VOICEMASTER
Joined: Jul 8, 2001
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Country: Philippines
Province/State: Quezon City
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Employment and the English Language
March 24, 2004 - 11:17 AM
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With the country’s state of unemployment, students are pressured to find work even before they graduate. Although there are new businesses, the stark truth remains that job seekers far outnumber the opportunities available to them.
While many companies prefer only graduates of the country’s top three universities, most industries place less importance on one’s alma mater than on one’s ability to communicate in English – the globally accepted language of mobility.
The Philippines, which has always been regarded as the English-speaking capital of Asia, boasts of a work force that can competently communicate in English. However, many experts and educators fear that this is no longer the case.
"The emergence of new business undertakings, the current manpower shortage in English speaking countries which admit foreign workers in specific occupations, and globalization are realities that expose the truth that Filipinos’ proficiency in English has deteriorated," opines Dr. Hermelo Cervantes, chief executive officer of HA Cervantes Knowledge Systems, Inc., a Philippine licensee of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC).
This deterioration has been cited as a factor that compounds the unemployment problem. Because most professions require good English communication skills, employers are unwilling to hire applicants who cannot express themselves in English.
Cervantes explains, "‘Good communication skills’ [are relative] to the job requirement. Thus, one can be said to have ‘good communication skills’ when his English language proficiency level is sufficient for him to perform his job using English."
Employers evaluate applicants based on their performance in one-on-one interviews and English language proficiency tests. Cervantes cites the results of recent tests:
"Out of 1,000 applicants at a call center, only 60 passed [the English proficiency test]. Of nurses taking spoken English proficiency tests, only 30% passed. Early last year, the Department of Education conducted an English proficiency test for public school teachers in Metro Manila and only 37% passed.
Furthermore, when the TOEIC gave a test to a group of teachers, seafarers, and graduating students of Nursing and Education in 2002 and 2003, the test revealed that the English proficiency levels of these groups are far below where they are supposed to be.
Cervantes opines that there is no reason why professionals should fail English proficiency tests or, for that matter, have trouble speaking in English.
"Considering that English is a core subject which one has to take from primary school all the way up to college, considering that textbooks in other subjects are also in English, and considering that instruction must have been delivered mainly in English, [Filipinos’] English language proficiency level should have been on the higher, if not the highest, end of the proficiency scale," he observes.
Because they do not qualify for jobs in their chosen fields, some people are forced to take jobs that fall outside their expertise. Others remain unemployed for long periods of time or settle for odd jobs.
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM
Cervantes opines, "The number of years [one spends] learning English should have been sufficient for one to acquire a high level of proficiency. However, there is a missing element of learning."
Educators agree that this problem with the English language can and should be addressed in school. Recently, members of the academic sector proposed the incorporation of Speech as a component subject in basic education.
This is cited as one reason for the creation of the Integrated Support Program of Instruction for Communication (ISPIC), a program that aims to improve students’ English communication skills by training teachers for Speech instruction.
Explains Lulu Moguel, a professor at the Ateneo De Manila University, "This is not to underrate Filipino as our national language… but we should be able to equip our graduates with the language of mobility for them to be competitive in the local and global markets."
Under ISPIC, experts will make a continual effort to discuss and find solutions for the improvement of Filipinos’ proficiency in English. Teachers will be given workshops on new techniques for conducting lessons in Speech production and Speech performance. Member schools will be provided better access to the latest Speech textbooks and other teaching aids, such as instructional audio tapes and videos. A Speech Summer Camp for teachers of ISPIC member schools shall be organized this April.
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