THE IMPACT OF UTILIZING PSYCHOANALYTIC AND

SOCIO – CULTURAL APPROACH INTO TEACHING NICK JOAQUIN’S WORK:

BASIS FOR PROPOSED LEARNING PLAN

A Research Paper

Presented to the

School of Advanced Studies

The National Teachers College

In Partial Fulfilment

of the Requirements in the Subject

Research in Philippine Literature

By

Grace O. Dial

Diana Christine S. Limbo

Paolla Mae Rubio

March 2019
 Chapter 1

Introduction

A. Background of the Study

Literature is a mirror of life. It does not merely entertain but it

also educates people and it gives an ephemeral lesson. With the rise of

the internet and the popularity of social media, teaching literature has

gotten more challenging. Millennials would rather scroll on their social

media than open a book. Hence, it is the job of the literature teacher to

spark interest into the mind of the learners into learning literature.

Therefore, the use of different approaches in teaching is necessary to

make meaning more meaningful and interesting. There are different

approaches in teaching literature that a teacher can employ for better

understanding of the lesson and to spark a student’s interest.

Although names such as Shakespeare, Bronte, and Dickens might

cross someone’s mind when literature is mentioned, the Philippines can

have its share of literary figures that it can be proud of, one of which is

Nick Joaquin; a Filipino novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, and

biographer whose works present the diverse heritage of the Filipino

people. His works are found in most literature books and he is indeed a

Filipino pride in the literary word. One cannot study Philippine literature

and not read his work.

 Nick Joaquin is an active writer, who authored various genres,

such as short stories, novels, children’s stories, poems, plays,

biography, and essays, from the young age of seventeen during the pre-

war up until late 1990s. His reading audience reaches generations and

varies among the educated elite and the popular viewing public of classic

movies like Kisapmata (1981 film, directed by Mike de Leon and based

on his reportage, “The House on Zapote Street”) and Tatarin (2001 film,

directed by Tikoy Aguiluz and based on his short story “The Summer

Solstice”) (Devilles and Martin, 2018).

B. Objectives

The study aims to educate both the teachers and their students

with the critical faculties necessary in analyzing and critiquing literary

works using the Psychoanalytic and Socio-Cultural Approaches.

Specifically, the proponents aim the achieve the following:

a. To improve the learning approaches of teachers in teaching

literature.

b. To assess the student’s preference in learning literature.

c. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

C. Statement of the Problem

Using the psychoanalytic and the socio-cultural approaches, this

study analyzes three literary works written by Nick Joaquin that focuses
 on elements, styles and forms. Hence, specific variables are selected to

justify the title of this study.

It seeks to answer the following questions:

a. What are the differences between the psychoanalytic and cultural

approach in discussing the works of Nick Joaquin?

b. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two

approaches?

c. What is the impact of utilizing psychoanalytic and socio-cultural

approach in teaching works of Nick Joaquin?

D. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical background for the study is subscribed to

Psychoanalysis and Socio - Cultural Literary Theories.

There are several theories and approaches in analyzing and

criticizing different literary pieces. One of these approaches is the

psychoanalytic approach which is a theory propounded by the Austrian

physician Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and continued by many others.

It is primarily focused to the study of human psychological functioning

and behavior. It also can be applied to societies, as well.

“Psychoanalysis itself is a form of therapy which aims to cure

mentaldisorder by ‘investigating the interaction of conscious and

unconsciouselements in the mind’” (Barry 96).Psychoanalysis and its

criticism are widely debated and controversial topic for a variety of

reasons. “Of all the critical approaches to literature, this has been one

of the most controversial, the most abused and least appreciated”

(Guerin 125). The main reason for its disrepute is because the very

science of psychoanalysis developed by Freud is flawed and narrow.

“There is a growing consensus today that the therapeutic value of the

method is limited, and that Freud’s life work is seriously flawed by

methodological irregularities” (Barry 96). It is true that many of Freud’s

theories, particularly the ones relating to aspects of sexual behavior may

seem limited in its approach. However, to expose an entire science

because of a few flaws is highly thoughtless. Accordingly, about the

psychoanalysis theory, it is obvious to recognize that no single critical

approach to literature, be it traditional, formalistic or psychological, is

complete in its interpretative powers. When applied correctly to the

relevant literary work, each approach can prove its worth and capacity.

Freud’s idea of the “unconscious”, on which all his theories are based

upon is a breakthrough towards understanding the complex human

psyche which was previously ignored by other theorists. “The

Foundation of Freud’s contribution to modern psychology is his emphasis

on the unconscious aspects of the human psyche” (Guerin 127).

Psychoanalysis (or Freudian Psychology) has three applications

(Arlow, 1964): a method of investigation of the mind; a systematized

set of theories about human behavior and a method of treating

psychological or emotional illness.

