Language Choice and Fluency Among Ifugao Migrants in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet

Background of the Study

The fortunes of languages can rise and fall and are intimately linked to the fortunes of their speakers. Relatively few languages are becoming increasingly widely-spoken in the world today and it is becoming more and more difficult for smaller languages to survive. However prospects for smaller languages are not entirely gloomy and a number have been successfully revived or revitalized, and initiatives are underway to do the same for other languages.

Without a community of people to speak them and pass them on to the next generation, languages cannot survive. If a community of speakers lacks a viable environment in which to live and means of making a living, their languages are likely to decline and eventually die (Nettle & Romaine, 2000). If a community no longer view their language as a central part of their identity, as has happened for many people in such places as Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man, the motivation to maintain the language diminishes and language is likely to go into decline (Jones & Singh, 2005).

Language change then in the community can be because of economic, political or social reasons which can happen gradually within a community.  Language change do also happen because of the movement of people, either migrating to another place or welcoming migrants in one’s place.

With movement of people or migration, a community of speakers of one language often comes in contact with a community of speakers of another language.There are two possibilities when a language meets another: language maintenance or language shift. Language shift is the change of language used by a speech community eventually displacing the former language used.Language maintenance, on the other hand, is the continuance of the use of a language despite the presence of competition to use another language.  It supposes co-existence of languages in a speech community.

In the Philippines, there are several noted language events because of migration.  Language are diffused because of migration.  For example, Rubino (1998) notes that from the North-West part of Luzon, the Ilocano language was spread to other parts of the country because of migration.  With it’s influence in other parts particularly in the provinces near the “home” of the Ilocano language, it has become a regional language.  The country has so-called major languages aside from the Ilocano.  These include Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Bikol and Waray (www.ethnicgroupsphilippines.com, 2012).  All these are regional languages, and an apparent reason is their strong influence in the centers where people migrate for economic reasons.  People eventually learn the language.

Aside from the majority languages, minority languages in the Philippines are also affected by migration.  Here in the Cordillera, people from different parts of the region migrate to Benguet because of the economic opportunities in this province which includes the mines and farming.  It is also noted that Baguio which is within the boundaries of Benguet is considered the economic center of the region, which in itself is attractive to people from other provinces.  However, there is a few if not absence of literature describing the situation of the languages of minority groups that converge in this economic centers.  This study wanted to contribute to literature and hopefully to encourage further study into these minority language and recommend strategies for their maintenance and development.

Conceptual Framework

There are two situations that are usually considered in a study of language maintenance or shift due to migration.  One is the migration of a migrant minority and the other is the migration of migrantmajority.  Language shift in migrant minority communities happen because of pressure from its host society.  Immigrants are expected to assimilate themselves into their new society so as not to be viewed as “different” and therefore not intimidating to the majority.  The use of language of the host society is a sign of successful assimilation and may entail stopping the use of the former language.  Individuals do this shift because of reasons like they need to have a job, be in school, and engaged in business.

Language shift in migrant majorities means that it is a majority group that invades a majority group.  A good illustration on this is colonization.  It may happen in two ways where colonizers are more in number than the local population.  Thus, the majority group’s language prevails over the local population.  It may also happen that the colonizer or new community in the place is smaller in number but it has the more dominant culture and therefore prevailing over the larger local population.

The ability to be multilingual, attitude towards a language, the ability to delineate language domains and demographic situations are among the factors that affect either language maintenance or shift. (Downes, 1998).

In the Cordilleras, Ilocano is considered to be the meeting point of people in terms of language.  It is because Ilocano is the regional language of the North thus it is the mostly used local language in media.  Most often, people from different language communities in the Cordillera understand each other with Ilocano aside from Filipino and English which are usually learned in school.

