James Paul Gee argues that it is not just what you say, it is also how you say it and how you act as well. Throughout Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction, Gee claims that literacy studies should not just focus on the grammar and language and overall literacy of someone, or something, but more so should focus on the social practices of the situations. Gee defines Discourse  as a “way of being in the world… form of which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs…” As you read this excerpt, you can see the many examples he provides to show the reader just how important the social aspect of linguistics really are. The very first example involves a man going to a local bar and sitting down next to a very large, tattooed man. In the first version of this example, the man politely asks for a match. This is not in tune with how one should act in a tough bar. The second version shows the man asking for a match in the right way, but also placed a napkin on the bar stool to protect his designer jeans. Gee says, “I have said the right thing, but my ‘saying-doing’ combination is nonetheless all wrong.” While at first I agreed with most people in seeing how people spoke being most important, I now see how important it is to act a certain way. If you are not able to “blend into” a certain social situation, then you will surely stick out like a sore thumb. This value can be expressed in any sort of social situation as well. For example, if you are in an interview, you must express the right language in order for you to get the job. Gee touches upon this on page six of these papers. He talks about how in one set of simulated job interviews a woman was hired because she was able to speak more formally than the previous woman. Though this rings true, this woman did not show the interviewers how strong of a leader she was. Instead, the whole time she was talking about how she will ask for help in a certain situation, instead of taking initiative. “She fails to characterize her own expertise in the overly optimistic form called for by such interviews,” said Gee. Though she had the “language” aspect of the interview down, she was not able to show the values of a person who would receive that job.  The way someone acts is hugely important in any social situation. One must express the correct values of someone in that particular situation. Otherwise they will not be accepted into that group. 

 

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