Social Linguistics and Literacies James Gee

What are Discourses?

• "...ways of behaving, interacting, valuing, thinking, believing, speaking, and often, reading and writing that are accepted as instantiations of particular identities...by specific groups" (p. 4).
• language and literacy are tied directly to discourses

The role of theory in our lives:

• the claims we make in our lives are based on theory, whether we realize it or not (Gee, 2015, p. 11)
• our internal beliefs shape how we respond to different types of communication
• the claims we make can have harmful, beneficial, a combination of, or neutral effects upon others (Gee, 2015, p. 21)

Standard American English (SAE) v. African-American Vernacular English (AAVE)

• linguists do not refer to languages as being superior/inferior to one another (Gee, 2015, p. 15)
• words do not have fixed meanings but fluctuate in meaning based upon context (Gee, 2015, p. 24)
• the viewpoint of one form of English being superior to another is a characteristic of marginalization
• Are our viewpoints of language based on generalizations and experiences or upon research and multiple viewpoints? (Gree, 2015, p. 21)

The role of power in meaning making

• meaning is based on negotiation among people and socially contested, leading to shared agreement (Gee, 2015, p. 27)
• power plays a role in meaning negotiations (Gee, 2015, p. 27)