Summary Of Gee's Literacy, Discourse & Linguistics

Humans have a natural tendency to form groups. This results from evolutionary aspects that were necessary to survive. Every time time that a group of people gathers together, they try to pursue something, they have a common goal. That goal is going to define the way the group works and how the members have to behave. This is not new at all, humans have done it in different settings throughout history and we still do it as part of our daily life basis. Every one of us gets involve in groups in our life such as classrooms, sports teams, and social clubs, among others. If we stop and carefully analyze one of those groups, we will discover that we share something in common, that we want to reach a goal, and that we even share a particular language
He describes that a discourse includes all the ways of “being in the word” in which individuals share values, words, acts, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities (1989). John Swales is another scholar who has defined the concept of the discourse community. He focuses his work on distinguishing speech community from Discourse community. He describes speech communities as groups that share linguistic goals while discourse communities are those groups that have the six characteristics that he states. The main contribution that Swales provides is stating that a Discourse community “recruits its members by persuasion, training or relevant qualification” (1990). Using the concept of Gee and the distinction made by Swales, I analyze the staff of a psychological laboratory as a discourse community. The lab is composed of a faculty member, graduate students, and undergraduate students. They conduct at least three experiments per semester that are published in psychological journals in the U.S. In addition, they discuss and write reports on recent findings in the
The laboratory is the perfect space for rehearsal where members can actively engage in the practice of running experiments. This an excellent way to meet the goal of the lab since practice will provide them all the skills that they will need when running their own experiments. Furthermore, this experience will grant them a deep understanding of the way the field works since experiments are the heart of all psychological theories. But running experiment is not the only way in which the lab provides the opportunity of doing to its members. Discussions are another way in which the goal of acquiring knowledge is met. One out of the five hours that members have to work in the lab is devoted to discussing research findings. According to Doctor Denisse Beike, the faculty member, the discussion is a good way to assess students’ understanding of the material and level of engagement. She states, “It is a way to test if they are making sense of the content.” The discussions in the lab are more than simple talks; they trigger critical thinking, which is the base to discover the methods. Members not only give their opinions but they must support it using specific details and point out recent research. This is a way to train them so that they can recognize and manipulate information when conducting their own research or entering into the workplace. Psychology is similar to a language that students has to