Colegio De Sta. Lourdes of Leyte Foundation Inc.

Barangay 1 Quezon Tabontabon, Leyte

ENGLISH 11: COMMUNICATION FOR SOCIETY (Purposive Communication)

Module No. 9| Concepts of Social and Cultural Significance in the Philippines

November 1, 2021- November 5, 2021
Date of Submission: November 15, 2021

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• explain what concepts are, through the critical reading of sample documented essays
on concepts of social and cultural significance in the twenty-first century;
• evaluate sample documented essays written by Philippine scholars to explore
techniques of developing and explaining concepts; and
• write an effective documented essay that critically engages with a concept from
Philippine culture.
ACTIVITYLOG

Input Starter
Covid-19 Reminders
Focused Discussion
Assessment
Self-Evaluation
Enrichment
Point of Clarification

INPUT

Starter
Your safety is top priority during this COVID-19. Observe the following safety pre-cautions
below.

Safety Pre-Cautions
Sanitize hands on the way in and on the way out
Don’t touch your face
Wear a face mask at minimum when in the home doing any work
Limit interactions with the home
Don’t touch anything that you don’t need to
Maintain separation distance from others
Carry disinfectants such as sanitizers, alcohols and etc.

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Focused Discussions

Chapter 3| Lesson 3: Concepts of Social and Cultural Significance in the Philippines

The first lessons of Chapter 3 focused on the style of academic writing, research in
the twenty-first century, and writing as a collaborative process. This final lesson
focuses more specifically on how to write a documented essay on a concept of social
and cultural significance. In this final lesson, you will apply what you learned in the
two previous lessons to write a documented essay on a concept of social and
cultural significance, which you will read / present to your peers.

Writing About Concepts

Concept is a term synonymous to idea, notion, or thought. It may also refer to a

perception, conception, or impression of something – a theory or perspective about
something.

Why Do Members of Discourse Communities Produce Essays About Concept?

The answer lies in the given definition of Concepts. Concepcion Dadufalza describes
Concept Paper as an essay explaining the essence of “whatness” of an idea or concept. It
begins with a basic definition and then extends or amplifies this to look at the larger cultural
meaning or significance of the concept. This allows the writer to look at the concept more
closely and critically, and to redefine it in a way that requires “limiting, extending and
redirecting the reference or sense in which the term is commonly understood” (Dadufalza,
1996). Through engaging with old and new definitions, the writer contributes to the dialogue
about concepts and to the knowledge-production of this concept.

In the academic context, everyone must be able to articulate ideas clearly. Writing a
documented essay about a concept will help a writer think beyond shallow definitions and
discover the larger cultural significance of a term or expression, the deeper meaning behind
a practice, belief, attitude, or even an icon. Sometimes, this practice of providing an
elaborated definition will be part of a larger research project. In the opening section of such
study, the writer will need to explain the concept of the study, its importance, and the
perspective that guides it.

Concept Worth Writing

Social and Cultural Significance in Specific Context
1. They have the potential for deeper discovery and critical exploration.

2. They offer richness in material to use as support for the development of ideas,
thoughts, and insights.

3. The academic and thoughtful engagement with these ideas will be beneficial to
society.

Examples and Models of Writing about Concepts

Pinoy Baduy

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 An essay on a concept relevant to Philippine culture, published in Budhi, that
offers a critical and insightful analysis to a Filipino term.

Concept Writing:
Pinoy Baduy Doreen Fernandez Doreen
Fernandez’s “Pinoy Baduy,” originally published in Who magazine in 1982, is available
online via Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture (2002), specifically Volume 5, Issue 36.1.
Fernandez draws on a variety of sources and examples to talk about the meaning of the
expression “baduy”. As the title suggests, she finds a connection between this label and the
“truly Pinoy” experience. For instance, she mentions links between “baduy” practices of
bringing pasalubong and the more general Filipino trait of being accommodating, even
“overly accommodating” (Fernandez, 2002). Fernandez also, quite significantly, links the
label to attitudes relating to class and the wealthy Western world.

An excerpt from Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture Chapter 1
(1992) by Henry Jenkins

It offers an ethnographic account of the media fan community, its interpretive

strategies, its social institutions and cultural practices, and its troubled relationship to the
mass media.

Concept Writing:
Textual Poachers
Henry Jenkins
(From “Get a Life!: Fans, Poachers, Nomads,” Chapter 1 of Textual Poachers:
Television Fans and Participatory Culture)

American media scholar Henry Jenkins is known for his work on fandom and
participatory culture as well as on the convergence of new and old media. The
assigned material, one section of Chapter 1, like his book, is also entitled as Textual
Poachers. The five paragraphs of this section explore the concept of fandom and fan
behavior as a form of active reading. The essay is an academic one written for those in
the fields of literary and cultural studies. Hence, it uses sophisticated language as well
as some jargon from those disciplines. There may be unfamiliar terms in the first
paragraph alone, so it is essential to look these up to understand what Jenkins is
asserting.

The section begins by introducing French scholar Michael de Certeau’s notion

of textual poaching as a form of ‘literary raid’ in which readers are “like nomads
poaching their way across fields they did not write, despoiling the wealth of Egypt to
enjoy it themselves” (quoted in Jenkins, 1992). The second paragraph compares de
Certeau’s model with the traditional model of the reader as the “moreor-less passive
recipient of authorial meaning” and of their “deviant” readings as a “failure to
successfully understand what the author was trying to say” (Jenkins 1992). The text
thus calls into question the authority traditionally given to text producers as well as the
marginalization of the delegitimization of the cultural interests of the readers.

In the third and fourth paragraphs, Jenkins (1992) moves on to talk about how
education and popular reading can be a “force for the democratization of cultural life”
while also calling attention to the challenges posed by academic anxieties about
protecting the status of education and traditional reading practices. The fifth and final

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 paragraph emphasizes the marginality of fans. Jenkins cites Michael Budd, Robert
Eatman, and Clay Steinman, who note that, as nomadic readers, fans “cannot settle
down; they are at the mercy of natural forces they cannot control” (quoted in 2002).
They therefore develop strategies of cultural appropriation – specifically in their
practices of textual poaching, that is, reading texts in alternative ways, writing spinoff
texts and alternative stories, pairing up or “shipping” characters in alternative ways,
and so on. As Jenkins (1992) says, fans “have developed poaching to an art form.”

For the Filipino Woman That You Are

A documented concept paper written by a student in academic writing class.

Concept Writing:
For the Filipino Woman That You Are
Karla Bianca M. Labog

The Filipino phase “kababae mong tao”, is seen in the statement above,
which is uttered as a typical admonition to behave oneself. This phrase, however, is
addressed to women, as explicitly seen in the word kababae, whose root word is
babae, meaning “woman” in Filipino. Upon hearing or seeing this expression for the
first time, one may assume that it talks about the characteristics and lifestyle of a
woman, but it is actually more profound than that because it serves as a means of
gender – stereotyping Filipino women. This expression indirectly states the way women
should behave, what they should be doing in a certain situation, and the actions that
are expected of her.

ASSESSMENT

Learning Activity:

Instructions: For lesson 2 you had to write a documented paragraph. For this
lesson, you will plan, draft, and rewrite a documented essay on a concept.
Since in the previous lesson you work it by pair for this activity you’ll need to
work it in a group, every group must have 10 members each.

NOTE: You will choose another topic for your documented essay.

General topics: A concept from Philippine culture: a term or expression with a

significant cultural meaning behind it (e.g., bahala na, wala lang, push mo yan),
a cultural practice or activity (e.g., bayanihan, Philippine heroism, People
Power, the tingi-tingi system), a cultural icon (e.g., Juan Tamad, Jose Rizal,
Dolphy)

Specific topic:

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Research Questions:
What does _________________mean beyond its literal definition?
What is the larger cultural significance of ____________________?

