CENTRE FOR MODERN LANGUAGES AND HUMAN SCIENCES

UHL 2412 ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC COMMUNICATION

SEM 2 2014/2015
ASSESSMENT 4b: FIRST DRAFT (40MARKS)

MATRIC STUDENTS NAME MARKS

NO.
CONTENT SOURCE COHERENC LANGUAG TOTAL
S E& E
COHESION
1 ED1402 MOHAMAD
. 1 KHAIRUDDIN BIN /16 /8 /8 /8 /40
MOHD HADZIR

2 ED1402 SALWA BINTI

. 6 AWANG AKBAR

SECTION 25P
TOPIC STEREOTYPE IS A BIG PROBLEM TO OUR MODERN SOCIETY
LECTURER LIYANA BINTI MOHD TAMILI
NAME
DATE 12/5/2015

INSTRUCTIONS:
1 Work with a partner and choose a topic from the list given.
2 Write the First Draft of the Term Paper in pairs.
3 You are required to strictly follow the guidelines given to write the First
Draft.

OBJECTIVE:
1 To apply reading skills to extract and transfer specific information
from general texts.
2 To write thesis-support essays using accurate language, correct
organisation and relevant content of general topics.
3 To apply appropriate study skills in listening and writing.

VERIFIED BY:

.
DR NORRIHAN SULAN
DEPUTY DEAN OF ACADEMIC

Table Of Content
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 Content Page
First Draft 3
Documentation:
Article (1) 7
Article (2) 10
Article (3) 12
Article (4) 13

A FIRST DRAFT
TOPIC: Stereotype is a Big Problem to Our Modern Society

Stereotype is the judgments we make about people, events or places are based on our

own direct impressions without any evidence. A stereotype is a thought that can be adopted

about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts or beliefs

may or may not accurately reflect reality. There is a lot of stereotyping in the media to make

TV programs, newspapers and films more interesting for us to watch and read. They also

exist in everyday life for some people to make the world easier to understand. Stereotype is a

way of cognitive thinking that related to social psychology and often occurs without

conscious awareness. It is almost related to the other components such as prejudice and

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discrimination. Stereotype is the first level among the three components as stereotype is

related to our unconscious thinking. From stereotype, prejudice is the way we act towards our

stereotypical minded which leads to the third level of negative behaviour, discrimination.

Stereotype refers to categorizing people into groups such as gender, religion, races or even

skin colour. Two types of stereotype; positive stereotype and negative stereotype which both

may bring harm to an individual as well as to the society. There are many types of grouping

in stereotype as it occurs in our daily life without we realize we are actually stereotyping.

Stereotype brings many negative impacts to our society as well as to the victim of stereotype.

One of the negative impacts of stereotype is that it can lowered self-motivation of an

individuals so-called victim. Victims of stereotype always feel embarrassed to do or commit

something they good at. They were afraid to get criticized on their own mistakes and

imperfections they made. Stereotype allows someone who get criticized or labelled to get

depressed as they were trying their best to achieve perfection to avoid any further critics from

other people. Women are categorized as bad drivers if compared to men. Mostly driving

faulty on the road involved the women and therefore assumption without fact was made to

blame women on every mistake on the road. As they realize they were categorized into a

group of reckless driver, they somehow afraid to drive as their minds were set to make

mistake as told by people. They find it suffocating and depressing because they are unable to

drive freely as men. Sometime, road bully can happen if it involves men and women.

Irresponsible individual will use this advantage as he knew women are categorized as

reckless driver. Therefore, stereotype can result in lowered self-motivation of the victim

itself.

Stereotype also brings negative impact on youngster or children as stereotype leads

to confusion. This problem is creating confusion in kids because they are growing up

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thinking that they should be one way because society thinks that is the ideal. Stereotypes also

are creating a false idea of how they interact with other individuals since many of the

stereotypes these children receive are through media. For example, if children see their

parents doing household tasks such as cooking, washing dishes or mowing the lawn, they will

learn that both genders can perform such tasks. However, if parents divide responsibilities by

gender roles or make statements such as "Fixing the pipe is your dad's job," kids learn that

certain activities are only for males or females and that will confuse the kids. They will bear

this concept in their mind and be used to it until they fully grown up. They will use it in

school environment as well as until they in the working environment. Although stereotypes

are not that dangerous to adults mind, it can be dangerous to childrens mind as it can

influence them to make simple assumption without fact just by looking at certain situation.

