What is Literacy? According to James Paul Gee Power Point Presented By: Michelle Mardula and Katie Belis

Discourse: A socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting Can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or “social network”.

Discourse as an “identity kit”: comes complete with the appropriate costumes and instruction on how to act and talk taking on a role that others will recognize.

Institutions Made up of concrete and abstract things: Concrete: People, books and buildings Abstract: Bodies of knowledge, values, norms and beliefs

Example Discourse Groups: Being a man or a woman Factory worker or boardroom executive Doctor or patient Teacher or student Club or gang

Discourses: Are inherently “ideological”: involve a set of values and viewpoints Are resistant to internal criticism. Ex: trying to repair a jet in flight by stepping outside of it. Define positions from which we speak and behave are defined in relation to OTHER discourse groups.

Discourses hold certain concepts, viewpoints and values at the expense of others. At the same time, discourses tend to marginalize the viewpoints and values central to other discourses. Discourses are intimately related to the distribution of social power and hierarchical structure in society.

How does one come by the discourses that he controls? Acquisition and Learning

Acquisition: a process of acquiring something subconsciously by exposure to models and a process of trial and error, without a process of formal teaching. This happens in a natural setting and is how most people come to control their first language. Learning: a process that involves conscious knowledge gained through teaching, which involves explanation and analysis.

Primary Discourse: a birthright or being born into a discourse group. Secondary Discourses: discourses that go beyond the primary: developed in association with and by having access to and practice with secondary institutions (schools, workplace, stores, churches, etc.).

Secondary Use of Language: language used in secondary discourses

Literacy: control of secondary use of language Dominant Literacy: control of a secondary use of language used in dominant discourses Powerful Literacy: control of the secondary use of language used in secondary discourses

Literacy is mastered through acquisition, NOT learning.