Blog 11: Gee!

Reading the first four chapters of Gee's book has proven to be an interesting endeavor. I find language very interesting, so his approaches to explaining the "use" of language (outside of standard communication practices) is intriguing.

What I enjoyed the most in the opening chapter was his statement under the LANGUAGE AND PRACTICES section. Specifically the line: "One of the best ways to see something that we have come to take too much for granted (like language) is to look at an example of it that makes it strange again." It reminds me of the age old idiom "everything old is new again." By taking something that we don't usually give second thought (in this case, language) and applying it to something new (like his example of the card game/anime/manga Yu-Gi-Oh!) we are able to observe language from a new perspective.

The words on the cards in Gee's example are, as he says, all words that native English speakers are familiarized with. However, by simply reading one of the cards most people (specifically those unfamiliar with the game) would not be able to understand what the card was saying. I enjoy the fact that Gee is focusing on context here. Context is one of my favorite areas of language studies. By taking things out of context we can often get confusing, humorous or incorrect responses. By placing thoughts/words/etc IN the proper context we are more likely to figure out what is trying to be communicated through language.

The vernacular vs. specialized language explanation was also quite interesting. Had I decided to stick with my original research topic of "how social media is affecting the way we write and communicate" I would probably use a lot of this information. "Vernacular speak" is very prominent in social media, and it is causing a lot of confusion (and, often, anger) for people who are more "specialized" writers. That, however, is a conversation for another blog/research paper/lifetime.

I also find interesting, in Chapter 2, when Gee breaks down the 7 "building tasks" of language. #3 stands out the most, which is about identification. "Labeling" as it is generally known in everyday life, is an awkward issue that is doing more harm than good in recent days. Over over-obsession with words and needing names for everything and everyone is causing us to live within the confines of the words that we identify with. This, actually, may be an interesting area to explore for those in the class who are focusing on groups that deal with labeling and false labeling on a daily basis (such as Jaylecia's research project on gay people, Arlene's project on teachers and Christine's research on women).



There is a lot more that I could say about Gee's writing, but it was a lot to digest and I, unfortunately, don't have enough time to dedicate to it. I look forward to our class discussion about the reading, and am curious to see what my classmates found interesting about these chapters.