Migration is common in the region, mostly to Baguio City and its nearby localities.  The Ifugaos are among the frequent migrants that in some areas in Baguio and Benguet, there are the so-called “Kiangan Villages”, Kiangan being the usual word to refer to an Ifugao.  When these Ifugaos migrated to form their community outside their province, they carried with them their language.  With it coming into contact with other languages, language shift is a possibility depending on how well the migrant community manage the factors of language maintenance or shift.

Statistics show that the Ifugao language is among the languages with the highest percentage of decrease of users according to a report published by NCSB.A possibility of this is the migration of the Ifugaos and the possible shift of the migrants to other languages.

With the knowledge that Ifugaos are multilingual because of acquired languages such as English and Filipino from school, and Ilocano from informal learning systems such as the media, this study focused on the language choice and fluency in the native language among migrant Ifugaos.

The independent variables include the language available to the migrants specifically English, Filipino, Ilocano, Ifugao and others. The Dependent variables include the language preference of the respondents.  The place of migration and order in the generation of the migrants were used as an intervening variable.

 

 Statement of the Problem

The study wanted to explore the language preferred or frequently used by Ifugao migrants.  Specifically, answers were sought for the following research problems:

1. What language are preferred or frequently used by respondents’ in the following situations:

a. Watching TV/Listening to Radio?

b. Reading print media (newspapers, magazines, novels)?

c. Listening to music?

d. Prayer and worship?

e. Conversing with housemates?

f. Conversing with friends?

g. Texting?

h. Surfing the Internet/E-mailing /Facebook?

2.  What is the respondents’ perceived fluency in their own native language?

3.  Is there a difference in the respondents’ language preference/frequent use along:

a. generations of migrants

b. Place of migration ((San Carlos Heights, Baguio City and Alno, La Trinidad)

4.  Is there a difference in the respondents’ perceived fluency along

a. Generation of migrants

b. Place of migration

Research Design

The research followed a descriptive design.  It is both quantitative and qualitative and aims to describe the language most preferred/frequently used by Ifugao migrants.  It also intends to look into observable differences when respondents are grouped in accordance with some intervening variable which can yield possible factors in the either language maintenance or shift among the Ifugaos.

Respondents

The respondents of the study are thirty residents of San Carlos Heights, Baguio City and thirty residents from Barangay Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet.  The locales of the study were chosen because of their contrasting characteristics.  First is their location.  San Carlos Heights is a village in Baguio City, part of Barangay Irisan and thus part of an urban area.  Alno on the other hand is in a rural setting in La Trinidad municipality.  Second is the mixture of people in these communities.  Because of their location, one is mixture of many migrants while the other is mostly Ifugao migrants only.  San Carlos Heights hosts many other migrants from Mountain Province while Alno is mostly of Ifugao migrants.  Third is on the nature of economic activity available to the migrants that affects their association with speakers of other language.  In San Carlos Heights, while there are some household livelihood activities such as handicrafts, the jobs available to the people are outside of the village such as mining in Itogon, employment in the city, and non-permanent jobs such as joining carpentry contracts.  On the other hand, Alno has its gardens to offer to migrants.  Some migrants own their own lands to till while most are tenants of the native’s gardens.

Data Gathering Instrument and Procedure

A questionnaire was used as a main tool in gathering the data. The questionnaire includes the language preference in which the respondents have multiple answers; they also have a self-rate on fluency and an open-ended question. To validate the result of the data gathered, an interview with the migrants and observations of conversations in households was conducted.

Interpretation of Data

Frequency count and percentages were used to come up with a meaningful analysis of data gathered.  The study did not pursue finding statistical difference in the results.  This is recommended in a further study that would continue what this exploratory study has begun.

Language Preference/Frequently Used by Migrants

                  The respondents were asked to identify the language they most preferred or frequently used in eight domains.  The broadcast domain includes the TV and Radio.  The print domain includes their preference as to newspaper, magazines, and literature.  The music domain includes FM music, and recordings available in the market.  The computing domain includes their facebook, computer games, and e-mail.  The other domains considered were the language used in home conversation, interaction with friends, and texting.