So as we can conclude, stereotype can create confusion among children or youngsters. We

cannot change the way our society works, but we can teach our children to value other

people for what they are, not what they appear to be.

Stereotypes create a misconception of how people are and how they live in other

cultures, religions or countries. Misconception can leads to discrimination at the first place.

Our society always made assumption based on what they heard from others. A person

cannot guarantee the story told from one person to another is 100% true. But our society

likes to believe what they heard although they may not have seen the real situation. Sharing

story can lead to misconception as a person may add up some faux fact in the story to make

it more controversial. Usually, media plays the biggest role in spreading those controversial

stories. For instance, a Muslim person accused to be a terrorist because of the 9/11 tragedy in

the United State of America. Impact from this tragedy, the Muslims, especially in the U.S.A

was treated unequally although they are the legal citizens of U.S.A. This misconception

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spreads to all over the world and burdens the Muslims to socialize with the surrounding.

Some non-Muslims with narrow thinking create terror in themselves and determined not to

socialize with the Muslims people. So, stereotype can leads to misconception of how people

live in other cultures, religions or countries.

Stereotype may causes harm to society but some may argue that stereotype can bring

positive impact to the people. They might say that stereotype offers quick judgment and fast

decision whenever you are new in a situation. But let us make this clear. Quick judgment of

someone can lead to misjudge and misunderstood and it might affect the way we act towards

the victim of our judgment. As we act differently towards them, they might feel offended

although the judgment made just now may be untrue. Some might argue that stereotyping can

simplify the surroundings so that they are easier to understand. Categorizing people and

forming expectation towards people and situation can make life more predictable and easier

to understand. Somehow, misguided can happen in categorizing them in the wrong

demographic group. They might not care on this action but some of them may feel offended

as the assumption made by the people in surround is not specifically true. For example, when

a student needs help on a Mathematics problem, the first person this student asks for help

may be someone with calculator and Mathematics books all the time. There might be other

student who does not spend time on Mathematics stuff but excellent in Mathematics.

Stereotypes can be efficient shortcuts and sense-making tools. So we can see that stereotype

can however, keep people from processing new or unexpected information about each

individual, thus biasing the impression formation process. Certainly, stereotyping still can

bring negative impact towards people.

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 So as we can summarize from all the points given, stereotype might lead to positive

situation in certain occasion but mainly it can bring many negative impacts to our society as

well as to the victim of stereotype. The misconception aroused can lead a major problem to

the global society as well as to individuals itself. We should keep stereotypes out of the

picture, even though sometimes we can also be victims to stereotype. With techniques to

battle the use of stereotypes, we can surely negate issues of stereotyping and allow a more

positive and accepting society to abound. Lastly, we should stop judging people before we

even get to know them.

B ARTICLES

Article (1): Advantages and Disadvantages of Stereotypes

A stereotype is when an opinion is formed about a person categorising them to a certain
group of people based on class, looks, gender or background they belong to. There is a lot
of stereotyping in the media to make TV, Newspapers and Films more interesting for us to
watch and read. They also exist in everyday life for some people to make the world easier to
understand. Stereotypes can have advantages in certain situations but they also have
their disadvantages too.

Advantages
Stereotypes can be useful if you are in a new situation and need to make a quick
judgment and fast decisions. For example, if you have never been around a member of

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 royalty before, you might stereotype them as being formal and reserved, which will help you
to respond to them in a respectful manner to follow their behaviour.
Stereotyping can be seen as simplifying our surroundings so they are easier to
understand. Stereotypes enable you to categorize people into groups, which allow you to
form expectations about people and situations making life more predictable and easier to
understand.
Even though the media may stereotype celebrities in a bad way, they may also
stereotype them in a good way. They will make them look themselves and use them as role
models to others. This may make the celebrity more popular and liked by the Public which
will increase their self-esteem.
Some people may like to be stereotyped as they want their looks and how they dress
to come across clearly to other people, therefore they instantly want them to judge them, how
to act towards them and what people's reactions are towards them. e.g. 'chavs' may want to
show their dominance and want to gain their self-respect by showing this. This may be
influenced by how they dress or even how they walk, which is what they like.

