Assignment 2 David Martin 3141EBL - Web viewThis text was primarily chosen due to its use as a piece of text when teaching ... identifies two main functions of human language,

4161EBL – Working Text David MartinAssignment 1 S2636349

ASSIGNMENT 14161EBL –WORKING TEXT

COURSE CONVENOR: DR. ANN KELLY

SUBMITTED BY: DAVID MARTIN

STUDENT #2636349

[email protected]

DATE SUBMITTED: 7 APRIL 2009

1


Text analysis provides useful information about text used and the intent and effect it has on

the reader. This report will use Gee’s Building Tasks and Tools of enquiry to analyse one

page piece of text used in the classroom in an activity where the students first read and then

performs the task of writing a cover letter.

This text was primarily chosen due to its use as a piece of text when teaching students to

write cover letters. Analysing this text using Gee's analytical discourse allows a better

understanding of the implications of using this text as an educational tool. Gee (2005)

identifies two main functions of human language, supporting the performance of social

activities and social identifies and to support affiliation within cultures, social groups and

institutions.

This document is published by the Australian Government with the explicit purpose of

supporting people in the act of writing cover letters, which encompasses even more social

activities, gaining (or at least attempting to gain) employment and how it does this will be

demonstrated in this paper. Analysing this text will show the links between these activities

and broader affiliations within the community as well as the purported identity the text takes

on. The text was chosen because it is a good example text being used to reinforce a particular

perspective on the activities involved. It is an example of using bullet points, grammar,

headings and certain sign systems/knowledge to give significance to it's intended purpose.

The document was also chosen because it is a clear example of using social languages within

a particular context and Discourses of employment, work, instruction, learning and literacy. It

is also an example of a document that does not stand alone, it is part of a series of

instructional papers and is linked to the creation of a document in its own right. It in

inextricably linked to literacy in the workplace and in education.

2


First, Gee’s Six Building Tasks will be used to examine the text. The first task, identities are

an integral part of the text being recognised as from an expert from the government. It will be

shown that headings, logos and colours are used in the text to make certain things significant

with the second task. The third task activities, identifies the text as a particular activity, being

instructed. The social capital that the document requires and creates is the topic of the fourth

task, politics. The fifth task, connections will show internal connections between different

parts of the text as well as external connections to build relevance. The sixth task, sign

systems and knowledge shows that there are many different systems that require special skills

or knowledge to access and can be demonstrated in the text.

The second model of analysis used will be Gee’s tools of inquiry (Gee, 2005). Discourses,

social languages and intertextuality will be described and used to analyse the text in terms of

particular circumstances that contain more than just the text that also has links to other texts.

Finally it will be shown that using these models will have positive effects on practice in the

teaching and learning environment. Being able to critically analyse a text and explain the

purposes of its parts can assist in developing students cognitive and meta-cognitive skills in

literacy and language. Practice is also enhanced by being able to use the six building tasks to

“break apart” text.

3


Building Tasks

Language is an active task that both creates and models behaviour and situations. Gee uses

seven building tasks that asserts the use of language is always and everywhere (Gee, 2005, p.

10). In this section of the paper each of the tasks will be explained and used to analyse the

“Write a cover letter” text that can be found in Appendix A.

Identities

Language can be used to make the text recognised as taking on a particular identify (Gee,

2005, pp. 11, 99). This text takes on the identity of a person with authority decimating

important information. Relationships with the reader are established through language (Gee,

2005, p. 34). The language used in the text infers expertise in the area of letter writing with

the reader being taught or instructed about a particular subject, particularly the introductory

paragraph. Identity tells the reader who and what, which gives the text meaning (Wieder and

Pratt cited in Gee 2005, p. 22). The government authorship of the text also gives the text an

authentic, official identity that people recognise.

Significance

Language is intentionally used to build significance (Gee, 2005, p. 11) and initially visual

cues can be used to apply significance to parts of the text. The title of the document “Write a

cover letter” is very significant, visually it catches the reader’s attention immediately, being

the largest text on the page and using a coloured background as contrast. Another way that

text is made significant is through the use of coloured headings, with three of the four

headings using a different style, indicating that they are of different importance. The largest

4


heading is “WHAT SHOULD A COVER LETTER CONTAIN?” (Capitals in original text) is

not at the top of the text but at the last, giving the reader a checklist to use on their own

document. “Presentation” is the next significant heading in the document. This gives the

reader the impression that both the contents and the look of their own cover letter are

important. A further impression how significance is built can be gained by observing the

number of occurrences of phrases, words or themes used. The text places particular

importance on employers, the job, and skills, visual and textual appearance.

