AS LANGUAGE and education grow more diverse, schools must resist the idea that one kind of English is superior to others, a Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) professor said in a lecture on Feb. 22 at De La Salle University.
Prof. Alejandro Bernardo, in his lecture as holder of the 2025 Br. Andrew Gonzalez, F.S.C Distinguished Professorial Chair in Linguistics and Language Education, discussed English language teaching through the “World Englishes” paradigm.
This concept recognizes the legitimacy of diverse and localized English varieties worldwide.
According to Bernardo, embracing this diversity can help students leverage different Englishes as tools for learning and research, and foster respect for local variations of the language, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
However, he acknowledged the challenges of integrating the World Englishes view in schools, including the generational gap, unprepared teachers, overcrowded curricula, school bureaucracy, and limited resources.
To address these issues, the former Artlets assistant dean challenged teachers to rethink their teaching approaches, ensuring that the paradigm is not just an academic theory but a practical tool in classrooms.
Bernardo also called for the creation of SDG-centered academic programs with subjects and courses that highlight their connection to language.
“A step forward often requires a step back to reflect on how the curricula have contributed to shaping global citizens,” he said in his lecture titled “Teaching, Teaching about, and Teaching in World Englishes: Twenty-First Century Perspectives for Diversity, Inclusivity, and Sustainability.”
Bernardo received the professional chair from the Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP) and the DLSU Department of English and Applied Linguistics.
READ: Artlets prof awarded professorial chair in linguistics and language education
He served as LSP vice president in 2016 and president from 2018 to 2021. He is the associate editor of the Asian Journal of English Language Studies, the official journal of the UST Department of English.
Bernardo is also a researcher at the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education, with recent works including “Teaching Philippine English through Schoolscapes” and “Philippine English and Global Englishes-Inspired Grammar Teaching,” both published in 2024.
He completed his doctorate in English language studies at the UST Graduate School. Micah G. Pascua
