Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
REGION IV-A CALABARZON
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF IMUS CITY
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo National High School – Imus City
Palico IV, City of Imus

ENGLISH 9
QUARTER 3
WEEK 1-2 MELC 6

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET No. 1

Name: ___________________________________ Grade & Section: ________________________
Teacher: _________________________________ Date: __________________________________
LESSON: Differentiate Bias from Prejudice
In this lesson, you will learn to differentiate biases from prejudices.This lesson starts with a
thinking skills activity which aims to reveal students own biases and prejudicial views in order to
introduce the concepts. At the end, this seeks to enable students to empathize with others, giving room
for accepting and respecting diversity.
Bias is simply an unreasonable preference for one thing, person or group over another. It is a
disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded or
unfair. Much of what you read and hear expresses a bias. Bias is when a writer or speaker uses a
selection of facts, choice of words, and the quality and tone of description, to convey a particular feeling
or attitude. Its purpose is to convey a certain attitude or point of view toward the subject.
If you're biased toward something, then you lean favorably toward it; you tend to think positively
of it. Meanwhile, if you're biased against something, then you lean negatively against it; you tend to
think poorly of it. (Kaisler and O'Connor, 2021)

Bias is simply each person's unique predisposition of how to see the world. It is our own
prejudice in thinking when we are confronted with new events.

Our entire brain is built upon biases, derived from our experiences, and these experiences
physically imprint themselves upon our brain. Our entire way to think is a kind of biological bias, and our
predispositions are a large part of who we are.

Understanding that we are all biased in one way or another, questioning this and challenging it is
what matters. (Bairns, 2010)

 An employer who is biased toward women, might hire only women because they feel they make
better employees for some gender-related reason. Conversely, if they're biased against women, they
might hire a man over a more-qualified female candidate.
Read the old story of the blind men and the elephant and how it illustrates how no one person
can see every piece of a really big thing.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

Six blind men were asked to describe an elephant by touching it. The first reached up and touched
it’s side – “an elephant is like a wall” he stated. The second then approached it and grasped its tusk.
“What have we here!” he cried, “It is a spear”.
The third man then went up to the elephant and happened to hold onto its trunk. “Goodness!” he
exclaimed, “An elephant is indeed a type of snake”.
At this the fourth man went up and, reaching out his hand, grabbed hold of the elephant’s knee. “You
are all talking nonsense” he declared, “an elephant is just like a tree as I have hold of the tree trunk!”
The fifth then went forward and chanced to touch the elephant’s ear. “Good gracious” he said, “said;
"Even the blindest man could tell that this elephant is just like a fan!”
The sixth man then seized the elephant’s tail “You are all wrong he said, “the elephant is just like a
rope!"
They all then started arguing about who was right – each convinced to be right.
Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.  ~Merry Browne

http://www.noogenesis.com/ pineapple/
blind_men_elephant.html

Prejudice refers to a preconceived

opinion or feeling toward a person based
solely on their affiliation with a group. It
often casts an unfavorable light
on someone simply because they're a
member of some ethnic group, religion, or organization (Cherry,2010)
Common features of prejudice:
1. Negative feelings - adverse or hostile attitude toward a group or its individual members, generally
without just grounds or before sufficient evidence
2. Stereotyped beliefs–a simplified assumption about a group based on prior experiences or beliefs.
3. Discrimination against members of a group or actions against a group of people

Prejudice can manifest as seemingly harmless stereotypes, such as the belief that all boys
like rough play and sports.
Prejudgments about race have long been used to support oppressive policies.
The belief that girls aren’t good at math, or that gender necessarily reveals something about
spatial reasoning, has been used to exclude girls from STEM classes and projects, or to explain
why men in STEM earn more money than women.

Diversity allows us to recognize our differences as a good thing.  Celebrating our different abilities,
backgrounds, and beliefs is essential in understanding the world around us.  Once you can view others
with empathy (the ability to see things from another’s point of view) the opportunities that you will
encounter will seem that much more attainable.    

Indicators for spotting bias:

 The language of the document is often extreme; statements have all or nothing connotations.
 The argument appeals more to the emotions than to logic.
 Things are worded with the intent to oversimplify or over generalize.
 The author wishes to present a limited view of the topic.
 Read the article of Alejandro R. Roces about using English as medium of instruction. Then
answer the questions below.
There are some well-meaning groups that are working hard to make Tagalog the official medium of
instruction. This is not a practical suggestion. First, because Tagalog is now known as Filipino, but
sad to say, it is not spoken throughout the country. In Cebu, for instance, the people refuse to sing
the national anthem in Tagalog, they still prefer their own indigenous dialect.

