Shifting Gears - Autobio #5

When we learn to drive a car, we are given explicit instruction. In school, we receive explicit instruction in a variety of discourses. However, when we are going about our daily lives, we don’t think much before we dive into the discourses of the spoken and written word – or do we?
Asked to put together this autobiographical essay, I started to think more consciously about the choices I make about my verbal and written communication. I noticed how my language shifts depending upon the social environment in which it is used. Examples of when this shift of gears occurs include the commuter community to which I belong, my home environment, college classes, and my place of employment.
During my Metrolink commute, I am exposed to many people with very different backgrounds, education levels, and varying levels of economic status. I find myself adapting my speech to the speech around me. At times this means that I speak with more slang and clip my words. At other times it means I attempt to sound “educated,” using more academic terms than I would in a casual setting. There are even times when the friends I’ve made on the train ask me to help them write something because they don’t feel confident with their own abilities to address a particular issue.
At home, my husband often refers to me as his “anal English student” because he hears me talking back to the television reports. He also jokes with me when he hears me talk to myself, questioning the meaning and origin of words and literature. At the times when I am reminded of my “analytical” speech, I usually shift back to language that tends to be more surface leveled. I believe this is because I am still not comfortable with this new academic language. I still feel as the scholarship boy does, that I am an imitator of the language of academia, not a welcome member of the community.
My employer expects accuracy with language and she often comments on written work where grammatical errors appear. This makes me very sensitive to the quality of my written and spoken word. I find myself double and triple-checking drafts before I present them to her for her approval. Since she knows that English is my major, I feel there is even more pressure to exhibit exceptional written and oral capabilities. While this does place additional stress on me as I perform my daily duties, it also serves to push me to apply the knowledge I am gaining in my classes.
While the pressure to perform at work takes my conscious efforts to exhibit a particular level of written and oral communication, the other shifts occur seamlessly. This “shifting” takes negotiation and I believe it applies to what we are reading about literacy not being just knowing how to read and write per se, but it is the ability to participate in a discourse on a social level, adapting as necessary to meet the unwritten rules of the particular community.