Using Filipino in the English Classroom: Teaching with Resistance and Relevance

Abstract

This chapter presents the use of Filipino as a strategy for empowerment in a periphery ELT setting as it consciously resists institutional policies such as the traditionally prescribed English-only policy. In a case study of a public elementary school, I find that using the students’ language in ELT contributes to creating a relevant classroom atmosphere that is an extension of family and shared community. The use of the Filipino language in ELT shows that the periphery English classroom has become an extension of family and community. The English language teacher, in exploiting the mother tongue in the classroom, does not only instruct but disciplines as well as asserts the role of cultural values such as respect, accountability, honesty, and solidarity in the completion of classroom tasks. Thus, the English teacher, through the mother tongue, accommodates students’ shared values and identities in the local culture and creates a site for empowerment in the teaching and learning of the language.