Linguistic Pattern in Essays written by People of Varying Educational

Backgrounds: A Case Study

By
Amiel Jansen Demetrial
Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics
The aim of this paper is to describe the linguistic pattern
followed by people of varying educational backgrounds.
Specifically, this paper analyzed four essays written by an
elementary school student, high school student, college
student, and a teacher of the English language. In analyzing the
units of analysis, I employed Critical Discourse Analysis as
informed by Zhang (2011) in categorizing and evaluating the
lexical choices of the authors and Discourse Error Analysis as
informed by Mestre-Mestre & Carrio-Pastor (2013) in
categorizing the grammatical errors committed by the authors
in the essays. Findings suggest that the elementary school
student had basic knowledge of the language he used in the
essay but lacked the necessary tools to form grammatically
sound sentences; the high school and college students had
nearing advanced proficiency of the language they used in their
essay as evidenced by their grammatical and lexical choices;
and the English teacher had an intermediate level of proficiency
in the language he used in his essays. It is recommended that
a thorough study of the socioeconomic backgrounds of the
authors be conducted to address the research gap in this study.

Key Words: Critical Discourse Analysis, Lexical Choices,

Discourse Error Analysis, Essays, Educational Background

Introduction
Essays are some of the most common activities given in school by teachers. This

is because “the essay is a reflection of how well you [students] have understood the basic

course material, how much extra work you have put into researching the essay topic and

how analytical you have been in selecting and commenting on the material you use” (Ling,

n.d.). The essay can also provide a peephole through which teachers can view the

personal insights of their students about particular topics.

And while the definition of the essay form is vague—owing to the fact that it can

be about anything and take the structure of other written genres—it is generally

understood to be “a piece of writing, usually from an author’s personal point of view”

(Essays, UK, 2013).

 Aside from providing an avenue for understanding between teacher and student,

the essay can also help teachers—especially those teaching language—assess the

linguistic proficiency of their students and see where they can help in developing the

competitiveness of their students. According to Gabinete (2013), teachers “not only need

to provide feedback on grammar or mechanics but also on content.” This highlights the

importance of grammar in writing essays.

Since language is important in the negotiation of meaning in essays, it is also very

important to look into the language use of the authors who wrote them and the social

factor affecting their language use. Further, according to He & Zhou (2013):

“Since different individuals have different social experiences, they would

possess diverse sociolinguistic abilities, which may influence their language
use from the perspective of the ideational experience. It would be incorrect
to think that every individual possesses a single and united world-view or
ideology that encompasses all aspects of his or her experience” (p. 2358).

Part of these social experiences, I believe, is the educational background of the

authors. According to Schuele (2001), most children in kindergarten are able to express

themselves in short grammatical sentences, however, it is the school that “provides

opportunities to learn new vocabulary, gain knowledge of nonliteral language, and

express one’s self in a variety of syntactically complex forms.”

The grammatical pattern followed and words used by writers are results of their

collective experiences, including—but not limited to—their educational attainment. In this

paper, I aimed to describe the linguistic pattern followed by four people of varying

educational backgrounds in terms of word choice and grammar.

Units of Analysis and Methodology

The units of analysis of this study are four essays written by four people of varying

educational backgrounds. The first author is Arnold R. Fedelino, Jr., a grade 5 student

from Paaralang Elementarya ng Lucban 3B. His essay entitled Our Town Fiesta is about
the festivals celebrated in his hometown on the months of May and August (identified as

Essay1).

The second author is Julia Marie V. Labitigan, a grade 11 student in the General

Academic Strand of Lucban Academy. Her essay entitled Reflection: Preludes is about

her thoughts on the short story entitled Preludes by Daryll Delgado (identified as Essay2).

The third author is Beah Liezl A. Marasigan, a fourth year Bachelor of Arts in

Communication student from Southern Luzon State University. Her essay entitled Picking

up the Pieces is about her thoughts on the film Shattered Glass (identified as Essay3).

