Maxine Medina’s mentor addresses criticisms about her English skills

A number of a social media users have flocked to the comments section of a video from Maxine Medina's send-off press conference. The beauty queen on Tuesday fielded questions from members of the media and some enthusiastic pageant fans expressed their disappointment with her speaking skills.

"Opening palang mali na nga yung advocacy na pronunciation eh dumagdag pa yung construction of words/sentence and the way she delivers it," one user said.

"Pwede kasing mag-Tagalog. Tayo lang naman mga Pilipino ang maarte at judgmental sa kapwa Pilipino na hindi kagalingan sa Ingles. Kung hindi kaya sa wikang banyaga, bakit hindi gamitin ang sariling wika?" supplied another user.

On Thursday, Medina's mentor Mark Abalos addressed the issue in a lengthy Instagram post.

 

I am writing this post to finally break my silence as one of Maxine's mentors. When I learned that I'm going to work closely with Miss Universe- Philippines, I knew that there will be setbacks along the way. For seven months, we had to meet and spend time together to get things done. We had to work on her personal growth and communication skills simultaneously. I feel bad because of the online bashing that is happening at the moment. It is not something new to me but just to give you a different perspective on the matter, my research (Abalos, 2012) on attitudes of Filipino English language learners show that the interpersonal, sociolinguistic, and sociocultural contexts have to do with how individuals communicate. Situations may be viewed negatively by people who are not completely aware of the process of acquiring and learning a second language in formal and informal learning environments. Larsen-Freeman, Tananuraksakul, and Roh have written on particular aspects of this area of study. You may want to read first before you comment. Maxine has improved a lot. She is hardworking and she's doing her best to become a better version of herself. Please stop comparing her communication skills to previous representatives and candidates. We are second language speakers of English. Errors are normal. Even first language speakers of English commit mistakes, too. At the end of the day, it's just a beauty contest. Maxine will still be beautiful. She'll still be designing interiors. She has a beautiful life ahead. How about you? For those who keep on sending me messages of "concern" and "support", I never doubted Maxine's capabilities. As a language and communication practitioner, it is an honor to be given this responsibility. I know that she has what it takes to represent our country. I am very lucky to have trained one of the most beautiful persons that I've known in this lifetime. In this world full of critics, can we just be supporters instead? Maxine's pageant activities started today at 10 AM with an interview shoot from the Miss Universe team. Show your love by using the #4M4MU when you post pictures and messages of support online. Maraming salamat po. Para sa bayan.

A photo posted by Markisms ? (@laoshifusensei) on

Jan 11, 2017 at 6:26pm PST

"Maxine has improved a lot. She is hardworking and she's doing her best to become a better version of herself. Please stop comparing her communication skills to previous representatives and candidates. We are second language speakers of English. Errors are normal. Even first language speakers of English commit mistakes, too," Abalos wrote in Medina's defense.

He added, "At the end of the day, it's just a beauty contest. Maxine will still be beautiful. She'll still be designing interiors. She has a beautiful life ahead. How about you?"

Medina herself has not addressed her bashers, sharing photos of her pageant sisters instead and thanking them for their support. — Aya Tantiangco/BM, GMA News