Disadvantages
The downside of using a stereotype to make a judgment about someone is that it
might be completely misguided and incorrect, causing you to act differently towards the
person which can offend them.
The media may have changed the way the person actually is on a normal daily life to
how they are on TV. This may be because it will draw more attention from the Public eye as
it is making the person, normally a celebrity, to look stupid. This will therefore increase the
amount of viewers that programme gets.
For example, Paris Hilton is involved with a show called Paris Hilton's Best Friend.
Some people may perceive this as a silly programme and a waste of time because why make
a TV programme just to make a 'best friend'. This makes Paris look slightly silly and blonde
because she is the one that has agreed to go on the show. The only reason she may have done
this is because she wants to get seen by the public but she is too blonde to realise that people
may be 'laughing' at her. It can be argued that are we as 'silly' as Paris Hilton? This is because
we are the ones stupid enough to watch the programme therefore we are the reason how she
makes money. People may stereotype her as being false, spoilt, vain, and an attention seeker

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 but is this the producers want us to see? My point is that the media may have changed her
to look how they want her to look instead of how she actually is.
Some people may assume that the same group of people share the same ideals and
personality traits just because they have something in common like their dress sense, culture
or taste in music. Just because they may look the same, it doesn't mean they feel the same or
think the same things.
This is a form of prejudice and can be distressing for the person who is being
prejudged, who might feel that they are misunderstood, particularly when a stereotype is
racially motivated.
The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" demonstrates that appearance isn't
enough to understand who a person really is.
Stereotyping can create problems in many social situations like the workplace, at
school or in the local community.
For example, in the workplace if a female boss were to manage a group of men. The
female might feel that she has to prove that she is capable to do the job because of the
negative stereotyping that suggests that women are less capable, and the men might in turn
assume that she is bossy and incompetent, this then creating negativity for her in the
company.

Stereotyping sometimes has its benefits

By Campus Times Published on December 03, 2009 12:00 AM Uncategorized

A college campus is often associated with political correctness and liberalism. We are told
that prejudging people based on their ethnicity, gender, socio-economic class or other
categories is immoral, narrow-minded and ignorant. When you need help with a math
problem, is it your first instinct to go to the sorority girl or the football player for help?
Probably not, even though many sorority girls and football players are quite capable in math.
Youll go to the kid thats always with a calculator and raises his hand in class. Does that
make you immoral, narrow-minded and ignorant? Absolutely not. With the limited amount of
time we have and the immense number of people there are, stereotyping is an efficient way to
categorize crowds of people. Ideally, it would be nice to get to know everyone as individuals,
but thats just not feasible.

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We resort to stereotypes because its the next best thing. You sort of know every person based
on their race or occupation or the kind of clothes they wear by the preconceived notions that
are thrown at us by the media and what we acknowledge as the generalized truth. It might
sound awful at first glance, but theres some merit to such generalizations. Isnt it better to
sort of know a person than to not know them at all?

Stereotypes are a bit of an equalizer. No matter who you are, everyone is always being
generalized, in both negative and positive ways. Its something everyone in the entire world
has in common. Akin to most things in life, it does impact some more harmfully than others,
which is a shame but inevitable due to our hierarchal nature. Additionally, stereotyping
allows us to face issues as opposed to ignoring them. If a certain demographic group
maintains a dire stereotype, there evidently is some truth to it that needs to be addressed.
Stereotypes can be a call to action. Furthermore, they are often funny and entertaining and
jokes tend to decrease the worth of a topic. The more of a joke a stereotype is, the more clich
it becomes, and we all get bored with clichs eventually. That boredom makes us look for
originality and give credit to people that defy the stereotypes that are placed on them.
Alternatively, there are also a lot of positive stereotypes that encourage people to fit into them
and that, in turn, work constructively for that person. You can hardly call that immoral.

Conversely, discriminating against people based on their demographic group is all of those
adjectives and then some. If an employer doesnt hire someone because their name is
DeAndre or Mohammed, that is clearly racist. However, if DeAndre didnt get the job
because he arrived to the job interview dressed as a stereotypical black man, DeAndres
deficiency of sense is at fault. When people fit many of the stereotypes their demographic
group is linked with, their lack of individuality deserves the stereotyping they are bound to
receive from others. For instance, if you dress like a stereotypical hippie, act like a hippie and
talk like one, people will call you a hippie. Criticize it all you want, but you made it that
much easier for people to stereotype you. Stereotyping isnt as evil as its portrayed to be. As
long as it doesnt close your mind to other dimensions and possibilities, its a useful
organizational tool.

And of course, there are always those people who cant look past stereotypes, but dont fret
those people arent ever worth your breath complaining about.