The last author is Nicanor L. Guinto, a professor from Southern Luzon State

University. His essay entitled The Philippines I want to inherit is about his thoughts on

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the repercussions of the president’s actions on the

Filipino people all over the world (identified as Essay4).

In order to analyze the essays, I used Critical Discourse Analysis, drawing from

Halliday’s (1994) framework of lexical classification as guided by Zhang (2011) in

evaluating the lexical choices of the authors. This includes the appropriateness of the

choice of words in the context of the sentences.

Table 1. Classifications of Lexical Choices based on Zhang (2011)

Classification Examples
Commendatory Words Freedom Fighters, Successful
Neutral Words Reporting, Radical, Eliminate
Derogatory Words Censorship, Liberal, Kill

Table 1 presents the three categories of lexical choices as informed by Zhang

(2011). According to Zhang (2011), commendatory words are “words with active

evaluation that show the user’s favorable attitude to his or her descriptive object.” Neutral

words are used to state a fact about the descriptive object, free from any emotionally

charged meanings. On the other hand, derogatory words are terms that show and reflect

the negative attitude of the user towards their subject (Zhang, 2011).
 In terms of grammatical errors, I used Discourse Error Analysis as informed by

Mestre-Mestre and Carrio-Pastor (2013) in categorizing the errors committed by the

authors. The categories and their corresponding tags (Mestre, 2011) are:

Table 2. Categories of Discourse Error and Tags

Error: Inability to Tag
Extrapolate meaning DVM
Sequencing DSS
Verb Tense DSV
Word Order DSWO
Connectors/transitions DSC
Summarizing DSTH
Main Points DSFocus
Coherence and Cohesion DCC

Table 2 presents the categories of discourse error and the tags used in identifying

them (Mestre, 2011). The following are the errors categorized in this paper: Extrapolate

meaning, Sequencing, Verb Tense, Word Order, Connectors/transitions, Summarizing,

Main Points, and Coherence and Cohesion.

Results and Discussion

Based on the analyses conducted, the following are the findings of the study:

1. Lexical Choices

Lexical choices play a central role in negotiating meaning. According to Halliday

(1994), “lexis or lexical choices are major determinants of the ideational structure” of the

sentence (He & Zhou, 2015). It reveals the fundamental ways human beings learn about

and experience the world around them and how they express their thoughts about them

through language.

Reading the essays, I found that the authors of essays 1, 2, and 3 used words not

appropriate in the context of the sentences in which they appear. For example, the

sentence “the best is a ‘kiping’” appears in Essay1. The word choice “best” may be

categorized as a commendatory word. Based on the context of the paragraph, the author
was trying to say that the kiping is one of the most important delicacies during the

celebration of the festival in his town as evidenced by the list he made about the most

popular delicacies in his hometown such as Pancit Lucban and longganisa. However,

instead, and also because the author used the word “best,” the message he was trying to

convey got lost and transformed to kiping being the best.

The sentence “At first look at the title ‘Preludes’, I thought it was just a simple short

story without words with its hidden meanings” appears in Essay2. In this particular

sentence, the author uses the word “simple” to describe the short story she read. The

word may be categorized as a neutral word as it does not have any “emotional color” that

may be attached to it (He & Zhou, 2015). However, based on the context of the paragraph,

I believe the author meant to say “straightforward” instead of “simple” as supported by the

succeeding dependent clause “without words with its (sic) hidden meaning”. This

sentence seems to relate to the expectations of the author towards her subject—that the

story she read will be straightforward in communicating its meaning and will not use

confusing symbolisms.