Main Research Question:

Thesis statement (tentative definition of the concept and its significance):

Tentative title:

List at least ten potential sources to use as examples or support:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Final Task and Rubric

Task: Use the writing plan you completed, draft the documented essay of 1,000
to 1,500 words (5 to 8 pages). Use Times New Roman 12, double-spacing,
oneinch margins all around, indented paragraph beginnings, and no exra
space between paragraphs. Follow MLA – style pagination for page 2 onwards.
Place your name, course and section, and the date of submission on the first
page, along with a word count (e.g., word count = 1,000 words).

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Rubric for Grading the Documented Essay

Unity and Coherence (25%) Has an appropriate and interesting title;

Content and Development (35%)
Language (20%)
Mechanics and Documentation (20%)
has a clearly expressed thesis / central
idea; does not stray off the topic; has
topic sentences that indicate the central
point of each paragraph; is well
organized with transition signals that
show the flow and relationship of ideas
Presents original ideas and insights;
displays critical thinking and analysis;
contains adequate and accurate
supporting points and details; makes
use of well-chosen and reliable sources
to back up the writer’s points;
adequately processes and integrates
borrowed words and ideas
Is written in Standard English and uses
the appropriate style and level of
language (middle or formal); uses
precise, accurate, and grammatically
correct language
Is properly formatted according to the
requirements; follows the specifications
of MLA documentation (direct quotes in
quotation marks, attributions where
necessary, in-text citations, and a
bibliographic list)

SELF-EVALUATION

Rate yourself from 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest while 5 being the highest) on the level of
understanding that you are able to attain for this module:
1 2 3 4 5

ENRICHMENT

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For further learning kindly visit the link given below.
o Axelrod, R.B. & cooper, C.R. (2011). Axelrod and Cooper‘s Concise Guide to Writing,
5th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin‘s http://english28-
payte.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/2/9/38294063/nortonfieldguide2.pdf)

POINTOFCLARIFICATION

Please write any questions or points of clarification about the content of this module:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
REFERENCES

LEARNING REFERENCES:
o Adler, R., Elmhorst. J. M., & Lucas, k (2012) Communicate at work: Strategies for success in business and
the professions. NY : McGraw Hill
o Baker, W. (2o12). From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: culture in ELT. ELT Journal, 66(1),
62-70.
o Bernales, R., Balon, W. and Biligan, R., 2018. Purposive Communication: In Local And Global Contexts.
Malabon City: Mutya Publishing House, Inc.
o Biber, D..& Conrad S. (2009). Register, genre and style. Cambridge: Cambridge University o Bullock, R. &
Goggin, M. (2013). The Norton Field Guide to Writing 3rd edition. W.W. Norton and
Company (See:
http://english28-payte.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/2/9/38294063/nortonfieldguide2.pdf) o Bullock, R.,
Goggin, M. D., & Weinberg, F. (2016). The Norton field guide to writing with readings and handbook. W.
W. Norton. o Chase, r. &Shamo, S. (2013) .Elements of Effective Communication, 4th ed. Washington,
Utah: Plain and Precious Publishing.
o Dainton, M. &Zelley E. (2015) .Applying communication theory for professional life. A practical introduction,
3rd ed. Sage Publishing.
o Kirkpatrick, A. (2007) . ―World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English
Language Teaching. ― English in the World Global Rules, Global Roles. Cambridge University Press.
Lucas, S. (2011). The art of public speaking. NY: McGraw Hill. (see also:
https://www.academia.edu/40918025/The_Art_of_Public_Speaking_12th_Edition)
o Mooney, A. Peccei, J.S., La Belle, S., et al, (2010) ,Language , society and power: An introduction, 3rd ed.
London Routledge.

ISABELL POLON, LPT ldsisabell19@gmail.com

Instructor

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