<div dir="ltr"><h1>How we are defined by our language</h1><br>
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<h4><font color="white">The View From Taft <br>Liberty I. Nolasco</font></h4>
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<h4>AUGUST IS Buwan ng Wika (Language Month). This month-long
observance urges Filipinos to enrich and become proud of Filipino as
their national language. This used to be just a week-long observance --
Linggo ng Wika (Language Week) -- and fell on the week of August 19.
This date was picked by the government to commemorate the birth of
Manuel Luis Quezon, the first Philippine president to declare Tagalog as
the official medium of communication in the country.</h4>
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The eventual adoption of Filipino as the Philippine national
language is a telling sign that we turn to language to promote
inclusivity.<br>
<br>
Sadly, though, the discussions on what language policy to adopt in
different institutions in our country have taken a life of their own. We
can glean from the deliberation of our 1987 Philippine Constitution an
overstretched discussion on the topic, among the longest discussions
that our constitutionalists tackled. Emotions poured out as the issue
centered on what regional or ethnic identity the Philippine national
language should have.<br>
<br>
Since our constitutionalists experienced a hard time reconciling this
controversial matter, we should expect as well other institutions,
especially schools, to be equally confused. Some schools that I know
have infused foreign languages in their curriculum for basic education.
Others strictly enforce a policy of English-only in their campuses. They
even discourage, if not penalize, the use of Filipino and other
vernaculars or dialects in the classrooms.<br>
<br>
It is as if language is a commodity, which, when used a lot, earns one a “status symbol.”<br>
<br>
The purpose of language goes beyond the spread of vanity and power.
Language as a medium of communication means that it should build social
relations. As I write this article, I remember my first overseas travel
during which I had to converse in a foreign language for 24 hours. The
experience was both alienating and liberating. Not being fluent in the
language that I was using, I felt that I would fail to communicate my
thoughts. But it also dawned on me that I was learning something new
outside my comfort zone: the culture and sentiments of fellow
foreigners.<br>
<br>
This does not mean that language is always outward-looking. Language is a
subjective, not objective, medium of communication. It can predispose a
person to behave in a certain way. As the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
asserts, language reflects for the most part a person’s consciousness.
Someone with a weak valuation for his or her family, society, culture
and race may be turned against them by a language that bears remarkably a
different value for family, society, culture and race.<br>
<br>
Language has its own structure that conveys the ideals of a culture or
race. In dealing with some suppliers and natives overseas, I observed
that their language had iterated conjugations for gender and rank.<br>
<br>
I learned that the syntaxes and rules of grammar were engineered by
former rulers to limit their communication to their trusted individuals,
business partners, and social institutions. The lingering effect is the
exclusion of their kind from life-changing opportunities.<br>
<br>
A pragmatic adoption of or a plain disregard for a language policy can
destroy rather than build social relations. It can promote cultural
alienation, a lack of national identification of people, and a
half-baked person. It is therefore essential to promote language as a
means to balance the outward and inward orientations of a person -- an
important element to national development.<br>
<br>
Liberty I. Nolasco is an assistant professor at the Management and
Organization Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business
of De La Salle University.<br><br><a href="http://bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=how-we-are-defined-by-our-language&id=93525">http://bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=how-we-are-defined-by-our-language&id=93525</a><br clear="all">
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