On the other hand, the clause “Stephen Glass mayhap done those atrocious things

because he needs to survive…” appeared in Essay3. The word misused in this sentence

is the term “atrocious” to brand what the main character did in the film—that is, to pass

literature as pieces of literary journalism. The term “atrocious” may be categorized as a

derogatory term, owing to the fact that the word itself, even outside the context of a

sentence or paragraph, signify a negative meaning. The problem with the usage of the

word is that it is too emotionally charged and seem to require a much more horrifying

precedent—such as crimes against humanity—to be used in such a context. Words much

lower in the steps of a cline such as horrible or terrible would have sufficed to describe

the misdeeds of the main character.

On the one hand, the author of Essay4 seem to have no problem in choosing the

lexical items to use in his composition. This could be because he has had enough

educational attainment connected to language (Bachelor of Secondary Education Major

in English, Master of Arts in English Studies, and currently, Doctor of Philosophy in

Sociolinguistics and Discourse Analysis). Aside from this—and without discrediting the

language proficiency of the author—the absence of errors in the use of words in the essay

could be contributed to the fact that it appeared as a column for a national daily. This

means that the editors of the newspaper could have already edited the manuscript and

allowed the author to revise it before publication. This is only an assumption as this is a

common practice in journalistic publications. However, beyond this, we could only

attribute the flawlessness of the essay to the proficiency of the author in language.

2. Grammatical Errors

Grammar is an important aspect of meaning-making in that it allows speakers of

the same language to better understand each other by providing sentence structures that

make sense to both parts of the communication process. Furthermore, Mestre-Mestre

and Carrio-Pastor (2013) stated that in order to be proficient in a language, one important

part of speakers’ pragmatic competence is discourse competence. This means that

speakers and writers need to be knowledgeable in “certain principles according to which

communication is organized, structured and arranged” (Mestre-Mestre & Carrio-Pastor,

2013).

Table 3. Examples of Discourse Errors Identified

Error Text Example
Essay2 “I need to read the selection again and again…”
“Man who cheated are immature, selfish and
Verb Tense (DSV) Essay2 unrealistic…”
“…I found myself erasing all that I have wrote so
Essay3 far…”
Essay3 “…in this digital world were “pen” is being used by
Word Order (DSWO)
almost all, journalists are in big disadvantage.”
Connectors/ Essay1 “…people love cook is “longganisa”…”
Esssay1 “…people love cook “longganisa”…”
Essay1 “Our town Fiesta in date in May 15 and August
19…”
Transitions (DSC)
Essay2 “…Nenita could actually kill his husband while his
Summarizing (DSTH)
husband cheated on her numerous times…”
Essay1 “…buy in Super Market or Buddys its get you
Main Points (DSFocus)
cook.”
 Table 3 presents the discourse errors identified in the essays I analyzed using

the framework provided by Mestre (2011) and Mestre-Mestre & Carrio-Pastor (2013).

In Essay1, the author’s most common grammatical mistakes were the usage of

correct connectors in the sentences he wrote. In the example shown in the table, the

author used the preposition “in” instead of the auxiliary verb “is” in the sentence “Our town

Fiesta in date in May 15 and August 19…” He also missed the connector “to” to form an

infinitive in the sentences “…people love cook is ‘longganisa’…” and “…people love cook

‘longganisa’…” He also used the auxiliary verb “is” in the sentence “…people love cook

is ‘longganisa’…” to connect the infinitive phrase and his object “longganisa”. This shows

that the author is not proficient enough on the subject of noun phrases. This makes sense

because the infinitive phrase is usually taught in higher level English.

In Essay2, the most common grammatical mistakes were the usage of the correct

verb tenses in sentences. For example, in the sentence “I need to read the selection again

and again…,” the tense of the verb “need” breaks the consistency in the tense she used

in the whole essay. Instead of using the past tense form of the word “need”—“needed”—

she used the simple present tense form of the verb. Since she is consistent in most of the

sentences, this could point to neglect in revision. She seems to understand when and

how to use the different verb tenses but failed to revise her work which resulted to

inconsistencies in verb tenses in some of the sentences. Moreover, the sentences “At

first look at the title ‘Preludes’, I thought it was just a simple short story…” and “I was

wrong” further illustrate this point.

