Why do Filipinos switch randomly between English and Tagalog when they talk in serious situations (eg television interviews, business meetings)?
Native Tagalog speakers say that it is difficult nowadays to find a person who speaks pure Tagalog without English loanwords and phrases. Frequent code-switching between Tagalog and English is more common. If a Filipino person sees someone who speaks pure Tagalog, he would immediately assume that the person is trying to put an effort to sound archaic.
Native Tagalog speakers always speak what foreigners would easily consider as Taglish. In general, they are somewhat expected to speak with more English content as the topic becomes more academic, more professional, or if their speech is more public (e.g., announcement, a thank you speech).
- Filipinos study almost all the subjects in English, with the notable exception of Filipino (i.e., the Tagalog language) and Social Studies. Many subjects at the university are approximately 50% in English (i.e., entire sentences in English, then entire sentences in vernacular Tagalog), but there is no requirement that teachers should use English/Tagalog exclusively.
- Filipinos tend to associate English with seriousness and being more “proper”. Job interviews are conducted in English, even though we are perfectly aware that both the interviewer and interviewee are native-level fluent in Tagalog.
- Filipinos tend to associate English with social status. The closer your accent is to a true American accent, the higher you are perceived in the social ladder. The more fluent you are in English, the more educated you appear to be.
- Filipinos tend to associate English with prestige. Businesses that want to project a high-class image use English as a tool to signal quality and prestige. For example, even though Starbucks baristas speak Taglish, it’s fairly noticeable that the English content in their speech is much higher than McDonald’s employees, and they would switch to pure English (sometimes with an effort to fake an accent) if the customer looks rich. Even though Starbucks menus in Spain are in Spanish, the Starbucks menus in the Philippines are in English. What language is the local coffee culture of the Philippines in?
- It can be easier to express some basic concepts in English.Filipinos always say phone numbers in English and it feels more automatic and faster that way —native Tagalog speakers who use Tagalog to express number know that it takes a longer time to express the numbers. So they mostly use English to express the numbers. They also tell time mostly in English or Spanish, but never in Tagalog.
- It can be easier to express more advanced concepts using mostly English. This is partly because teachers at school normally discuss politics, science, math, technology, and other topics in English.
The amount of code-switching to English is the same regardless if you speak Tagalog as a first language or as a second language (e.g., native Bisaya speaker). I have friends from Cebu, Davao, and Leyte, and their amount of English when speaking Tagalog is just the same as the native Tagalog speakers.
Taglish is often used by Filipinos living abroad, such as in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom.