Britt Grady Jr.
Research in Language & Literature
November 2nd, 2011
Dr. Chandler
Adult Learners and New Literacies Transcript
Discourse Analysis is a form of research that is used a lot in the Research field, more than people know. It allows the researcher or person reading to basically break down the piece of work to a smaller form and be able to understand almost any and everything about it. When doing this it gives you the chance to realize how a person must have felt and what they were thinking towards the subject and at the time the interview was going on. In this class we have used discourse analysis plenty of times especially when reading essays, interviews or articles. Before this class I had no idea on what a discourse analysis was or how to do it. At first conducting Discourse was tough but after going through it a couple times it became more understandable. In the beginning of the semester what I got from Dr. Chandler is that discourse is how you talk and interact with people. Also how you use the language to present yourself.
For this discourse analysis I want to focus on, why did M feel that she didn’t need to use the computer in a more complex way than she was? Why she didn’t learn more about the computer when she noticed classmates weren’t in the same situation, and how she felt when she finally did learn more about computer literacy. There are many contributing factors that could be beneficial to answering these questions. The way she answers questions asked by Chandler, the length of her responses, the words she uses and the manner in which she uses them are useful to my analysis and the answering of the questions.
In Excerpt 1 M, the person being interviewed talks about how she had a fear to learn new things about and use the computer. Even though the classes she was taking required that she learn more about computers and use the different programs that come with it, instead she felt she could do without it. M feels that it did not pertain to her education. She claims that she didn’t trust herself to use the computer in the way she needed to. She also didn’t trust the computer when putting her information into it. She only wanted to use the computer to type and that’s about it. She is extremely doubtful of herself and does not give herself a chance in order to see if she is able to learn more about the computer. Her choice of words and the answers to the questions shows the reader how she felt about herself and the situation at hand. She seems passive at the idea of using the computer for other than typing and learning more about different programs. M also seems to feel unsure of herself when answering the questions. She uses the phrase “I guess” four different times. This phrase adds to the self-doubt and almost defeat that she is presenting thus far in the transcript.
In Excerpt 2 M seems much more happy that she actually learned more about computer and used much more than just Notepad. In the class she was required to take called The History of Computer she not only learned about computers but how to use one as well. In the class she had to do projects using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint amongst others.
She still uses “I guess” when she speaks. However this time she seems a little more self-sufficient in the fact that she is more knowledgeable with computer literacy.
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