In Essay3, the most common grammatical mistakes was also usage of correct verb

tense. In the sentence “…I found myself erasing all that I have wrote so far…”, the author

used the simple past tense form of the verb “wrote” even if it had the auxiliary verb “had”

in the past participle form preceding it. However, she also seems to understand the

differences in verb tenses and how they should be used as demonstrated by the

sentences “…prone to being tempted by forces unimaginable…” and “Although PDI

apologized…” This error could again be attributed to neglect in revision. This single
mistake in the verb tense further exemplifies my argument that the writer knew the rules

of grammar but failed to revise her work.

In Essay4, I repeat my argument earlier—again, without discrediting the language

proficiency of the author—that the flawlessness of the essay could be attributed to the

editorial practices of the newspaper that published it. The English teacher who wrote the

essay also had competitive background in the language he used which means he had an

advance awareness of the structure of the essay he wrote. However, we have no way of

knowing whether the editors of the publication did edit the manuscript before publishing

it. This means that we could only attribute the soundness of the grammatical structure of

the essay to the educational background of the author.

3. Summative Discussion

Based on the analysis of lexical choices, I found that the elementary student whose

essay I analyzed in this paper is unaware of the implications of his word choice. It could

also be seen in the essay, consistently, that he had a limited vocabulary.

The high school student, on the one hand, seemed to know how to use some words

properly in relation to the context of the sentence she is constructing. However,

sometimes, she also forgets the difference between synonymous words and the contexts

in which they could be used. The high school student also displayed a more expanded

vocabulary.

The college student had a more expanded vocabulary in comparison to the

elementary and high school student. She was also consistent in the proper usage of

words. Although she misused some of the words, it seems like she only used them

because of a lack of a better term in expressing her thoughts.

On the other hand, the English teacher displayed high awareness in his lexical

choices. He seemed to understand the differences and the implications of the words he
used. Aside from this, he seemed to be aware of the “emotional color” certain words have

based on the content of the essay.

In terms of grammar, the elementary school had major grammatical errors

especially in relation to coherence and cohesion. On the one hand, the high school and

college students both had minor grammatical errors that could be attributed to neglect in

revision while the English teacher had no grammatical error that could be seen explicitly

as a result of his education and, possibly, the editorial practices of the newspaper that

published the essay. However, we have no way of knowing if the publishers of the essay

did edit the essay to align its structure to their standard of sound English.

Similarly, environmental factors must also be investigated in order to fully value

the extent of the effect of educational background and attainment in language

competence acquisition. According to Piechurska-Kuciel (2016), financial problems seem

to be the most influential stressor in the ability of learners to learn. Socioeconomic factors

may also have significant effect in the language competence acquisition of the sample of

this study and must be recognized as a research gap that must be addressed.

Conclusion

The elementary school student had very little knowledge of the formal properties

of the language he used based on the grammatical and lexical choices he made. The

high school and college student had nearing advanced level of proficiency in the language

they used as evidenced by the consistency of the grammatical and lexical choices they

made. The English teacher pursuing advanced studies, on the other hand, had an

intermediate level of proficiency in the language he used as evidenced by the grammatical

and lexical choices he made.

Recommendation/s

It is recommended that a thorough study be conducted on the socioeconomic

factors affecting the language acquisition of the sample in order to address the research

gap of this study.

