Contribution to Book
Philippine English
The Handbook of Asian Englishes
(2020)
Abstract
In this chapter, I approach English in the Philippines not as one language, but as
several varieties that are used in a wide range of situations and contexts. English
arrived in the country as a language transported through colonialism. Its spread
was facilitated by a public education system led by young Americans who were
deployed as teachers to far‐flung regions of the archipelago. The American English
varieties that these teachers spoke came into contact with various Philippine languages,
resulting in the indigenization or nativization of English in the Philippines.
This nativized variety, often referred to as “standard” or “educated” Philippine
English, is the object of study of many language scholars. As English spread
throughout the country, the language acquired new forms, features, and functions.
It has also developed into a language of aspiration for many Filipinos. Language
policies, largely disjointed and inchoate, have struggled to address the competing
demands of the local and the global. In most cases, language policies persisted in
promoting the “standard” English variety. What most studies and policies on
English in the Philippines have continued to neglect is the fact that there are a
variety of Englishes that multilingual Filipinos constantly use in a variety of situations
and contexts. In this chapter, I refer to these Englishes as Pinoylish – Philippine
Englishes in constant flux, in continuous construction, always fluid, occupying
various points in a cline of centrality and peripherality, drawing from a repertoire
of local languages, including English as a Philippine mother tongue, as well as
other modes of communication that shape what is meaningful to the Filipino.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
Editor
Kingsley Bolton, Werner Botha, Andy Kirkpatrick
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
ISBN
978-1-118-79180-6
Citation Information
Martin, I.P. (2020). Philippine English. In Bolton, K., Botha, W., & Kirkpatrick, A. (Eds.) The Handbook of Asian Englishes. UK: Wiley Blackwell. (pp. 479-500)