Laura Donaghey

English 110

Section- I

 

There is difference between a primary and a secondary Discourse and in “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction”James Paul Gee describes the clear signs to tell them apart. The definition of Discourse is a combination of acts. Writing, being, doing, and valuing are some of the acts Gee describes and these all prove the fact that he views Discourse as a social construct. Primary Discourse is “attained through being a part of something” while secondary Discourse is described as “learned through social institutions”. Some social institutions are places like school, work, and church. Primary Discourse comes first. An example of this could be your childhood. Your childhood can lead to what your future is like, like if you go to college or not.  Both of these social constructs are viewed from a psychological and sociological point of views. There are also dominant and non-dominant discourses. Dominant discourse is what brings the “potential acquisition” such as money, prestige, and status. Dominant discourse is an example of a secondary discourse.  Non-dominant discourse are secondary Discourse as well and is often what “brings solidarity with particular social network, but not wider status and social goods are in the society at large”. These types of things can happen down the road and can be caused because of primary Discourse.

In Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk, she shows clear signs of secondary Discourse. She uses examples such as handshakes. Cuddy uses the example of how the President shook a policeman’s hand and the policeman then goes for a handshake with the Prime Minister who completely disregards the handshake and awkwardly puts his hand down. It is a social construct that when meeting new people, you shake hands but apparently this wasn’t clear for the Prime Minister. It was said that it was being talked about for a while, why is that? It is because we make judgements from interactions with others. These judgements reflect on outcomes that you have about other people. Another example she uses is how you react in a job interview. Body language gives key hints on how you are feeling. Cuddy states how if you are “hunching, crossing your legs, maybe wrapping your ankles”, then these are clear signs that you feel uncomfortable in the situation or maybe even uncomfortable with yourself. These signs are examples of secondary Discourse. Another example you can use is a date. If you are on a date and you clearly are not enjoying yourself there are clear signs you feel uncomfortable. Everyone learns these signs when learning about reactions from others from the time you are young. Clear signs consist of are not making eye contact, fidgeting your hands or feet, or even looking at your phone every two seconds. This all ties back to Gee’s example of how “Discourses are 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.” You can clearly tell if someone is uncomfortable in a situation and these key concepts are all telling signs of that.

Cuddy’s research explores nonverbal communication. This would be important in a Discourse of business because in the business world it’s important that you say and do the right thing for the sake of the company. One incorrect message could cause the wrong message and send the company into a downward spiral. If you about to speak in front of a lot of people for the sake of your company, you better make it good. Cuddy explains how “powerful people tend to be, not surprisingly, more assertive and more confident, more optimistic.” This is what a company needs when trying to get further towards a goal of theirs. She also states how “ We tend to forget, though, the other audience that’s influenced by our nonverbals, and that’s ourselves.” You also don’t have to say anything to put a message across. Be confident in what you do and say because this cause alter the outcome of this so called business deal.

I annotated this because this gave me a clear explanation of the difference between dominant and non- dominant Discourse. It didn’t make sense to me until I read this part of the article.

Discourses with a big D are how we function in society. Things like how we integrate words, our acts, our values, and beliefs. Little D is the language portion.

This just explained to me that focus of literacy studies or applied linguistics should not be language. Literacy studies should also be studied through social practices which I completely agree with because it is a real life example of what you may be studying is a clear answer.