ASIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION

1. ASIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION

2. I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND** • ORIGINS: • East Asia (Japan, Korea, China) • Southeast Asia (Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, Malaysia) • South Asia (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka) • KEY RELIGIONS: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism

3. Southeast Asia:

4. Between the years 2000-2010: ** • 46% growth in the U.S. Asian population—more than any other racial group • Chinese largest, Filipinos second largest • Among Asian children and youth, more than 80% are children of immigrants

5. Overall average income level in U.S.** • Is highest for Asians • Asian Indians 2011 median income = $92,418

6. One problem for Asians…** • “model minority” • Needs may go unrecognized, unmet

7. Many Indians in the U.S. are Brahmin

8. II. CONTRASTNG BELIEFS, VALUES, AND PRACTICES** TRADITIONAL ASIAN MAINSTREAM Fatalism Personal control over envt., one’s fate Tradition, living with Change, future the past orientation

9. TRADITIONAL ASIAN MAINSTREAM** Group welfare Self actualization, privacy Mutual interdependence Independence, indiv. autonomy Hierarchy, rigid role status Equality, status determined by achievement Conformity Challenge authority

10. TRADIT. ASIAN MAINSTREAM

11. For children, many Asian families believe (in contrast to traditional U.S. families)

12. III. CUSTOMS, COURTESIES, VALUES** • A. Customs and Courtesies • Hospitality • Modesty, humility • Respect for elders, teachers, authority figures

13. B. Communication Styles** • Formal rules of communication propriety based on relative status of interlocutors • May be considered appropriate to ask personal questions • Indirectness often the norm re: touchy subjects • Some Asians may smile or laugh when embarrassed or angry

14. For example, key Filipino cultural values:

15. IV. HEALTH CARE AND DISABILITIES** Visible vs. invisible disabilities Disabilities fate, karma, sins committed by ancestors Families may be ashamed to bring a child for help if his/her disability represents sins committed by parents/ancestors

16. As SLPs…** • We may have trouble getting families to acknowledge disabilities and sign IEPs for special education services • What can we do when this happens?

17. V. ASIAN EDUCATION** • Hugely valued • In 2011, 50% of Asians 25 yrs. and older had a Bachelor’s degree or higher compared with 28.5% of all Americans • Asian children attend preschool at a higher rate than other groups

18. In most Asian countries, there is:** • Great respect for teachers • Heavy reliance on rote learning, memorization • Teachers are very authoritarian • Class is formal; teachers lecture • Teachers don’t admit mistakes

19. Differences--Asian and American Schools (Stevenson—compared Beijing & Chicago)

20. When asked what they’d wish for:

21. Abboud & Kim 2007 (cited in text):** • Role of Asian children in families: 1) respect elders and obey parents, 2) work hard and do well in school to secure a bright future • Many Asian parents work hard all day and morph into educators at night—that is their role • Asian parents put academics first, while other parents often put sports/athletics first; kids are too tired to study

23. VI. ASIAN LANGUAGE CONSIDERATIONS** • Introduction Many languages have numerous dialects

24. Some Languages are Tonal** • Khmer, Japanese, Korean not tonal languages • Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian are tonal; each tone represents a meaning change • Vietnamese has 6 tones, for example

25. Please know in detail… • The charts on pp. • The chart on p. is not on the test 

26. Linguistically…

27. For example, in Singapore, people speak: (don’t need to memo each lang. for exam)** • Bengali • Chinese Malay • East Punjabi Sindhi • English Teluga • Hindi Thai • Japanese Korean • Java

28. VII. IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS** • We may need to address the husband first because the wife is subordinate • It may be disgraceful for the family to admit to or discuss a child’s disability; entire family lineage disgraced—intervention may be rejected • Some families do not believe that it is important to talk with young children and babies; may not be open to early intervention

30. Narrative skills strong predictors of later language outcomes This study attempted to create some norms for evaluating narrative skills of Cantonese-speaking children Studied typically-developing subjects and those with specific language impairment (SLI) To, Stokes, Cheung, & T’sou (June 2010 Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research) Narrative assessment for Cantonese-speaking children.**

31. The researchers found that:

32. These children also…

33. So we know that…** • Assessment of children’s narrative skills is very promising  differentiating lang. difference from LI

34. It is important for us to understand Filipinos…** In 2000, there were 24,516 Filipinos in Sacramento County • In 2012, this had increased to 41,455 (69% increase)

35. Former students from this class: • Filipinos predominantly Roman Catholic—enlist help of priest, church members • Family--huge sacrifices to come to U.S. for a better life for Ch • 150 dialects

41. Tasha Ketphanh—Laos: (former student in this class)

42. Tasha (Laos; continued)

43. I have found that Asians…** • Are generally terrific to work with • Very appreciative • If they understand WHY, they will do carry over