Original Introduction

Hey man, did you get your ACT scores back

Yea, i got a 1600 and my highest was in math and science, what about you?
i!ing one detai" behind this con!ersation, that one student is American and another
being #a$anese, which student wou"d you say had the high score o% a si&teen'hundred? ( know
that ( wou"d $robab"y say the #a$anese student was the student with the highest o!era"" score,
and highest scores in math and in science) (t*s kind o% weird that me as an American wou"d gi!e
credit to the #a$anese student be%ore the American student, and this was the same con%usion that
striked my in+uiry +uestion and research) ( wanted to research or e!en %ind out i% the
con!ersation about #a$anese students being smarter in math and science than American students
was a %actua" one or was it ,ust a misconce$tion) -ith this $re'conce$tion in my mind, (
constructed an in+uiry +uestion that wou"d e&amine the reasons behind the di%%erences in
academic $er%ormance between American and #a$anese students) This +uestion wou"d not on"y
ask about the s$eci%ic $er%ormance in certain sub,ects but about $er%ormance in academia
o!era"") .rom my research i %ound that there are so many %actors that go into how one*s education
is a%%ected es$ecia""y between two countries with tota""y di%%erent dynamics) This essay wi""
e&$"ore how these dynamics se$arate these countries academica""y, through cu"tura" ideo"ogies
and through ty$ica" "i%esty"es)
Revised Introduction
/se your imagination %or a second, and throw yourse"% into this situation0 You are twe"!e years o%
age, and ,ust %ound out that you and your %ami"y ha!e to mo!e to #a$an %rom America because
your %ather ,ust "anded a higher $aying ,ob through his com$any, which re+uires you guys to u$
and mo!e) You are terri%ied because a"" you know is your American "i%esty"e, your %riends, the
%ood, socia" as$ects and e!en education) You think to yourse"% how in hea!ens you wi"" be ab"e to
ada$t, es$ecia""y to the schoo" systems there) Time $asses on, and it is the day to mo!e) You
arri!e in #a$an, intrigued by the cu"ture, yet sti"" a%raid o% the change that "ies ahead) You start
schoo" tomorrow, which becomes more and more o% a rea"ity as the day %ades) .ast .orward to
the ne&t 1ay0 You wake u$ and attend schoo" %or the %irst time, you o% course s$eak no #a$anese
and what you were ,ust "earning in schoo" "ast week at home in America, changes drastica""y and
has a tota""y di%%erent a$$roach) Years $assed by, you are now in high schoo" and ma,or test such
as the 2AT and ACT are coming u$ and you are ner!ous yet you %ee" !ery $re$ared es$ecia""y in
math) You and your new set o% %riends a"" know that this test wi"" be a $iece o% cake) Test day is
here, you take the test, and you wait %or your scores)
-aiting is a"ways a Hass"e, but scores come in a week) .ast %orward a week0 Your 2cores
are %ina""y in3 You scored a 1600 on the 2AT, and a 46 on the ACT, your %riends in #a$an scored
about the same) You are so e&cited, so you ca"" your %riends in America, because they a"so took
this test around the same time) They mention that they did okay, but not as we"" as you) You
secret"y "et out a com$etiti!e yes3 but you a"so wonder why they did not do as we"", knowing
that they too are smart kids) -ou"d it $ossib"y ha!e something to do with how American and
#a$anese students are taught and what their taught? The !ery image constructed within the story,
o% students in #a$anese schoo" systems doing a "ot better on test than American students, "ead me
to research reasons %or the di%%erence in academic $er%ormance between these two cu"tures) The
situation o% a student in #a$an doing better on a test than an American student is not the ty$ica"
case, but it de%inite"y is a stereoty$ica" assum$tion, that ( myse"% am gui"ty o% making) ( am sure5
it*s weird to hear that an American student makes the assum$tion that a #a$anese student cou"d
$otentia""y do better on a test than them) ( a"so %ound this weird, so ( decided to rea""y see i% this
assum$tion had any truth, and i% so, why?