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Alberca, Wilfredo L.

English Language Teaching in the Philippines During the Early American Period: Learning from the Thomasites. PUP Journal of Research and Exposition Volume 1 No. 1 (1st Semester 1997): 113-133. This study attempts at explaining the reasons for the phenomenal success, as it were, of the pioneering group of American teachers, now conveniently called Thomasites, in teaching English to Filipinos (Wilfredo: 1997, 113).
Teaching Method direct method grammar- analysis communication oriented aural-oral component

success generating ingredient Thomasites academic qualifications Strong motivation to teach Studentss equally high motivation to learn Success in teaching English to Filipinos

Community and Environment (External factors) 1

This study was financed by the Fulbright Senior Research Grant. This research was made by Wilfredo L. Alberca, Ph. D. who is also the dean of the College of Languages and Mass Communications in Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa, Manila. His paper was primarily focused on how the Thomasites brought about success in teaching English to the Filipinos. The author attributed necessary ingredients to success in the teaching of the language. He called it the success-generating ingredients which has something to do with the the Thomasites academic qualifications, strong motivation to teach as well as their students equally high motivation to learn English. The research was done through archival works. Accounts from different documents and reports were considered especially the government reports such as Director of Education Reports, Genereal Superintendent Reports, and many more; personal accounts of the Thomasites regarding their experiences in teaching were also used. Primary and secondary documents were utilized for this this study. The countrys leaders and educators saw the need to facilitate education in the country. It is true that there are many efforts done by various authors in the study of the account of the Thomasites and the so-claimed monumental success of their teaching style, the author has not neglected the fact that perhaps aside from the success-generating ingredients. there could have been some intervening variables in the success of teaching English to the Filipinos. The teaching styles and methods were seen to be factors of the teaching of the language. The quality of teaching has been enhanced through different assemblies designed and summer schools were also set up in number of school divisions as means of improving both the academic and professional qualifications of the teachers (Ibid: 118). Thomasites were also regarded as method oriented teachers. It is their very aim to teach English effectively. In so doing, different methods were used. The first few years were more of a trial-and-error period because of the fact that the course of instruction is still new to them and the adaptation to the place is quite difficult. The Thomasites were tasked to make their own course of study and adapt it to the conditions around them. the traditional lines of teaching that the Thomasites were familiar of in the United States were not the same as what they have practiced in our country. At first it was a less methodical version of the object-action method. This method actually sought to make the student acquire some basic vocabulary by introducing to them objects, either actual or pictures, and giving them names. In addition to that, memory work, grammar-analysis, aural-oral components and direct method were induced to facilitate the teaching of English (Ibid: 121-128). With the data available from this account, empirical ecidences on the effective teaching methods of qualified American teachers were presented. The effectivenessof the teaching method, however, was dependent on certain personal and external factors. The reports and accounts of the Thomasites were seen to be of important in urging the colonial government to make policies and programs in promoting the teaching of English and eventually in institutionalizing different ways on how to improve teaching. This account is also important in my research as it documented some responses of the subjects of those who being taught. The
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study also records that Baguio and Manila were invariably chosen as sites for vacation assemblies. While Baguio assembly, which was started in 1908, consisted largely of conferences, lectures and classes for supervisors and teachers of higher professional attainments, the Manila Assembly took care of classes in instructional methods designed for teachers of lower professional attainment (Ibid: 118). The account about the Baguio Assembly could be in reference to Baguios Teachers Teachers Camp but Im still uncertain about this and this is yet to be confirmed through further data gathering.

Boquiren, Rowena Reyes. Kalikasan, Uri at Kakanyahand Pang-etniko: Ang Imperyalismong Estados Unidos sa Kordilyera ng Hilagang Luzon. PhilippineAmerican War. Quezon City: College of Social Sciences Publications, 1999:165-184. Thus paper discusses the great effects of American Imperialism in the Cordillera of Northern Luzon (Boquiren, 1999: 165).

