Why Asians Speak English
August 29, 2008
The Beijing Olympics in China reminded the world that Asia is overtaking Western nations in everything from Olympic gold medals to economic growth. But it took test scores from kindergarten through 12th grade students in California to remind us that Asians are also overtaking usage of the English language.
Grace Tzeng reports in this issue that California Standards testing results show Asian students score higher in both English and math than all other students—including white students.
And whereas these kinds of statistics too often feed into the model minority stereotype, they really point out something quite different.
The use of English among Asian Americans reflects a bicultural nature that combines traditional Asian characteristics with modern Western practices.
And it’s not just happening with Asians in America. English is an official language of India and the Philippines, and some estimates say there are more English speakers in China than the entire adult population of the United States.
A 2006 British study found 450 million native English speakers around the world. But as many as a billion people, mostly from China and India, were learning English as their second language.
“Asia, especially India and China, probably holds the key to the long-term future of English as a global language,” the report called “English Next” concluded. (Maybe this is what the LPGA was thinking this week when they required all players to speak English.)
Asians in America are learning English for the same reason. It’s not a matter of trying to become like “honorary whites.” It’s a matter of adopting the most effective means of communication to add to our upbringing in Asian heritage and culture.
New research being conducted by Professor Larry Shinagawa at the University of Maryland proves this point. The Asian Americans that attain the highest levels of achievement—in everything from education to income to housing—are those APAs that exhibit bicultural attributes.
Asian Americans who reflect only modern American traits like individualism and consumerism do not do as well. Conversely, Asian Americans who do not go beyond their Asian ethnic enclaves and old traditions also do not do as well.
The group that excels most, and lays out the road map for future progress, is made up of those combining both cultures—Asian and American.
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4 Responses to “Why Asians Speak English”
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So what has this got to do with this dumb lpga requirement?
Because there are more non native speaking english than native, we are publishing http://www.audioster.com to take into account the variety of accents in the process of learning english.
Dear pswing:
Thank God it’s “English” only hereabnuts.
Were it any other tongue or script, I would have been renting a ricksha and hard put to haul that dumb tourist around Chinatown.
Frank
Thank God Asian Americans are performing better than whites in English. I am afraid one of these days, LPGA may institute English language tests for anyone who looks Asian!