Eye-Opener: Memo

Tagalog Test for a Native-born

Why did a person, who was born in the Philippines and grew up there for 9 years, take the Tagalog language proficiency test at BYU (Provo)?

the person I'm talking about is Me (if that wasn't obvious)... most of you know that I'm trying to complete a master's program in Folklore (in the hopes of supplimenting my BA in creative writing [English])... one of the requirements in a Master of Arts (MA) degree is proficiency in TWO languages...

Originally, I planned on brushing up on my Spanish and making this count for my second language... last semester, I reviewed and took the Spanish placement test and I passed the Spanish 1010 level, which meant that I had three more levels to complete before I'm considered proficient (SP 1020, 2010, 2020?)... in an ideal world where I have more time (more than two years), this task can be easily accomplished...

HOWEVER in the REAL world where I teach two classes and take two classes in my program, I gain opportunities and lose some. I'm building up my CV-resume and picking up skills with the teaching and at the same time I'm not able to focus time in studying Spanish... the few down times/break I have is just that, few and rare- I still have to be SANE. So during these few breaks, I do what sane people do: take a break!

I reached a point where I had no problems accepting a Master of Science (MS) instead of a MA (I figure that after I complete my program and I have more time, I can continue practicing Spanish and maybe there's a test out there I can take to show proficiency and I can show this "certificate" to my future employer) But my colleagues still kept saying that MA is better (favored) because of the language requirement (another skill)...

I was about to just settle for the MS when one of my friend/colleagues (who went on a mission in the Philippines and spoke/studied Tagalog) suggested: "Why don't you take the test for Tagalog?" BYU in Provo was offering this test (Tagalog as a subgenre of Spanish)... and he gave me the website to find out more information...

Can I do this? I thought to myself... I went to the website. It was clear that BYU students who spoke Tagalog was exempt from taking this exam. But I'm a USU student, and reading between the lines, there is a chance for me because the website states that other institutions may have a different policy for language profiiciency...

with hope, I went to the director for the graduate program for the English Department here at USU to clarify this idea... The issue of "NATIVE SPEAKER" came up. I asked him how USU defines "native speakers"...

my rational: yes I was born in the Philippines, and I grew up there for 9 years, the highest formal education I received in the Philippines is 2nd grade... after that I went to the U.S. from 3rd grade to the present, I've had an American education... in both situations whether speaking Tagalog or English, listening/writing/reading Tagalog or English, I still struggle, I still miss the nuances in both language (eventually I get it but it doesn't come easily)...

...here's where the situation gets knotty (for my case specifically), during the meeting with the director we tried to figure out which test I should take... if Tagalog is considred my native language, then that means technically I can take some sort of TOEFL test... if English is considred my native language then I can take the Tagalog test... here's where it gets tricky, the director pointed out the discriminatory nature of testing a native on the procifiency of his native language, he brought up a good point: if a Tagalog speaking person is being tested on Tagalog, then why aren't Americans tested on English to show that they're proficient in it?...

Here's another factor in my case, I'm a graduate instructor (GI), and one of the requirements for being a GI is being proficient in English; if I weren't then the English Department wouldn't have hired me. The director pointed out that taking the English proficiency test would be pointless because I already surpassed this requirement when I was hired ... at the end of that meeting, we sort of settled on the idea that I'm BILINGUAL... right now the director is writing a letter to the dean of graduate studies about my case...

I wonder if the bilingual factor was considered in the clause "proficiency in two languages"... if I don't take Spanish, if I passed the Tagalog or English test, would I still get the coveted MA?

Weeks passed...

I haven't heard from the director (I'll email him next month) but I still took the Tagalog test last Saturday June 28 with my friend (I took it because the testing site is in Provo [2 hours from Logan at least] and I don't have a car, and it was only $30-- it's an investment- if this is succesfull then I save TIME and I get an MA instead of a MS, and if it's not, then it's ONLY $30)

I still have to REVIEW my Tagalog... it was sort of fun, I just listened to most of my Tagalog music cds, and I read this humorous/satiric Tagalog with English book about culture of and problems in the Philippines called "Bakit Baligtad magbasa ng libro ang Pilipino?" by Bob Ong (Why do Filipinos read books backward [upside-down]?)... I sort of wanted to do more, for example, read Tagalog news and watch Filipino TV on-line, do some chatting with my missionary friend who spoke Tagalog... but I waited until the week of the test to get SERIOUS about this test (I couldn't believe that I was going to take the test)...

I listened to Tagalog music when I woke up, while I graded, while I read, while I cooked etc.... then I read Ong's book everyday at least 20-30 pages a day (getting through this book was difficult but it helped me with vocab and grammar- while reading this book, I found it easier to read it when I read it outloud or in whispers...

on the day of the test, I woke up at 4:30 am, my friend with his family, and I left Logan at 6:30 am... we were supposed to be at the testing site 20 minutes before 9... we arrived 3 minutes before 9... the test was scantron- multiple choice, listening, and reading comprehension...

I thought the grammar's difficulty was okay... it was a bit tricky because I got confused between formal and informal... then when I started to overanalyze it too much, I ended up second-guessing my answer/instinct... I followed the old/ sometimes irrational adage "If it sounds right, then it's correct"... sometimes I whispered the phrases so I could hear it (it's amazing how audio can make meaning clearer)...

the listening was okay... there were funny moments especially when the questions and answer choices were sort of absurd that they're funny... the test takers laughed (they undertood and caught the absurdity)... once again, the only time I had difficulty was when I overanalyzed-- sometimes rather than paying attention and listening to the dialogues, I'd make up my own dialogue and finish the dialogue OR sometimes I'd construct the dialogue based on the choices of answers the test provided... Luckily I stopped this habit and focused (hopefully not too late)...

the reading comprehension part was the most difficult... I had to translate 12 passages, each passage got longer and the vocabularies got bigger (the nice thing was that the passages dealt with some cultural aspects of the Philippines: values, religion, weather, foodways, literature, history, etc.- nice cultural review)... the annoying thing was that it took FOREVER translating the passages, and they'd only ask three questions or so--)

a good test-taker would just look at the question and look for "key phrases"- I didn't feel comfortable doing this because it's been a while since I took a formal test on Tagalog... so I translated sentence by sentence-- the advantage of doing this is that the information is retained longer in my brain, and I feel more confident in answering the questions and if I'm not then I know where to find the information in the passage...

translating was fun... when the passage was short, i translated it to the best of my ability following English grammar rules... but the longer and more complicated the passages became, I forgot about the grammar and I focused on the idea (somehow the translation started looking like choppy poetry)... I started taking shortcuts (using letters to designate names, or Mars and Venus symbols for gender, slang, etc.)...

I finished the test 20 minutes before time was up (11:45)- I decided to re-check the grammar section... If I pass, I hope this could replace the language requirement for my program so I could receive a MA instead of a MS...

Posted by Michael Diezmos at July 1, 2008 12:49 PM