: Semantic Relations of the Indigenized English Lexemes in Cebuano

: This study investigated the use of indigenized English lexemes (IELs) in Cebuano, specifically focusing on the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Language Education (MTB-MLE) Sinugbuanong Binisaya textbooks. These IELs have been prevalent despite the existence of the equivalent words and language policy being enforced. Specifically, this study sought to: identify the linguistic features of the IELs; determine the semantic relations associated with the IELs; and explore how Cebuano IELs reflect the cultural norms of its users. A qualitative research design was employed, utilizing textual analysis and thematic analysis. The findings reveal notable phonological and morphological features in the IELs. Phonologically, insertion, deletion, and substitution processes were observed, while morphologically, changes in the inflectional affixes of verbs were highlighted, specifically through the use of the common affixes gi, i, -i, and nag-. Furthermore, the IELs exhibit various semantic relations that include contrasts, similarities, class inclusion, case relations, and part-whole relationships. Finally, emergent themes demonstrate how IELs in Cebuano reflect the cultural norms of its users, encompassing preferences in teaching styles, classroom observations involving IELs, teaching goals and intentions, thoughts and attitudes, and challenges encountered with the MTB-MLE program. The study concludes that language borrowing offers functional advantages and remains essential even in the teaching of a mother tongue such as Cebuano. Future studies could explore IELs in informal contexts such as magazines, advertisements, and social media, investigate the semantic changes of IELs in Cebuano, and conduct longitudinal studies on the effects of the MTB-MLE program on its learners.


Introduction
The use of English loanwords in different languages has remained to be an intriguing subject by a number of researchers looking at it in different perspectives (Jarrah, 2013;Zenner et al., 2019;Zibin & Al-Tkhayneh, 2019 among others). Because of the rampant use of loanwords, one of the major Philippine languages, Cebuano (also known as Binisaya or Bisaya), has greatly been influenced to the point that even its Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) textbooks provided by the Department of Education (DepEd) has been using indigenized English lexemes (IELs) (Echavez, 2016) despite having the potential to use or coin equivalent Cebuano native words.
The MTB-MLE is among the latest developments in the Philippine educational system since 2012 wherein the learners' mother tongue is used as the medium of instruction in all subject areas from Kindergarten through Grade III (Philippines Department of Education 1) except for English subjects. Since the Philippines is a multi-lingual country, 12 major regional languages were specified starting in 2012 to be used as languages of instruction -one of which is Cebuano language for speakers in Visayas and Mindanao. This was initiated as part of the national goal in bridging learners from their first language to other languages of instruction (Gempeso & Mendez, 2021) as several studies have shown that the use of the first language in basic education could have positive impact to literacy development (Galloway et. al., 2022).
Additionally, /ɪ/ has two variations. It has the high, front, unrounded tense [i] and mid, front, unrounded lax [ɛ]. The /ʊ/ also has two variants that include the mid, back, rounded lax [ɔ] and the high, back, rounded tense [u]. The use of [ɛ] and [ɔ] are common in borrowed words. All these vowel sounds are in free variation. In other words, it will not lead to meaning differences when pronouncing one using its variant (Endriga, 2019;Pesirla, 2019). The vowel sounds in Cebuano may vary depending on the speaker and the location, however, such language offers tolerance to variations such that it does not because meaning differences with the type of vowel sound variant used.
