Your browser does not support the PubReader view.
Go to this page to see a list of supporting browsers.
The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 25, No. 0, pp.935-954
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2025
Received 13 May 2025 Revised 10 Jun 2025 Accepted 27 Jun 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.25..202507.935

Language Attitudes towards L1-Accented English in a Multilingual Ecology: The Case of Philippine English

Ariel Robert Ponce ; Abdul Wahid Tocalo ; Shirley N. Dita ; Fardeja Mayo ; Jomaira Sarigan ; Hanina Abo
(First author) Associate Professor, Department of English Foreign Languages, and Linguistics, Polytechnic University of the Philippines arielrobertponce20@gmail.com
(Second author) Legislative Staff Officer, Policy Research and Legal Services, Bangsamoro Transition Authority abdulwahidtocalo.awt@gmail.com
(Third Author and Corresponding author) Associate Professor, Department of English and Applied Linguistics, De La Salle University shirley.dita@dlsu.edu.ph
(Fourth author) Administrative Aide VI, MBHTE-TESD Maguindanao Provincial Office mayofardeja@gmail.com
(Fifth author) Administrative Aide III, Office of the Provincial Human Resource Management, Maguindanao Del Norte, Provincial Government of Maguindanao Del Norte sariganjomaira@gmail.com
(Sixth author) Notre Dame University haninaabo13@gmail.com


© 2025 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Building on the need to extend studies in other parts of the Philippines and include cultural dimensions, this study addresses the dearth of research on the attitudes of parents, teachers, and tertiary students towards Philippine English (PE) within the Linguistically Diverse Contexts (LDC) of Southern Philippines. Using language attitudes survey questionnaires, we gather data from public and private schools in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippines. Chi-square results revealed significant differences in attitudes toward their own English among the parents, teachers, and learners. Interestingly, when the respondents were grouped according to their mother tongues, no significant difference emerged. Dunn’s Pairwise tests further unveiled consistent positive attitudes regarding their own English among the teachers and learners. A detailed examination of their attitudes based on mother tongues indicated that Maranao and Maguindanaon speakers, among both the teachers and learners, and Cebuano speakers among the parents, displayed a propensity for a higher regard toward their respective English. These intricate findings elucidate the multifaceted nature of language attitudes in the multilingual socio-cultural ecologies, yielding significant implications for pedagogical practice, curriculum development, and language policy within diverse educational contexts.

Keywords:

Philippine English, accented English, linguistically diverse context (LDC), language attitude, mother tongue

