The notorious stereotype that Asians are good at math seems like a derogatory statement saying that no other culture can compete with the advanced math skills of an Asian. Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers The Story of Success gives insight to how a person’s cultural and family background has a much greater influence on a person’s life than is perceived, specifically their intellect. For example, Asian students have a greater advantage over the rest of the word on the TIMSS test, a test which is taken by students across the world. Children from Singapore, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Japan excell on this test; Gladwell makes several interesting and convincing reasons on why these Asian countries are able to do so. I strongly agree with Gladwell’s …show more content…
He points out that the Chinese have their number naming systems to thank. The Chinese have a very short and simple way of saying their numbers, unlike the English language which is very irregular making math considerably more challenging. In English there are numbers such as fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, but then the numbers preceding them are not oneteen, twoteen, or threeteen it is eleven, twelve, and thirteen which takes more time for American children to learn. Meanwhile, the Chinese count like one-ten-one for eleven, one-ten-two for twelve and so on, which gives them an advantage in math fundamentals and allows them to move on to more difficult skills at a younger age. “Asians have a built-in advantage” (Gladwell, 230) because the way they say their numbers and fractions are more comprehendible, putting less stress on the student, thus compelling the student to enjoy math, try harder, and take more math classes. The number systems are distinguishable between the East and the West – it suggests that the root of being good at math can all be traced to the group’s …show more content…
Alan Schoenfeld, a math professor at Berkeley, videotaped many students solving math problems. He was particularly interested in one of his students, Renee, who was determined to find the solution to this one question. Schoenfeld was especially intrigued by Renee because she took her time, and although she was not successful the first couple of times she was persistent and determined. Though it was a simple question, she became frustrated, but continued to think out loud and experiment with different methods to solve the problem. Schoenfeld reviewed her tape and compared it to others, what he discovered was extremely interesting. Other students, when presented with a question that they could not answer within the average of two minutes would give up. Renee was not like the others, she spent a full twenty-two minutes until the moment she said, “Ahhhh. That means something now” (Gladwell, 245). What Renee took away from this experience that the others who gave up did not, is that she learned something new and has pride from taking the time and effort to understand the concept. Schoenfeld then reached his conclusion that math is,"...not so much ability as attitude. You master mathematics if you are willing to try" (Gladwell, 246). Schoenfeld’s video of Renee proves that students are willing to work much harder than others. Likewise the TIMSS is a
All children are not raised the same exact way. There are many different parenting styles, ranging from authoritative to neglectful parenting. Along with those many different styles also come many different opinions on which ones are better or worse for children. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that essentially looks into many factors that contribute to people's successes. In chapter four, Gladwell writes about how different parenting philosophies impact how successful the children will be when they are older. Gladwell claims that there are essentially only two main parenting philosophies, “concerted cultivation” and “accomplishment of natural growth” (Gladwell 104). Gladwell goes on to also claim that between those two parenting philosophies, children raised from concerted
Outlier is defined as “something that is situated away from or classified differently from a main or related body” or “a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample”, which is the beginning to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success. The meaning of outlier itself in relation to success symbolizes those who stand out with exceptional rates of success. The book does not necessarily cover how to become an outlier (in fact it first deams becoming an outlier is nearly impossible) but more which are the factors that have contributed to certain outliers in history on a broad spectrum of hockey players to the beatles to even the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates.
In “Thinking About Diversity”, Frank H. Wu details about his experiences as an Asian American. Wu says that, “some non-Asian students do, indeed, assume that I am gifted with mathematical, scientific, or computer-programming talents solely on account of my race” (Wu, 147), this concept shows the overview picture of Asians, but this does not apply to every Asians. The mathematic, science or computer programming is a universal subject that most industrialized places like Asia teach to students. Most Asian immigrants are familiar with those subjects because they already learn it back home and are able to do well on them, not because of a race. A race cannot provide a special intelligent to people, it’s just a different classify groups of people.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, talks about the different ways to obtain success and what to attribute it to. In his 10,000 hour rule chapter he argues that a person must but in at least 10,000 hours of work with their interest in order to be successful. In the chapter, Marita’s Bargain he argues that there has to be opportunities and one has to work hard to take advantage of them. Gladwell uses the example of Bill Gates to exemplify his 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell uses the example of a girl in a rigorous charter school
Malcolm Gladwell, in his novel entitled, “Outliers,” explores the landscape of success and shows us that success comes from the culture that surrounds the successful , not their intelligence and ambition. Gladwell explains this through a series of situations and studies. In Part One, he discusses success as a result of timing, such as the month or year you were born. In Part Two, he focuses on cultural legacies and how they play a role in helping someone become successful. He unfolds the reasons why hockey players are not born in the latter part of the year, why the Beatles and Bill Gates were able to become so successful, and why Jewish immigrants were able to become successful lawyers and doctors. Gladwell disproves many beliefs by discovering
Prompt: Write an essay that defends or challenges or qualifies Gladwell’s assertion that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and you use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires” (Gladwell 151).
