NLA Discussion: Plain vs Academic English

[Kevin Mattson]

Dear Arthur,

Concerning the issue of whether terms like hegemony are hard to
understand. 

Here's what I mean by this: instead of using a term like hegemony why not
simply state something like: in a society where an elite has power, it's
likely that that elite's set of ideas about society will filter down and
be believed in by those who don't have the elite's same set of interests.
I know that sounds wordy, but what I'm trying to say is that terms like
hegemony sound more complex than they really are.  What it requires is
for a writer to explain his or her ideas clearly to his or her audience.
In academia, writers don't do that simply because they don't have an
audience other than those same specialists who already assume the
language. That's what I mean by what I said.  Does that make sense?

People aren't using the internet yet because it's not clear what the
internet really is for.  The discussions you're talking about will
probably take time before they are more prevalent in cyberspace.  But
that's a whole other topic.  My main point is that jargon is unnecessary
especially for people like yourself who have limited time.  If you've got
limited time, don't bother reading much of the highly academic stuff,
because I don't see how it relates to the actual world of literacy
practice.  

Best to all,

Kevin Mattson

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