|
IN 1991, Dr. Teresita Ramos, Profesor Emeritus, Indo-Pacific
Colleges-Univesity of Hawaii-Manoa, succeeded in acquiring a
three-year grant for the Advanced Filipino Abroad Program from the
Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program under the US Department
of Education.
Dr. Ramos based the program on the existing
programs on languages like Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic and other
languages from Southeast Asian countries.
It was funded again in 1993 for three summers,
and every three years thereafter until 2011.
The program has five primary goals:
1. It is designed to provide intensive and
specialized instruction in Filipino (Tagalog) for advanced students
and teachers of Filipino and Philippine studies within its natural,
cultural, and social context. It will enable participants from a
variety of American institutions and different disciplines to
supplement their previous training in Filipino and to attain a high
level of language competence within a relatively short period of
time.
2. It is intended to promote cooperation between
the US and the Philippines and stimulate discussions among scholars
from these countries.
3. It aims to provide in-country experience and
preparation, which will enable the participants to deal with
cross-cultural stress in the Philippine society and to develop the
social skills necessary for life in the Philippine society before
they go into the field.
4. It will provide potential researchers an
opportunity to see their chosen area first hand, and to select
appropriate research sites and introductory contacts.
5. It will provide and test a body of
pedagogical materials for intensive language study abroad programs
and field test proficiency examinations in Filipino.
"Every year, we revise the application
depending on the current issues in the Philippines or topics that
the students should know," explains Dr. Ruth Mabanglo, AFAP
director in the US and professor and coordinator of the Filipino and
Philippine Literature Program of the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
Mabanglo adds, "For this year’s program,
we added the Islam religion topic and one-week immersion in the
Bicol region so that the student can interview a role model in the
government sector."
Mabanglo is talking about the Mayor Jesse M.
Robredo of Naga who received 14 major individual awards, including
the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the 1996
Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) Award, the Outstanding
Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), 1998 Konrad Adenauer Medal of
Excellence as Most Outstanding City Mayor of the Philippines and the
first ever "Dangal ng Bayan " Award of the Civil Service
Commission.
Celia Hicarte-Kiram, on the other hand, talked
about the Islam religion and the importance of understanding the
Islam belief in the Philippines.
Other notable speakers of the program are Dr.
Jimmuel Naval of UP Diliman, Frank Rivera of Text Poet Society who
talked about literature and performing arts; and Prof. Randy David.
Meanwhile, In-country Director Dr. Myrna
Austria-Torreliza, director of the Gradute Studies of the College of
Liberal Arts in DLSU-Dasmarinas, takes care of the administrative
needs of the students in cooperation with language coordinator Dr.
Teresita F. Fortunato, DLSU-Manila associte professor.
Prof. Mary Ann Escoto and Prof. Perpetua Amoncio
of DLSU-Dasmarinas serve as the coordinators of the students during
the whole duration of the program.
|
