Philippine E-Journals

Semantic Feature of Philippine English: A Qualitative Analysis

Charlie E. Dayon

Discipline: Linguistics

 

Abstract:

The study described the semantic feature of Philippine English in the Davao region. Using qualitative analysis of multiple sources of data from student composition, print media, billboard ads, virtual communication, and office communication, I discovered that the semantic feature of Philippine English in Davao was influenced by language user’s social status, regional origin, and context. In the corpora of Student Composition, Billboard Ads, and Office Communication, the social status of users in reference to the extent of their exposure to English language in the school setting and local community influenced their choice and use of words or expressions. Meanwhile, in some samples from Print Media and Billboard Ads, the regional origin of users in reference to the adoption of local terms by local users determined their use of local expressions or terms for practical reason. Lastly, in Office Communication and Virtual Communication samples, the meaning of user’s words or expression was drawn from the context. The implications of the findings to the acquisition and learning of the English language were two-fold. First, the exposure of the users to English language in school or local community was deficient. Second, they used some local terms or words for easy understanding.