Some critics argued that an individual can read psychoanalytically

to see which concepts are operating in the text in such a way as to

enrich our understanding of the work and to yield a meaningful,

coherent psychoanalytic interpretation. In other words, psychoanalytic

critics analyze and interpret a literary piece to give it meaning by looking

into the different elements that form and complete its rationale. It is

exactly what this study aims to achieve. Some critics believe that

readers can reexamine the psyche of the stories’ characters so that the

latter’s actions and motive become clear and definite.

Freud stressed that people's behavior is affected by their

unconscious: "...the notion that human beings are motivated, even

driven, by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are

unaware..."(Tyson,1993). He also held the theory that our unconscious

was influenced by childhood events. Freud organized these events into

developmental stages involving relationships with parents and drives of

desire and pleasure where children focus "...on different parts of the

body...starting with the mouth...shifting to the oral, anal, and phallic

phases..."(Richter,1015). These stages reflect base levels of desire, but

they also involve fear of loss (loss of genitals, loss of affection from
parents, loss of life) and repression: "...the expunging from

consciousness of these unhappy psychological events.”

Psychoanalysis leans on the tendency focus on the borders,

frontiers and fissures, the spaces of difference where relatively well

bounded areas, such as the one hypothesized between conscious and

unconscious psychic life, begin. It is common and normal to assume

that consciousness refers to the state in which we have thoughts and

wishes, make decisions, form intentions, etc., whilst the unconscious

remains (always necessarily) the province of the “unknown.”

The second important theory used in this study is the Socio-

Cultural Approach. It is a theory that is closely related to Psychology

which the researchers also find appropriate for this paper.

The Socio-Cultural Theory is a developing theory in psychology

that looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual

development. This theory emphasizes the interaction between

developing people and the culture in which they live.

It is to be observed that the cultural and social environment are

interconnected. However, it shall be characterized individually here for

the purpose of definition. The cultural environment belongs to the

learned ways of living, the norms of behaviors – folkways, mores, laws,

values, ideas, and patterned ways of the group. Early in life, the

individual integrates into his or her personality, the patterns of

 responses, values, and attitudes of the group. The culture also

standardizes the type of behavior which is believed proper to the

individual of a particular age, sex, and line of work. (Panopio, et al.,

1994)

While the culture of any society establishes the deeper level of its

members’ personality mainly through the practices of child-rearing, its

impact does not end there. Culture goes on to structure the personality

from child rearing and throughout life. Culture works as a guide for the

individual by offering one with models (Linton, 1945:143-144).

Therefore, personality is shaped by culture and depends on one’s culture

and subculture, too.

In turn, cultural instruments are tailored to novel purposes,

allowing the collective cultural commons to evolve and grow. In short,

individual and cultural processes are equally constituting: People

contribute to the creation of cultural processes and cultural processes

contribute to the creation of people.

E. Conceptual Framework

This research is redounded to utilizing Input – Process – Output.

The Input-Output (IPO) Model is a practical graph that recognizes the

inputs, outputs, and essential processing tasks required to convert

inputs into outputs. The model is sometimes organized to include any

storage that might happen in the process as well. The inputs embody
 the flow of data and materials into the process from the outside. The

processing step comprises all tasks required to effect a transformation

of the inputs. The outputs are the data and materials flowing out of the

transformation process.

Input Process Output

Pre-test is
Students' better
conducted
understanding of
before utilizing
Nick Joaquin's
each
works with the
approaches
use of the deviced
learning plan and
Utilizing Conducting the the literary
Psychoanalysis lesson using the approaches
and Socio- learning plan mentioned.
Cultural deviced for the
approaches in students
teaching Nick The professors will
Joaquins work Post test is have further
conducted to knowledge on
see if there is a what better
manifested approach to use in
learning after analyzing works of
conducting the Nick Joaquin.
lessons.

F. Hypotheses

H1 The presence of a utilizing psychoanalytic approach in teaching

works of Nick Joaquin increases students’ learning.

 H2 The presence of a utilizing socio-cultural approach in teaching works

of Nick Joaquin decreases students’ learning.

G. Scope and Limitation

This study “The Impact of Utilizing Psychoanalytic and Socio –

cultural Approach into Teaching Nick Joaquin’s Work: Basis for Proposed

Learning Plan” is limited only to the following short stories by Nick

Joaquin, namely: Summer Solstice, Mayday Eve and The Woman with

Two Navels. The scope of the study involves utilizing Psychoanalysis and

Socio - Cultural Approaches in teaching literary works by Nick Joaquin.

The research will be taking place at The National Teachers College and

the respondents will be 2 professors, who teach Philippine Literature

with approximately 40 students each. The research will also be

administered in one school semester only.

H. Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will redound to the benefit of the following:

Literature Teachers. The result if the study will provide the Literature

teachers, most especially, the Philippine Literature teachers, vast

knowledge and awareness on what literary approach is more effective

to students.

Students. The result of the study will provide the students with some

knowledge on certain literary approaches that they can use in analyzing

and criticizing a literary work.

Future Researchers. Future researchers can benefit from this study

by acquiring new viewpoints in understanding the utilization of

Psychoanalysis and Socio – cultural analysis in studying the works of

Nick Joaquin and Philippine literature, in general.

 Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter presents the related literature and studies after the

thorough and in-depth search done by the researchers. This will also present

the synthesis of the theoretical and conceptual framework to fully understand

the research to be done.

Literature

Deciphering the difficulties in the most pertinent dimensions of culture

is still present even though culture is already omnipresent. According to a

social psychologist Edgar Schein (1996), culture has been described as “a set

of basic tacit assumptions about how the world is and ought to be that a group

of people shares and that determines their perceptions, thoughts, feelings,

and, to some degree, their overt behavior”. He argues that culture might be

taken – for – granted and unconscious assumptions that present culture as

vague and ambiguous. Avoidant behavior and the group counterpart of what

could be repression in the individual would eventually happen if those

assumptions become less open to discussion (Schein, 1990, p.112). Concepts

like unconscious and repression are indeed relevant and prominent in

psychoanalysis. The mentioned concepts are used in research to show that

there is much more to organizational life than meets the eye (Jones & Spicer,

2005).

Jacques Lacan (1901 – 1989), a French psychoanalyst, included the role

of language and its importance in human entry into a culture. This concept

eventually becomes a fundamental dimension in his field and career. Similarly,

Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939), a renowned French psychologist and

psychoanalyst, stressed that psychoanalytic knowledge is relation for instance

to linguist, psychology, sociology and education. According to Freud, normal

functioning of the human psyche and culture has something to do with

psychoanalysis. Amado (1995), argued that regardless if Freudian or Lacanian

perspective, psychoanalytic approach functions to study the constructed

systems managed by individuals with specific capacities and with specific

unconscious dimensions (p.1123).

Freud has influenced literature immensely. Concepts like psycho –

somatic growth of human beings have given a very important and effective

tool of analysis to authors as well as critics to dig deep into the hidden aspects

of an individual’s personalities and their thoughts, especially secret thoughts

(Sharma, n.d.). Psychoanalytic literary criticism used biographical as well as

socio – cultural materials to draw conclusions on the author’s intended

meaning.
 Various psychoanalysts have written about the implications of

psychoanalytic theory for teaching and learning. Although many curriculum

scholars have offered their personal interpretations of the relevance of

psychoanalytic theory to education, there is very little in the educational

literature about what psychoanalysts themselves have had to say about the

acts of teaching and learning since the rise (and, some would suggest, decline)

of psychoanalysis over the last century. This study examines a wide range of

educational themes that emerge from a reading of various psychoanalysts

over the last eight decades. In general, the psychoanalysts argue that, in

order to be existentially authentic, teaching and learning must involve the

teacher and student in all their psychodynamic complexity as emotional and

ethical beings. They also examine the psychodynamic concepts of

transference, counter‐transference, and object relations in some depth

because they have figured prominently in psychoanalytic discourse about

education.

When considering theories of learning professionals should also consider

sociocultural perspectives and the role that culture, interaction, and

collaboration have on quality learning. Modern social learning theories stem

from the work of Russian psychologist Vygotsky, who produced his ideas

between 1924 and 1934 as a reaction to existing conflicting approaches in

psychology (Kozulin, 1990). Vygotsky’s ideas are most recognized for

identifying the role social interactions and culture play in the development of
higher-order thinking skills, and it is especially valuable for the insights it

provides about the dynamic “interdependence between individual and social

processes in the construction of knowledge” (John-Steiner &Mahn, 1996, p.

192). Vygotsky’s views are often considered primarily as developmental

theories, focusing on qualitative changes in behavior over time as attempts to

explain unseen processes of development of thought, language, and higher-

order thinking skills. Although Vygotsky’s intent was mainly to understand

higher psychological processes in children, his ideas have many implications

and practical applications for learners of all ages.

Studies

In a recent study by Mahroof Hossain entitled Psychoanalytic theory used in

English Literature: A Descriptive Study (2017), he aims to aims to explore

where psychoanalysis has been used by the author’s in his/her literary works

in English literature. He argues that “psychoanalysis is one of the modern

theories that are used in English literature” (Hossain, 2017). According to him,

psychological interpretation has become one of the devices to find out the

veiled meaning of a literary text. It also helps to discover the “innate

conglomerate” of the author’s nature and disposition as factors that donate to

his experience from birth to the period of writing a book. The aim of

psychoanalysis was to show that behavior which was triggered by the

communication between unconscious and unco-nsciousness.

