MikeLigalig.com

EDUCATIONAL THEORY BASED ON CULTURE AND LANGUAGE
Written By Jes Tirol
Columnist
The Bohol Chronicle

(Part I)

Proem

It is an accepted fact in linguistics and anthropology that language affects culture and culture in turn affects language.  Also, it is a fact that language determines your thinking process.

For example the English language can ask a question using “which.”  “Which do you prefer, your father or your mother?”  It could be translated into Sugboanon Bisaya as, “Hain ang imong palabihon, ang imong amahan o inahan?”

The Sugboanon language has no exact equivalent for the English “which.”  The Sugboanon hain is basically “where” in English. “Hain ang imong amahan? = Where is your father?”

In the context of the situation, “Which do you prefer…?” can be translated into “Kinsa (Who) ang imong palabihon…?” or “Unsa (What) ang imong palabihon…?”

In English you can say, “It is good.”  We translate it as “Maayo kini” or “Kini mayo.”  However, the Sugboanon pronoun “kini” is actually the English pronoun “this.”  So the “It is good” is translated into Sugboan as “This is good.”  If the context of the message needs precision, the Bisayan translation is already inaccurate.

The old Sugboanon “Ini” was the precise equivalent for the English “It.”  However, the use of “ini” equivalent to “it” has disappeared long ago.  Now you can still hear the use of “ini” as a short form of “dinhi” (here)” as in “Ini ra ta taman. = We will stop here.” Nowadays nobody will say “Ini maayo = This is good.”

No Word, No Expression

The Sugboanon speaker can say, “Gisud-ipan si Manong kay nikatawa samtang nagkaón.” You could not translate precisely this Sugboanon sentence into English because the English language has no terms for “sud-ip” and “Manong.” (Note: Sud-ip refers to the situation when liquid and food items enter the nose. Manong is a word of endearment for the eldest brother in the family).

The nearest translation would be, “Food items entered into my eldest brother’s nose because he laughed while he was eating.” (Note: The American slang for sud-ip is “entered the wrong pipe.” If you will use it, I’m sure no Filipino could understand you.)

The English translation could be understood. However, in the context of the situation, It is not accurate. It is a description of the situation and the meaning is understood within the context of the description. In the Sugboanon context, the Sugboanon sentence means that there was a good joke that was being delivered. Depending upon the action and facial expression of the speaker, it could even mean that the “sud-ip” did not actually occur but an unusual external event happened, like seeing a beautiful woman.

Why

Situation: You see a man shouting and running wild. If you would inquire about the situation, how will you start the question?

In the English language you will always start with the question pronoun “What.” What happened to that man? What is happening?

In Sugboanon Bisaya you will always start with the question pronoun “Ngano (Why).” Ngano man nà siya (Why is him)? Then you will follow it with the pronoun “Unsa (What).” Naunsa man diay na siya (What happened to him)?”

This is one of the major differences in the thinking process produced by the English language and the Sugboanon Bisaya. The English language will usually start with the question “What” but the Sugboanon will usually start with the question Ngano (Why).

The English language produces a thinking process that usually starts with What, How, When, Where, etc. and reserves the Why question for the last. The English language considers the question “Why” as the highest level.

The thinking process produced by the Sugboanon language is the opposite. It starts with the question Why? It is then followed by What, how, when, where, etc.

The situation is also cultural because the Americans deem it improper to inquire into the personal circumstances of someone. These things might be uncovered by the question “Why.”

Educational Context

According to the results of tests conducted, the Filipino schoolchildren are second to the last in mathematics ability throughout Asia.

I have read the textbooks in mathematics used in our elementary grades. I found out that they are all presented in the context to answer the question “What.” It does not jibe with the mental process produced by the language of the child that always asks for the answer to the question “Why.”
I have tried to teach mathematics in a Grade 3 class geared towards answering the question “Why” using the Sugboanon language. The pupils easily learned the lesson. We covered in the 45 minutes class the lessons, including those that were still covered by a curtain because it was to be taught the next day.
To be continued next issue.


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