The Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics program of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) recently held A Colloquium on Language and Society of Mindanao on May 17, 2025.
The MA in Applied Linguistics students enrolled in AL 7113: Sociolinguistics presented a broad range of research topics on applied linguistics, such as A Semiotic Lens on Oral Narratives, Discourse Analysis of a House of Habi Facebook Post, Ecolinguistic Analysis of Private School Signages in North Cotabato, Virtual Linguistic Landscape and Multimodal Analysis of a State University Website, Discursive Institutional Study on BARMM’s website, and Critical Media Discourse Analysis of the 2025 OVP Budget Hearing in Philippine News. These scholarly works highlighted the vital role of language in interpreting cultural and societal dynamics in Mindanao, emphasizing its potential to drive meaningful change within communities.
To enrich the academic discourse, the research presentation featured two esteemed reactors: Dr. Andi Asrifan, S.Pd., M.Pd., an Assistant Professor in English Language Education from Universitas Negeri Makassar in Indonesia, and Dr. Raymund T. Palayon, a lecturer at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand, whose academic interests include corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, and religious discourse. Their insights and expertise provided valuable perspectives and constructive feedback on the students’ work.
Dr. Raymund T. Palayon emphasized the importance of methodology, stating, “As one of the researchers, I am very particular with the methodology because the quality or reliability of the finding depends upon the structure and flow of your methodology.” He also specifically addressed Karl Templado’s paper on a Critical Media Discourse Analysis of the 2025 OVP Budget Hearing in Philippine News, noting that the study “requires a comprehensive methodology.” He further explained, “The principle is that, if the dataset is very small, you can only find limited linguistic features in it. If these linguistic features are limited and your interpretations are very comprehensive, I’m not really sure how these linguistic features can justify those very comprehensive interpretations.”
Dr. Andi Asrifan also offered thoughtful reflections, particularly on the cultural relevance of the topics. Responding to Brent Loyd Licayan’s study on A Discourse Analysis of a House of Habi Facebook Post on T’nalak, he remarked. “It is an honor for me to serve as a reactor in this session, especially for a topic as rich and meaningful as the one we just heard.” He found the research especially engaging, saying, “That’s a really interesting topic because the Philippines has almost the same culture as Indonesia. We have thousands of cultures,” adding that Indonesia alone has “almost 200 local languages.” On Sommaya Tambuco’s work on A Discursive Institutionalism Study, Dr. Asrifan praised its depth and relevance, stating, “That’s a really interesting topic about the Sulu’s exclusion from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a discourse institutional study. Deeply significant in terms of sociolinguistic and political issues in the Philippine context, and one that goes beyond language and develops into the question of identifying governments and institutional power.”
Both reactors commended the timeliness and relevance of the research presentations, noting how the studies engaged with presenting cultural, educational, and sociopolitical issues in the Philippine context and beyond. In addition to affirming the value of the topics, they offered practical suggestions to further strengthen their papers.
Article and Pubmat by Prizza Mia V. Pil
Photos by Kate Marie S. Getalla
