ASIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CONSIDERATIONS

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ASIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CONSIDERATIONS

• Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin, Ph.D.
• California State University, Sacramento and
• Elk Grove Unified School District
• www.csus.edu.homepages/SPA/Roseberry

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Information excerpted with permission from

• Roseberry-McKibbin, C. (2008). Multicultural
  students with special language needs Practical
  strategies for assessment and intervention (3rd
  ed.). Oceanside, CA Academic Communication
  Associates
• Roseberry-McKibbin, C. (2007). Language disorders
  in children A multicultural and case approach.
  Boston Allyn Bacon.

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I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Between 1990 and 2000, using the category of
  race alone, the number of Asians in the U.S.
  increased by 48.3.
• If one uses the category of race alone or in
  combination, the number of Asians in the U.S.
  grew by 72.2 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000).
• Between the years 2004-2005, the number of Asians
  in the U.S. grew by 3, the highest of any race
  group during that time.

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Currently, the largest groups are

• 1. Chinese
• 2. Filipino
• 3. Asian Indian
• 4. Vietnamese
• 5. Korean
• 6. Japanese

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Common religions include

• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Buddhism (karma, reincarnation)

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A problem for Asians

• Is that they are sometimes referred to as the
  model minority.
• Thus, they may be targets of resentment
• Their needs may also be overlooked they may have
  difficulty receiving support services

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In terms of SES

• 30 of Asian children live in low-SES families as
  compared to 61 of African American children and
  63 of Hispanic children (National Center for
  Children in Poverty, 2006)

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II. ASIAN FAMILY LIFE

• The family is the basic societal unit and central
  focus of an individuals life. Extended families
  living under the same roof are common.
• Many Asian cultures are patriarchalfathers and
  eldest sons hold positions of high respect

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Many Asian families encourage children to

• Defer to adults
• Respect authority
• Be seen and not heard (A quiet child is a good
  child.)
• Not grow up too quickly (mainstream Americans
  might view young children as dependent and
  spoiled)

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For example

• Many infants are breastfed on demand around the
  clock
• Infants are carried constantly if they cry, they
  are attended to immediately
• Many children sleep with their parents

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Some families believe

• That learning through exploration is unnatural
• If children show curiousity and want to explore,
  they are viewed as ill-mannered
• The childs growth and self-realization as an
  individual is not important its all about the
  family
• A childs bad behavior is a disgrace to the whole
  family

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If young children have special needs

• Parents may not view intervention/rehabilitation
  as necessary
• The attitude is let kids be kids
• Independence is not stressed

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Parents may not feel obligated

• To create learning situations for their children
• Children may be expected to learn through
  observing adults and being with them through the
  course of the day
• Often, older siblings care for younger siblings

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Physical punishment

• Is often common and expected
• Professionals need to let parents know specifics
  about American laws regarding what constitutes
  child abuse

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III. EDUCATION AND LITERACY

• Education is very highly valued, and is the way
  an individual can bring honor to the family
• Most Asians have very high educational
  expectations for their children

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According to the American Community Survey (2005)

• 49 of single-race Asians 25 years have a
  Bachelors degree or higher as compared to 27 of
  the general population
• 20 of Asians have advanced degrees (e.g.,
  Masters, doctorate) as compared to 10 of the
  general population (25 years)

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• Asian Indians and Filipinos have the highest
  educational attainment in the U.S.
• Conversely, many Hmong are preliterate (Vang,
  2005)
• Most Asian schools value rote memorization and
  conformity creativity may not be encouraged
• Many Asians consider it rude for students to
  volunteer or ask questions in class

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Abboud Kim (2007)

• The role of Asian Children in the family is
  clear-cut and two-fold Respect your elders and
  obey your parents. Study hard and do well in
  school to secure a bright future.
• Asian parents are not that concerned with
  boosting their childrens self esteem Asian
  parents praise their children less frequently
  than mainstream American parents.
• Asian children split their time between
  activities less frequently, and focus more on
  schoolwork.

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Asian students in school

• May be very quiet and make limited eye contact
  with adults
• They may appear less independent, and may not
  conform to the mainstream value of verbal display
  of knowledge
• They may take fewer risks and show less
  participation

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IV. CULTURAL CUSTOMS AND COURTESIES

• Values include hospitality, modesty, and humility
• Perseverance and diligence are very important
• When I work with parents, I talk about childrens
  good behavior, courteous manners, and effort

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In Asian culture

• It is extremely important to avoid tooting your
  own horn
• In Japan, The nail that sticks its head up gets
  hammered down.
• For Confucian Asians, hierarchy in relationships
  is quite important

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V. BELIEFS ABOUT HEALTH CARE AND DISABILITES

• In the U.S., lack of health insurance is a
  significant problem for many Asian immigrants and
  refugees
• Many Asians only consider physical disabilities
  to be worthy of treatment

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A challenge for educators

• Is that invisible conditions (e.g., learning
  disability, language disorder, stuttering) are
  not viewed as disabilities per se
• Research shows that often parents will view these
  children as lazy and not trying hard enough.
• Parents may also view problems as fate.