Kernogitski

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Stereotypes simplify the social world around us by grouping people into categorical sets of
characteristics. While this allows us to process our environment faster, by making quick value
judgment about individuals, especially strangers, it also leads to all sorts of problems in an
increasingly globalized and diverse world. Stereotypes can be either positive or negative, may
or may not be true, and can lead to problems or even dire consequences.

Article (2): The Pain of Positive Stereotypes

Even positive stereotypes make people feel bad.

Post published by Art Markman Ph.D. on Feb 15, 2013 in Ulterior Motives
When we think of the problems that stereotypes cause, we typically focus on negative
characteristics associated with groups. Over the years, I have been part of conversations
where someone uses the term Jew to refer to someone who is being cheap. I leave those
interactions frustrated and angry.

Presumably, though, there are positive stereotypes as well. In the United States, there are
cultural stereotypes that Asians are good at math and that Women are nurturing. If hearing a
negative stereotype about your group gets you upset, does hearing a positive stereotype have
the opposite effect?

This question was explored in a series of studies by John Oliver Siy and Sapna Cheryan in
the January, 2013 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

In one study, Asian Americans were brought to the lab where they engaged in a task along
with a White participant (who was actually one of the experimenters posing as a participant).
In the experiment, each participant was going to fill out a packet. One packet had math
problems in it, while the other had verbal problems in it. After a rigged coin flip to make the
selection process appear random, the White participant was chosen to select who would fill
out each packet.

In the control condition, the White participant handed the math packet to the Asian
participant and said, How about you take this packet, and Ill work on this one. In the
positive stereotype condition, the White participant said, I know all Asians are good at math,
how about you take the math packet. Ill work on this one.

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After completing the packets, participants rated how much they liked their partner and they
filled out some other scales including a measure of how much they felt like their partner
depersonalized them by reducing them to a member of their racial group.

Positive stereotypes did not make people feel good. When the White participant used a
positive stereotype, the Asian participant liked them less and felt more depersonalized. The
positive stereotype also made the participants angry. Statistically, the amount of
depersonalization they felt explained the amount of dislike they felt for their partner.

Other studies in this series demonstrated a similar effect with women who were told that they
were nurturing or cooperative because of their gender. These studies also ruled out some
other explanations like the possibility that Asian Americans react negatively to the positive
stereotype because it does not acknowledge that they are both Asians and Americans.

Across all of the studies done in this paper, a positive stereotype made people feel less like
an individual. Under some circumstances, though, this did not cause people to dislike the
person who used the stereotype. In one study, Asian American participants were primed to
think of themselves either in independent or interdependent terms. The independent prime
asked people to think about ways that they were different from family and friends. The
interdependent prime asked people to think about ways that they were similar to family and
friends.

After this priming, participants were exposed either to a positive stereotype (in this case that
Asians are hardworking) or to no stereotype. Participants rated how much they liked the
speaker as well as whether they felt depersonalized. As in the other studies, hearing a
positive stereotype led to greater feelings of being depersonalized for everyone in the study.
However, only the people with primed to think of themselves in independent terms strongly
disliked the speaker. Those primed to think of themselves in interdependent terms did not
dislike the speaker significantly more after hearing a positive stereotype compared to no
stereotype. What is going on here?

Stereotypes of all kinds lump an individual into a group. When you find a stereotype applied
to you, it removes some of your individuality. That happens whether the stereotype used was
positive or negative. It is frustrating to realize that someone views you just as a member of a

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group and not as an individual. And in many situations, that leads you to dislike the person
who made the comment.

It is fascinating, though, that when you feel more interconnected with others (as you do when
you are primed to think of yourself in interdependent terms), the depersonalization caused by
hearing a stereotype aimed at you does not lead to the same dislike of the speaker.

Finally, I suspect there is an additional factor at play in these studies. When someone uses a
positive stereotype to judge you, it is reasonable to assume that it is only a matter of time
until they apply negative stereotypes as well. That is, you are making a judgment that the
person you are talking to uses stereotypes to make judgments.

The studies in this series did find that depersonalization explained the negative effects of
positive stereotypes above-and-beyond the judgment that the speaker was racist. But, the
judgment that the speaker was racist (and used stereotypes to judge people) also contributed
to the effects.