Literature Cited

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https://www.ukessays.com/resources/undergraduate/essay/what-is-an-
essay.php?vref=1
Gabinete, M.K. (2013). Assessment focus on essay of university students: The case
between language- and non-language based courses in two private universities.
Language Testing in Asia, 3(5).
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd edition). London:
Edward Arnold.
He, X. & Zhou, X. (2015). Contrastive analysis of lexical choice and ideologies in news
reporting the same accidents between Chinese and American newspapers.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(11), 2356-2365.
Mestre, E.M. (2011).CEFR & error analysis in Second Language Teaching at University
level. Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
Mestre-Mestre, E.M. & Carrio-Pastor, M.L. (2013). A Proposal for the detection and
classification of discourse errors. Procedia Social and Sciences, 95, 528-534.
National University of Singapore. (n.d.). Writing an academic essay. Retrieved from
http://www.nus.edu.sg/celc/research/books/cwtuc/chapter01.pdf
Piechurska-kuciel, E. (2016). Economic strain and foreign language attainment: A
Polish perspective. Selected Papers of the 21st International Symposium on
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Appendices

Essay by an Elementary Student (Essay1)

Arnold R. Fedelino, Jr.

V – Venus
Paaralang Elementarya ng Lucban 3B
Lucban, Quezon
Our Town Fiesta

Our town Fiesta in date in May 15 and August 19 every years this is the most beautiful

selebraet in our Town because the pahiyas is disen in the house in window and whole

house the best it is! the best is a “kiping” and people love cook is “longganisa” people

love cook “longganisa” because it is delicios and the best one is “Pancit Lucban” it is

buy in Super Market or Buddys its get you cook.

Original Text:
 Essay by a High School Student (Essay2)

Julia Marie V. Labitigan

11 – Commitment (General Academic Strand)
Lucban Academy
Lucban, Quezon
REFLECTION: “Preludes”

At first look at the title “Preludes”, I thought it was just a simple short story without words

with its hidden meanings. Well, I was wrong. I need to read the selection again and again

to understand the story. I was thinking about how the husband died? Because he is sick?

However, there was more than that which is why I had to read it once again. I didn’t expect

that Nenita could actually kill his husband while his husband cheated on her numerous

times. Man who cheated are immature, selfish and unrealistic which means that he didn’t

believe on what Nenita can give. I was disappointed to Nenita because his husband is

cheating but still she was taking care of him. It was because she is planning something

wicked. For me, what Nenita did was Immoral but I know she had her reasons. It is just

very sad that even her own husband is someone whom she cannot trust. Her husband

gives me the feeling of frustration for what he did because I hate mens who cheats. He

had a wife yet he is not contented. I would rather let God handle it and let him decide

what is the best. The message that I got from this story is that many people are not

contented which can be the reason why they lie or cheat. Reading this kind of story was

very intense and interesting. There are symbolism which somehow makes it very

confusing. It ends with a theme that should be acknowledge by everybody and that is

inequality. This had happened before and is still happening right now, right at this moment.
Original Text:
 Essay by a College Student (Essay3)

Beah Liezl A. Marasigan

BA Communication
Southern Luzon State University (Main Campus)
Lucban, Quezon
Picking up the Pieces

As I watch Shattered Glass for the nth time today, I found myself erasing all that I

have wrote so far because I realized what I’m reflecting on is too shallow. Sure, those

things will help me finish in time for the deadline, but it won’t make me satisfied about my

work, so I scratched them off and started anew.

Journalists are humans too; prone to being tempted by forces unimaginable, forces

that tempted even the kindest of the kind for the sole reason that they are human. They

too can feel pressure and hopelessness and all emotions mankind are capable of. Sadly,

society seems to view them differently. According to Krissy Gunderson (2017), “In general,

I think society holds journalists to very high standards; if they make one error, suddenly,

society sees them as completely untrustworthy.” Which in fact is true, take the Philippine

Daily Inquirer’s mistake on publishing a story in 2013 about then President Benigno

Simeon Aquino III’s face on a cover of Time Magazine. Although PDI apologized and

stated that it was “an honest mistake” on their part, people still sort of blamed and many

reacted for this slight of a trusted newspaper of our country. Some tweets stand out

among the rest including:

Kiko Acero (@FrancisAcero) asked: “What is the extent of responsibility for a mistake that

@inquirerdotnet made? Is a mea culpa enough?”

Kim Indar (@KimIndar), a lawyer, reacted on the Inquirer’s tweet saying, “but the damage

has been done.”

Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) then replied to Kim Indar saying: “I prefer to believe

it was just done in innocent fun. To say it is a mistake admits a sidereal stupidity.”

Kim Indar (@KimIndar) added: “Either sabotage or negligence. Either way, very telling on

editorial policy.”
Tonyo Cruz (@tonyocruz) said: “I just wish there’s an explanation about the mistake. And

that the paper pour its bias in the editorial pages.”

Jonas Cabiles Soltes (@JournalistNow) was a little optimistic saying: “The mistake was

done. No one contests it’s not wrong. There is an apology. Move on. :)”

He added that: “Owning up to mistake ends it. You do not explain a wrong because it’s

wrong no matter what.” (CMFR, 2013)

All these comments from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)

website and the screenshot on the left from an article posted on rappler.com dated April

20, 2013, proved my claim on how hard people or the public are with people working in

the media industry. Journalists are seen to be infallible by the society at large that they

often forget journalists are human beings too, capable of making a mistake. This is my

first realization.

My second realization is that people really are fickle. To achieve one’s dream, to

be recognized and praised and to survive in this jungle we call life, people can do things

that contradict even ethics and morals deeply ingrained in them. Because we are human

beings, we do things to survive. Stephen Glass mayhap done those atrocious things

because he needs to survive, because he needs to be recognized and that is a very

human quality. Yes, it is wrong, yes by Filipino standards, it is against the Philippine

Journalistic Code of Ethics, and yes it is against every single thing taught to us while

sitting in our COMM3 class, but it is his means to survive, what right do we have to

question him when all he did was to survive? It is funny how people bawl their eyes out

and offer sympathies to man who steals or robs a bank for food for his family but turns

heated and angry gazes for journalists who committed a “crime” in journalism. What if it

is also for food for his family? Would things be different if he had gone and rob someone?

This supports my first realization that society views journalist or anyone in the media

industry, because they are members of the fourth state.

 Last realization, no matter what I do and no matter how many hateful things and

comments that people throw my and my fellow media practitioners’ ways, I will always

find it in my heart to look for a loophole or anything that would help me sympathize to the

case of my fellow practitioners. In this world where we are taught to be non-biased and

objective, we cannot help but be one especially when you at least know a portion of their

hardship because we are in the same field as them.

The reality of life is that as members of the fourth state, people expect too much

of us but give too little in return. When a journalist successfully covered a story that shook

the world from its core, praises will surely come his way, but once that journalist commits

a mistake, they will lose to the people. Because although as Edward Bulwer-Lytton said

that "The pen is mightier than the sword", in this digital world were “pen” is being used by

almost all, journalists are in big disadvantage.

References:
http://cmfr-phil.org/media-ethics-responsibility/ethics/the-inquirers-latest-honest-mistake/
https://www.google.com.ph/
https://publish.illinois.edu/kgunder2/2017/04/30/journalists-are-allowed-to-be-human/
http://www.rappler.com/nation/27025-inquirer-apology-fake-aquino-time-cover

Original Text:
 Essay by an English Teacher (Essay4)

Nicanor L. Guinto
Teacher of English
Southern Luzon State University (Main Campus)
Lucban, Quezon
The Philippines I want to inherit

“Oh, so you’re from the Philippines. What can you say about your President?”

I am tired of answering this question from practically every person I meet here in Hong

Kong. I have even considered writing a script so that I can effortlessly answer the question.

Any other Filipino here who is asked the same question would perhaps try to say good

things instead of the bad ones that these inquisitive people seem to know much more

about. After all, whatever I say about President Duterte almost automatically becomes

what they would think of the 100 million or so Filipinos back home and spread all over the

world.

As a Filipino in a foreign country, I know that anything I say about the President would

also reflect on the kind of Filipino that I am in my inquisitors’ eyes. Anything bad I say

about him would aggravate the wound that all those issues back home have created in

the perception of these nosy folks.