With the Cebuano MTB-MLE textbooks, much has been observed not only on the use of code-mixing technique, but particularly on the nativization of loanwords from having the linguistic features of English language to eventually adapting linguistic features of Cebuano language. The commonly observed IELs in the learning materials include kolori for color (verb) and i-drowing for draw (verb) instead of using their equivalent native words such as buloki and i-dibuho, respectively.
Several literatures have studied loanwords in Cebuano especially with the affixation processes employed as a product of indigenization. The study of Llido (2006) explains that the internal argument canonical structure of the grammar of the verb in Cebuano is regulated by the inflectional affixes system. Sales (2022) also conducted a descriptive-qualitative study of the English borrowed words in Cebuano Visayan vocabularies mentioned by Generation Z. Findings show that most Cebuano Visayan affixes occur in verbs, and that the adjectives borrowed do not have significant changes in meaning, rather function as an auxiliary in the English word accompanied with it.
Moreover, Echavez (2016) studied about the features of Cebuano lexical items from the MTB-MLE textbooks and Facebook using the multi-grounded theory. Results reveal that native Cebuano lexemes dominate as the choice code, followed by English loanwords, and then the indigenized English lexemes. Also, the semantic fields come from various areas. And, it was found out that Cebuano modernization takes the forms of the adoption of English lexemes and adaptation leading to indigenization. Furthermore, Justol (2018) studied about the English loanwords in selected Cebuano-Visayan News Dailies focusing on the linguistic acculturation of English loanwords. Results reveal that acculturation was observed through orthographic nativization aside from the directly borrowed words from English.
In addition, Pitogo (2022) also examined the nativized Hispanic borrowed words in Cebuano Visayan editorial. Findings reveal that the Hispanic borrowed words fall among nouns, adjectives, and verbs, and that all nouns have undergone lexical nativization, while the rest reveal nativized spellings with some affixes. Kelly (2015) also explored the phonotactics of Eskayan and Boholano-Visayan varieties where nativized English words were found.
However, these studies only dealt with analyzing either the phonological or morphological aspects of the borrowed English lexemes. Also, these studies only focused on English loanwords which may have only dealt with potential loans (as opposed to full-pledged loans) especially in informal contexts. These studies also relied mostly on lexical analysis of data. In other words, these studies have not undergone examination of IELs (full-pledged loans) specifically those incorporated in the MTB-MLE textbooks for Cebuano which may have implications to the MTB-MLE program implementation.
To emphasize, this study is significant as it investigated the linguistic features (phonological and morphological changes) applied to English loanwords necessary to understanding the nativization processes considering the constraints and repair techniques of the borrowing language. This also explored the semantic relations of the IELs present in the Cebuano MTB-MLE textbooks to understand the susceptibility of Cebuano language to English language even in academic materials which were supposed to teach the native language to its speakers. This study highlights how Cebuano IELs reflect cultural norms, which is important for identifying potential improvements in DepEd materials. It contributes to the research field by shedding light on the vulnerability and dynamic nature of languages like Cebuano when influenced by prestigious languages such as English.

