CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

“Gel guh salek ti kalbong tubed blaan di banwe, Git lito guh

samfo yo gamo guh samfo guroh” . (Sige nako gipangutana kung unsa

na kadako ang lugar nga giakupar sa mga B’laan, Unsang dugo nga

nag latay sa imong kaugatan mao usab sa akoa.) (I always ask if how

big is the place that was occupied by the B’laan, What is your origin is

the same with mine).

That was the introductory line of a B’laan song being played

over the radio when someone passed a certain house in their vicinity.

That person became interested to the song. This could be a good

material to be used in the class. And that person knew that song could

lead him to many mysterious things about the B’laan culture.

Living in an indigenous community for 10 years enables

someone to get interested on their culture, traditions, language and

literature. The culture is interesting and inviting. Their traditions are

still practice by some of their people. Their language is confusing but

exuberating that makes someone wants to know it more. People in the

surrounding have different stories to tell. Their stories have been

transmitted from generation to generation. It is the most exciting

understand on how they perceive things.

Knowing the oral narratives of a certain group of people is not

easy but it leads to the discovery of one aspects of their culture. In

Africa, most have revered good stories and storytellers, as have most

past and present peoples around the world who are rooted in oral

cultures and traditions. This simply means that oral narratives bring

many collections of stories from the ancient time until the present. The

transmission of oral narratives makes it alive until this millennium.

In countries like China, Bender (2003) stated that oral narratives

or oral literature is concerned with conventional type that slowly

developed but not necessarily as detail as folktale, myth, legend,

children’s stories, animal tales, narrative poems, epics, and so forth,

are still the basis of the text-based approach to oral literature followed

by most scholars and cultural workers in today. This is a mechanism to

have an adept exploration of the culture the people in the past.

In the Philippines Language and Literature are parallel to each

other. The birth of language is also the birth of literature. These two

things play a vital role in one’s culture. The use of indigenous literature

to teach language is a big innovation and development in the learning

process. Kelsey (2008) stressed that “Language lies at the core of the
study of all literatures and Indigenous language.” This reiterates that

the two disciplines work together to provide meaningful learning.

As a language teacher with compassion, willingness and

enthusiasm, that seeks to have a direct encounter and exploration of

the diversified culture of the country, the researcher was reminded by

the urgency to study the language and literature of Indigenous people

in her place. To know the different forms of oral narratives of the

B’laan people may have a big contribution to the 21st century

education. As mandated by the Department of Education, the

contextualization of materials plays a big role to enhance the

understanding of the students towards a particular topic. Knowing that

somebody is alone in this clamor; the researcher commend one her

language professor whom this topic greatly interest her and decided to

study to discover, analyze the oral narratives of the B’laan in Davao del

Sur. In addition, the output of this research can be used as additional

instructional materials for the mother tongue based education, 21st

Century Literature from the Philippines and the World and Pagsulat sa

Filipino sa Piling Larangan.

Purpose of the Study

What motivated the researcher to study this is that she wanted

to discover and explore the oral narratives of the B’laan in Davao del
Sur for them to be heard and be used in the present program of the

Department of Education.

The specific objectives of the study are:

1. To identify the profile of the B’laans who can narrate an oral

narratives.

2. To explore the oral narratives of B’laan Davao del Sur.

3. To distinguish the genre of oral narratives of the B’laan in Davao del

Sur.

4. To know the implication of the oral narratives.

Research Questions

In this study I was guided with the following research questions:

1. What is the profile of the B’laans who can narrate oral

narratives?

a. age

b. gender

c. educational background

2. What are the oral narratives of the B’laan in Davao del Sur?

3. What is the form of the oral narratives of the B’laan in Davao del

Sur?
 4. What is the method established in exploring the B’laan oral

narratives?

5. What is the educational implication of these oral narratives?

Each research questions had corresponding interview guide

questions (protocols) that had been used during the in-depth interview

and key informant information interview

Significance of the Study

The results of the study could provide information and guidance

to the following:

Indigenous People Municipal Tribal Organization. It will

serve as an eye opener to create more programs on the preservations

and empowerment of the B’laan culture, traditions and language.

B’laan People and Community. It will serve as a way of

preservation of their hidden language and literature. The result can be

used as reading materials in the mother-based education for the

teacher teaching in the B’laan community.

Department of Education. The researched materials could

be used as a reading tool for the teachers teaching in the B’laan

community. The oral narratives can be part of the Philippine regional

literature material in teaching mother tongue-based for elementary and

Philippine from Region XI or an aid in the applied discipline which is

“Pagsulat sa Piling Larangan” for Senior High School curriculum.

SPAMAST Language Teaching Students. It will lead the

interested student to conduct further study on the Indigenous People

and their culture.

Scope and Limitations

This qualitative narrative study was delaminated in discovering,

collecting and analyzing the oral narratives of B’laan in Matanao, Davao

del Sur and knowing its implication to education. The shared oral

narratives of which are validated into three generations will be the

basis of data for discussion and analysis.

On the concept of this study, the tribal chieftain, the known first

family, older members, Barangay officials, children and other members

of the community, whom the main participant of this research study.

For a proper representation, this study was limited only to four groups

of research participants, namely: the first consisted of 2 participants

who were utilized for the actual interview represents the women and

the children of the first family, 2 participants represents the chieftain

grandchildren of the first family.

The participants were taken from the selected pure blooded

people of the Davao del Sur. The participant where given an idea

ahead of time by the interpreter about the said interview. In addition

there was a focus group discussion (FGD) to deepen the perceptions,

insights and details of the given narratives.

Definition of Terms

To facilitate better understanding on the content of our action

research, the following terms are defined operationally and describe:

Critical Inquiry- in the operation, it refers to the methods

established by the researcher to explore the oral narratives of the

B’laan in Colonsabac, Matanao, Davao del Sur. The methods are;

crafting questions, setting criteria, having a pre-survey, identifying the

informants, obtaining informed consent, when reach saturation of data

the key informant will stop, transcription, translation, data analysis and

knowing the educational implication.

Communicated Oral Narratives- Operationally refers to the

oral literature transmitted by three generations. These are songs,

or prayers for rituals.

21st Century Education- refers to the present curriculum

implemented by the Department of Education as defined in the

operation.