Education & Culture
students. It is a free-to-use customized, stand-alone computer-based learning
application on the Microsoft Windows operating system meant for Filipinos
wishing to improve their basic English proficiency. LEAP works by correcting
common mistakes made by Filipinos in speaking English: grammatical lapses and
speech sounds. One module focuses on speech training for vowel sounds,
consonants, pronunciation, phrasing, and intonation, while the second module
teaches grammar and vocabulary, including proper use of pronouns, prepositions,
idioms, subject-verb agreement, and reading comprehension.
Featuring a revolutionary speech recognition engine, LEAP was successful in
teaching English grammar, vocabulary and speech to users from partner
institutions in Metro Manila, Bacolod, Bataan, Cavite, Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete,
Pangasinan, and Subic. Pre- and post-assessment tests gathered from 212 users in
these sites showed statistically significant improvements in English proficiency.
Since 2015, LEAP has been adapted by the Department of Information and
Communications Technology and is now being used every day in various DICT
training centers in Metro Manila and Cebu.
LEAP is an offshoot of the Department of Science and Technology’s
Interdisciplinary Signal Processing for Pinoys (ISIP) Program in 2010. It was
collaboratively developed from 2011 to 2015 by the UP Diliman College of Arts
and Letters, the Digital Signal Processing group of the UP Diliman Electrical and
Electronics Engineering Institute, and the Computer Security Group of the UP
Diliman Department of Computer Science.
Funded by: DOST
Going Beyond Nostalgia: Exploring Philippine Modernities
Jose S. Buenconsejo, PhD
College of Music
E-mail: [email protected]
The Philippine Modernities anthology is a collection of 19 essays that curate the
country’s cultural history, including works on theatre, film, language and art. The
project is part of an ongoing movement to develop a national Filipino
consciousness through the arts.
UP Diliman SALIKSIKHAY | 13