Revised Essay.

Britt Grady Jr.

Research Language & Literature

November 16^th, 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.

In this transcript the main theme is about an adult, M who is getting back into learning. Unfortunately for her computer usage and technology comes into play with her education. The two different excerpts show two different outcomes of the same situation that she is in. 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. A prime example being:

M         Maybe I didn't relate the computer to education in the right way, that I didn't think it, was necessary

Ch        mm hm, and what do you mean, like, didn't relate the computer to education?

M         I guess I thought I could go through without - without having to do this.

Ch        It seemed like something extra?

M         Yeah, and even though I guess I wasn't you know comprehending that this was supposed to make my life easier, it made it more difficult

From this you can conclude that she didn’t want to give learning and using the computer a chance. Basically she wrote it off and that was the end of it.  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. This is also evident as she uses “I” frequently. I believe that by her using “I” she knows that she is responsible for her lack of computer skills. She uses I to separate herself and show how that while others may have wanted to use the computers in a more advanced way, she herself did not want to.

. In Excerpt 2 the gears switch and you can already see a difference. The statement in which M says, It was different, and ah, it was a fun experience because the teacher was very good, very willing to work with us she asked us where we were all, part of the class it was you know, twice a week, once we would meet in the classroom, and the other time we would meet in the computer lab, so it was the history of computers, so we learned about the history of computers, and then it was the actual hands on, how we would use it, so and we had to do projects, each project, we had to do an excel project, we had to do a word project, we had to do what else, what other programs are there, we did excel we did word, we did (thinking) what's it? slides? show how her feelings towards the class she took and computer literacy in itself have changed. M seems much happier and content that she actually learned more about computers 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. In this excerpt you can tell that because it is required of her course she is more open to using computers and its different programs. In this excerpt it seems as if the fact that because she almost clueless on computer usage worked in her favor. She mentions that, So ahm, some kids knew how to use the computer but they didn't know how to use it in the way she wanted it to be used, they would zip by all their work. .  .By her not really knowing how to use the computer as well as they did she was able to learn from the beginning and use it properly as it was expected of her.

From Excerpt 2 it also seems like she was more comfortable talking about her successes with computer literacy rather than her talking about not willing to expand her knowledge about computers. I have concurred this because her answers are lengthier and she goes into depth with them more than in Excerpt 1. She still uses “I guess” when she speaks just not as many times as previously before. However this time she seems a little more self-sufficient in the fact that she is more knowledgeable with computer literacy.

Through the Discourse Analysis of this transcript one was able to detect many different things through the language that she was using. One was also able to see the type of person M was and the way she reacted to the computer literacy. Between the two excerpts you can see the complete difference from in the beginning when she wasn’t willing to learn until when she actually learned and felt about it. This goes to show that you can find out so much under the “surface” of the writing and gain knowledge on not only the interviewer but the interviewee.  Through discourse analysis a person would also be able to learn more about what isn’t so easy to realize when just blatantly reading something.