And so, I try my best to give a neutral answer. I feel that as a Filipino in a foreign country,

I bear the responsibility of clarifying what is happening back home, deciphering and

interpreting every statement of the President, and explaining myself—or perhaps even

apologizing, if need be—to the international community. And I have to do this in a way

that will favor the 100 million or so Filipinos more than just the one who heads them.

Before Mr. Duterte took on the presidency, I seldom received questions of a political

nature from the people I met in foreign countries. And whatever questions were

overshadowed by declarations of fond memories of our country. I listened to their stories

about how Boracay looked like a paradise, how Palawan was the best thing that had

happened to them, or how the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban was the world’s happiest

festival in their eyes. And some could not even locate the Philippines on the map.
No one asked me about the traffic congestion in Manila, the poverty incidence, terrorist

attacks, exploited or ill-distributed human capital, corruption, and questionable political

decisions—until the Duterte administration began. Questions concerning these issues

come almost automatically, without any trace of sarcasm. And all the good things I

mention in response to their first question somehow make me a liar in front of them. Of

course, not all of those who ask have the intention of only confirming the negative points.

But most of them expect me to give them answers that will make the President’s acid

tongue justifiable and understandable.

The 16 million or so Filipinos who voted for Mr. Duterte last May may have gotten tired of

“good-mannered” politicians who will tolerate corruption and favor only the rich and

powerful, I tell them. All of a sudden, here was a mayor of a city dubbed as one of the

world’s safest. Many voters may have thought that he could replicate this kind of

governance on a national scale, I say finally, in a matter-of-fact tone. It’s almost the same

lines that other Filipinos I meet here would say when questioned by a curious foreigner.

The attention I now receive from people of other nationalities just because of the immense

popularity of our President is indeed surprising, but at the same time discomforting. Very

often, they liken him to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and comment

that the United States better learn from the “fate” of Filipinos who elected someone like

Mr. Duterte. This is not the kind of popularity I want foreigners to note the Philippines for.

We are a nation with a high regard for human rights, basic forms of courtesy, hospitality,

respect for stone-hard alliances that bring mutual benefit, and healthy disagreements for

the public good. We express displeasure in public in a civil way, not by swearing or cursing,

because our parents taught us that that is the way of the savage. Some of us even cringe

after accidentally saying offensive words, and express remorse for doing so.

We do not badmouth former masters who have atoned for past sins through an

unrelenting display of good faith to become a good friend and strong ally, in exchange for

forging new friendships. A Filipino will always be a good friend even after a long period of

distance, and even in difficult times.

Though it is not rare among good friends to insult one another, they do so only within their

circle, and in a way that serves the purpose for companionship, other than a display of

chauvinistic tendencies and of imagined supremacy among other friendly groups. We

value mutual respect both inside and outside our circle because our forebears taught us

that, whether friends or foes, they will be there when we need strong and capable hands

and shoulders to move our home intact to a better and safer place.

So I strongly urge our President to seriously consider the effects of his words (and even

actions) on the 100 million or so Filipinos who are mostly in their youth, living in the

Philippines and elsewhere in the world. I have high respect for this man because of his

conviction to fight the trade in illegal drugs in order to give the next generations of Filipinos

a drug-free Philippines and to establish an independent foreign policy that safeguards the

interest of the country and its people.

As a young Filipino, I strongly hope to inherit a country that has not only better conditions

anchored on the fundamentals of human rights but also a good international reputation.

Nicanor Legarte Guinto, 28, is pursuing the Joint PhD in Sociolinguistics and Discourse
Analysis program of the University of Hong Kong and King’s College London as a
postgraduate scholar of HKU and a K-to-12 transition partial foreign support scholar of
the Commission on Higher Education. He is on study leave from his job as instructor at
Southern Luzon State University in Lucban, Quezon.

Original Text:

Link: http://opinion.inquirer.net/98990/philippines-want-inherit