RECENTLY, the social and mass media were bombarded with issues involving the use of Korean Language in the K to 12 Curriculum. Those who lack information regarding this are wary that the Filipino language will be put aside with this development. A lot of comments in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter surfaced expressing their dissenting opinion on the teaching of Korean language in our curriculum.
To dispel rumors of “Korean Invasion” in our curriculum and to clarify the issue, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance and one of DepEd spokepersons Anne Sevilla clarified the issue in an interview with GMA TV Network and in her own FB account. The statement below is the excerpt of the said interview/statement:
The study of Korean language is an ELECTIVE/Special Program on Foreign Languages (SPFL) and not part of core subjects in JHS and SHS. It is an additional option to the already existing SPFL (German, Nihongo, French, Mandarin and Spanish) offered by a few pilot schools with trained Filipino teachers and appropriate speech lab and facilities.
Filipino and Panitikan are CORE subjects and are also medium of instructions for Filipino, Araling Panlipunan and Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao subjects. The Mother Tongue-Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is also being implemented in all public schools, specifically in Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2 and 3 as part of the K to 12 Basic Education Program.
The first batches of SPFL started in SY 2009-2010, while actual teaching of Korean language is just about to commence as training of the 2 batches of teachers will be done by end of December 2018. It will be piloted to selected 10 schools in NCR with only 700 students in total (35 per class x 2 batches per school); 2 hours/week.
Interested students who want to enroll in this elective course should already possess “mastery level” competence in Filipino and English and are capable of learning another foreign language before they can be admitted to any SPFL course.
SPFL aims to develop students’ skills in listening, reading, writing, and speaking as fundamental to acquiring communicative competence in a 2nd (or more) foreign language; prepare students for meaningful global interaction; and develop understanding and appreciation of other people’s culture.
This Corner hopes that this clarification issued by DepEd through Usec Sevilla will help those who are still doubting about the truth behind the issue on local and foreign languages and the manner they are taught and to be taught in the schools through the existing K to 12 Curriculum recently received a nod of being constitutional from no less than the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
Let us always hope and work for the best for the country in general and our learners in particular.