Response to "What is D/discourse: Seeing Yourself as a University Student Or, Talking the Talk on a University Campus"
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Author: James Paul Gee
This article talks about what is D/discourse and how it is entwined in everyday life.
Gee says that mastery of a language does not come from grammar but from every aspect down to expressions, body language, how we talk where, and many other things. He makes the point that if a man sits down in a bar and says "May I please have a match?", they are incorrect because his words do not match the situation. This is what Gee calls Discourse, your identity assumed by other people in a certain place and time.
I belie that while Gee is correct i think that the concept of Discourse is not good to be used in today's society. For example, In America when people go to a job interview they are expected to look nice, dress up, and make eye contact. anybody with the "American Discourse" knows this. But what if a foreigner came to America to get a job and in their country it is the right thing to dress more casual and not make very much eye contact....they would not get a job because they don't know a Secondary Discourse that happens to be American.
Is it fair? Is it fair that things unrelated to a job seems to be more important that the skills required for the job itself? I don think so. People should not have to act like someone else to get a job, but unfortunately that is how it is.
This article talks about what is D/discourse and how it is entwined in everyday life.
Gee says that mastery of a language does not come from grammar but from every aspect down to expressions, body language, how we talk where, and many other things. He makes the point that if a man sits down in a bar and says "May I please have a match?", they are incorrect because his words do not match the situation. This is what Gee calls Discourse, your identity assumed by other people in a certain place and time.
I belie that while Gee is correct i think that the concept of Discourse is not good to be used in today's society. For example, In America when people go to a job interview they are expected to look nice, dress up, and make eye contact. anybody with the "American Discourse" knows this. But what if a foreigner came to America to get a job and in their country it is the right thing to dress more casual and not make very much eye contact....they would not get a job because they don't know a Secondary Discourse that happens to be American.
Is it fair? Is it fair that things unrelated to a job seems to be more important that the skills required for the job itself? I don think so. People should not have to act like someone else to get a job, but unfortunately that is how it is.
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