The Philippines
The project
The project investigates the position of English in the multilingual ecology of Cebu City, located in the central part of the Philippines. English assumes important functions in Philippine society, being – for example – widely used in the education system. The Philippines count as one of the most strongly anglicized countries. Philippine English has been extensively researched and is a well-established member of the World Englishes paradigm. The project strives to advance current research in several respects.
First, in making Cebu City its research site, it focuses on the lesser explored area of the Visayas/Bisayas where Cebuano is the native and most widely used Philippine language. The national language Tagalog/Filipino plays a less prominent role there. Second, the project considers English in the context of the other languages in Cebu City, inquiring about the repertoires, functional domains, proficiencies, speakers’ usage patterns including code switching, and attitudes in relation to all languages, not just English. Third, the project aims to study a socio-demographically representative sample of speakers that includes people from all walks of life, levels of education, and age groups. In doing so, the project tries to move beyond the focus on social elites (especially university contexts) that underlies much current research.
The team
Prof. Dr. Peter Siemund is Professor for Linguistics at the Institute of English and American Studies at the University of Hamburg, and PI of the project "English in the multilingual ecology of the Philippines: Exploring the sociolinguistics of Cebu City".
His research interests include World Englishes, multilingualism and language diversity, language contact phenomena and language policies.
Contacts and more info: peter.siemund"AT"uni-hamburg.de, https://www.eng-ling.uni-hamburg.de/index.html
Peter Siemund, UHH/Privat
Jannah Alcantara is a PhD student at the Institute of English and American Studies at the University of Hamburg.
Contacts: jannah.alcantara"AT"uni-hamburg.de
Dr. Loy Lising is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia). Her research interest focuses on multilingualism and social participation and its intersection, with a focus on two strands: language features (micro sociolinguistics) and language use (macro sociolinguistics) of multilinguals in both diasporic and homeland contexts particularly in the domains of family, education, health, and law. More information about her academic profile can be found here: https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/loy-lising-lising/
Prof. Dr. Aurelio Vilbar is Full Professor at the College of Social Sciences of the University of the Philippines Cebu (Cebu City, Philippines). His research interest include action research, ESD, service learning, and language and technology. More information about his academic profile can be found here: https://css.upcebu.edu.ph/prof-aurelio-p-vilbar-phd/