                  Table 1 shows the language preference/frequently used as gathered from the sixty respondents.  Since the domain on broadcast, print, and music are either limited or lacking, the respondents were asked instead on their preference if the Ifugao language was available in this domain.

                  It is interesting to note that the Ifugao language is most preferred/frequently used in only one out of the eight domains.  This is the domain of the home.  It tells that parents and children are actively communicating in the Ifugao language in their homes.  This is a positive development as the home is considered as the last bastion of any language (Michieka, 2012).

                  The present study contradicts an “unusual” finding by Husain (2011) whereby “Asian countries did not speak their mother tongue at home” as it was found out that Asian communities introduce English to children so that they will not lag behind in academics, and that parents believe the mother tongue may interfere with the learning of correct English.  While the present study

                  The results also show that the availability of the language in a particular domain is a factor in the preference of a speaker.  Filipino or Tagalog emerged as most preferred language in broadcast as it is the available language in most television networks to which the respondents get their news.  English is the language used in computing as internet contents are usually in English.  Also, the accessibility of the language is a factor.  Most of the respondents wrote in their remarks that ““Narigatngaag-spelling tiifugaoisunganarigatngausarenti text.”

      The sociological context is also a factor in the language preference of the migrants.  The migrants come into contact with people speaking other languages and the most accessible local language is the Ilocano, thus it emerged to be the most preferred in the domain of texting and conversation with friends.

Table 1. Language Preference of the respondents along the different domains

Domain	Percentage of Respondents Preference/Frequent Use				Frequently Used/Most Preferred
	English	Filipino	Ilocano	Ifugao
Broadcast	27	58	33	*	Filipino
Print	53	50	20	**	English
Music	65	37	25	***	English
Church	37	30	55	43	Ilocano
Home	2	17	65	70	Ifugao
Friends	15	33	72	50	Ilocano
Texting	33	53	63	30	Ilocano
Computing	57	37	3	3	English

*33 % of the respondents say that if there is broadcast using the Ifugao language, they will patronize it.

** 18% of the respondents say that should there be literature written in the Ifugao language, they will be reading it

***25 % say that they would prefer the Ifugao music if there is abundant production of it.

Perceived Degree of Fluency

      Figure 1 describes the perceived fluency of the Ifugao migrants.

Figure 1

Perceived Fluency of the Migrants

Majority of the respondents they are very fluent in the Ifugao language.  This means that they find it very easy to communicate in the language, have no difficulty in speaking, writing, and reading in the language.  Not far behind are those who claim to be moderately fluent.  They communicate well in the language but finds difficulty in speaking, writing, and reading.  Most of those in this category complain that “Narigattiagsurat ken agbasaitiIfugao.”  Thus in reading the bible, they prefer more in English or Ilocano version than in the Ifugao version. The difficulty comes because of limited vocabulary or some “deep” terms in the Ifugao language is not known.  For the case of those in Alno, many were able to learn to Ibaloi language and they claim that it is easier to write and read in this language than their native Ifugao.  Some say they are fairly fluent because they can understand the language, speak a little, but often end up communicating in another language, mostly in Ilocano language.  And a few say they are not fluent as they completely or almost completely do not communicate in the native language.  Even in the home, they would prefer the Ilocano because they do not know Ifugao.  While they may understand a little, it is too limited so as to say that they are fair in fluency.

Differences in the degree of language preference

      Tables 2 and 3 present the differences observed in the most preferred/language frequently used when the respondents are grouped according to the place of migration and order in the generation, respectively.

      As discussed earlier, the two locale of the study have contrasting characteristics which can be a factor in the language maintenance or shift of migrants.  Table 2 provides some evidence.

                  While in Table 1, it is said that in general, Ifugao is still used in the home, the results when the respondents are grouped according to place of migration show that in San Carlos Height, Ilocano is top notch in the domain of the home although the Ifugao language is not far behind. 