Participants
A total of 21 purposively selected participants from the different primary schools in Northern Mindanao (Region X) participated for the structured interviews. These participants were chosen based on the following criteria: those who have handled MTB-MLE subjects for at least one year, and those who have the experience-teaching learners even before the implementation of the MTB-MLE program.

Materials and Instrument
A five-item interview guide (Appendix A) with corresponding probing questions were used for the structured interviews. Following the instrument, first, participants were asked about their background such as their school, gender, and position. Second, they were asked about the language that they speak in their classroom (e.g., Cebuano, Filipino, and English) when teaching MTB-MLE classes, with probing questions such as the time that they usually use such language and as to which one they prefer speaking. Third, they were asked of their awareness with IELs in the MTB-MLE textbooks and how they usually deal with them. Fourth, they were inquired of their thoughts about the use of IELs in MTB-MLE materials -their expectations prior to the implementation and actual observations. Fifth, they were asked to share the challenges they have faced and on how they have addressed them. Lastly, their insights whether IELs should be used or not in MTB-MLE materials for Cebuano were noted with emphasis on the importance of the issue to them and other users.

Design and Procedure
This study made use of descriptive qualitative research designs particularly textual analysis and thematic analysis. Textual analysis was employed in analyzing IELs from the Cebuano MTB-MLE textbooks. With this, the analysis of linguistic features was done which relies greatly on phonological features and morphological features as part of loanword adaptation processes. Also, textual analysis was employed in examining the semantic relations of the IELs in order to understand associations of the meaning of words and the functional domains to which IELs belong.
Additionally, this study employed thematic analysis for a comprehensive discussion of the events encountered by individuals (Blackett et al., 2022) who are the users of Cebuano MTB-MLE textbooks. With this design, the users' perspectives on the use of IELs in Cebuano MTB-MLE textbooks were gathered, analyzed, and presented to show how their cultural norms have been affected by the IELs' existence even in learning materials that aim for boosting knowledge of the first language.
Several approaches were used in the analysis of data. With regard to the first objective of the study, linguistic features of the IELs were analyzed according to the TCRS proposed by Paradis (1988) and Paradis and LaCharite (1997). Then, the semantic relations were analyzed using the Relation Element theory proposed by Chaffin and Hermann (1988). This theory lists down 31 types of semantic relationships categorized into five areas: contrasts, similars, class inclusion, case relations, and part-whole semantic relationships. Furthermore, a five-item interview guide was used to gather data on how IELs have influenced the cultural norms of the users. The interview guide contains five major questions with corresponding probing questions.
Moreover, the collection of IELs came from all of the Cebuano textbooks from Kindergarten through Grade III. This means that the sources of the corpus were not just the MTB-MLE textbooks, but also those textbooks, which are using Cebuano as the mother tongue. Then, the IELs were noted one-by-one and were placed in an inventory. Each of them was analyzed according to the guide anchored upon the theories considered in the study.
Furthermore, the following key steps were undertaken in the data collection process particularly with interviews. First, permission to conduct the study was secured. A letter of consent was sent to the principals of the public elementary schools. Once approved, informed consent forms were given to the identified participants of the study who are teachers in the lower grades. Second, the researcher started the gathering of data with those who have set the earliest schedule down to the last to save time and resources. Before the interview, participants were informed of their right to ask for clarifications, withdraw, or finish the interview. They were also informed that the data collected will only be used solely for the purpose of the study. Third, the interview commenced. Also, the answers of the participants were audio-recorded. Lastly, data transcription followed. Thematic analysis was utilized to gather repeated patterns from the interview. These themes were generated by using codes and categories in order to detect, analyze, and report data patterns gathered from the interview (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
In establishing trustworthiness of the study, validity and reliability of the qualitative data is emphasized according to the criteria of trustworthiness proposed by Lincoln & Guba (1985). Moreover, strong adherence to the guidelines and ethical protocols was guaranteed as set forth by the University of Mindanao Ethics Review Committee.

Phonological Features
Using the Theory of Constraints and Repair Strategies (TCRS), the linguistic features of the IELs were mainly analyzed according to the phonological changes, specifically highlighting the insertion, deletion, and substitution processes. The insertion processes observed on the IELs were of three types: prothesis, epenthesis, and paragoge.
For the deletion process, only the omission in the last syllables were observed such as the dental /t/. Moreover, the substitution processes include vowel substitution, palatalization, devoicing, and stopping.
To properly and clearly present the results of the phonological features, phonetic transcription is used with the source words through the use of forward slashes based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as some diacritic marks and notations are used representing the actual sounds produced in a specific context. Whereas, phonemic transcription is used for the IELs as it only represents abstract sounds. Nonetheless, the Cebuano language does not possess specific transcriptions, particularly for vowels, that would result in changes in the meanings of words (Tanangkingsing, 2022).

