This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations.
Dealing with stereotypes
INTRODUCTION
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A stereotype is an idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing. A stereotype may be accurate or, as is often the case, it may be quite inaccurate. For example, we often think of boys as being rather tough and athletic while girls are more gentle and graceful. Well, that’s true some of the time, but there are certainly many times when it is not.
Stereotypes are common in the newspaper. This especially true in the comics section where politicians are always dishonest, lawyers are greedy and mothers-in-laws continually battle with their son-in-laws. See What’s so funny on page 5 for some examples.
To get started, consider the follow statements. Each of them describe a common stereotype. Decide whether you think a statement is (a) clearly not true (b) partly true or (c) definitely true
All Japanese look and think alike.
- Western teenagers do not show proper respect to adults
- Being on time is not important to Thai people.
- The Chinese are hard-working, intelligent and have a strong desire to become rich.
- Most American men carry guns.
- Fish is a good food for the brain and carrots are good for the eyes.
- You can catch a cold by going out in the rain without an umbrella.
- Dogs hate cats.
Stereotypes in the news.
As you will see in this lesson, stereotypes also find their way into news stories. In some cases, the stories actually deal with common stereotypes and whether they are true or false. Read both of the stories below and consider the questions that accompany them.
Story 1
In many western countries, one common stereotype of people who use the Internet a lot is that they are geeks – they spend all their time with computers and do not have very good social lives.
- Does the same stereotype exist here in Thailand?
- Do you think the stereotype is probably true, at least for western countries?
- What does the story say about this stereotype?
- Does they story say that any of the common beliefs about Internet users are true? Is so, what are they?
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OUR STORIES FROM THE BANGKOK POST
Internet ‘geek’ image shattered
by new study
BERNHARD WARNER
The typical Internet user, far from being a geek, shuns television and actively socialises with friends, a study on surfing habits said last week.
The findings of the first World Internet Project report present an image of the average Netizen that contrasts with the stereotype of the loner “geek” who spends hours of his free time on the Internet and rarely engages with the real world.
Instead, the typical Internet user is an avid reader of books and spends more time engaged in social activities than the non-user, it says. And, television viewing is down among some Internet users by as much as five hours per week compared with Net abstainers, the study added.
“Use of the Internet is reducing television viewing around the world while having little impact on positive aspects of social life,” said Jeffrey Cole, director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, the California university that organised the project.
The findings are derived from surveys of Internet and non-Internet users in 14 countries: the United States, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Macao, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Chile.
The study does, however, support some long-established Internet usage trends including the fact that the wealthiest segments of the population are the most avid users and that more men than women surf the web. But figures vary widely by country.
For example, the gender gap is most pronounced in Italy and smallest in Taiwan. According to the study, 41.7 percent of Italian men are online compared to 21.5 percent of Italian women. In Taiwan, the difference is 25.1 percent for men and 23.5 percent for women.
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shun
to avoid; to keep away from
loner
a person who prefers to be alone rather than with other people
engage
to become involved with; to take part in
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avid
very enthusiastic about; enjoying very much
abstainer
a person who choose not to do something |
derive from
to get from
segments
parts
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Story 2
Times are changing in Thailand, but boys are probably still more likely to play football than girls are and girls are much more likely to try Thai classical dance than boys are.
What about playing musical instruments? Do you think girls are more likely to play a musical instrument or is it the other way around? Or perhaps it is about the same for boys and girls?
Among those who do play musical instruments, are there differences between the types of instruments girls and boys choose to play?
Who would be more likely to choose the violin?
Who would be more likely to choose the guitar?
Here is a story about the choice of musical instruments in England. Do you think the situation is the same as it is in Thailand?
Make a list of the differences the story mentions in the use of musical instruments between English girls and boys.
Boys blow trumpets
but girls favour flute
Not only do one and a half as many girls as boys study music in school, but their preferred instruments betray a sexual bias stretching back into the mists of time, according to a the latest study of English schools.
Violins, flutes, clarinets and cello were the instruments most favoured by girls, while guitars, trumpets and drums were the choice of boys.
Nine times as many girls as boys chose to play the flute.
Three times more girls than boys selected the violin.
By contrast, three times as many boys as girls picked the guitar or drum and twice as many the trumpet.
The report said schools had to get more boys into music and try to tackle vigorously the gender imbalance in instrument take-up. — REUTERS
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pervade
to spread through and be noticeable in every part of something
betray
to cause to be aware
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bias
an interest in one thing more than others
tackle
to make a strong effort to solve a problem |
vigorously
very active, determined or full of energy
gender
the fact of being male or female
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Teachers
It is probably best for students to divide up into small groups for this lesson because it should generate discussion. Begin by going over the concept of “stereotype” and then let the students consider and discuss the nine examples, deciding whether they are accurate or inaccurate stereotypes.
If time is limited, have some of the groups read and discuss the first story while the others do the same with the second story.
For more suggestions, see our teachers note’s which are available at our website at http://www.bangkokpost.com/education
• This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA
Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager/Editor of the Learning Post at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme.
Read our other instant lesson here.
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Last modified: November 8, 2004
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