Language?! What it is? A communication, tradition, culture? I think it’s more than that. As James Paul Gee begins his article “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics” by explaining that “‘language’ is not particularly grammar- but it is what you say, how you say it, and what you are and do when you say it.” I never thought I could relate to this in any way. However, when starting this project, it made me realize that language is not just “language,” it is more than that; it’s “me”, it is my personality that I have created during my lifetime, it is how I feel or talk with different kinds of people. For example, the way I express myself with family, friends, coworkers, classmates etc. I am still the same person, but I express myself differently with each one.

I started my data collection by creating groups, taking notes and spending as much time as possible with each group in order to notice any differences or inconsistencies. The first group of data collection was on my family. During these two days I collected one hour and a half of data. We discussed life and we shared what happened to us since the last time we spoke. I noticed that while speaking with them, I felt relaxed, comfortable and emotional. I spoke openly and freely as I am comfortable with my family.
The second group I focused on were my classmates. I was only able to talk with them during class or briefly after class which was about 2.5 hours within the two days of data collection. While talking with them, I noticed that we mainly discussed class work, exams, and homework. I felt reserved, yet I spoke informally.
Data collection of Co-Workers was a lot longer than any other group. In two days I was able to collect a total of 16 hours of data. We shared information about the job at hand and planning how to get the job done. I noticed that I felt like the majority of the conversation was very direct and transactional; it really didn’t have an emotional component.
The last group I collected data on was a group of friends from Albania. I collected a total of five hours and a half of data in just two days. I noticed that our conversations were casual and regarding our jobs, school and or family oriented. I felt relaxed, confident and comfortable, especially because we were speaking in Albanian.                             As you will notice in the graph below, I collected a total of 12.5hours per day, for two days. The majority of my data collection concentrated on my co-workers and the least amount with my family.

 

 

I created another graph which is very similar but now shows the percentage of how I express myself towards the groups mentioned above. So, during 25 hours of data, 64% of the time I was mostly direct and transactional also what was the percentage when being relaxed, comfortable, informal.

 

In the article “Codeswitching: An Examination of Naturally Occurring Conversation” the author, Rosamina Lowi, escribes Codeswitching “as a bilingual/multilingual practice that is used not only as a conversational tool, but also as a way to establish, maintain and delineate ethnic boundaries and identities. As a social process, codeswitching has been understood to provide multilinguals with ‘a resource for indexing situationally salient aspects of context in speakers’ attempts to accomplish interactional goals.’” As I was collecting the data, I noticed that I mainly used codeswitching with two different groups: classmates and Co-workers. The reason for codeswitching was because of the language being used, which in this case wasn’t my first language, but in order to maintain and/or establish what I’m trying to convey I first need to consult my native language in order to get my point across as best as possible.
On the other hand, Gee’s article “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics” explains that Discourse is:
“At any moment we are using language we must say or write the right thing in the right way while playing the right social role and to hold right values, beliefs, and attitudes. Thus, what is important is not language, and surely not grammar, but saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations and that Discourse is like an ‘identity kit’”.
I believe that Gee is right because that’s why I felt relaxed and comfortable when talking to my family and Albanian friends. We all hold the same beliefs, culture and understand our native expressions.                                                             In other words Codeswitching and Discourse are some of the forms we choose to use while expressing our personality in a particular situation, with different ways of communication.