It is to be noted that San Carlos also have many migrants from other non-Ifugao speaking places thus Ilocano was the more accessible language in the community thus it is very possible that the community at large influences the language of the home.  In Alno, in the sitios where Ifugaos are found, they dominate it.  For example, in Obudan, out of the more than ten households there, only three households are Ibaloi thus within the community, Ifugao language was the medium of communication.

Table 2.  Language Most Preferred/Frequently Used When Grouped According to Place of Migration

Domain	Percentage of respondents								Most Preferred/ Frequently Used
	English		Filipino		Ilocano		Ifugao		Alno	SCarlos
	Alno	SCarlos	Alno	SCarlos	Alno	SCarlos	Alno	SCarlos
Broadcast	27	27	60	58	36	30			Filipino	Filipino
Print	50	57	57	43	17	23			Filipino	English
Music	63	67	40	33	33	17			Filipino	English
Church	27	47	33	27	67	43	43	43	Ilocano	English
Home	0	33	13	20	53	75	70	70	Ifugao	Ilocano
Friends	10	20	20	47	63	80	53	47	Ilocano	Ilocano
Texting	30	37	37	70	57	63	23	37	Ilocano	Filipino
Computing	43	70	37	37	7	0	4	4	English	English

        It is to be noted that San Carlos also have many migrants from other non-Ifugao speaking places thus Ilocano was the more accessible language in the community thus it is very possible that the community at large influences the language of the home.  In Alno, in the sitios where Ifugaos are found, they dominate it.  For example, in Obudan, out of the more than ten households there, only three households are Ibaloi thus within the community, Ifugao language was the medium of communication.

Table 3 shows the results when the respondents are grouped according to the generations and responses as percentage of the total number of responses in each category. 

The evidence on the social context is most observable here. In the broadcast domain for example, the first generation prefer it in the Ilocano while the second and third generation prefers it in the Tagalog.  This is indicative of the level of education of the respondents.  While that variable is not included in the study, such variable is recommended in future studies.

In the domain of the home, the first and second generation still prefers Ifugao but the third generation has Ilocano.  This is a symptom of possible language shift in among the third generation of the migrants.

Table 3.  Differences in Preference/Frequently Used Language When Grouped According to Generation

Domain	Percentage of Respondents												Most Preferred/ Frequently used
	English			Filipino			Ilocano			Ifugao
	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
Broadcast	10	35	35	45	75	55	70	5	25				Ilo	Fil	Fil
Print	25	70	65	55	40	55	45	10	5				Fil	Eng	Eng
Music	45	75	75	25	50	35	70	0	5				Ilo	Eng	Eng
Church	10	7	10	25	50	35	25	20	45	65	55	45	Ifu	Ifu	Ifu
Home	0	5	0	5	25	20	60	60	75	80	80	50	Ifu	Ifu	Ilo
Friends	0	25	20	5	40	55	70	75	70	85	30	35	Ifu	Ilo	Ilo
Texting	5	45	50	10	70	80	55	60	65	45	25	20	Ilo	Fil	Fil
Computing	5	70	95	5	60	45	5	5	0	5	5	0	All	Eng	Eng

A surprise result is in the domain of the church.  While the general result in Table 1 shows that that in general, Ilocano was preferred, when taken as a percentage of each of the group of respondents, all three generations prefer church language to be in Ifugao.  This is indicative that they feel more their attachment to praise and worship in the language they have in their hearts.  This can be explained further in a study on the psychosocial aspect of the language. 

Difference in fluency

               Figures 2 and 3 present the snapshots of the fluency of migrants when grouped according to place of migration and order of generation, respectively.

According to place of migration, data gathered show that in general the Alno migrants are more fluent in their native Ifugao language than their counterparts in San Carlos Heights.  On the “Not Fluent” category, there was even a zero result of the Alno group.  This is indicative of a more active use of the Ifugao language in Alno than in San Carlos.

