QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 3

1. What is style of thinking? => People from different cultures 'think differently"
2. What is cultural variation in styles of thinking? Some styles of thinking are more
suited to certain tasks and certain contexts than others.
3. Read the story about Japanese vs Australian styles of thinking and learning in
section 1 of Chapter 3, and fill in the gaps in the following table.
What the Japanese student write in the What the Australian professor expected
essay to see
Starting with a description of 1. family Directly focusing on Friedman’s and
background and personal life of Samuelson’s economic views
Friedman Analyzing (a)significant similarities and
Describing 2. personal life of Friedman difference
Summarizing 3. Friedman economic ↓
analysis Analyzing (b) strengths and weaknesses
Describing 4 family background of of their economic thinking (critical
Samuelson analysis).
Describing 5 personal life of Samuelson ↓
Summarizing 6 Samuelson economic Evaluating (c). two economic views
analysis (about the significant about between
similarities and differences)

4. How did the Australian professor respond to the student’s essay?

=> would not find it acceptable
=> might dismiss this student as unpromising because there were no signs in the
essay that he could do more than summarize information no sign, in short, of
critical thinking.
5. What is the Japanese student’s purpose in his essay? What is the Australian
professor’s expectation?
- Student: Describing the difference in their backgrounds, he was implicitly
explaining how these conflicting viewpoints developed.
He would not be expected to put forward his own critical evaluation of a
controversy between eminent scholars.
- Professor: Having conclusion which might have summarized the main points
made in the body of the essay.
Point out the strengths and weaknesses of their economic thinking (critical
analysis).
 6. What are these two styles of thinking/approaching an essay?
- Student: Describing and summarizing
- Professor: Analyzing and Evaluating

7. Read section 3 of Chapter 3 about Kaplan’s styles of writing and presenting ideas,
and fill in gaps numbered 1 to 5 in the figure below.
1. English 2.Semitic 3. Oriental 4.Romance 5.Russian

8. Read the case of a Thai student writing a thesis about population changes in
Northern Thailand. Fill in the gaps in the table below.
What the Thai student did What the Australian professor would
want to see
Summarising 1 the geography, history (a) Material in the geography, history
and culture of Thailand and cultural of Thailand.
Summarising 2 the same features, in (b) Explained significant points in
more details of Thailand population pattern.
Describing 3 population patterns (c) The thesis (data required explanation)

9. How did the Australian professor respond to the student’s work?

 They were not relevant
10. Compare the Japanese student’s approach to the essay and that of the Thai
student. Are they different or similar?
  Similar to the Japanese the way to approach to the essay because of the
cultures defference.
11. Visualize this approach / style of thinking with Kaplan’s pattern.
 The fifth pattern which Kaplan identifies is a come Oriental pattern -> an
approach by indirection -> The sentences circle round the topic, often defining
something in terms of what it is not, and avoid any explicit judgement or
conclusion. A cultural variations in styles of thinking which may interfere with
study in a foreign institution. We have also examined the influence of
difference cultures on ways in which students learn and styles they use for
presenting their ideas.
12. Is it true that people from different cultures “think differently”?
 Yes it is, different cultures often bring different purposes to their thinking and
learning, and these different purposes produce different results.
13. How much true is it? (always true or it depends other factors?)
 It depends other factor
14. Read Section 2 of Chapter 3 about cultural attitudes towards learning. What is =>
the Japanese student’s learning style? How is this learning style reflected in his
approach to writing the essay?
the Japanese student’s learning style is not encouraged to ask question and its
reflected approaching to writing in his essay was expected to question
15. What learning style did the Australian professor expect his student to have /or to
show in writing the essay?
 He provides all the information which students must learn, in other students
are expected to find most of their material independently, by reading or by
their own experiments and research.