Abstract
Asian Americans have been touted as the “model minority” in the United States. They are believed to be “smarter and better educated and (to) make more money” (Ramirez 1986) than other ethnic minorities and whites. Yet despite their outstanding academic achievements, Asian Americans still face major barriers in achieving high-level positions in business and industry. Their income, when adjusted for hours of work and level of education, is still less than that of whites. Colleges and universities admit a lower percentage of Asian Americans than whites even when Asian Americans score the same or higher on standardized tests. Racism no doubt contributes to some of the inequities Asian Americans face in gaining access to educational and economic opportunities, but linguistic and cultural differences are also major factors. This paper discusses how these linguistic and cultural differences can subtly influence the ways in which native English speakers evaluate the abilities, intentions, and attitudes of Asian Americans. These informal evaluations often prevent Asian Americans from gaining equal access to educational and economic opportunities.
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Tsang, C.L. (1989). Informal Assessment of Asian Americans: A Cultural and Linguistic Mismatch?. In: Gifford, B.R. (eds) Test Policy and Test Performance: Education, Language, and Culture. Evaluation in Education and Human Services, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2500-7_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2500-7_11
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