Cultural Stereotypes

Problematizing Cultural Stereotypes in TESOL by focused on Asian student stereotypes of their behavior in the classroom. The article said that they are obedient to authority, lack critical thinking skills, and do not participate in classroom interaction. In reality, these are not true. There are multiple Asian cultures that believe students should true in themselves and not rely on the teachers. The article quoted Confucius’s well-known saying which means “the teacher does not always have to be more knowledgeable than the pupil; and the pupil is not necessarily always less learned than the teacher.” This demonstrates that both the teacher and student are able to learn from each other’s wisdom and experiences. When it comes to critical thinking, Asians are often compared with American students. One reason why it seems that Asians do not critically think as much is that kind of thinking is stressed in American and not as much in other countries. Atkinson even argues that critical thinking is a special characteristic of the American upper and middle classes and cautions against teaching critical thinking to international and language minority students. He doubts whether they will even benefit from it. I do not agree with this statement. Who is to say that Asian students will/ will not benefit from it? Critical thinking can be taught to anyone; however it takes time to develop that skill, which is not always given to students who need it most. Also, some students are stronger in certain areas than others, just like in any other country. Lastly, the comment that Asian students do not participate in class is one that needs further explanation. American students usually participate in class more because class discussions and activities are in their native language, unlike Asian students. When they must speak, sometimes they suffer from anxiety because they now only need to think out what they are going to say, but also how to saying in a foreign language. This was an insightful article into how Asian students are perceived. Even though I am a Bilingual Education major, I focus mainly on Spanish-speaking students. I enjoyed reading about how a different culture is seen, other than a Latino culture. Also, some of these thoughts can even be applied to students that come from countries that are not near Asia, but speak another language.