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Discourses Are Not Mastered By Overt Instruction Essay

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There is an abundant amount of communities in the world we live in. Whether they’re jobs, hobbies, or even school. Everything is part of it’s own particular community. When associated with a community, disregarding the type, they all tend to have different discourses. Discourses according to Gee “are ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions and clothes.” (Gee 5) He compares it to an “identity kit” because we act a certain way according to the particular environment we are in so others can recognize who we are and what we are addressing. Furthermore, he explains how we acquire discourses. “Discourses are not mastered by overt instruction...but by enculturation into social practices through scaffolded and supported interaction with people who have already mastered the Discourse.” (Gee 7) This is how we acquire most our “home-based discourse” (Gee 7) We learn what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable by socializing within the community. Social practice plays a big role when obtaining a Discourse in a community. When Discourse is broken up, it has various different elements to it. Some of those are dominant Discourses, non dominant Discourses, mushfaking, and apprenticeship. “Dominant Discourses are secondary discourses the mastery of which, at a particular place and time, brings with it the acquisition of social “goods” (money, prestige,

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