Oral History Project

The UP Linguistics Oral History Project is a new series that features anecdotes, narratives, and institutional chismis gathered from members and friends of the UP Lingg Community. By gathering these individual stories, we hope to piece together the collective memory and larger history of the Department and identify the role that it has played in the lives of different people who have been or are currently affiliated with the Department, as well as the role that it has played in the development and promotion of linguistics and language study in the Philippines from 1922 to the present.

LINGG OHP ORIGIN STORIES

In our Lingg OHP “Origin Story” series, we interview some of the alumni of the UP Department of Linguistics to learn about why they chose to study linguistics, their memorable moments from their time studying at the Department, and how their time at the Department and at UP Diliman influenced their lives.

LINGG OHP CHAIR STORIES

In our “Chair Story” series, we interview current and past chairpersons of the UP Department of Linguistics to learn about their experiences at the helm of the Department and their thoughts on where the Department has been and what its future might be like in the next 100 years.

Latest Episode

Oral History Project S02E04: Plan C-Japanese Majors

BA Lingg Plan-C Japanese majors Aldric De Ocampo, Vanne Valerio, Ave De Gracia, Julia Nievera, Angela Dela Cruz, and Pau Co all went to Japan these past two academic years to learn more about the country’s language and culture. Learn more about their experience in this episode!

Season 01

S01E01: Kristina Gallego – Chair Story

In this video, associate professor and current Department chairperson, Dr. Maria Kristina Gallego, shares her experience during her first 100 days as Department Chair, the challenges that she faced, and the preparations that she and other members of the Department have been doing to organize events in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the founding of UP Department of Linguistics.

S01E01.5: Kristina Gallego – Origin Story

In this video, associate professor and current Department chairperson, Dr. Maria Kristina Gallego, talks about how she gradually fell in love with linguistics, the work she wants to continue doing, especially for home community in Babuyan Claro, and the… somewhat… unconventional means by which she was convinced by Prof. Tuting Hernandez to join the UP Linguistics faculty.

S01E02: Jem Javier – Chair Story

In this video, we feature associate professor Jem R. Javier, who served as the Department’s chairperson during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. He talks about the challenges that were faced by the faculty, staff, and students, as well as the Department’s learnings and triumphs during those tumultuous times which continue to shape or inform the work that we do at the Department.

S01E02.5: Jem Javier – Origin Story

In this video, associate professor Jem Javier recounts how he found his way to linguistics after his original plans were foiled. (Trigger Warning: This contains a story of #budol)

S01E03: Dustin Matthew Estrellado

Dustin is a graduate of the bachelor’s program in library and information science at the UP Diliman School of Library and Information Studies. He worked as a student assistant at the Department from 2018-2020 and later served as the Department’s archivist working under the Ernesto Constantino Collection Archiving and Digitization Project from 2021-2023. In this video, he shares his experience working at the Department, the things he learned along the way, and why he thinks working at the Department is fun, but also… fattening?

S01E04: Farah Cunanan – Chair Story

Assistant Professor Farah Cunanan led the Department through “exciting” times from 2016 to 2018. From the collaborations with various institutions and organizations within and outside the University that the Department conducted for the first time in a very long time, to the Faculty Center fire and the major revision of the undergraduate degree program, A/Prof. Cunanan discusses the highlights and the defining moments for the Department during her term as its Chair in this video.

S01E04.5: Farah Cunanan – Origin Story

Assistant Professor Farah Cunanan shares what made her decide to go into linguistics as well as her hopes & future plans for research.

S01E05: John Oliver Monghit

Oliver graduated with a BA in Linguistics in 2017. While still an undergrad, he received a Chinese Government Scholarship to study Mandarin at Dalian University of Technology for one year. He finished his MA in Chinese Language and Literature at Hanyang University in South Korea as a Global Korea Scholarship recipient. He is currently doing his PhD in Humboldt University in Germany, where he is working on his dissertation on Philippine Hokkien under a DAAD Scholarship. In this video, he and MA Ling student John Michael De Pano talk about how Oliver got started in linguistics, the root of his passion for learning Chinese and other East Asian languages, and what he learned from his experiences as a UP Lingg student and from having served as a student assistant at the Department when he was an undergrad, which he still applies in his everyday life and career abroad.

S01E05.5 John Oliver Monghit on Learning Asian Languages

MA Ling student John Michael De Pano chats with BA Ling alum John Oliver Monghit about learning Chinese Mandarin and other East Asian languages. Oliver talks about aspects of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese that make these languages hard or easy to learn, and he gives tips on how to learn foreign languages. Oliver graduated with a BA in Linguistics in 2017. While still an undergrad, he received a Chinese Government Scholarship to study Mandarin at Dalian University of Technology for one year. He finished his MA in Chinese Language and Literature at Hanyang University in South Korea as a Global Korea Scholarship recipient. He is currently doing his PhD in Humboldt University in Germany, where he is working on his dissertation on Philippine Hokkien under a DAAD Scholarship.

