Kalayagan, tawid-buhay and Other Uses of Language in a Marginal Philippine Community: The Place of Language in Literacy and Social Development

Abstract

This paper discusses particular uses of language in a specific social location in the Philippines drawn from the 15-volume ethnographic study of functional literacy in 14 marginal communities in the Philippines by Doronila (e.g. 1996). These are uses of language by people whose internal capacity to generate change is strong yet many of whom are officially ‘illiterate’, and the sort of participatory democracy that they advocate is challenged by extreme poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, economic exploitation, and so on. Therefore, my interest in these uses of language – (1) the use of a local language, (2) the use of metaphors and symbols, and (3) the construction of ‘new’ knowledge through novel word coinages is borne by the fact that they do not really constitute a central rallying point for the community's organised struggles, yet they are nevertheless ubiquitous elements in such struggles: they “are ‘invisible’ factors in the development process” (Aikman, 2001: 113). Unlike debates on language policies and educational acces which happen on the policy and national levels, these uses of language appear to be the ‘natural’ choice of the people in active search of a better future.

Keywords:

• politics of language
• literacy and development
• Philippines

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Jenny Franco, Bea Lorente and two anonymous reviewers for their incisive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. All remaining errors, of course, are mine. I dedicate this paper to Professor Magelende M. Flores, a former professor of mine in the University of the Philippines, who taught me how to ‘teach with a good heart’.