Article (3): Positive Stereotypes

Everyone knows about the effects of negative stereotyping but what about the effects of
positive stereotyping? What is positive stereotyping? All African-Americans are great
athletes, all Asians are good at playing musical instruments, Hispanics are good at dancing
etc. while these may sound positive these stereotypes can be just as damaging as negative
stereotypes.

Every person has their own gifts and talents and by using even these positive stereotypes for
our children we are not allowing them to find their own potential. Explore what your child is
interested in not what you think they will be interested in due to their heritage or race. Studies
have shown that when we put these types of positive stereotypes on children they actually
perform worse than if they are allowed to find their own path.

Pay attention when you go to parent teacher conferences to make sure that teachers arent
labeling your child with positive stereotypes as well. Your child may be struggling but it is
being overlooked because the teacher just assumes they are doing well due to a stereotype.
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These types of stereotypes arent considered bad by most people and research is just coming
to light regarding how damaging these can be to children.

Take the power of stereotypes away by explaining them to your children. Discuss them make
them see where they came from and give examples of people who may not fit into the
stereotype. By dispelling the stereotypes we are allowing our children to break away from
using these as well. The goal is to see the individual and not the stereotype.

Article (4): 3 Reasons Positive Stereotypes Are not Positive

Positive stereotypes exist for just about every identity and have the capacity to be just as
damaging as the negative ones. Dont believe me? Read this list of reasons why and get
back to me afterward. Oh, and if you have any additional examples, as always, share them in
the comments below.

1. Positive stereotypes set the bar unrealistically high

Have you ever met a gay guy who wasnt fit? Or a black guy who wasnt good at sports? Or
a woman who wasnt caring? Im going to guess you have. Now, the important part, did you
realize that you were slightly disappointed or perturbed when you found out about the lack of
those traits? Im going to guess you didnt realize it, but you probably were.

Lets take the list of positive stereotypes I wrote above about gay men: artsy, friendly, fun,
social, well-spoken, well-dressed, well-groomed, fit. Thats a pretty tall order for anyone to
fill, and the list goes on and on and on. Thanks to the media, every gay man you meet is
being evaluated by a ridiculously tough rubric. If he falls short (lets say hes a bit chubby, or
anti-social), hes going to disappoint you. Who wants a B- gay friend when there are so
many A+ gay men out there? (there arent, actually)

Lesson learned: dont be disappointed when your gay friend isnt helpful in picking out a
cute outfit the next time you go shopping. (You can call me. Im not gay, but Im great at
putting together outfits.)

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2. Positive stereotypes can inhibit an individuals ability to perform

Youve heard that Asian people are good at math, right? Well, tell an Asian person that right
before a math exam and you increase their potential to bomb it.

Research has shown that perceived positive stereotypes, when brought into the forefront of an
individuals mind, can actually make them do worse at the thing they are supposed to be able
to do better. In the article I linked, the researchers made Asian-American women explicitly
aware of their ethnicity (and the expectations attached to it) right before testing their math
skills, and saw that they were more likely to collapse under the pressure and do poorly in the
test.

Lesson learned: if you find yourself in the Cash Cab and a math question comes up, Dude,
youre Asian, of course you know the answer, might not be the most effective pep talk. (But
tag me in. Six words: Math Bowl, 8th Grade, First Place.)

3. Positive stereotypes can be alienating and depressing to individuals who are supposed to
possess them, but dont.

Being a member of a targeted or minority group is potentially alienating, particularly if

youre often surrounded by people who dont identify that way. You may often feel alone,
not good enough, or looked down upon. All of those feelings are amplified if you dont even
feel like you can connect with your target or minority group membership because you dont
live up to the hype.

I have an example that was shared with me by a friend. Following is his story:

Im a black man who grew up surrounded by white people. Growing up, I was the only black
person in my neighbourhood, my school, and sometimes it felt like the entire town. I never
played basketball. I cant rap or dance well I dont even like hip hop. Im really good at
video games and I watch baseball. When I got to college, my skin made me too black to fit in
with the white kids, and my skills/hobbies werent black enough to fit in with the black kids.

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This can be applied to just about any group membership that carries with it positive
stereotypes (and, as I mentioned before, just about all of them do). It sucks to feel like youre
in the minority sometimes. It sucks even more to feel like youre not even good enough for
the minority.

Lesson learned: befriend people because of who they are as people, not the traits you assume
will come with their group memberships. That is, dont try and make friends with a black
guy because you need a point guard for your rec league team. (Also, dont call me, unless
you want someone to bring orange slices for halftime).

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