 Chapter 3

Research Design and Methodology

To test the research questions established in the Introduction,

experimental research was conducted. The rationale for using this research

strategy is that it allows for a variety of methods to recruit participants, collect

data, and utilize various methods of instrumentation. Experimental research

is any research conducted with a scientific approach, where a set of variables

are kept constant while the other set of variables are being measured as the

subject of experiment. Experimental research involves the systematic

collection of data; a focus on the design itself, rather than the results; planning

changes to independent (input) variables and the effect on dependent

variables or response variables; and ensuring results are valid, easily

interpreted and definitive. Experimental research is one of the

founding quantitative research methods.

For the sake of credibility and validation of the paper, the researcher

uses quantitative methodology. Quantitative research can be described as

“entailing the collection of numerical data and exhibiting the view of

relationship between theory and research as deductive, a predilection for

natural science approach, and as having an objectivist conception of social

reality” (Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2015). In other words, quantitative studies

mainly examine relationships between numerically measured variables with

the application of statistical techniques. Quantitative methods can help

researchers find relevant data about their object of study.

Research Locale

The research was conducted at The National Teachers College, located

at 629 J. Nepomuceno St., Quiapo, Manila. It is a premier education institution

that develops top-level manpower skills. It seeks to further its philosophy,

mission and vision by imparting to its graduates a high degree of competence

in their chosen career, and in their quest for the required specialized

knowledge, training and professional preparation for national and international

endeavours. In this age of convergence, NTC helps graduates excel in a just

& equitable world, armed with wisdom, excellence, relevance, access and

effectiveness in the attainment of national productivity and world-class

competitiveness. All courses are information-technology enhanced with a wide

variety of specialization for personal and professional growth. The National

Teachers College is now owned by Mr. Alfredo Ayala since April 2018 under

ACEducation.

Sampling Procedure and Participants

Purposive sampling was applied to select academic programs within the

The National Teachers College. Purposive sampling (also known as judgment,

selective or subjective sampling) is a sampling technique in which researcher

relies on his or her own judgment when choosing members of population to

participate in the study. Purposive sampling is a non-probability sampling

method and it occurs when “elements selected for the sample are chosen by

the judgment of the researcher. Researchers often believe that they can

obtain a representative sample by using a sound judgment, which will result

in saving time and money” (Black, 2010). Two Philippine Literature professors

from The National Teachers College with approximately 40 students each were

selected to conduct the research. The study was conducted on the first

semester of school year 2018 – 2019.

Data Collection Instruments

As mentioned before, quantitative data collection instrument was used

to obtain a better idea on the effectiveness of using psychoanalytic and socio-

cultural lens in studying the works of Nick Joaquin. The researchers used a

pretest – posttest design as an experiment where measurements are taken

both before and after a treatment. The design means that the researchers

were able to see the effects of some type of treatment on a group. Pretest

posttest designs may be quasi-experimental, which means that participants

are not assigned randomly. However, the most usual method is to randomly

assign the participants to groups in order to control for confounding

variables. The researchers used Randomized Control-Group Pretest Posttest

Design wherein the pre-test post-test control group design is also called

the classic controlled experimental design. The design includes both a control

and a treatment group. Since the researchers wanted to gauge the

effectiveness of psychoanalytic and socio – cultural approach to teaching

works of Nick Joaquin, using randomized control – group pretest posttest

design enabled them to randomly assign participants to a treatment group or

a control group; administer a pre-test to the treatment group and the control

group; use the new teaching method on the treatment group and the standard

method on the control group, ensuring that the method of treatment is the

only condition that is different; administer a post-test to both groups; and

most importantly, assess the differences between groups.

Validation

In the validation process of this study, copies of the pretest and posttest

were given to the research adviser, dean of School of Advanced Studies and

head of English Department of College of Arts and Sciences and College of

Education of National Teachers College. These experts went through the

pretest and posttest carefully to ascertain the appropriateness and adequacy

of the instrument.

Statistical Treatment

To interpret the data effectively, the researchers employed t-test as

their statistical treatment. The t test is one type of inferential statistics. It is

used to determine whether there is a significant difference between the means

of two groups. With all inferential statistics, we assume the dependent

variable fits a normal distribution. T Test is often called Student's T test in the
name of its founder "Student". T test is used to compare two different set of

values. It is generally performed on a small set of data. T test is generally

applied to normal distribution which has a small set of values. This test

compares the mean of two samples. T test uses means and standard

deviations of two samples to make a comparison. The formula for T test is

given below:

Where,

x1¯x1¯ = Mean of first set of values

x2¯x2¯ = Mean of second set of values

S1 = Standard deviation of first set of values

S2 = Standard deviation of second set of values

n1 = Total number of values in first set

n2 = Total number of values in second set.