Whitt 1
Jen Whitt
Dr. Sonja Andrus
English 289
Essay #3
27 May 2012
My Discourse Communities
When comparing my discourse communities I must first address my primary discourse, according to James Paul Gee’s essay Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction and What is Literacy?, he defines discourses as “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes” (526), my primary discourse is the discourse I am in when I am interacting and communicating with my family. My family is my primary discourse, the one in which I was born into. Now that I have been introduced to the idea of labeling myself as a member of different DC, I have my primary, home and family, and secondary, work and school.
Gee states that “the various discourses which constitute each of us as persons are changing and often are not fully consistent with each other; there is often conflict and tension between the values, beliefs, attitudes, interactional styles, uses of language and ways of being in the world which two or more discourses represent” (527), I don’t necessarily notice conflicts or tension between home and work or school, however there is very noticeable interactional styles and uses of language.
Gee claims that “all of us, through our primary socialization early in life in the home and peer group, acquire (at least) one initial discourse. The initial discourse, which I call our primary discourse
, is the one we first use to make sense of the world and interact with others” (527), My

Whitt 2 home and family is my primary or initial discourse. The language we speak is laid back and some people would also consider some of the language we use to be slang. We don’t feel the need to speak using the same language and dialect as we would outside of the home or with people who are not in our family. My husband comes from a similar background as I do so there weren’t many, if any, transitions to be made by either of us when it comes to our DC, which is also the same DC in which my children have been born into. Gee states that “the primary discourse of many middle-class homes has been influenced by secondary discourses like those used in schools and business” (528), my family is considered middle-class, and I would have to agree with Gee’s statement. We live in a very small town, where our discourses, whether it is home, school, or work seem to cross in the aspect of you can be considered an “insider” without much transition. However, I feel it is somewhat of a contradiction because he also states that
“someone cannot engage in a discourse in a less than fully fluent manner. You are either in it or you’re not” (529), I disagree with this, I think one can engage in a different discourse without fully knowing and understanding it. I might be being naïve; I don’t live in a very culturally diverse area, so my opinion could come from my “sheltered” existence.
At work, my secondary discourse, which is defined as being “beyond the primary discourse are developed in association with and by having access to and practice with these secondary institutions” (541), I am communicating and interacting with other teachers, here I am a member of a different discourse community. We speak on a more intellectual level, and about things that the people in my home and family wouldn’t understand, or wouldn’t be interested in because they are not in the same career field that we are in. We use terms that someone who isn’t a teacher may not be familiar with, and at work I know if I say IEP, or DAP that they will not only know what I am talking about but also understand what will come after it. I have had to

Whitt 3 attend school and trainings that have enhanced my knowledge on these subjects and this career field, had I not started school and taken trainings to continue my education, I wouldn’t be able to communicate effectively with the other teachers in my classroom, therefor wouldn’t’ gain the acceptance necessary to enter this discourse community.
In school, since my courses are online, it is difficult to enter this DC. I say this because my fellow classmates are from all over the world and so are the instructors, so there are many people and many discourses. Another thing that makes it so difficult is you are not able to physically see the body language they are using when speaking, or the tone, so it makes it difficult to clearly understand all the time. That being said, I have to “reinvent” the University for every Course that I take. Since I am interacting and communicating with so many people from so many DC, it takes time to learn the language and the requirements of each DC. It seems that as soon as I have adapted and gained some sort of acceptance, the course is over and it starts all over again. Gee states that “at any moment we are using language we must say or write the right way while playing the right social role and (appearing) to hold the right values, beliefs, and attitudes” (526), which is essentially what we as online students are attempting to master. We are trying to appear, to other classmates and teachers, that we know and understand the DC in which we are trying to gain acceptance, online school.

Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction and What is Literacy?" Ellen
Whitt 4
Cushman, et.al ed. Literacy A Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's , 2001. 525-544.