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Hwa-Froelich and Westby 2003

• Studied Southeast Asian students and their
  parents
• These parents believed that any learning problems
  in their children were associated with fate,
  stubborness, or laziness
• When students did not perform up to expectations
  in school, strict discipline was used to force
  them to study longer and work harder

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Some parents in the study

• Believed the childs problem was due to being
  born under bad stars
• All parents in the study preferred administering
  physical punishment to their children over losing
  face
• Parents viewed children with severe disabilities
  such as blindness as a potentially shameful
  burden on the family

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Because of the potential stigma associated with
disabilities

• Many Asian parents could be hesitant to seek help
• They might believe that caring for the disabled
  child is the responsibility of the family, not
  the school

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VI. COMMUNICATION STYLES AND LANGUAGE
CONSIDERATIONS

• Many Asian languages have formal rules of
  communication propriety based on the relative
  status of each of the participants in the
  interaction
• To ascertain your status, people may ask
  personal questions such as how old are you?
  or are you married?

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• Indirectness is the norm. Public displays of
  emotion or confrontation are considered to be
  rude
• Smooth and harmonious interpersonal relationships
  are a high priority

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• Many Asians will not openly disagree with you
• They may smile and nod, but this does not
  necessarily convey agreement
• Some Asians (e.g., Japanese) value silence and
  speaking softly

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• Many Asian languages have numerous dialects that
  may or may not be intelligible
• For example, the Philippines has 87 major
  dialects that are mutually unintelligible
• Vietnamese, Chinese, and Laotian are tonal
  languages each tone is phonemic in nature and
  represents a meaning change

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VII. OVERALL IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS

• Address older members of the family first as a
  sign of respect
• We may need to defer to fathers
• Because of their respect for educators, families
  may view us as the experts and thus not feel
  comfortable volunteering opinions or responses

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In Confucian Asian families

• Each individual child is a developing part of a
  continuing family lineage he is a continuation
  of his ancestors
• Thus, his family might reject any diagnosis of a
  disability because the entire family lineage
  would be disgraced
• Special education services might be rejected

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• It may be considered disloyal or disgraceful to
  the family for parents to openly discuss a
  problem such as a childs disability
• We need to be very sensitive, and may need to be
  less direct in discussing areas of concern

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For example

• (with mainstream parent) I tested Johnny, and
  the results of my assessment show that he has a
  language disorder.
• (with Asian parents) I tested Soua. He was so
  well-behaved and hardworking! He is really
  respectful, and tried very hard. I found that he
  is smart, but there are certain areas which pose
  a bit more of a challenge.

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If we emphasize early independence for young
children

• Families might be quite surprised
• They might resist early intervention efforts

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With young children in intervention

• Many Western interventionists use play therapy
• This may run counter to the familys cultural
  practices they value quietness, conformity, and
  respect

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What I find most helpful

• Is to talk about the childs future educational
  and overall life success
• Parents often expect their children to take care
  of them
• Thus, the children need to become successful
  adults!

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Johnston Wong (2002)

• Surveyed English-speaking North American and
  Chinese mothers regarding discourse practices
  used with children

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The Chinese mothers were much less likely to
report that they

• Allowed their children to converse with adults
  who were non-family members
• Often talked with their children about non-shared
  events of the day
• Prompted their children for personal narratives

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Only 30 of the Chinese mothers

• Reported that they read books with their children

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Recommendations of Johnston Wong 2002

• Many mainstream Western professionals recommend
  embedding language stimulation activities into
  games/situations with toys
• Chinese parents may be more comfortable using
  explicit lessons rather than play

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• When a recommended Western practice such as
  reading books is not culturally congruent for
  families, they can be given functional
  equivalents
• These include oral storytelling, looking at
  family photo albums, etc.

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Many Asian children

• Are urged to control their feelings, especially
  if those feelings are negative
• Need to be encouraged to express opinions, form
  judgments, and engage in problem-solving
  activities

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Working with Asian families and students.

• Is a joy, and I am continually learning new
  lessons about members of this population

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Turn to the people near you

• And discuss practical ideas/suggestions that you
  have found useful when working with Asian
  students and their families