DOST LEAP (Learning English Application for Pinoys) standalone software

[Gerry T. Galacio]

The call center industry in the Philippines wants to have 1.6 million employees by 2016. The industry has now reached 1.3 million employees and is pinning its hopes for more English-proficient Filipinos on the DOST LEAP (Learning English Application for Pinoys) Project. The LEAP is a standalone software that will be distributed free of charge to high school and college students. Its website is http://dostproject7.com/

I'm waiting for LEAP's release so I can use it in my English proficiency seminars. But, in my opinion, the problems with the LEAP are:

1. Its release seems to be delayed for one reason or another. It was supposed to be released June 2013 but up to now, it's still in closed beta testing stage.

2. Part of LEAP is the interactive grammar exercises. But thousands upon thousands of this kind of exercises are already freely available on the Internet. For example, I use http://a4esl.org materials, which are created by ESL teachers. Perhaps, what could set LEAP apart is if its exercises are based on Filipino culture or situations.

3. A unique feature of LEAP is its speech component (listening and speaking skills) that will address common errors by Filipinos in English pronunciation. From what I've read, the student using LEAP will pronounce certain words or phrases, and the software will record and grade the student's pronunciation. (As far as I know, there are only two commercially available programs like LEAP's speech component. These are from ABA English and Rosetta Stone.)

I stand to be corrected but if LEAP's speech component is limited only to pronunciation of English words and phrases, then the program will fail in reaching its goal. Shouldn't the program also train students on how to create and speak grammatically correct English sentences?

[Gerry T. Galacio]

[1] From "IGM (I-Google Mo) and SMP" by Penny Sicangco-Bongato, Phil. Daily Inquirer, December 6, 2014

"The Service Management Program (SMP) Specialization Track is the IT-BPM industry's way of integrating its competency requirements into the school curriculum." The SMP consists of "15 units of classroom electives and 600 hours of internship." This semester, schools like PUP, Negros Oriental State University, and Laguna State Polytechnic University have some 600 students doing on-the-job training. Next year, "there will be seven or more state universities and colleges with around 2,000 student-interns."

[2] Several years ago, the "English is Cool Coalition" organized "English camps" in schools like FEU. But I can't find any information now about this coalition on the Internet .

PGMA's administration had its "National English Proficiency Program" that reportedly had  a budget of 500 million pesos for training several thousand teachers nationwide. These teachers were then supposed to train other teachers in their respective schools.

Presently, the DepEd has its "Language Competency Benchmark" as the official guideline for the  standard competency requirements of all its personnel. The DepEd has also conducted seminars on "Communicative Language Teaching." But I can't find a lot of information on the Internet about this benchmark or the CLT seminars.

[3] The House of Representatives has four pending bills related to English. These are:

HB 0311  "An Act to Strengthen and Enhance the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction in Philippine Schools" (filed by Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)

HB 0366 "An Act to Strengthen and Enhance the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction in Philippine Schools" filed by Rep. Raul Del Mar)

HB 1339 "An Act to Strengthen and Enhance the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction in Philippine Schools" (filed by Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas)

HB 3702 "An Act Strengthening the Use of the English Language as Medium of Instruction in Grade School, High School, College and Vocational Education" (filed by Rep. Eric Olivarez)

The bills filed by Rep. Arroyo, Gullas, and Del Mar all encourage the use of English as the language of interaction in schools through the organization of Engllish clubs in book, oratorical, debating, etc.

But as one media report pointed out, English proficiency will not improve by using it as the medium of instruction. Rather, the report said, proficiency will be achieved by strengthening the study of EFL (English as a Foreign Language).

[Gerry T. Galacio]

(1) Please read my related post "Alternatives to LEAP: Hot Potatoes, Spoken English Learned Quickly" at http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6474.0

(2) Latest news about LEAP as of August 20, 2015

"DOST rolls out innovations for trade, learning at Palawan fair" at http://www.mb.com.ph/dost-rolls-out-innovations-for-trade-learning-at-palawan-fair/

"A highlight of the event was when DOST Undersecretary Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara led the turn-over of the LEAP software to DOST 4-B officials – Maria Ethelwilda G. Coronacion of Occidental Mindoro; Jesse M. Pine of Oriental Mindoro; Bernardo T. Caringal of Marinduque; Marcelina V. Servañez of Romblon; and Engr. Pacifico T. Sariego of Palawan – at the Palawan Uno Hotel, here.

"A 200-hour English training software, LEAP is a computer-based English language training program that has two modules: the grammar and vocabulary module, and the speech module."