Insertion
Insertion is of three types: prothesis (word-initially), epenthesis (word-medially), and paragoge (word-finally) (Shah et al., 2022). Table 1 presents the phonological insertion process of IELs in the initial position. As shown, prothesis in Cebuano IELs is consistently displayed among English lexemes that start with voiceless fricative /s/ followed by voiceless stops /p/, /k/, and /t/. The insertion of the near-close, near-front, unrounded vowel /ɪ/ is consistently remarkable in the initial position creating another established syllable. This insertion is evident due to the influence of Spanish words with English equivalents that begin with "s."  Table 2 presents the phonological insertion process of IELs within the lexeme. As presented, epenthesis in Cebuano IELs found in the MTB-MLE materials are mostly expressed with the high, front, unrounded, lax /ɪ/. Its usual insertion is near towards the end of the English lexemes that end with -ion.
As shown, the insertion of the phoneme /ɪ/ can be clearly observed between the phonemes /s/ and /j/ because Cebuano language does not allow a CC consonant cluster in foreign words preceded by a consonant just like the borrowed English lexemes listed in Table 2. This means that for every English lexeme containing the morphemes -cion, -sion, -tion, or -xion, the Cebuano orthography requires an insertion of the /ɪ/ phoneme in the middle of the CC cluster, which is in consonance to the Preservation Principle held by the TCRS (Paradis & LaCharite, 1997). Also, the phoneme /ɪ/ is observed in some English lexemes that have a CC (consonant-consonant) sequence such as in interest and biscuit which are eventually pronounced as [ɪntɪrɪs] and [biskʊwit], respectively, in the Cebuano language. These findings support the preservation principle of the TCRS model, which suggests that vowels are inserted within CC consonant clusters to align with the orthographic and phonological characteristics of the recipient language (Apostolopoulou, 2021). Table 3 also reveals another phonological insertion process situated in the final syllable of Cebuano IELs. This insertion is executed with the unrounded open front vowel /a/ such as in the words texture and metaphor. As revealed, the lexemes texture and metaphor in English have undergone indigenization in Cebuano by the insertion of the vowel /a/ in the final position making both of them have an added syllable pronounced as /ra/ instead of just producing the final sound /r/ in the final segment. This is so because Cebuano has its history with Spanish language and later on with the English language (Pitogo, 2022; Tanangkingsing, 2022). Because of this contact, some borrowed English words were treated to be Spanish words by adding the phoneme /a/ in the final position of a word. Table 4 presents the consonant deletion process as a repair strategy of the IELs in Cebuano. This observation is found consistent among the source words which contain the sound /t/ in the ultima (last syllable). This adaptation process happens because Cebuano only mostly applies consonant clusters in the onset (Genon-Sieras, 2020). Also, the language prohibits the consonant cluster phonemes /st/ in the ultima (last syllable) the reason that the phoneme /t/ has to be dropped and only retain the fricative sound /s/ in the word to meet with the phonological requirements of the borrowing language.

