Alan: Analysis Paper 2

Alan Wu

CJN 738 Gender Communication

30 October 2012

Analysis Paper 2

For the analysis paper 2, the person that I am going to interview is a Taiwanese international student named Ping (pseudonym). We have known each other for six years. Ping is a junior who studies actuarial science at University of Illinois. The difference between Ping and mainstream American college student is that he is an international student. He came to America not only to pursue a bachelor’s degree of actuarial science, but also to pass professional exams in the future. He also has been interning at Prudential Corporation since his freshman year. He knows working experience is important and helpful for him to have the H-1B (working) visa or even acquire permanent resident card to become a permanent resident or citizen.

According to the U.S. census bureau, there are about 342,000 Taiwanese immigrants in the United States. According to USA TODAY, there are 723,277 international students studying in the US during the 2010-2011 academic year. According to Central News Agency, 24,818 Taiwanese students studied during the 2010-2011 academic year.

I conducted two interviews with Ping, and each lasted about an hour. I conducted the first interview via Skype on October 20, 2012. In the first interview I asked him why he chose to come to the United States rather than study in other countries. He said he always enjoyed speaking and learning English, since he was a little kid. But, Taiwan has a challenging and stressful educational system, and his parents want him to be more involved in the open minded educational atmosphere in Western culture. Moreover, he explained that colleges in United States are relatively high in educational quality compared with other countries. “I believe I can receive a better education from my major, and it also acts like a catalyst for passing the future exams. I think I stand a better chance to become an actuary and work in the United States” Ping said. On the other hand, if he returns to Asia, the Taiwanese and Chinese corporations generally have higher recognition for the international student who studies in United States. He may end up having a higher salary in Taiwan if he worked in the United States.

I also conducted the second interview via Skype on October 25, 2012. I asked Ping, “what are the major differences between the university experience in the U.S. and Taiwan?” He said when he first came to the country, not only was he homesick, but he also experienced racism in school from peers. Schoolmates laughed at him because of his accent and the identity as an Asian. Ping felt he wasn’t accepted at that time. Eventually, people noticed Ping was good at math and active in sports. Instead of showing negative bad attitude, students were nicer to Ping and Ping became more popular. Some students even treated him as their role model. Ping also observed that American students are willing to express their thoughts and opinions, not just engage in casual conversation, during class. Students would also exchange ideas with professors. This gave Ping many chances to speak in front of different audiences whether it was for classes or activities. This is something he rarely saw in Taiwan. Ping went on to explain that he stopped being hesitant to speak English in public. Now he feels very comfortable to speak to anyone, and he also feels more Americanized, Most of his friends are Americans and unless he has to, he seldom speaks in Chinese anymore.

The show Ping and I have seen and discussed is the sitcom Big Bang Theory. The show is centered on five geeky and socially awkward characters, set in an apartment in Pasadena, California. By watching the show, I found the character that has some similarity to Ping is Rajesh Koothrappali. Rajesh is an international student from India. Rajesh complains that he is always lonely; sometimes the people around him cannot accept his humor or may not even understand it. When he experiences homesickness, he performs the traditional Indian dance to amuse himself. On the other hand, Rajesh always communicates with his parents back in India via webcam, which is the most common means for communication between the average international student and their parents back home. Ping and I both feel Rajesh and he have much in common. Because of the language and culture barrier, Rajesh sometimes has the tendency to act or speak inappropriately, which often earns him stares and negative remarks from the other characters.

Kim (2011) described how Asian immigrants are frequently feel pushed aside and excluded from the mainstream of the host society, and they spend most of their everyday lives on their own communication channels. On the other hand, Ping faced some problems he needed to overcome. When he felt homesick, he would also watch his favorite Taiwanese talent show to gain a sense of relief. Ping said, “When I first came to the U.S., I sometime felt I did not belong to the American society. When I interact with American classmates at social events I have difficulties to express my thoughts due to language barrier.” Ping also described a situation in which he explained to the professor on the first day of class that he might need some extra help because of his language difficulties. The professor replied, “That is your problem, not mine.” From that time on, Ping kept silent in class, but the professor posed questions to him at every meeting. Sometimes when he could not answer the questions, the professor said something he could not understand and the other students laughed. Ping felt he was being scoffed at.

Macdonald’s (2006) article “Muslim Women and The veil” described veiled Muslim women as: “rigidly and defensively essentialised by the Western media in their veiled representation, are rarely heard to speak, and hardly ever in their own words” (p.15). They are seen as the stereotype of the strange and uncommon foreigner who experiences the denial of diversity of their voices. Ping is an international student, who has faced a lot of discrimination. He felt American students tended not to look at him when he spoke and offered little verbal response. He also described instances in which American students avoided him when they were instructed to break into groups to do group projects. He was commonly left without a partner. Veiled Muslim women also experienced ridicule due to the stereotypes of being masculine different. They also are not accepted by the Western society, and resistant by American as well. Ping also faced this kind of experience before, when he was playing Lacrosse on another schools varsity team. The opponents were laughing at him and said that Asians are weak and not athletic enough to be on the team. Ping also said ” Sometimes I feel I do not belong in the school with my teammates or schoolmates because of the different kind of racism and lack of communication. Luckily, my coach told me to cheer up and embrace what I have now and just be myself.” After the pep talk from the coach, Ping told me he moved on and began expressing his opinions and acting like his true self.

In Taiwanese Students’ Perspectives on their educational experience in the United States, Yen and Stevens (2004) explained what attract Taiwanese students to come to United States for education, and what circumstances may compromise their efforts to get a good education in America. In this article, there is a section that describes the initial response to the unfamiliar environment. The first thing Taiwanese students face is that the living quality here is not as good as they imagined. They start to feel upset after a while. The article has a comment that demonstrates the participants’ feelings “My teacher in Taiwan used to tell me Americans are so polite. But my neighbor always dumps trash in the hall, and doesn’t care how other people feel (P.302).” The article suggests that the students coped with their loneliness by seeking out the company of other Taiwanese students on campus, and they started to feel a sense of belonging, most strongly through their association with other Taiwanese students.

All the international students come here for the American Dream, but every identity has to face obstacles such as homesickness, language barrier and culture shock. Kim (2011) and Macdonald (2006) both talk about the struggles of foreigners living in the foreign society when they native born, and also describe the way they try to break through the barrier or try to adjust. However, they did not give suggestions and tips for staying away from isolation and loneliness. On the other hand, Yen and Stevens’ (2004) article, listed the steps of what a Taiwanese student might face in the road of studying aboard. They included things like gaining broader life experiences, and impact of stress on international students. Ping was also struggling at the early stage of his student life in the United State including the difficulties in school, social events, and other activities. But after the few years of growth and the effort he spent, he is now studying with his ultimate goal of getting an degree on actuarial science and also becoming more Americanized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Kim, Y. (2011). Transnational migration, media and identity of asian women. New York: Routledge.

 

 

Macdonald, M. (2006). Muslim women and the veil. (Vol.6 ed., Vol. 1, p. 15). New York: Routledge.

 

Yen, W., & Stevens, P. (2004). Taiwanese students’ Perspectives on Their Educational Experiences in the United States .International Education Journal Vol5, No3, ,