Working from the Building Tasks Worksheets, develop at least one paragraph-like unit that develops an idea about some element/component/feature of science Discourse. Ideally, you’ll build this as a Barclay’s Formula type of paragraph, where you introduce (with evidence) what Gee claims about how an element of Discourse works and then “apply” that idea to evidence/data about IMRaD or perhaps apprenticeships in science Discourse (Nair and Nair).
I believe that within the science Discourse, certain parts of scientific articles have more importance than others with more value being given to the title and abstract than the methodology. Gee believes that politics within a Discourse is the acceptability, or lack thereof, of different behaviors and practices. The politics within a Discourse shift the practices of those within the Discourse. He discusses politics or the distribution of social goods by saying, “social goods are potentially at stake anytime we speak or write in a way that states or implies that something or someone is ‘adequate,’ ‘normal,’ ‘good,’ or ‘acceptable’ (or the opposite) in some fashion important to some group in society or society as a whole”(Gee 34).EQ1 The science Discourse values information that relates to their area of study or expertise. This political idea shapes the way that those within the science Discourse approach reading and writing scientific articles. “The prevailing trend is said that, on average, the number of readers from one section to the next [Title- Abstract – Results – Full Paper] decreases by a factor of ten … Thus, for every person who reads the full paper, 1,000 read the title” (Nair and Nair 14). In Nair and Nair’s quote, they discuss the importance of the title of an article. Even scientists view hundreds of titles before diving into the abstract to see if the full article is worth reading. This practice shows what parts of the article are truly valued. Going in the order that Nair and Nair said most readers follow, a lot of weight is put on the title. The title is supposed to give readers an inside view of what the paper is about. Then the abstract allows the readers to learn a little bit more. The abstract still holds more weight in a journal article than the Results do, according to Nair and Nair. If the reader determines that all of these three pieces are “acceptable” then they are more likely to read the full article. I would argue that this reading norm puts less emphasis on the introduction, methods, and discussion sections. Those specific parts, in my experience, are important if one is trying to replicate or question the validity of a study.
Develop a second Barclay’s Formula paragraph-like unit that connects some element of Gee on Discourse to some specific material in Haas’ article. This might set up the IDEA of some aspect of science Discourse. It might examine an element of a science apprenticeship, as seen in Eliza’s development. Or it might do something else.
New college students do not come into the scientific Discourse with all of the materials needed to join right away. Haas looks at the way incoming college students approach texts. She finds that most students take a very context free approach and look strictly for facts without any regard for interconnections between different texts. While this approach was probably useful in high school it does not fit within the values of the science Discourse.“Entering college students may hold an arhetorical or asituational theory of written discourse … when in fact discourse theorists and scientific educators agree that students would benefit from a more rhetorical model” (Haas 46). College students that are unfamiliar with the scientific Discourse do not approach texts the way that scientists do. Instead of analyzing the text for errors and questioning the work, new students accept the text as it is and only pull facts. This displays their standing as an apprentice into the Discourse. This apprenticeship is seen through the student’s value of the text. Their view of articles differs from experts meaning that they do not fully understand the politics within a science Discourse. Gee discusses politics within a Discourse as, “social goods are potentially at stake anytime we speak or write in a way that states or implies that something or someone is ‘adequate,’ ‘normal,’ ‘good,’ or ‘acceptable’ (or the opposite) in some fashion important to some group in society or society as a whole”(Gee 34). The social goods in Haas’ example are the values that people have about texts. If a Discourse apprentice cannot change the way they think about texts to a rhetorical frame then they will struggle to stay in the Discourse. College is the beginning of the Discourse apprenticeship and I would argue that if one’s values did not fit within those of the Discourse, they will be unable to join.
ENG110J
