Media literacy #2

1)    What is the message sent by Yong Zhao and what is his purpose

Yong Zhao highlighted positive qualities of education systems in both the United States and China. He brought facts to support his view that a better measure of a country’s success is its pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. This caused someone in the audience to shout “Yes!” at 29:30.

2)    What techniques are used by Yong Zhao to attract and hold attention?

Yong Zhao used better body language and great humor to keep the attention of the audience. He successfully used the strategies outlined in Sam Horn’s “Tongue Fu,” which are very useful in a debate. He was also dressed more appropriately for the occaision. Mr. Zhao has an approachable and respectful demeanor which is very accessable to listeners. He also used personal stories about his own kids, which appeals to many people. It is interesting to listen to his presentation.

3)    What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in Yong's message?

Yong Zhao made a point to identify closely with both Chinese and American points of view. I really enjoyed that he used the word “we” a lot to discuss American issues. His languge was not divisive like Mr. Compton’s tone. Mr. Zhao mentioned that we all have similar values and points of view as human beings, wherever we live. His experiences growing up in a village were different from people in America, but we all want to have a life where our children can be successful. He also made a point to include data on many other countries in addition to America, China and India.

4)    How might different people interpret Yong's message differently?

It is easy to have generalized ideas about people in other countries, especially if you haven’t had the opportunity to work with them. I’m afraid some Americans would not believe Yong’s message. They would watch the video which follows their notion of what Asian life is like. When Yong says otherwise, they might still believe life for all people in Asia is just like in the video 2 Million Minutes. Yong used a great deal of math in the proof of the points he made, including derivative mathematics comparing GDP, test scores and happiness. I wonder if everyone in the audience could understand the math he used, especially since a focus of this debate is whether Americans have sufficient training in mathematics.

5)    What is omitted from Yong's message?

Yong did not talk as much about the educational system itself. He spoke more about quality of life and cultures. He had a purpose to respond to the film, so he did not cover the material in the film over again.

6)    Now you have heard two sides of the story. Which side would you vote for?

I preferred the presentation from Yong Zhao for a couple of reasons. It stands out to me that Mr. Compton, in his movie and presentation, treated both China and India as one country. 10,000 years of divergent cultural history disagree. The implication is offensive to the different cultures. Yong had better resources to support his points. He addressed a longer period of history and had data from other countries. The broader cope makes his argument more believable.