American Imperialsim social changes (infrastructures, religion and ideology) transformation of the mode of production in the communities

Cordillera of Northern Luzon abuse of natural resources destruction of the fundamental of the life ansd the system of ethnicity intesification of social discrimination and weaker of communal ethnicity

This paper presented the great effects of American Imperialism in the Cordillera of Northern Luzon. There the fundamental social changes and the transformation of the mode of production in the communities. It emphasizes on how social changes enforced by the United states on the natives in terms of infrastructures, religion and ideology not only resulted in the abuse of natural resources if the Cordillera, but also the destruction of the fundamental of the life and system of ethnicity, as well as the intensification of social discrimination and weaker communal ethnicity. The discussion about the three issues of nature, kind and ethnicity in the Cordillera is also included. These are closely connected and how the integrity of the native communities as well as the direction of their history as natives of a country with cultural pluralism are dependent on the control of ancestral land (Ibid: 165). The research was materialized with the use of different archival documents such as Reports of the Philippine Commission, dissertations, sourcebook, unpublished manuscripts, journals and several secondary sources such as books. The account was important in relation to my research because of the fact the study made by Prof. Boquiren balances the idea of American Imperialism. Despite many accounts regarding the rewards and glory of the American Occupation in the Philippines, the down side of their stay in the country was also presented especially those in the Cordillera to which Baguio is part of. The focus lies of the study is more of ethnicity which could also be helpful in determining the social implications of the change in the ideologies of the natives that were assimilated to the different influences and impositions of the Americans. Some of the institutions that were
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mentioned are the building of different infrastructures such as schools, hospitals and government offices. The instruction of formal system of education has been conceived as a way of affecting the culture of the natives. Baguio City has been regarded as a model of urbanization in Cordillera. This, in effect, has caused social mobilization of different ethnic groups in the city which cause the Ibaloy group to feel alienation to their land (Ibid: 181).

Carino, Linda Grace. The First Philippine Republic in Benguet. Kasaysayan Journal of the National Historical Institute Vol. No.4 proceedings of the National Conference on The Fil- Am War: Trust and Betrayal (December 2001): 104-114.

This paper answers the question on how the Republic face was in Benguet ad how was its last stand like. The is answered by relating extant resources, chronological sequences of events which detail the republican presence in Benguet. This also includes how native clansmen and republicans together try and save the first Philippine Republic, how they are apprehended by militarily superior American forces, and imprisoned. Moreover, the paper reconsiders the succeeding American occupation of Benduet and the forces which drive this last rapid occupation, specifically, the quest for a cold place in the burning tropics and the lure of gold in the mountain (Carino, 2001: 104).

The First Philippine Republic

Resistance of the natives

American Occupation in Benguet

The simple concept of this paper focuses primarily on the chronology of events but has much to explain the history of the Cordillerans. The resistance of the natives from the Spanish was truly manifested in the account. A good number of Philippine history texts claim that the Cordillera did not participate in the Katipunan-led revolution. However, the Juan Carino, governor of Benguet under the Aguinaldo Republic, Mateo Carantes, Magastino Larauan, Pisaro, Sunduan, likewise Baguio presedente Mateo Carino- these are just a few of
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the native Ibaloi clansmen who battle the Spanish, and later, the American forces, making history as we do not know it . The first Philippine republic in Benguet is quite a war story, playing out against a backdrop of a proud lical native history and its attendant culture, which sees its demist as American colonization entered. The Americans devised ways on how to own the treasures and wealth of Benguet. Baguio was of course of no exempt (Ibid: 111112). The paper was the product of archival work of the uthor using various books and secondary sources. Some sources such as newspapers, monographs, court proceedings were also used to enhance the arguments made in this account. The analysis made in this paper were also of use in my research due to the fact that the transistion from the Spanish colonization to the American occupation. Nonetheless, resistance were seen as a respondse from the Ibaloi clansmen. It was of no sweat on their part to defend their claims but in the end they were still subjected to the American Imperial forces. Difficult as it may seen, different social, political, economic and cultural changes were manifested as an account about how the Americans developed Baguio city as a hill station. Also offers another view on how to balance the romanticized ideas of Philippines regarding the Americans.

Veric, Charlie Samuya . Remebering Empire: The Institutionalization of American Colonial Education. UPV: Danyag Journal of Humanities and Social Science Volume 7 No, 1 (June 2002): 47-65. This paper recounts the beginning of American education system in the country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

English And Literature


(American colonial project)

