Hearing voices – or writing as a mediated social practice?

Academic discourse is a genre shaped by the learning needs of its participants and it scaffolds knowledge practices in the academic community. It can be seen as adding cohesion to the social structures of our community: discourse serves as a mediator of acculturation and socialization, facilitating learning. Writing is the critical part of academic discourse, providing a venue for one’s voice to be heard.

Our voices, or the verbal track of our thoughts, as authors of written text emerges from the voices of other authors.  This is just to recognize that our thinking and voice (or subjectivity) is being shaped by everything that we have been and will be exposed to. Obviously a skilled writer does not, or could not, explicitly incorporate everything relevant she or he has ever read as sources. However, the text would not be plausible without merit being given to those other authors who deserve to be recognized by their name when their voice echoes clearly in our text.

Academic writing can be seen as a dialogue although the different parties do not necessarily meet. The dialogue in writing has taken, is taking and will take place in our minds. The readers’ impressions and interpretations are shaped by their exposure to other texts. Thus writing and reading texts are forms of everlasting and omnipresent dialogue that extends over time and place. Our voices as authors are always partially reflections and interpretations of others’ voices.

Observing and using language in different social contexts shapes thinking and vice versa. The more variety one has in his or her repertoire of linguistic devices appropriate in different social situations, the easier it may be to operate and adopt a multifaceted way of seeing things. This increased cognitive flexibility then scaffolds further learning within an individual. Learning within academia taking place IN academic discourse and thus writing is a mediated social practice. However, writing is not merely a tool to learn and think but also a proof of learnedness.  Our texts serve as lasting marks of our cognitive processes. They permit our voice to be heard.