Essay On Academic Discourse Community Is Like Entering A New Country

Learning as one advance from one level to another, the person experience challenges similar to those that one experience in entering a new country and learning her culture and language. Lucille McCarthy (1987) notes that students find it difficult to follow the “rules of the game” indicating the new challenges that are accompanied by such transition. This is similar to what one has to learn upon entering a new country. The rules are not similar and hence, one has to adapt quickly to the changing environment. The student ventures in to “unfamiliar academic writings” (McCarthy, 234).
It is worth noting that transferability of knowledge form one level to another is possible under certain circumstances and difficult under others. It is based on these aspects that McCartthy opines that understanding language has to be done in the context it occurs. As a learner advance from one level to another, and from one discipline to other, the language changes, therefore, the contextual understanding is very critical. For example, the language in science is not similar to the languages in poetry. It is thus evident that leaning the language of a new discourse is similar to learning whole new language. The rules of the game are not the same. The language must be appropriate in the new discourse as per the rules. For example, poetry follows different rules in the wording as opposed to biology that has scientific words that must be learned. In this case, one cannot mix the two.
It is evident that for one to understand concepts properly, one relates the concepts to past experiences. This is how McCartthy describes in the understanding of concepts. As one move from one concept to another, one has to relate positively to what they learn to their life so as to grasp the concepts better, while one is entering a new country with a new culture, one tries to relate it with what he or she already known. It is based on these principles that as one learned the languages of new discourse; the past knowledge comes in handy. It can either be hindering or promoting the new knowledge. McCartthy (254) notes that Dave contended that writing tasks were easy or difficulty based on whether they were of interest to him by virtue of been part of his life.
Using Dave’s claim that he understood and found concepts easier to write if they related directly to his life is further evidenced by the fact that his writing in biology was better since he was biology major student; his knowledge in the field was reinforcing his language skills in the field since he had had past experiences. Further, the relationship among the key players is critical since it help one to learn. There is a great role played by the teachers, the students in the understanding of the language. The teachers and Dave saw Dave playing the role of a newcomer (256) who was trying to learn the professional biological language. In poetry, Dave was a complete outsider to the teacher who understood the language of poetry while Dave knew very little. Both these aspects are similar to one being a stranger in a different country. In conclusion, all factors held constant, learning new discourses is affected by very many factors just as one who is trying to fit in a new culture and learning new language.