Academic Discourse
In addition to the subject material, the purpose of college humanities courses, including this
English course, is to learn how to participate in and appreciate academic discourse.
Academic discourse is a style of inquiry and communication that puts aside emotional or
“gut” reactions in order to explore assumptions, questions, and a deeper level of
understanding of not only what we are learning but why we are learning it.
Academic discourse, in other words, is real communication. Real communication happens when
people treat each other with respect, express themselves with composure, ask honest questions, let
others finish speaking, don’t monopolize class time, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and, most
importantly, put aside our initial reactions and analyze our thoughts and the material before expressing
ourselves. In such a diverse classroom, we will all at some point be offended or unintentionally offend
someone else this quarter. However, how we deal with it determines how much we can all learn.
Environments that ruin learning for other people:
Will Felps, a professor at Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands, designed an experiment
to see what happens when a “bad worker” joins a group or team. Felps divided people into groups and
gave them each a task. One “bad worker,” who was really an actor, was assigned to each group and
instructed to behave in one of three ways:
1) aggressively dominating or mean,
2) uninterested, distracted, or non-participatory, or
3) depressed, negative, and/or pessimistic.
He found that it only takes one person 45 minutes to completely stop the group from completing
the task or make the rest of the group behave just like the “bad worker.”
Environments where learning actually takes place include the following:
 A feeling of safety: Students (and the instructor) feel they can ask follow-up questions,
contribute to a discussion, or ask that someone repeat or restate what they just said without fear
of a negative reaction. You have the right to be angry, frustrated, or offended, but more
importantly, you have the responsibility to focus those feelings and those very valid points into an
actual discussion. If you are ever uncomfortable with the material or any other aspect of the class,
it is your responsibility to let your instructor know before class!
 Mutual respect: No one’s time is more valuable than anyone else’s and no one’s opinion is more
important than anyone else’s. LET EVERYONE LEARN. This class is something we all share.
Choosing to sleep, show up unprepared, hijack the class discussion, hold side conversations
instead of listening to whomever is speaking, or never participate are all ways in which we as
individuals can interfere and disrupt one another’s ability to learn.
 We holds ourselves and one another to the same standard: Nudge your classmate if he has
fallen asleep. Raise your hand if you notice that you haven’t spoken in a while and no one else is
volunteering. Raise your hand and say something to the class instead of whispering it to the
person sitting next to you. Are you about to interrupt? Stop yourself. Form a study group with
the students sitting around you. Ask a peer why she was late and offer to meet up with her for
coffee before class. Build community. Holding yourself and one another to the same standard also
means looking out for each other.
Class Participation
When everyone contributes, a class is more educational, interesting, valuable, and fun. Here are some
characteristics of excellent class participation. Ask yourself these questions and think of ways that you can
improve your participation in class.






Do I come to class on time every day?
Do I read the material carefully and think about it before coming to class so I’m ready to participate in
class discussions, analyze the material, and ask thoughtful questions?
When commenting on the material, do I make specific references to the text to stay focused?
Do I contribute ideas when working in small groups?
Do I listen to other classmates attentively and patiently?
Do I participate thoughtfully in all peer review sessions for essays?
Think of this class as a learning community in which you play an integral part. Your comments don’t have to
be perfect; if you’ve read and thought about the material, your questions will not be “stupid.” Your
classmates and I will benefit from your contribution.
Some Basic Guidelines for Contributing to the Large Class Discussion



Make sure you speak loudly enough that other students can hear you. It helps to turn toward the rest
of the class (instead of looking only at me!).
When reading an example from the text, start with the page number and paragraph and give everyone
time to find the passage before you start reading it aloud.
Be aware of how many times you’ve spoken. If you’ve said nothing and have an idea, raise your hand
and share it with us. If you’ve already spoken several times, let others have a chance.
More Detailed Guidelines for Contributing to the Large Class Discussion
1) Give everyone the benefit of the doubt: Assume everyone is smart, capable, and is trying to
understand, not argue with you or offend you. If someone is trying to argue with you, move on to more
important subject matter during class time.
2) Formulate a question: Questions do not mean that we "don't get" something. Rather, they almost
always mean that we simply understand things differently and are seeking to clarify, modify, or deepen our
own understanding. Seek to understand, not be understood. Questions are the only way to do this.
3) Don't step on anyone's toes: Have patience and signal that you wish to speak. In class or even among
friends, this almost always means gesturing in some way, with a facial expression or a hand wave. Because
there are so many people in the room and we can’t all look at each other, raise your hand, extend it toward
the person who was just speaking, lift both arms in the air, but be careful not to interrupt anyone, especially
fellow students. Other students are more timid and need a moment of silence to get through steps 1 and 2.
Everyone deserves a voice. If only a handful of people are monopolizing the conversation, interrupting, or
not waiting a moment for others to process information, we are not giving everyone a fair chance to have a
voice.
If your instructor has to stop you when speaking, it will only be for two reasons:
1) Time – we’re out of it or have to move on in order to get everything done, and
2) You might be a little off topic or confusing other students – your instructor might interject or signal for
someone to interject so that we can avoid any situations of mass confusion!
Group Work
When working in groups, assign each member a role. This assures equal participation from everyone and
makes the group more productive.




Facilitator: Help group stay focused; keep an eye on the time and suggest when it’s time to move to
the next question if the group gets bogged down.
Includer: Prevent any one person in the group from dominating by encouraging participation from
everyone.
Note Taker: Jot down key ideas, questions, etc. that come up during the group’s discussion.
Spokesperson: Present the issue and ideas that came up in the small group to the large group.
Originally prepared by Kaitlin McClanahan, North Seattle College