Acknowledging the impact of factors like lifestyle choices on genetic responses, shows the significant role circumstances play in determining an individual's success. While both taking the opportunities an individual is given and putting in the 10,000 hours is important for success, Gladwell also claims that an individual’s success can be influenced by older generations. Finally, Gladwell claims that an individual’s family background plays a big part in their success. While discussing the fact that the Chinese language makes numbers take less time to pronounce, Gladwell claims that “cultural legacies matter, and once we’ve seen the surprising effects of such things as power distance and numbers that can be said in a quarter as opposed to a third of a second, it’s hard not to wonder how many other cultural legacies have an impact on our 21st-century intellectual tasks” (Gladwell 232). Gladwell addresses the reason why the stereotype of Asians being good at math is true, and how this ability can help a person’s
Some people presume that we have the ability to control our own lives, while others believe that we should let fate deal with its creations. Two authors, Shakespeare and Malcolm Gladwell take different perspectives on this topic. Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, the story of Macbeth, a skilled solider that meets three witches. The three witches tell Macbeth his future, that he will become Thane of Cawdor and the King. Fortunately for the witches, a servant comes to inform Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor and Macbeth is startled. Shakespear concludes that letting fate deal with its consequences is the best option. However, the author of Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell, argues that working hard and preparing is more
Its impressive how something like a number-saying system can influence in the level of difficulty an Asian student, compared to an American average student, can have in math. Asians have a built in advantage when it comes to math. Does that mean they are more likely to succeed? Not necessarily but it I an advantage rooted in a group’s culture, in this case, Asians. Therefore cultural legacy is another key factor in the why of what we do and who we become.
Have you ever heard the statement that all Asian Americans are good at math and science and they excel educationally? This paper defines the model minority myth, provides historical context in perspective of the Chinese Americans and explains how these Chinese American’s experiences do not fit the model minority myth. The model minority stereotype has various negative assumptions towards Asian Americans and one of them is that it assumes all Asian Americans are a homogenous ethnic group. There are several ways how Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans do not fit the model minority myth. Specifically, the historical context of these Chinese Americans contradicts the model minority stereotype.
The brain is one of the most complex, unknown organs of the human body. Researchers often break down the characteristics of the brain to whether tendencies are achieved through nurtured environments or the inheritability of genetics. Intelligence is one of the most controversial topics when it comes to deciding whether environment or genetics are most influential. Many argue that intelligence is based on environmental factors and the unique ability to work hard, but fail to realize the essential cognitive qualities concerning what truly defines intelligence. Although some may consider this trait as based on environment, intelligence is a cognitive attribute established by the nature of genetics.
For many researchers, the notion of Asian students are hereditary more intelligent than other race groups as believes by Arthur Jensen, an educational psychologist, is not a valid explanation for why Asian students perform better than their counterparts. While it is evident
In the story “The Trouble with Talent: Are We Born Smart or Do We Get Smart?” by Kathy Seal explains the difference between Asian children and American children’s work ethic. Kathy explains the school systems in china work differently due to the fact that America has the idea that children are born with a set I.Q. while Asians believe that your intelligence is determined by hard work. The author of this story’s purpose is to persuade the reader by proving her thesis that intelligence is gained through hard work. She does this by using a multitude of valid evidence, having a strong thesis, and connecting with the reader though reader oriented language. The pattern of this essay is clearly a compare and contrast because the author looks at the difference between how Asian and American children are taught. She makes a strong point using the compare and contrast method by providing the reader with valid information on the American and Asian sides to point out that being smart happens though hard work and determination. Seal organizes this compare and contrast by making a point to point analysis of Asian and American culture.
The objective of this article critique is to review and evaluate several empirical studies which have examined mathematics perception cross-culturally. The main study that focuses on examining mathematics perception cross-culturally is a study that was done in 2004 by Dr. Yea-Ling Tsao. In this study, researchers proved that Taiwanese students consistently score higher in cross-national studies of achievement than American students. Several other studies were done that also support this theory. Therefore, the main purpose of this article critique is to evaluate Tsao’s study in order to properly assess both the validity of Tsao’s design and the inferences drawn from the study. This critique will also show that, while
In “The Trouble with Talent”, Kathy Seal, who frequently writes about children and education in magazines, wrote about the way of education in the U.S. which only focused on the value of inborn aptitude could breed children to become artful people and waste many of American children’s potential. At the beginning of this article, Seal told about an experiment of Jim Stigler, who was a UCLA psychologist, which tested the persistence of Japanese and American children by solving the math problem. While the American kids solved the problem for a short time and quickly gave up, the Japanese kids still kept on their work. Stigler stated that Asian education focused to