The National Language Situation in the Philippines Today in the Context of Southeast Asia

Abstract

One of the most remarkable developments in recent years in Southeast Asia is, without doubt, the rise of certain indigenous tongues to the status of national languages. This is all the more surprising in view of the fact that most of these countries were tutored in the use of such international languages as English, French and Dutch. In other words, these countries preferred to undertake the arduous tasks of selection, modernization, standardization and propagation rather than avail themselves of the convenience of employing already fully developed and prestigious languages. The reason for this decision is, of course, not difficult to find. Although an international language has the initial advantage of the rich resources of its literary and technical heritage as well as the efficiency of its highly developed structures, it lacks the authenticity which enables the peoples of the country to adopt it as a symbol of identity and unity. Moreover, since Fishman has shown that linguistic homogeneity is highly correlated with the desirable endpoints of modern societies (e.g. economic development, advanced education, modernized and stable societies), it is reasonable to expect that the developing countries of Southeast Asia would strive to integrate their multilingual constituents and employ every means available to achieve this end.