Substitution
The substitution processes undergone by the IELs include vowel substitution, palatalization, devoicing, and stopping. Table 5 presents the vowel substitution from /e/  /a/ as observed among several of the IELs. Based on the results, this kind of substitution only takes place in the medial position of the IELs. However, this vowel phonemic inventory has evolved into five vowel phonemes becoming a standard Cebuano with the /a/ (an open front unrounded vowel), /ɛ/ (an open-mid front unrounded vowel), /i/ (a close front unrounded vowel), /o/ (a close-mid back rounded vowel), and /u/ (a close back rounded vowel) when contact of Spanish began. With this, the phoneme /a/ is used in order for it to be aligned with the modern-day Cebuano though it may sometimes be produced as /ʌ/. Nevertheless, the meaning of the word is still the same regardless of the phoneme used.
Furthermore, Table 6 reveals another vowel substitution found common among the IELs. Several of the English lexemes with the low, front, tense vowel /ae/ phonemes were substituted with the open, front, unrounded sound /a/ in the recipient language. Palatalization is another substitution process that happens when there is a consonant-to-vowel co-articulation (Iskarous & Kavitskaya, 2010). Table 7  sound in its phonemic inventory (Pitogo, 2022), and the nearest possible sound replacement of such phoneme is the attachment of the phoneme /j/ succeeding the phoneme /d/.  Table 8 discloses the devoicing process undergone by the IELs. Results reveal that the voiced alveolar sound /z/ is substituted with the voiceless alveolar sound /s/. and, this finding is true to whichever position the sound is situated. The indigenization process employed through devoicing as a repair strategy reveals that Cebuano language prohibits the phoneme /z/ in its phonemic inventory. The Cebuano language does not have the sound /z/ in its phonemic inventory (Endriga, 2019) but the sound /s/ is nearest to it -the reason for the adaptation changes to suit with what is available in the borrowing language.  Table 9 demonstrates the substitution of the sounds /f/ with /p/ in the initial and medial positions. Stopping is a substitution process in which continuing consonants or affricates (e.g. /f/ and /v/) are replaced with stop consonants /p,t,k,g,b,d/ (Paradis, 1988;Syadar et al., 2021). Substitution of /f/ with /p/ is one substitution process evident among the Cebuano IELs. This substitution takes place because the voiceless, bilabial, stop /p/ is the nearest equivalent phoneme to the voiceless, labiodental, fricative /f/.
Additionally, another stopping technique was also noticed among the IELs that have the voiced, labiodental, fricative /v/ phoneme. Such phoneme from the donor language becomes voiced, bilabial, plosive /b/ when adapted in Cebuano as it is the only available nearest phoneme to the borrowing language. Table 10 presents the adapted phonetic transcription of IELs in Cebuano showing the substitution of /v/ sound to /b/ sound. This repair strategy occurs because the affricates /f/ and /v/ are not present in the Cebuano inventory and the phonemes /p/ and /b/ are the nearest ones, respectively. With this, IELs need to drop and replace because the consonant sounds in Cebuano is only limited to 16 phonemic consonants (Mira, 2022) which excludes the affricates mentioned. Based on the discussion on phonological features, the most prevalent repair strategy used among IELs is substitution which occurs among vowel and consonant sounds. This result is true to the study of Mufwene (2015) stating that more substitutions are made among Basilect speakers like Cebuano.  Table 11 presents the summary of the verb inflections of voice, mood, and aspect among IELs. These findings reveal that the common affixes in relation to verb affixation include gi-, i-, -i, and nagas evident among the IELs in the textbooks. These results strengthen the concept that language transfer is a two-way process that allows an interaction between two languages (Li-Jen et al., 2016). In this study, the second language (English) influences the first language (Cebuano) as proven by the presence of IELs in Cebuano even in its learning materials provided by the Department of Education. In return, the first language also influences the second language by employing some linguistic changes to the foreign words to conform to the available inventory of linguistic features of the borrowing language.

Morphological Features
The IELs have undergone repair strategies in its phonology and some morphological processes as to verb affixation to adhere to the limited Cebuano phonemic inventory. These results, however, are only limited to the IELs from the Cebuano MTB-MTE textbooks, which means, a profound conclusion could be made when the scope of the data source is widened.

Semantic Relations of the Indigenized English Lexemes
Specific symbols are used to distinguish the different types of semantic relations. These symbols include single slash (/) for contrast, equal sign (=) for synonymity, greater than sign () for class inclusion, asterisk (*) for case relationships, and a left arrow () for part-whole relations.

Contrast
Within this family, there exist relations where one term's meaning contrasts, contradicts, or opposes another term. Results reveal two types: asymmetric contrary and contrary. Asymmetric contraries are relations that express opposing terms in a continuous dimension which makes the imperfect symmetry of the relationship not generally regarded as antonymic. The IELs falling under this semantic relation include plastik (plastic)/seramik (ceramic), komiks (comics)/diurnal (journal), and proteksiyon (protection)/inpeksiyon (infection). Moreover, there are also pairs of terms that express contrary semantic relations. It unveils relationships that express opposing terms symmetrically along a continuous dimension (Kabir et al., 2023). These IELs are lokal (local)/unibersal (universal), and awtu-awtu(auto)/awtu (auto[mobile]).
As observed, this semantic relation conveys salient attributes of one term to resemble those of another.
In other words, these attributes are indispensable qualities of the terms indicated.

