[quote=CA renter]
All that being said, if the cultural and language barriers were the crux of the problem, why do so many Asian students do so well, especially when one considers the fact that their languages and cultures are even more dissimilar than many of those who perform poorly on these tests? …Of course, some would argue that the people coming over from China, Japan, Korea, etc. are wealthier (therefore, more intelligent) while the people coming from Latin America and Africa are more likely to be the downtrodden because they are more likely to be descendents of slaves, or people who weren’t doing well in their native Latin American countries, so made their way over here. Then, we’re right back to, “I just don’t know.”[/quote]
Being one of the asian people who came here, I think it’s really just culturally, the focus is on academics over really much anything else…Unlike in Latin America perhaps where you have baseball players, soccer stars, etc…In Asia, it’s all about doing well on those entrance exams because if you don’t get in, you future life/career in those asian countries is going to be extremely limited…
In Asia, there isn’t as many second chances like in the US and it’s not as easy to just start some internet company and make billions.
Overall, I think asians tend to just put more (ALL) their focus on academics and are willing to sacrifice everything (no retirement savings, live in in-laws/parents/whatever, no sports, fun, friends) to get there…From all the studies I’ve read, after like 3 generations, they revert to the typical Caucasian family as well so it’s more of an immigrant phenomenon as well.
At the end of the day, the immigrant from India/Asia/wherever simply wants it more than someone else…
A lot of parents here want their kids to get along with other people, make friends, etc…I don’t think a lot of old asian families cared about that (maybe they play with their extended family more).
Definitely agree with you about the pressure put on Asian kids by their parents (we have a number of Asian friends, and the parents are hard-core taskmasters…with the results to prove it), but I think that IQ is also involved here. A “gifted” person is much more likely to understand the long-term consequences of their child’s ambitions and actions, so they are pushing their kids to attain success from the moment they are born. They are incredibly competitive.
My friends and I have talked about these differences, and about how (Caucasian) American parents tend to be warmer and more nurturing, less critical, less demanding, etc. My mother was Austrian (Germanic), and they are/were also more like their Asian counterparts. We’ve discussed the possibility that this more nurturing, less demanding parenting style seen in the U.S. is a symptom of a relatively easy life in a powerful country where even the neediest people tend to be better and more generously cared for. In other countries where resources are more scarce, and where survival can depend on how you place relative to your competition, the more competitive, hard-core parenting comes out. Just pondering…
Something I’ve just noted from watching my kids learn Mandarin over the years is that Asian languages are symbolic and more logic-based, as opposed to our phonics-based language. Even how the numbers work in Mandarin ensure that someone who knows how to count will know how to add and multiply to an extent. I think this could be one of the reasons that Asian kids tend to do better in math; they are learning a logical, symbolic language from their earliest years, and their brains might be wired differently as a result.
