this somewhat not applicable in the Philippine setup because of the
diverse culture and of course language of the people and if the monolingual teachers in
multilingual settings would not strictly exert efforts in generating skills in order to facilitate
the learning of the 21st century students. The provision of English language and subject matter
instruction to English learners according to Pritchard (2012) is one of the most critical
challenges confronting teachers and teacher educators today.

Pritchard (2012) suggested some ways and strategies in order for the monolingual
teachers to teach effectively in a multilingual settings; (1) by having the requisite professional
experience and academic preparation to work collaboratively with a wide range of K to 12
teachers, (2) Providing long staff development through conducting professional development
sessions, (3) securing support, cooperation and participation from the school heads , teachers
and parents, (4) by carrying out a variety of a carefully planned, task-oriented activities, (5)
implementing principles and practices through microteaching, (6) by encouraging the sharing
experiences among group members (7) by focusing elements in teacher’s practices before
making them aware of areas that needed improvement (8) by requiring the teachers to have
reflective journals.
 Desimore (2009) reiterated that for teachers to be prepared to meet the needs of their
English learners the structure of professional-development models is critical for generative
pedagogical development. If teachers are to fully use the potential of professional development
projects in which they participate, they must experience their professional development with
the same interactivity and attention to learning that they will be expected to develop with
students. By engaging teachers in an integrated process of explicit instruction with mentored
support and both individual and collaborative experimentation, this will help the teachers
develop their capacity to enhance their student’s language and literacy development in the same
active and meaningful ways that they are providing to their students.

All suggestions stated above are helpful ways in monolingualism specifically the use
of English Language in a multilingualism settings.

On the other hand, multilingualism nowadays is needed specifically in teaching the 21st
century learners. Bergstrom (2015) posited that multilingualism is not a problem, instead it is
a skill, children who grow up multilingual are more creative, find it easier to assimilate new
languages and have greater metalinguistic awareness. Metalinguistic awareness means that
children are better able to discuss things and to reflect on language, not merely to use it. For
example, young multilingual children notice that others speak other languages, ask how they
work and compare them with the languages they speak. They point out similarities and
differences.

Multilingualism in the academic field aid the students to understand deeply on a

specific language. David Crystal (2005) explains that there is no such totally monolingual
country. This means that language have variation. Phillipson (1992) challenged the following
five inter-related assumptions underlying much English language teaching in global contexts:
• English is best taught monolingually.
• The ideal teacher of English is a native speaker.
• The earlier English is taught, the better the results.
• The more English is taught, the better the results.
• Standards of English will decline if other languages are used for any significant amount of
instructional time. The challenges in teaching monolingual as presented by Philipson (1992)
could only be applied if the focus of the learner is to learn English alone. In contrary, in a
country like Philippines wherein the first language is Filipino, monolingualism I believed
should somewhat be given less attention by educators.
References:

American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE). (2002).

Educators’ preparation for cultural and linguistic diversity: A call to action.
Committee on Multicultural Education. Washington, DC: AACTE

Desimone, L. M. (2009). Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development:

Toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educational
Researcher, 38(3), 181-199.

Phillipson, R. 1992. Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press

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