Class Inclusion
This family, also known as hyponymy, consists of relations that include one term whose denotation incorporates that of another term (Kabir et. al., 2023). Unlike other semantic relation families, this family has no clear logical grounds for the distinctions (Chaffin & Hermann, 1988). However, some of the IELs gathered are observed to fall under two types, which form the basis of the inclusion relation. It is discovered that perceptual subordinates and functional subordinates are two of the six families under class inclusion in which IELs could be classified.
Moreover, functional subordinates include land transport and air transport. The hyponyms of land transport include tren (train), awtu (auto), and dyip (jeep), while the air transport includes the hyponyms helikopter (helicopter) and ayroplano (airplane).

Case Relationships
Relations in this family consists of a predication or attribution diversely described as case, syntactic, or syntagmatic relations in which the assignment of given attributes of cases of verbs help explain inferences (Kabir et al., 2023).  Table 12 unveils all five case relationships in which IELs are categorized. There are two for agent action, two for agent instrument, one for agent object, five for action recipient, and one for action instrument.

Part-Wholes
Similar to class inclusion, relations implicate pragmatic inclusions instead of being necessary. Relations of terms are in a specific spatial and functional configuration which is needed for the complete and proper functioning of the whole Chaffin & Hermann, 1988). Also, relations could be based upon heterogenous parts or homogenous parts. The part-whole relations expressed among the IELs include kard (card)  impormasyon (information), eksam (exam)  aytem (item), and tsart (chart)  impormasyon (information). These IELs reveal a functional type of part-whole relations. This phenomenon happens as a result of the various interactions (intralinguistics or extra-linguistics) between different linguistic communities (Arçin, 2022). Table 13 presents the themes and sub-themes, which were extracted through the QDA Miner software. Based on the analysis, five themes emerged, namely: teaching style preferences, class observation with IELs, goals and intentions in teaching, thoughts and attitudes towards MTB-MLE, and challenges with MTB-MLE. First, the teaching style preferences of the users demonstrate three sub-themes, namely: use of Cebuano as the main language, use of English as a bridging channel, and use of IELs as an indispensable aid.