Activities

This piece of text is an instructional activity; it uses bullet points and short statements to give

the impression of factual information. In this way it uses language to be identified as

engaging in a particular activity (Gee, 2005, p. 11). Most of the headings are put as questions,

a well recognised part of the instructional process, an instructor almost always asks “Are

there any questions?”

Further, the whole text is activity based in that it tries to exemplify and give information on

what needs to be done to create a cover letter. It is used to enact the transfer of knowledge to

the reader on the specific topic. The bullet points also separate each activity, allowing the

reader to perform or comprehend that act before considering the next. The “How should I

write it” section gives instructions that the reader is expected to follow.

Politics

Language is used to give and build perspectives on social goods and their distribution (Gee,

2005, p. 12). In this way writing communicates the expected or right way of putting together

a cover letter. It clearly iterates what is expected, it implies that there are many things that a

5


cover letter “must have” to be correct and fall within the expected norms. The “Type your

cover letter on a computer” assumes that the reader has both access to this technology and the

ability to use the equipment to type and print a document. This may not always be the case

and shows the socio-cultural and cultural capital requirements for using this text have an

expected minimum. The text does not cater for those that fall below this minimum level, the

very people that may need the most help.

This is an example of reproduction of institutional practice; the formal business letter writing

style, layout and literary requirements. One of the underlying aims of the text would be to

increase the cultural capital that can be gained by writing a good cover letter, getting a job

interview and gaining employment.

The text also imposes the view that the employer will only spend a very short amount of time

viewing a cover letter during the employment process. The right and correct ways to gain

attention are listed, continuing to reproduce the institutional process.

Connections

To examine connections, the different parts of the text are examined for any correlation that

is internal connection. In the Cover Letter text, the entire document is related. There is one

topic, how to write a cover letter, with two main motifs or themes within that topic,

distinguished by the large headings presentation and what should a cover letter contain. The

different sections are connected by using the same words or phrases. In this way language is

used to build connections and relevance (Gee, 2005, p. 12). This places the document within

larger situations, cold calling, resume post-outs, and job interviews as well as activities that

people perform when seeking employment and using computer equipment and stationery.

6


Sign Systems and Knowledge

While the text is in English, the difficulty and style of writing is used in a way that tries to

break down the privileged access to the sign system and knowledge in use. Further, the

purpose of the text is to enhance the reader’s ability to use the sign systems involved in type-

written business/employment communication using English. There is an expected level of

computer knowledge involved in the text, being asked to “type your cover letter on a

computer and print”, the use of the term “font” and the word “Salutation” is not in common

use outside of people with business letter writing knowledge. Therefore this text is part of the

English sign system, with knowledge based in key areas that the text itself tries to teach about

and encourage participation by the reader.

Tools of Enquiry

Discourses

Discourses are referred to by Gee (2005, pp. 20-21) as a way to be part of recognised context

in a particular circumstance. This piece of text can be considered to belong to Discourses

related to: employment/work, instruction/learning and writing/literacy.

It should be remembered that people have partial, incomplete and conglomerated Discourse

models due to a wide range of sometimes conflicting experiences (Gee, 2005, p. 85). Some

people have obtained jobs for many years without ever writing a cover letter, or have not

used a computer before, so would be unable to type and print as the text is asking.

Discourse analysis needs to go beyond the traditional examination of grammatical structure in

that patterns across sentences are considered (Gee, 2005, p. 55). In this text it is possible to

look at patterns across the sections on the page. The recurrent references to presentation,

7


looks, employment, skills and the primary theme cover letter is demonstration of these

patterns that form the relevant Discourses.

Social Languages

Gee (2005, pp. 35-36) considers language as more than speech, or text but a range of non-

verbal factors that break down to allow interpretation of who they are and what they are

doing. The text shows one main voice (who) and uses a range of non-verbal/textual

technologies.

With the text, the who appears to be an expert on writing and job search techniques. Further,

the instructional nature of the writing is that of a teacher. What the text is trying to do is

instruct and inform the reader about the purpose, construction and use of cover letters. It also

alludes to job interviews, canvassing. The view of an employer is also used as part of the text.