But there is a bigger reason why Tagalog cannot replace English as our official medium of
instruction. Many people like to talk about the freedom of expression, forgetting that the very first
freedom is not the freedom of speech, but freedom from ignorance. And the world now is a global
village and we cannot deny the fact that English is the closest thing to a world language. If we want
to be at the forefront of knowledge, and the future of our country will depend on how we absorb world
knowledge, we will have to rely on a world language. We cannot afford to sit and wait for books or
knowledge to be translated into Tagalog so that our people can avail of the new knowledge.

People in Metro Manila and the Tagalog provinces have the erroneous impression that Tagalog, now
called Filipino, is now spoken all over the archipelago. This just is not so. The truth is that there are
moreFilipinos who speak English than Tagalog. This is because to this day, English is the official
medium of instruction while Tagalog is just a subject taught in school.

It will take decades before we get an adequate Tagalog encyclopedia of world knowledge. Even now,
we have very few Tagalog translations of classic Filipiniana books. The truth is that Tagalog will have
to start as the second language most spoken in the Philippines, next to English. There are very few
up-to-date books in Tagalog regarding mathematics, philosophy, physics, architecture, medicine and
engineering. And if there are, they are not original. They are mere translations.

In deciding the official medium of instruction, the main criteria should be the language that would give
the optimum access to world knowledge and at this point of history, it is English and thanks to our
historical contact with the United States, the Philippines is one of the largest English-speaking
nations in the world. Some say, the second or third largest because our population is larger than
even England. So let us use English in our access to world knowledge. Tagalog is our national
language; English our world language.
1. Why is it not practical to make Filipino as the official medium of instruction in our country?
___________________________________________________________________________________
2. Give one reason that supports the idea that Filipino cannot replace English as our official medium of
instruction.
___________________________________________________________________________________
3. What should be the main criteria in choosing our official medium of instructions?
___________________________________________________________________________________
4. According to the article, what was one of the reasons why English became a dominant language in
our country?
___________________________________________________________________________________
5. According to Alejandro R. Roces, “Filipino is our national language. English is our world language”.
What specific feeling does the statement stimulate in you? Why?
___________________________________________________________________________________

Learning Task 1. Define bias and prejudice by completing the web.

Bias Prejudice
Worksheet 13

Learning Task 2-A. Identify which statements show bias or prejudice.

________ 1. People in the Philippines must use the Filipino as medium of instruction because they live
here.
________ 2. It will cost more to teach and learn Filipino than English especially in the province.
________ 3. In Cebu, for instance, the people refuse to sing the national anthem in Tagalog, they still
prefer their own indigenous dialect.
________ 4. Cebuanos are good singers.
________ 5. Tagalogs are more sociable than Visayans.

Learning Task 2-B. Prejudice news. Read the news extracts below and highlight any evidence of
prejudiced attitudes. Answer the questions following each extract.

News extract 1

James San Pedro, 22, was on a night out when he ended up fighting for his life. James, who is a Call
Center Agent and a member of the LGBTQ, was having fun with friends when up to 20 boys, some as
young as 14, started shouting homophobic abuse at them. James was repeatedly punched and kicked in
his face and body by the boys and he was left with several skull and facial fractures.

What is the prejudiced attitude?

News extract 2
Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (File from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA - (UPDATED) Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III on Wednesday needled Social Welfare Secretary
Judy Taguiwalo for having two daughters outside marriage. 

Sotto brought up Taguiwalo's status as a solo parent during her confirmation hearing before the
Commission on Appointments (CA).

"Sen. Drilon and I were looking at the personal information about you and you have 2 children,
daughters’ba or sons? Two daughters. But you're single," Sotto told Taguiwalo.  She answered “yes”

Sotto's response was reminiscent of his noontime show jokes: "In the street language, when you have
children and you are single, ang tawag doon ay 'na-ano lang.'" 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/894469/chr-lawmakers-condemn-sotto-joke-as-sexist#ixzz6nZHnNPrE

Who is the prejudice directed towards?

What is the prejudiced attitude?