References

  • Abastillas, G. 2015. Divergence in Cebuano and English Code-Switching Practices in Cebuano Speech Communities in the Central Philippines. Master’s thesis, Georgetown University.
  • Alhamami, M. 2018. Beliefs about and intention to learn a foreign language in face-to-face and online settings. Computer Assisted Language Learning 31(1-2), 90-113. [https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1387154]
  • Allport, G. W. 1935. Attitudes. In C. Murchison, ed., A Handbook of Social Psychology, 798-844. Clark University Press.
  • Amankwah, D. and K. Howard. 2024. “English on a pedestal”: The language attitudes and practices of African migrant bilingual parents and early years professionals in the U.K. English in Education 58(1), 40-58. [https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2024.2310660]
  • Andrade, E. B. 2005. Behavioral consequences of affect: Combining evaluative and regulatory mechanisms. Journal of Consumer Research 32(3), 355-362. [https://doi.org/10.1086/497546]
  • Arua, A. E. and K. Magocha. 2000. Attitudes of Parents to Their Children’s Use of English in Botswana. Language Culture and Curriculum 13(3), 279-290. [https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310008666604]
  • Ayunon, C. C. and S. N. Dita. 2021. English idioms in Asian Englishes: A corpus-based investigation. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics 21, 697-711.
  • Baker, C. 1992. Attitudes and Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  • Ballard, L. and P. Winke. 2017. Students’ attitudes towards English teachers’ accents: The interplay of accent familiarity, comprehensibility, intelligibility, perceived native speaker status, and acceptability as a teacher. In T. Isaacs and P. Trofimovich, eds., Second Language Pronunciation Assessment: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 121-140. Multilingual Matters.
  • Bartram, B. 2006. An examination of perceptions of parental influence on attitudes to language learning. Educational Research 48(2), 211-221. [https://doi.org/10.1080/00131880600732298]
  • Bautista, M. L. S. 1998. Tagalog-English code-switching and the lexicon of Philippine English. Asian Englishes 1(1), 51-67. ALC Press, Inc. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.1998.10800994]
  • Bautista, M. L. S. 2001a. Attitudes of English language faculty in three leading Philippine universities toward Philippine English. Asian Englishes 4(1), 4-32. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2001.10801062]
  • Bautista, M. L. S. 2001b. Attitudes of selected Luzon University students and faculty towards Philippine English. In M. L. G. Tayao, T. P. Ignacio, and G. S. Zafra, eds., Rosario E. Maminta in Focus: Selected Writings in Applied Linguistics, 263-273. The Philippine Association for Language Teaching, Inc.
  • Bernardo, A. S. 2013. Toward an endonormative pedagogic model for teaching English in Philippine higher education institutions. Doctoral dissertation, University of Santo Tomas.
  • Bernardo, A. S. 2017. Philippine English in the ESL classroom: A much closer look. Philippine ESL Journal 19(2), 117-144.
  • Bernardo, A. S. 2018. An endocentric approach to English grammar teaching. In I. P. Martin, ed., Reconceptualizing English Education in a Multilingual Society: English in the Philippines, 101-118. Springer. [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7528-5_7]
  • Bernardo, A. S. 2024. Philippine English and Global Englishes-inspired grammar teaching. Asian Englishes 26(1), 174-194. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2023.2174532]
  • Bernardo, A. S. and M. R. Madrunio. 2015. A framework for designing a Philippine-English based pedagogic model for teaching English grammar. Asian Journal of English Language Studies (AJELS) 3, 42-71. [https://doi.org/10.59960/3.a3]
  • Berowa, A. M. C. 2024. Unequal sounds: An inclusive mother-tongue approach to Philippine English phonology. In R. Tupas, ed., Investigating Unequal Englishes: Understanding, Researching and Analysing Inequalities of the Englishes of the World, 153-167. Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003355885-15]
  • Berowa, A. M. C. and S. N. Dita. 2021. Illustrating the suprasegmental features of Philippine English phonology: A mother-based approach. Asian ESP Journal 17(4.3),89-111.
  • Bice, K. and J. F. Kroll. 2019. English only? Monolinguals in linguistically diverse contexts have an edge in language learning. Brain and Language 196, 104644. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104644]
  • Bollas, A. 2013. Comparative Analysis on the Phonology of Tagalog, Cebuano and Itawis. Undergraduate thesis, University of the Philippines.
  • Borlongan, A. M. 2009. A survey on language use, attitudes, and identity in relation to Philippine English among young generation Filipinos: An initial sample from a private university. The Philippine ESL Journal 3, 74-107.
  • Borlongan, A. M. 2016. Relocating Philippine English in Schneider’s dynamic model. Asian Englishes 18(3), 232-241. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2016.1223067]
  • Borlongan, A. M. and S. N. Dita. 2015. Taking a look at expanded predicates in Philippine English across time. Asian Englishes 17(3), 240-247. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2015.1069965]
  • Bozso, R. and J. Nagy. 2018. A Study of Parental Attitudes to Teacher Pronunciation in Very Early English. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica 10(2), 21-39. [https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2018-0011]
  • Chang, Y. F. 2008. Parents’ attitudes toward the English education policy in Taiwan. Asia Pacific Education Review 9, 423-435. [https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03025660]