Emergent Themes Manifesting How Cebuano IELs Reflect the Users' Cultural Norms
Cebuano as the main language used in teaching MTB-MLE subject along with other subjects set in Cebuano implies that Cebuano is the choice code, but other languages are also used in teaching. This means that the teaching style also relies upon another language, which is English. One of the participants mentioned the following: P2: I really use the mother tongue in all subjects. In fact, even in our English (subject), I translate. But I basically use Cebuano; only that sometimes, I use English so they will understand.
[Sa tanan subject, ga mother tongue jud ko. In fact, bisan sa English namo kay ga translate ko. Pero, I basically use Cebuano jud but sometimes, English para makasabot sila.] The lines expressed by P2 reveals that Cebuano language is used but with English to accompany such use for the learners to understand during class discussion. Moreover, part of the teaching style preferences among the users is the use of English as a bridging channel. This implies that not all learners understand the Cebuano words used in the textbooks, and that users are doing bridging in class, which users mean "translation." P8: I am aware that they come from English. That's why I do bridging and eventually adapt these IELs because these are.. these are the words common to my learners since they were young.
["Aware ko nga gikan ni sila English. Maong ga bridging mi ug eventually gi adapt namo ning IELs kay mao raman, mao naman ni ang mas nabal-an sa mga bata sukad pa sa gagmay pa."] The preceding concepts suggest that English is not merely idle on the sidelines. Its presence is always necessary to serve as a bridge for learners to comprehend and derive understanding from class discussions.
Also, another sub-theme is the use of IELs as an indispensable aid in teaching. Based on the data, users deem IELs as a constant help in their MTB-MLE classes. This means that IELs always occupy a portion during their class discussion despite the language policy being enforced. The succeeding lines reveal some proofs: P1: If I were to choose, I would still stick to using them because for me, the child has been exposed to them, and has been using them.
[Kung ako'y papilion, sila jud japon kay for me, mas na expose na ang bata diha unya sige na sila ana ug gamit.] Second, class observation with IELs is another theme that occurred showing how positive users are in dealing with IELs in their classrooms. Two sub-themes emerged, namely: quick understanding and smooth class discussion.
Apparently, IELs offer quick understanding. From the interview, it was frequently mentioned that users find IELs a "helping hand" for their learners to understand the texts easily. The succeeding sample lines reflect this realization: P1: There are deep Cebuano terms used just like "i-dibuho," but they could not understand it. So, these IELs actually help them because they're used to it.
[Naay mga lalom nga mga Cebuano words ginagamit pareho anang "i-dibuho," pero di man sila kasabot uy. So, makatabang jud ning IELs sa ilaha kay anad man sila.] Also, IELs offer smooth class discussion. Users have generally aired that if it were not for the IELs, their class discussion would have been chaotic. This implies that IELs occupy an important role during class discussion.
The following assertions reveal this outcome: P9: In our art subject, when I write "i-dibuho," I would also place alongside it the word 'i-drowing' inside a parenthesis so they will have a guide, and easy to understand.
[Sa among art subject, kung magsulat ko'g "i-dibuho," isulat pod nako sa kilid niya.. sa sulod sa parenthesis ang "i-drowing" para naa sila'y guide, aron dali masabtan.] Third, the goals and intentions in teaching also reflect the cultural norms of the users in relation to IELs.
Three sub-themes were observed, namely: comprehension as priority, ease as a need, and flexibility as an option.
It cannot be denied that users deem comprehension as their priority in teaching. The data reveal that even though they have the knowledge that some of the words they use in class and those from textbooks are not of Cebuano in origin, they still use them because their goal, anyway, is for their learners to gain understanding of what is being discussed, rather than focusing on inculcating Cebuano terms in the learners' minds. The following segments support this finding: P7: It's good to know that our supervisor is also flexible with this matter. She said that we just have to use whatever is understood by the child.
Moreover, users were found to have deemed ease as a need in teaching. They believe that teaching, on their side, has been tough already that they need, at some point, to ease their burden. This, at least, could be done by just using IELs in their classes as they have observed that learners understand and use them, requiring only a little effort when teaching. Extracted lines are shown: P6: For me, if I were to look at easing the teaching and learning process, I am good with them, especially with the kind of generations that we have today.
[Kung sa ako lang bitaw maam noh, kanang….kung tan awon nato ang pagpadali sa teaching and learning process, ok rajud ko sa ilaa maam, ilabina sa atong generations today.] Furthermore, users have also reflected flexibility as an option in teaching. Based on the data, they are just flexible with whatever language is used in the classroom. This means that they do not mind whether they use IELs or use their exact Cebuano equivalents as long as their choices cater to the needs of their learners. Some of the extracted lines are shown below: P3: So, I'm just flexible. I don't quite force my learners to digest Bisaya. You need to have a solution to such situation so that the learners' needs will be addressed.
[So, flexible rako. Dili kaayo nako gina pugos ang Bisaya sa ilang tanan. Maong dapat naa jud ka'y solusyon sa situation para ma address rapod ang needs sa learners.] Fourth, the users' thoughts and attitudes towards MTB-MLE also contain their practices as agents in pushing forward the MTB-MLE implementation. This theme consists of three sub-themes, namely: negative expectations, negative stance, and negative experiences.