Learning Task 3. Using the statements in Learning Task 2-A, explain what makes the statement
bias or prejudice. Use the following indicators:
The language of the document is often extreme; statements have all or nothing connotations.
The argument appeals more to the emotions than to logic.
Things are worded with the intent to oversimplify or over generalize.
The author wishes to present a limited view of the topic.
1.___________________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________

Learning Task 4
Listen to the Jollibee commercial Kwentong Jollibee: Kahera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw66Da0GFPM

Video transcript
Scene description: Day time peak hours at a Jollibee Store. Customers are lined up to the cashier- a
young woman.
Cashier: Good morning po!
Old woman: Good morning, give me a yumburger, then upgrade the fries to large and change the soft
drinks to pineapple juice, tapos yung name plate mo tabingi.. (Cashier fixes her name plate)
Old woman: (continued..)( Kulang ang ngiti mo dagdagan mo kelangan pati ang matamo .. naka-smile)
Your smile is inadequate, smile more. Your eyes should also gleam a smile.
Cashier: (smiles) ah... yes..

CROSSFADE
Cashier: Good afternoon (while taking the orders of the customer in front, she anxiously looked at the
customer who is next in line, it is the same old woman. )
Cashier: Good afternoon! Can I take your order?
Old woman: Give me a burger steak meal.
Cashier: Ma’am would you like to try our peach “meyng-go” pie to go with your meal.
Old woman: Mang-go iha, hindi ‘meyng-go”.. say it again.
Cashier: Would you like to try our peach mang-go pie po?
Old woman: Better, but no thank you.
(Old woman leaves the counter, another customer approaches the cashier)

CROSSFADE
(While the cashier attends to customers, she is seen nervously gazing at the old woman who seems to
observing her while dining in)

CROSSFADE
(Old woman walking towards the counter to get her order)
Cashier: Here is your order Ma’am. Enjoy your meal. (Old woman receives her order with an expression
less face. She turns around to go to her table)

Cashier: Thank you, po!

(Old woman gives a thumbs up while walking away)

CROSSFADE:
(Closing time at the Store)

Cashier: I’ll go ahead. (bids good bye to three female service crew who are cleaning the store)
DISSOLVE to the house of the cashier (close up shot cashier is kissing the hand of someone)

Cashier: Mano po, Lola

(angle shot at the dining table the cashier with her grandmother – the old woman the cashier’s
regular customer)

Grand mother: Do your job well, Apo. If I need to be there always, I will always support you while I
am still able to, until the time that you become manager.
(close up shot cashier smiling while holding back her tears)
Answer the following:
1. Why is this advertisement considered as gender biased?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

2. How is an elderly woman labeled in this advertisement?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

3. If you were the writer what are you going to change in this advertisement so that it is gender
inclusive?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

4. Rewrite the dialog of the grandmother in the last scene to eliminate oversimplifying the
requisites for being successful in ones job?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Learning Task 5
You are a Grade 9 student who currently holds the Directorship of GEANHS Performing Arts
Club. You are tasked to recruit one (1) applicant from Grade 7. Each time you are given a layer of
information you have to “eliminate” someone by crossing out the name from the line - up. A crossed
out name is no longer part of your choices in the next layers. From the six applicants only 1 will be
selected.
Focus on the information on the current layer that you are answering. Avoid looking at the
information in the next layer. You will appreciate this activity when you work on it as honest as you
can.

The applicants
Cross out one now so you have five remaining
Emmanuel Arwin Bridget Kate Kenneth Alfred

Cross out one now so you have four remaining

Emmanuel Arwin Bridget Kate Kenneth Alfred
Amorsolo Mendoza Silvestre Santos Sanchez Montes

Cross out one now so you have three remaining

Cross out one now so you have two remaining

Honor Honor Honor Honor Average
student student student Repeater Student student
 Emmanuel Kate Kenneth Alfred
Arwin Bridget Sanchez Montes
Amorsolo Santos
Mendoza Silvestre

Cross out one from the remaining two applicants. On the space below write the name of
newest member of GEANHS Performing Arts Club.

Name: __________________________________

Note : All male applicants are trainable dancers, while the two female applicants can sing and dance.
Kate attended a free acting workshop when she stopped schooling in the middle of the previous
school year.

Think about it:

• What choice did you make?

____________________________________________________
• Are you pleased with the applicant that you selected?
________________________________
• Would you have made a different decision if you had the qualifications information first?
____
• What is wrong with judging people with such little information? ________________________
• What do you think influenced your decisions?
______________________________________
• Do you think people often judge people like this in our everyday life? ___________________
__________________________________________________________________________
• What could be the consequences of pre-judging people? ____________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Reflection:
Directions: Accomplish the graphic organizer below based on the things you have learned from
the lesson and the activities.

Three new concepts I learned...

One big question that I still have...

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the

threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their oolour.”

— Maya Angelou, American author, poet, and civil rights activist.