  • D’Angelo, J. 2017. The status of ELF in Japan. In J. Jenkins, W. Baker, and M. Dewey, eds., Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua franca, 165-175. Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315717173-14]
  • Derwing, T. M. and M. J. Munro. 1997. Accent, intelligibility, and comprehensibility: Evidence from four L1s. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19(1), 1-16. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263197001010]
  • Dita, S. N. 2025. The grammar of Philippine English: An update. In S. Rüdiger, T. Neumaier, S. Leuckert and S. Buschfeld, eds., World Englishes in the 21st Century: New Perspectives and Challenges to the Dynamic Model, 103-121. Edinburgh University Press. [https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399527866-011]
  • Dita, S. N., P. A. A. Rentillo and A. P. Lee. 2022. Grammar. In A. M. Borlongan, ed., Philippine English: Development, structure, and sociology of English in the Philippines, 87-99. Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429427824-9]
  • Dörnyei, Z. 2001. New themes and approaches in second language motivation research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 21, 43-59. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034]
  • Fasold, R. W. 1984. The Sociolinguistics of Society. Basil Blackwell.
  • Gardner, R. C. 1968. Attitudes and motivation: Their role in second-language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly 2(3), 141-150. [https://doi.org/10.2307/3585571]
  • Gardner, R. C. 1985. Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. Edward Arnold.
  • Garrett, P. 2010. Attitudes to Language. Cambridge University Press. [https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844713]
  • Giles, H. 1970. Evaluative reactions to accents. Educational review 22(3), 211-227. [https://doi.org/10.1080/0013191700220301]
  • Gonzales, W. D. W. 2017. Philippine Englishes. Asian Englishes 19(1), 79–95. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2016.1274574]
  • Gonzales, W. D. W. and S. N. Dita. 2017. Split infinitives across World Englishes: A corpus-based investigation, Asian Englishes 20(3), 242-267. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2017.1349858]
  • Graber, J. G. 2017. Prosodic interference affecting English communication among Cebuano-Visayan speakers in southern Cebu. Next Generation Studies 1, 61-74.
  • Graddol, D. 1997. The Future of English?: A Guide to Forecasting the Popularity of the English Language in the 21st Century. British Council.
  • Gustilo, L. and N. Dimaculangan. 2018. Attitudes of Filipino English teachers toward 21st century Philippine English writing. Advanced Science Letters 24(11), 8349-8352. [https://doi.org/10.1166/asl.2018.12560]
  • Gustilo, L., A. W. Tocalo and K. A. Calingasan. 2019. The intelligibility and acceptability of Internet Philippine English (IPE): Their implications to English language teaching in the new English varieties. Asian EFL Journal 21(2), 83-104.
  • Haloc, L. I. and S. N. Dita. 2024. Selected features of Philippine English pronunciation among three groups of Ilocano speakers. Journal of Modern Languages 34(2), 4-23. [https://doi.org/10.22452/jml.vol34no2.2]
  • Hernandez, H. P. 2020. Filipino graduate students’ attitudes toward teaching educated Philippine English: a sample from a premier teacher education institution. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 20(1), 31-42. [https://doi.org/10.59588/2350-8329.1280]
  • Kachru, B. B. 1985. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle. In R. Quirk, H. G. Widdowson, and Y. Cant`u, eds., English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures, 11-30. Cambridge University Press.
  • Kachru, B. B. 1992. World Englishes: Approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching 25(1), 1-14. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444800006583]
  • Kamhi-Stein, L. 2004. Learning and Teaching from Experience. University of Michigan Press. [https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9648]
  • Khejeri, M. 2014. Teachers’ attitudes towards the use of mother tongue as a language of instruction in lower primary schools in Hamisi District, Kenya. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 4(1), 75-85.
  • Lippi-Green, R. 2012. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203348802]
  • Llamzon, T. A. 1969. Standard Filipino English. Ateneo University Press.
  • Llamzon, T. A. 1997. The Phonology of Philippine English. In M. L. S. Bautista, ed., English is an Asian Language: The Philippine Context, 41-48. De La Salle University Press, Inc.
  • Martin, I. P. 2014. Philippine English revisited. World Englishes 33(1), 50-59. [https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12054]
  • McKenzie, R. M. 2010. The Social Psychology of English as a Global Language: Attitudes, Awareness, and Identity in the Japanese Context. Springer.
  • Mendoza, H. B. 2020. An investigation of Filipino ESL learners’ language stereotypes toward Philippine lectal speakers using a Matched Guise Test. Asian Journal of English Language Studies (AJELS) 8, 1-21. [https://doi.org/10.59960/8.a1]
  • Monfared, A. 2018. Ownership of English in the Outer and Expanding Circles: Teachers’ attitudes toward pronunciation in ESL/EFL teaching contexts. Asian Englishes 21, 1-16. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2018.1554303]
  • Monfared, A. and R. Najjarbaghseyah. 2023. An Investigation of Learners’ Attitudes towards Pronunciation and Emerging Varieties of English in Outer and Expanding Circle Countries. Iranian Journal of Applied Language Studies 15(1), 1-16.
  • Moussu, L. 2012. Influence of teacher‐contact time and other variables on ESL students' attitudes towards native‐ and nonnative‐English‐speaking teachers. TESOL Quarterly 44(4), 746-768. [https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2010.235997]
