In James Paul Gee’s article, he states that “language” is a misleading term and it too often suggests “grammar.” It is a truism that a person can know perfectly the grammar of a language and not know how to use that language.” I found this quite resonating since thousands of people can go about their days and not even be that fully versed in their language. This goes for both literacy and all technology people use.
Literacy
Grammar is super important. It is typically needed when communicating with others across all types of platforms, both verbally and digitally. However, even though grammar is important, just like in James Paul Gee’s article, how you say it is important too. Taking the word what for example. It can be used as a concerned question or even sarcastically.
It is something I found that draws me to look back at my older screenwriting rough drafts. For example, outside of describing how a character looks, there needs to be dialogue to accompany the action. The dialect, pronunciation and even the specific choice of words are all super important in making that character believable. I’m sure this is a struggle that a lot of writers face with drawing in the readers with their created worlds.
Technology
In Hawisher & Selfe’s article, they discuss the importance of technology and the digital computer space. The main take away from this for myself was the use of jobs that require individuals in being able to operate technology in the digital space.
To elaborate further, younger generations are essentially required to know how a computer works. Learning programs and how to navigate effectively. If anyone happens to struggle with using computers, their pool of jobs dip dramatically without experience. It’s more of a food for thought. How can schools and other institutions help with students and even older generations on effectively utilizing technology for the digital space?
Leave a Reply