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Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story Of Success

Decent Essays

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

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