EDTE 228 Ethnomathematics Recent Immigrant Student Interview

Banyuwangi, Indonesia on the island of Java (about 15 miles across the Bali Sea from where recent bombings in Bali took place).

Suga grew up in Banyuwangi and attended elementary school in this town. However, for middle school and high school he lived in Malang, about an hour from his parents. The first three years were in a dormitory and the last three were in his older brother’s home in Malang.

What language do you consider your primary language?

If you speak other languages, how many, what are they, and from what age did you learn them? Where did you learn to speak them (formally, street, family, etc)?

Suga is fluent in two other languages, English and Chinese. English is taught formally throughout Indonesia and Suga began his formal English training in elementary school. Suga’s parents are both Chinese so he learned all of his Chinese in the home beginning at a very young age. Chinese, English and Indonesian are still spoken interchangeably in his home in Indonesia.

When did you come to the U.S. and why?

Suga arrived in the U.S. in August, 2001. He came here specifically to pursue a Master’s Degree in Computer Science. Suga received his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the Indonesian University located in Surabaya, Indonesia, located about one hour from his home town, but across the island from where he attend middle and high school. Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia, second only to the capital of Jakarta.

As a point of interest, Suga pointed out that Jakarta produces 80% of the economy of Indonesia. And, Indonesia overall is 90% Muslim; the largest Muslim population in the world.

Do you plan to return home permanently or remain resident in the U.S?

Suga would like to remain in the U.S. to gain excellent computer science opportunities that simply do not exist in his homeland. He thinks his parents will remain in Indonesia.

How is the education system basically set up in your home country? (private vs. public schools vs. in-home schooling, year round vs. summers off, every day of the week vs. 5 days per week, 8 hours per day vs. more or less than this, etc)

Indonesia’s K-12 system has both state and private schools. Unlike the U.S., however, the private schools are very inexpensive so essentially everyone attends them. Educationally, the private schools also far exceed the state schools. Many, if not most of the private schools are Catholic or Christian based. That seemed odd to me considering the entire nation is basically Muslim.

K-12 schooling goes year-round in Indonesia and 6 days per week, every week. Classes are held from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for all ages. Universities also go year round, but only 5 days per week.

How is mathematics instructed in your home country? (Rigorously, casually, not at all? For what age groups or grades?)

Math is required for all students, K-12, every day, every year. Only in high school do students get to take different tracks in mathematics, depending on their college or professional interests. It sounded as if those interested in Fine Arts, Liberal Studies, etc, may not be required to take math the last couple of years in high school, but an emphasis is clearly placed on math throughout Indonesia.

Suga had a very interesting perspective on how we culturally differ when it comes to mathematics. In Indonesia, he stated, all students basically become very capable at basic math skills due to the drilling and practicing accomplished every day throughout the year. He does not find this in students in the U.S. However, he went on to point out that U.S. citizens seem much more capable than Indonesians at applying mathematics. He noted that culturally, Americans seem more adept at figuring out how to solve problems using mathematics.

Is there a particular order for learning math in your home country? (for example, in the U.S. we tend to focus on specific areas of study such as algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, rather than blending these studies together year after year)

Yes, math in Indonesia is segregated much as it is here in the U.S. He could not recall the exact order, but it was something along our lines: geometry, algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus.

How are mathematical concepts memorized or learned in your home country? (for example, multiplication tables)

Through strict table memorization and practice, practice, practice. Suga had the additional benefit of helping in his parents shop after school each day where they have no computer, cash register, adding machines. He said this experience helped him really excel in basic math skills, especially doing math in his head.

Suga also pointed out that Indonesia has incorporated an after school math program to help students ranging from 6 to 12 years old that are struggling with this subject. Interestingly, this privately run program emphasizes the use of a “sipoa” used since ancient China. Not understanding what a “sipoa” was, Suga drew one for me……the abacus! The after school math program is considered very expensive, and therefore, few actually can take advantage of the program.

What about Order of Operations, thought to be internationally known? In the U.S. we use memorization schemes such as PEMDAS.

Suga did not recall the memorization of operation order, but he certainly recalled it easily (and without the use of PEMDAS or any other gimmick). Again he stated that math is so rigorously taught in Indonesia that something like this is really just second nature.

Were you encouraged as a youngster to do math in your head, rather than formally on paper? If so, how was this accomplished or can you give an example?

In school, Indonesian students always seem to use paper and doing things in one’s head is not over emphasized. However, his after school work in his parents’ shop allowed him to become expert at computing things quickly in his head.

Are there other differences between the U.S. and your home country (especially associated with math) that you’d like to share at this point? For example, what is your home country’s standard units of measurement (metric/SI or British/U.S. Customary or something else)

Note: The remainder of the interview will focus on math vocabulary and demonstrating simple math problems.

One key and amusing example was provided by Suga regarding the use of U.S. Customary measurements here in the U.S. versus the use of S.I or metric system in Indonesia. Shortly after arriving in the U.S., Suga went to the DMV to get his driver’s license. When asked how tall he was, he responded with “180”. The DMV representative looked at him with wonder and repeated the question, in which Suga again responded, “180”, this time adding in the units of “centimeters”. “Oh, that is the problem”, stated the DMV rep. “What are you in inches and feet?” Suga simply and honestly responded, “I have no idea.” So, together they guessed. Next the DMV representative asked Suga for his weight and he confidently responded, “70”. Again the same look of wonder followed by the question, “And what units would that be in?” Suga replied, “kilograms”. So once again, they guessed. Following this interview, Suga and I spent some time detailing all of the U.S. Customary to metric conversions I could recall. With his impressive math skills, I’m sure these simple conversions will never again be a worry to him.

Vocabulary and Symbology Worksheet

English U.S. Symbol Translation Other Symbol

As one final question, are there any neat mathematical “tricks” or “gimmicks” that you learned in your home country that we haven’t discussed and you would like to share?

Suga wanted to point out another difference between the U.S. and Indonesia in the use of commas and decimals. As in so many other countries, Indonesia uses the decimal where we use commas, and the comma where we use decimals:

U.S. Indonesia

Suga also pointed out that his math skills have fallen off by at least 50% since he quick emphasizing math in his education about 5 years ago. He was still very impressive!

A special thank you for your time today, Suga, in helping me fulfill this class requirement, but more importantly for helping our Ethnomathematics group here at CSUS further develop our database of mathematical information from around the world. Best wishes to you for continued success here in the United States.

addition / tambah

subtraction / kurang

multiplication / kali

division / bagi

Name: Suga

What language do you consider your primary language?

When did you come to the U.S. and why?

Do you plan to return home permanently or remain resident in the U.S?

Vocabulary and Symbology Worksheet

English U.S. Symbol Translation Other Symbol

English U.S. Symbol Translation Other Symbol

U.S. Indonesia