The users' negative expectations towards the implementation of the MTB-MLE program have been found to be dominant. Before it was implemented, they already expect something negative from it -thinking it is unnecessary and pointless. The succeeding lines reveal some of the significant thoughts: P15: I was wondering why the plan for its implementation when everything was just fine. So, I was negative about it.
[Sauna, nag wonder jud ko nga naa pa ni nga okay raman unta ang tanan. Negative jud ko.] Moreover, users have also expressed negative stance on the program. Most of them seemed to follow the program against their will, which makes it consistent to the first sub-theme. The following lines show some examples of this thought: P4: …it's better if we don't have this. I believe this should not be taught in school anymore.
[…mas maayo ug wala nalang gyud unta ni oy. Dili naman ni kinahanglan pa'ng itudlo sa iskwelahan.] Additionally, users have also shared their negative experiences with the program. It was conveyed that teaching only makes matters worse in the classroom, and that the program only brings added burden to both teachers and learners. The following extracts reflect these bad experiences: P4: … there are a lot of non-readers today in the higher grades because they have been used to Bisaya in the lower grades. That's why they are struggling.
[… daghan na kaayo ug non-readers gyud karon sa higher grades kay naanad man sila ug Bisaya sa lower grades. Mao nga ga-lisod gyud sila sa English.] Lastly, the IELs also reflect the cultural norms of the users as expressed in the challenges encountered with MTB-MLE. This theme consists of four sub-themes, namely: unfamiliar Cebuano words, uncoordinated textbooks, inadequate supply of learning materials, and lack of training and reinforcement.
Predominantly, users have found a number of unfamiliar Cebuano words from the textbooks they think have given them additional battles in teaching. This means that because of these unfamiliar words, they opt to just utilize IELs because these are better understood by them and their learners. Some of the relevant lines are presented: P20: I'm okay with its (IELs) use because learners cannot understand those deep Bisaya words, anyway. They understand these better.
[Ok rajud ko sa iyang gamit kay dili manpod sila makasabot atong mga laglom nga Bisaya words. Mas masabtan ni nila.] Another sub-theme is the uncoordinated textbooks. This is found to be among the challenges encountered by the users which eventually triggers them to opt in using IELs in their MTB-MLE classes. Some of the salient segments are shown below.
P5: Terms should be localized and contextualized. It uses "dibuho" when in fact, such term is not commonly used in our locality.
[Maayo unta ma-localize siya ug contextualized. Kay gagamit siya ug "dibuho" unya dili mani ginagamit sa among dapit.] Moreover, another sub-theme is the inadequate supply of learning materials. As they have expressed, this problem led them to just eventually make use of the IELs even with some knowledge of their non-English origins.
The following lines reveal this finding: P9: It would be nice to have additional materials so we don't have to ask whomsoever and whatsoever anymore especially ourselves don't even know.
[Mas nindot pod ug naay additional materials para dili nami mag-diin diin ug pangita samot na'g utro pod mi galisod.] Additionally, the lack of training and reinforcement is a sub-theme also worth noting. It was frequently mentioned that they did not have enough background of the implementation. They were not able to attend relevant orientation and training. They also have hardly received reinforcements from stakeholders. These left them hanging, and thus, eventually choose whatever decisions they think are best and acceptable in teaching under the program. A sample segment is shown below: P11: There should be more seminars conducted to build foundation in us teachers, because at times, we seem to be left hanging.
[Maayo unta ug naay mga seminars ani para maka build pod ug foundation sa amoa mga teachers kay sahay murag dili na sumabot.] These findings reveal that users welcome the use of IELs in textbooks even with the availability of Cebuano equivalents and the MTB-MLE program implementation. This choice is a result of their observations and experiences inside and outside of the classroom. They find their learners able to understand and use them in speech. They have also observed that these IELs offer positive results in their class discussion and positive behavior towards their learners. This outcome is true to the study of Osborne (2020) and Parba (2018) stating that in a bilingual classroom, teaching cannot purely use one language for the entire duration. As the results of the study are only on the surface level, an in-depth study regarding the effect of the mother tongue towards learning English as the second language may be conducted.

Conclusion
Phonological and morphological changes are crucial in indigenizing lexemes. Also, Cebuano IELs primarily pertain to food, transportation, technology, and other advancements, and have naturally become part of the language's ownership. IELs also play an important role even in the teaching of Cebuano as the mother tongue, as they have become integrated and embraced within the language over time. Future researches may widen the scope of the data source by exploring the use of IELs from informal contexts such as magazines, advertisements, and social media platforms in order to have a comprehensive data analysis and findings about its influence towards the Cebuano language. Also, they may also include investigating the semantic changes of the IELs to have an in-depth account of the manifestations of language borrowing. Moreover, a longitudinal study on exploring the effect of the MTB-MLE program to its corresponding learners may be done to check the effectiveness of the program.