About this week

Now that you have gathered primary data about your personal language use and exposure to language, you will focus next on analyzing that data and creating an analytical claim about it; you will also learn about how secondary research can help you support and develop that claim. To that end, this week you will first read secondary research that applies to the topic of your research and you will then analyze your primary data in relation to these sources. The work of the week will culminate in a Discussion Assignment where you analyze secondary sources in relationship to your primary evidence, where you identify the analytical claim that will focus your Social Science Research Report, and that lists your plan for finding additional secondary sources for this project.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how to analyze primary research
• Understand secondary research and how it can support an analytical claim
• Review and practice APA in-text citation format

Task List:

1. Consume this week’s required readings and media
2. Participate in Discussion #7: Analyzing Secondary Sources and Connecting them to Primary Research

Required Readings

Lowi-Rosamina-Codeswitching (539KB)DownloadSwales-John-The-Concept-of-a-Discourse-Community (2MB)DownloadGarcia-Ofelia-Societal-Multilingualism (3.6MB)DownloadGee-James-Paul-Literacy-Discourse-and-Multilingualism (908KB)Download

Note: Before reading, review the Discussion assignment for this week! It’s a bit more complicated, so you may want to print it out.

You’re reading more than usual this week (see page counts below). To help offset this, there’s no Low-Stakes Assignment this week—only the discussion board. These materials will help provide the foundation for your second project, so please be sure to read them carefully (remember to annotate!).

• Garcia, Ofelia. “Societal Multilingualism in a Multicultural World in Transition” (23 pages)
• Gee, James Paul. “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction” (14 pages)
• Lowi, Rosamin. “Codeswitching: An Examination of Naturally Occurring Conversation” (15 pages)
• Swales, John. “The concept of Discourse Community” (12 pages)

Week 7 Discussion

Preparation for the Discussion Board

Last week you collected primary data by observing, documenting, and organizing your language use and exposure within a 24-hour period. This week, you will switch to analyzing this data; in order to do this, you need to conduct secondary research within your project’s topic, namely literacy and language use. To help you with this, you have been provided with four secondary sources (all peer-reviewed, academic articles) that relate to your topic.

Before you create your Discussion post, you first need to do the following:

• Read each article and take notes about any points that seem to relate to your primary data. For example, when Lowi discusses codeswitching, does this remind you of how you shift between various types of language use, depending on who you are talking to? Does Garcia’s focus on multilingualism speak to your own experience with language or reflect the multiple language you hear when you are out and about in the city? Highlight these points of connections—even if they are small.
• Review your notes and the points of overlap between your primary data and the information provided by the sources. What connections are strongest? Which interest you the most? Which would you like to explore in your Social Science Research Report (SSRR)? What point or theory would you like to focus on in your SSRR?
• Review the week’s discussion assignment directions to prepare your assignment. 

Required Media

Please view the following two videos this week:

Primary vs Secondary Sources (Duration: 5:06)

Excelsior College Writing Center’s video on APA In-Text Citations. (If you’re unfamiliar with APA style, you may want to review the other materials on the site as well.)

Diving Deeper

• The Information Effect: The Facts, The Figures, the So What?: This source will help you understand the rhetorical impact of the sources you choose to include in your writing projects.
• Research Guide: The Value of Secondary Sources: While the immediate page you are being directed to here is a short discussion of secondary sources (so be sure to read it), it is nested within a larger Research Guide that deals with all parts of the Social Science Research Report. Click through the guide to see what other sections might be helpful to you.
• Developing a Repertoire of Reading Strategies, chapter 2 in A Writer’s Guide to Mindful Reading by Ellen Carillo: This chapter offers practical, how-to advice about reading, understanding, and working with academic texts—like the four you are reading this week. If you are having trouble with these readings, review it for advice; even if you aren’t having trouble, it is an excellent resource!
• Creating Knowledge: This chapter discusses the ways that different disciplines construct knowledge; it should be helpful as you continue to understand what it means to write within the Social Sciences and how primary and secondary sources play a role.

Week 7 Discussion

After you’ve reviewed the above materials, click the blue link above to go to the After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.

Mid Semester Survey

Now that we are around the halfway mark of the semester, please share your thoughts. Details to come.