  • Orelus, P. W. 2016. Accentism Exposed: An anticolonial analysis of accent discrimination with some implications for minority languages. In P. W. Orelus, ed., Language, Race, and Power in Schools, 137-147. Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315536903]
  • Paquette-Smith, M., H. Buckler, K. S. White, J. Choi and E. K. Johnson. 2019. The effect of accent exposure on children’s sociolinguistic evaluation of peers. Developmental Psychology 55(4), 809-822. [https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000659]
  • Park, G. 2012. “I am never afraid of being recognized as an NNES”: One teacher's journey in claiming and embracing her nonnative‐speaker identity. TESOL Quarterly 46(1), 127-151. [https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.4]
  • Philippine Commission. 1901. Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission, 21 January 1901. Available online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433008328803;view=1up;seq=148, (Accessed January 28, 2019).
  • Philippine Statistics Authority. 2013. 2010 Census of Population and Housing. Report No. 2A Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-sample variables) Cotabato City.
  • Pillai, S. and L. T. Ong. 2018. English(es) in Malaysia. Asian Englishes 20(2), 147-157. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2018.1459073]
  • Platt, J. T., H. Weber and M. L. Ho. 1984. The New Englishes. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • Ponce, A. R. C. 2025. Colonial mindset, appropriation, and emotion: language attitudes towards English of multilingual speakers in southern Philippines. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1-17. [https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2025.2475371]
  • Ponce, A. R. C. and R. I. G. Lucas. 2021. Language attitudes in linguistically diverse contexts: Implications for mother tongue education programme in Central Mindanao, Philippines. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 45(5), 1581-1595. [https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.2002341]
  • Ponce, A. R. C. and S. N. Dita. 2020. If-conditional sentences across Asian Englishes. Journal of Modern Languages 30(2), 25-52. [https://doi.org/10.22452/jml.vol30no2.2]
  • Quinto, E. J. M., A. K. S. Ong, G. U. Yabut, G. A. M. Muralla, R. A. J. Valenzuela and Y. D. C. Villariba. 2024. Prejudice towards regional accents of Philippine English. English World-Wide 45(2), 133-154. [https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.00091.qui]
  • Rentillo, P. A. 2022. Attitudes. In A. M. Borlongan, ed., Philippine English: Development, Structure, and Sociology of English in the Philippines, 231–241. Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429427824-24]
  • Salazar, D. 2017. Philippine English in the Oxford English Dictionary: Recent advancements and implications for ESL in the Philippines. Philippine ESL Journal 19(2), 45-59.
  • Schneider, E. W. 2003. The dynamics of new Englishes: From identity construction to dialect birth. Language 79(2), 233-281. [https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2003.0136]
  • Smith, L. E. and C. L. Nelson. 2006. World Englishes and issues of intelligibility. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru, and C. L. Nelson, eds., The Handbook of World Englishes, 430-446. Blackwell. [https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9781405111850.2006.00029.x]
  • Sung, C. C. M. 2016. Exposure to multiple accents of English in the English Language Teaching classroom: from second language learners' perspectives. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 10(3), 190-205. [https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2014.936869]
  • Tayao, M. L. G. 2004. The evolving study of Philippine English phonology. World Englishes 23(1), 77-90. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2004.00336.x]
  • Thurstone, L. L. 1931. The measurement of change in social attitude. The Journal of Social Psychology 2, 230-235. [https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1931.9918969]
  • Timmis, I. 2002. Native-speaker norms and International English: A classroom view. ELT Journal 56(3), 240-249. [https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/56.3.240]
  • Tocalo, A. W. I., A. R. Albores, R. V. Zalzos, M. C. Fernandez and A. R. C. Ponce. 2025. Legitimizing Philippine English: Attitudinal differences between multilingual teachers and students of English, MEXTESOL Journal 49(3), 1-15.
  • Tokumoto, M. and M. Shibata. 2011. Asian varieties of English: Attitudes towards pronunciation. World Englishes 30(3), 392-408. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01710.x]
  • Tupas, T. R. F. 2010. Which norms in everyday practice and why? In A. Kirkpatrick, ed., The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes, 567-579. Routledge.
  • Tupas, T. R. F. 2014. Inequalities of multilingualism: Challenges to mother-tongued based multilingual education. Language and Education 29(2), 112-124. [https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2014.977295]
  • Wong, R. 1987. Teaching Pronunciation: Focus on English Rhythm and Intonation. Center for Applied Linguistics.
  • Zeng, J., A. R. C. Ponce and L. Yuxin. 2023. Features of English linguistic neo-imperialism in the era of globalization: A conceptual viewpoint, Front. Psychol. 14, 1149471. [https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1149471]
  • Zhang, Q. 2010. Attitudes beyond the inner circle: Investigating Hong Kong students’ attitudes towards English accents. Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University.