Re/construing Our World: An Ecolinguistic Perspective on Tagalog Nominal Group Resources

Abstract

This paper focuses on Tagalog nominal groups and the way they are used in a children's picture book narrative. Its purpose is two-fold. On the one hand it presents an analysis of Tagalog nominal group structures, proposing Function Marking, Focus, Specifier, Numerative, Epithet, Deictic, Thing and Qualifier functions. On the other hand it is concerned with the way Tagalog nominal groups are used to construe an environmentalist perspective that could be used to inform critical pedagogic practices in Philippines’ primary schools. Models of teacher/student interaction addressing this challenge are provided and adapted for bilingual/multilingual classrooms – drawing on the evolving teaching/learning cycles of the so-called ‘Sydney School’ of educational linguistics (its development as Reading to Learn pedagogy and curriculum in particular). 1 1 The authors are indebted to David Rose for his advice on our modelling of ecolinguistically oriented multilingual literacy pedagogy.