Production of new consciousness

The most enduring if not most fragmenting, legacy of the American period in the Philippines is the English language. The article examines the experiences and contexts that form the beginnings of the American education system in the country in the late nineteenth and eartly twentieth century. It surveys and lays bare the theoretical and practical implications of pedagogical strategies allied with the American colonial project. Particularly, the article examines how literature is made instrumental to the production of a new consciousness that is supportive, if not completely constitutive, of the colonial dispensation. This labor in other words, seeks to analyze how English and literature in the same language perform instrumental functions in the formation of social discourses crucial to the survival of the American colonial system. Literature, the article argues, becomes a disciplinary method that is able to produce subjects fir for the new colonial order (Veric: 2002). Different research materials were used in order to produce this article. Archival work is one of the most common ways of generating data especially when doing this kind of study. Most of the sources used are secondary sources and some were primary ones. Most were written by American authors and some were from Filipinos. It is indeed important to give regard to who wrote the sources used in doing a study because the lens from which they view certain phenomena may be affected on their background and the like. Accounts about education saying that, it was used as a pacification colonial tool were apparent in the article. This was further supported of the claim that such development has been manifested by providing schoolhouses, school teachers, school furniture, school books and school materials. Even the published Courses of Instruction by the Bureau of Education was patterned after the American model with slight modification. (Ibid: 48-5o). Learning by doing
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was one such method towards the rewriting of educational history, and necessarily, the rewriting of colonial consciousness itself (Ibid: 58). It is worth noting that the Bureau of Education modified the American curriculum in order to address what the colonial government regarded as subjects of education neglected in the Philippines, and these appear to be literature (and) history (Ibid: 63). This kind of articles articulates the colonial perspective in forming new consciousness. Likewise, in relation to my research, the colonial manifestations of the Americans are difficult to remove. In fact, it has been embedded in the consciousness of the people up to the present. In relation to my research, it is good to acknowledge some of the significant orders given by the colonial government in order to mobilize the dissemination of education. Accounts about the Thomasites were also mentioned in relation to the colonial orders given by the American government. Baguio City has been one of the many places in the Philippines where the Americans became the dominant leaders in the locality. In my research I will incorporate how the orders from the Bureau of Education materialized in the local context.

Floerendo, Naria Nela B. From Reconstruting Culture to Re-learning Culture: A historical Survey of Education in the Cordillera. The Journal of History Volume XLVIII Nos. 1&2. (January-December 2002): 108- 119.

This paper is a general historical survey of education in the Cordillera. It attempts to address the question: what role has education played among the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera? (Florendo, 2002: 108).

Education (Institutional history and historical survey)

Social Change Ethnic inter relations Reconstruction of Culture Knowledge Generation

In the study of education, institutional history is regarded on the establishment of schools in their temporal and spatial settings. An institutional approach to education in the Cordillera should be able to trace the evolution of schools (formal structure of learning) as well as the traditional forms of learning, e.g., indigenous practices that provide venue or serve as mechanisms for learning. On the other hand, a historical survey of education, likewise is a form of social history in thr tradition of Hobsbawns history of social movements in relation to s ocial change. In effect, these approaches resulted in social change, ethnic inter realtions, reconstruction of culture and knowledge generation. The history of the Cordillera is a part of the rubric of nation-building (Ibid: 108-110). In order to facilitate social change through education, one of the objectives which the Bureau of Instruction articulated is the teaching of English as a common language of communication (Ibid:112).Further developments were brought about because of education. The Americans encouraged villagers to settle in the vicinity of educational institutions. The Igorots, particularly the elderly, opposed the new system of education. According to them education kept the young away from the farms. When the first group of students from the boarding schools returned to their villages, the elders observed that the students began objecting to the traditional life and to working in the fields (Ibid:115). The sources from which the author used in making this article are primary and secondary sources of information such as books, typescripts, manuscripts and annual reports. Archival work is inevitable especially when writing historical studies as such. From this journal article, I was able to find significant information regarding the Thomasites. There were only a few thomasites who reached the Cordillera. The governor
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served multiple functions- as supervisors of the Constabulary, political leaders, and educators; Governor Early was such (Ibid: 118). There were different implications and effects of education that was presented in this article. The one which I regard to be the most prominent is the reconstruction of culture and identity. The present generation is a product of American colonialism. The giving so much importance to education as a tool for social change is eminent from the American influence and social engineering process that they made. The bias lies in the beneficial effect of American colonialism. Nonetheless, American occupation especially in the context of Baguio City has truly shaped a new identity as a Filipino. Baguio would not be Baguio of not because of the Americans. The credit is also given to the Americans who tried to inculcate the American system of government especially in regulating and administering the political system not just of Baguio but of the whole Philippines. In this case, educational policies could be one way of measuring how political leaders exercised their power and how the society responded to the implementation of policies. The social effect is inevitable to see as a result to the formation of new consciousness among the subjects of the colonial policies. Added to that is the responsibility of the local officials to sustain and improve educational policies and programs after the American period.

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