S01E06: Mary Dianne Jamindang

MD graduated with a BA in Linguistics in 2022. She is one of the first students whose Lingg 199 capstone research project was published in the Department’s maiden issue of the UP Working Papers in Linguistics Journal, an open access electronic publication featuring preliminary studies and reports on research projects in progress conducted by scholars affiliated with the UP Department of Linguistics. She also presented her study titled “Sakit: A Preliminary Linguistic Analysis of Tagalog Pain Concept and Language” at the webinar “Lexicon Unpacked: Sakit,” which was organized by the Department last November 15, 2022. In this video, MD shares why she decided to take linguistics for her undergrad, what she misses about being a student, and she also talks about job opportunities that are open to linguistics graduates.

S01E07: Tuting Hernandez

In this installment of the UP Linguistics Oral History Project, Associate Professor Jesus Federico “Tuting” Hernandez narrates how he got into linguistics, his memories of being a student of and working with some of the Department’s late senior professors (particularly Dr. Ernesto Constantino and Dr. Consuelo J. Paz), and how the Department developed during the early 2000s to be what it is today.

S01E07.5: Tuting Hernandez on Conducting Fieldwork

In this video, Associate Professor Tuting Hernandez discuss what we can learn from doing fieldwork aside from collecting data. He also shares some of his memories from his past fieldwork and he leaves some reminders on how to conduct one’s self as a researcher working with members of a community.

S01E08: Batch 2023 – Jino Escudero, Brian Baran, Lheane Dizon

BA Ling graduates Jino Antonio Escudero, Brian Baran, and Lheane Marie Dizon sat down together eleven days after the University commencement exercises to talk about their reasons for choosing linguistics, their experiences studying during the pandemic, and job prospects for linguistics graduates for the UP Linguistics Oral History Project.

S01E09: Batch 2023 – Jino Escudero, Keziah Mortel, Briar Tan

Eavesdrop on BA Ling graduates Jino Escudero, Keziah Keren Mortel, and Briar Rose Tan’s conversation on their motivations to transfer to UP and take up BA in Linguistics, their memorable experiences that solidified their decision to stay in the program, and what kept them going during the pandemic and up until graduation.

S01E10: Mhawi Rosero

Meet one of the esteemed alumni of the BA in Linguistics program, Michael Wilson “Mhawi” Rosero! After earning his bachelor’s degree, Mhawi briefly served as a lecturer at the Department before moving on to join the team behind the development of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers at the Philippine Normal University Research Center for Teacher Quality. After completing his master’s in education at the University of Fukui in Japan, he joined the Department of Education where he works together with other specialists in developing the language curriculum that is responsive to the needs of early-grade Filipino students.

S01E11: Jed Pizarro-Guevara

Field psycholinguist and experimental syntactician Jed Pizarro-Guevara has been a visiting research fellow at the Department since 2015. Find out why he keeps returning to the Department (yes, food is one of the reasons), and how he hopes the field of psycholinguistics in the Philippines can move forward in the future in this installment of the UP Linguistics Oral History Project!

S01E12: Cora Larobis

From being an out-of-school youth, Maria Cora Larobis (or “Ate Cora” to her contemporaries at UP), earned her high school diploma and passed the UPCAT at 24 years old. She was first admitted into the BS in Geology program before she shifted to BA Linguistics. She then went on to become an instructor at the Department, a legislative assistant to Satur Ocampo during his term as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, an active member of a human rights organization, and a teacher at a Lumad school as well as other schools for students from lower-income households. She also recently published a Cebuano translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince.” Learn more about Ate Cora’s rich life in this installment of the UP Linguistics Oral History Project!

Season 02

Oral History Project S02E01: The 2024 Graduates of MA Lingg

This year, six students graduated from the MA Linguistics program: Vincci Santiago, Noah Cruz, Edward Estrera, Johans Cruz, Benny Nolasco, and Dave Go. Their works covered different areas, from language description, to historical linguistics, comparative linguistics, and language vitality. Find out their reasons for entering the program, and personal motivations for finishing it in the first episode of the UP Linguistics Oral History Project (OHP) Season 02!

Oral History Project S02E02: Kyung Min Bae

Dr. Kyung Min Bae is an assistant professorial fellow at the Department and the current director of the UP Korea Research Center. For about 15 years now, she has taught Korean language classes at the University and continues to mentor students in their study of the language and culture of Korea. Find out her origin story, why she chose the Department, and how she values mentorship in the second episode of the UP Linguistics Oral History Project (OHP) Season 02!

Oral History Project S02E03: Former Department Representatives

BA Lingg alums Asst. Prof. Jay-Ar Igno, Lecturer Cris Dofitas, Rose Villareal, Soleil Vinoya, and Jco Lastierre, all former Linguistics Department Representatives, share why they ran for their positions and what challenges they faced before in this episode of the UP Linguistics Oral History Project (OHP) Season 02!