Figure 2

Degree of Fluency According to Place of Migration

            The more varied number of languages spoken in the community can also be factor to fluency.  They tend to use other languages than their own.  This situation is captures in this quote from a respondent “Nu maminsanketgapu ta naglalauktisaoketkaslamaymayattiagsaoti Ilocano tapnumaawatanamin”. (Sometimes because there is a mixture of language, it is better to use Ilocano so that everybody can understand).  This situation favors language shift more than language maintenance (Downes, 1998).   In Alno, the Ifugaos were able to transmit their language to the Ibalois who are native of the place.  Many respondents tell that “Nasuro mi tiIbaloi, nasuron met dagitiIbaloitisaungaIfugao.” (We learned Ibaloi, they also learned Ifugao).  Thus it led to a community where they can speak one language.  This situation favors language maintenance.

Figure 3 shows the trend on a possible language shift among migrants.  Among the second and third generations those who are “very fluent” are outnumbered by those who claim to have moderate, fair, or no fluency.  The positive situation is that the first generation are still very fluent and are alive to still be able to impart their language to the succeeding generation.

Figure 3

Difference in Fluency When Grouped According to Generation

      The result is well related to Table 3 in which because the preference of the second and third generations in most domains is a language other than the Ifugao language, it affected their fluency.  Fluency is attained by frequent use.

                  As a summary, data shows that:

1.      Among Ifugao migrants, their native language is most preferred/frequently used only only in one of the eight domains evaluated.

2.      Among Ifugao migrants, 48 % claim to be very fluent in the native language.

3.      There is an observed difference in the preference of the Ifugao migrants when grouped according to place and order of generation.

4.      There is an observed difference in the fluency when grouped according to place and generation.

Conclusion

      From the findings, the following conclusions are arrived at:

1.      The domain of the home proves to be the last bastion of the Ifugao language among Ifugao migrants as other languages are preferred in other domains.

2.      There is still a strong fluency in the Ifugao language among Ifugao migrants.

3.      Language shift to Ilocano is starting to show in San Carlos migrants, and especially among the third generation of the migrants.

4.      Fluency in the Ifugao language decreases when it is not frequently used in the locale of the migration and in the descendant generations.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are drawn from the conclusions:

1.      The parents should be willing to teach their children the Ifugao native language as the home is the last bastion of a language

2.      Fluency in the native language should always be maintained by enhancing fluency thru daily use.

3.      The boundaries of when to use another language such as Ilocano should be delineated.The 2^nd and 3^rd generation migrants should be encouraged to keep regular contact with people in Ifugao so as to maintain their union with the native language and the culture that it represents. 

4.      The community should maintain venue for the use of native language so as not to lose fluency in the language.  Daily use enhances fluency.The parents should provide avenues by which their children are encouraged to use the Ifugao language as much as other languages.

Literature Cited

ALBERT, J. (2013) Many Voices, One Nation: The Philippine Languages and Dialects in Figures.  National Statistics Coordination Board.http://www.nscb.gov.ph/sexystats/2013/SS20130830_dialects.asp accessed on 12 September 2013.

DOWNES W. (1998) Language and Society 2nd ed. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press

JONES & SINGH.(2005) Second language issues and multiculturalism.Reading Research Quarterly, 42(3), 430-436. New York.

MICHIEKA M. (2012) Language Maintenance and Shift among Kenyan University Students. Paper presented in the 41st Annual Conference of African Linguistic www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/41/paper2746.pdf accessed on June 22, 2013

NETTLE & ROMAINE.( 2000) Language shift and Language Death.(pp. 39-58). Rotterdam, Boston, Taipei: Sense Publishers.

RUBINO, C. (1998) Ilocano Phrasebook and Dictionary.  New York: Hippocrene Books.

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Note:  This was submitted as a term paper to the faculty of the Graduate School, College of Arts and Sciences, Benguet State University, October 2013.

The paper is submitted together with fellow student Aaron Flores.