In this way a secondary who/what is used, the reader can assume the writer has been an

employer or has some inside information about how employers think and act.

Non-linguistic symbols, tools and technologies are part of language (Gee, 2005, pp. 37-38)

and can be identified in the text. The use of the computer to type the document, clean A4

paper, staples, DL envelopes are all particular technologies available only at certain times and

places, therefore being part of a particular social language.

Intertextuality

This tool of enquiry is linked to the connections building block in that language has no

isolated meaning, but can explicitly or unconsciously refer to and/or contain parts other texts,

conversations or concepts (Gee, 2005, p. 46). The text is shown as part of an ongoing series

8


of informative articles, by the header of the page. It contains the government logo, the

“future directions” slogan as well as the title of the paper. Further, the footer of the document

contains the worksheet number, indicating that this is one is a series of similar texts.

The nature of the text being about seeking employment is one that most people would be able

to relate to. There references to selection criteria, the organisation and the job are all

references to external documents or ideas. This text is one that has many relationships to

things that others have said or written (Gee, 2005, p. 21). Intertextuality also alludes that

previous experiences of the reader could change their interpretation, receptiveness and

understanding of the current text.

Implications for practice

Analysis of text as part of teaching and learning allows teachers to have a clear understanding

of the influences and processes used to create that text. As a teacher, this allows a clear

understanding of the intent of the text and provide interpretation information that can be

passed onto students. In this text it could explained that the expected cover letter format and

style has been developed through institutional use by business and passed on through

education and common use.

Further, it allows the tracing of connections to other text and to discover themes and

Discourses. Being able to correlate different Discourses could allow better transfer or

knowledge if consciously used as part of the teaching process. Asking students to think about

letters they have seen or written before, previous employment processes/experiences can

assist in understanding the text.

9


Analysis demonstrates that text creates an identity and can be identified as part of a particular

activity. The significance of particular ideas is also created through text, including stances on

the social goods. Making the political stance explicit could allow students to use the system,

rather than be hampered by it. The significance parts of the text are ones that could be

highlighted or explained to students.

Discourse analysis is a useful and valid way of describing the components, structure and use

of text and can be used to effectively break apart text to examine the way it is put together

and used.

10


Works Cited

Department of Education, Science and Training . (2003). Write a cover letter: Future

directions. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from

http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/career_development/publications_resources/profiles/

write_a_cover_letter.htm

Gee, J. P. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (2nd Ed ed.).

New York: Routledge.

Gee, J. P., Michales, S., & O'Conner, M. C. (1992). Discourse analysis. In M. D. LeCompe,

W. L. Millrow, & J. Preisseie, The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 228-

291). San Diego: Academic press.

11


Appendix A – Original Text

12


Appendix B – Matrix of Gee’s analytical techniques

Tools of Inquiry

Significance Activities Identities Relationships Politics Connections Sign Systems & Knowledge

Bui

ldin

g T

asks

Social Languages

Discourses

Intertextuality

Conversations

13


Appendix C: Building Tasks

What is the significance of bullet points being used?

Bullet points are significant

To indicate there are steps to follow

There are important points to remember

The topic of the document is the largest text at the top of the page.

The text “WHAT SHOULD A COVER LETTER CONTAIN?” is in capitals and the last item

Presentation is the second largest heading and the only one that isn’t posed as a question

“How should I write it?” and “What should a cover letter look like?” used as headings

Politics of the text

The text is communicating instructions on what a cover letter should look like, its purpose

and what it contains. It is dictating what is normal and right. It shows what is expected when

participating in this activity.

What connections are made in this text?

This text connects

A persons writing to getting a job interview

A potential employee and an employer

14


What relationships are being enacted with others?

The text is:

Instructional

Trying to be helpful

15


Appendix D: Tools of inquiry

Social Languages

Text is institutional in nature and content

Discourses

Employment/Looking for Work

Writing/English/Literacy

Education

Intertextuality

Part of a series of “futuredirections” worksheets published by the Australian

Government

Links to more on this topic and other employment based documents

Conversations

Job Searching/Gaining Employment (and the letters role in the whole process)

Composing the letter

Writing the letter

Checking the letter

16

Documents

Assignment 2 David Martin 3141EBL - Web viewThis text was primarily chosen due to its use as a piece of text when teaching ... identifies two main functions of human language,