Share this article

Approximately 60 percent of the world’s population lives in Asia, which spans across countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and India. The more than 4 billion people who reside there generate around 40 percent of the world’s gross national product (GNP).

“More of the world’s population lives in Asia than in any other continent, and with population growth can come increasing economic and political status,” said S.J. Chang, College of Business associate dean for MBA and undergraduate programs. “There is a tremendous potential for Asia to grow even further down the road.”

The business world is keeping an open eye on Asia, and Illinois State students are beginning to incorporate East Asian studies into their education.

The incoming Director of the International Business Institute Barbara Ribbens encourages business majors to gain an understanding of the rapidly expanding markets in Asia. “From an international standpoint, understanding what goes on in Asia cannot be overstated,” she said. “Really, we have just seen the tip of the iceberg of what Asian markets are capable of becoming.”

Ribbens guides international studies majors to choose minors that will coincide with the markets they wish to understand. “It is part of the requirement of the major to have hours of language and culture,” she said. “Students need to understand how to learn about a culture. They need that cultural intelligence. As a business person, a little bit of insight into culture can go a long way.”

Cultural understanding offers 'inside track'

Senior international business major Jonathan McKean chose East Asian Studies as a minor, and is now taking his third semester of Chinese with Roger Thomas, a professor of Japanese and Chinese in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. “Learning Chinese is about more than learning words,” said McKean. “If you cannot understand the culture, then you cannot understand the context of the words, and you cannot communicate.”

McKean’s Chinese professor agrees with him. “It’s not just a matter of translating word-for-word, you need to understand group dynamics,” said Thomas, explaining that age and status are important when choosing terms in Mandarin. “Without a basic knowledge of culture, you cannot even understand how to use a word correctly.”

Mandarin is the most spoken dialect in Chinese. A new study by Bloomberg rankings lists Mandarin, spoken by 845 million people, as scoring highest in a ranking of languages, excluding English, based on business usefulness.

Thomas said learning a language is key to understanding a culture. “To learn any language is to better understand human nature," he said. "It helps to get inside another culture, and not approach it as an outsider.”

Having an inside track is key to business majors. Ribbens pointed to major businesses in the European Union, which are encouraging their leaders to learn Mandarin.  “These are people who already speak three or four languages, and now are seeing the importance of exposure to Asian languages as well because the market is so significant."

Language translates in business

Thomas said he sees the East Asian Studies minor growing in the future. “The culture and impact of China has always been great,” he said. “And now with the growing economic presence, we’ll see more students turning their attention to China and other Asian countries.”

Along with China, other countries, such as Indonesia and Korea are gaining in business importance as well. “Asia, broadly defined, includes over half of the world population and covers China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Southeast Asia, India and many other identifiable regions and countries,” said Scott Johnson, dean of the College of Business. “Asia is therefore extremely important both in terms of population and for its economic and cultural contributions to the world as a whole. The rise of Asia is, and will continue to be, exciting to witness.”

Gaining an edge will always include understanding a language. “Language reflects the culture of those who speak it,” Chang said. “To understand language is to understand how people live their daily lives. How people live and die is reflected through their language.”