This BAOL subject at UTS is one of the hardest subjects that I have undertaken. The difficulty is in understanding the concepts and theories of identity, culture and communication.

At the start of the semester, we as the class looked at the many views and theories of our identity. I learnt that “our identity includes our inability to shape the meanings that define our communities and our forms of belonging” (Wenger, E. (1998) “Identity in practice” Communities of practice Cambridge University Press: Cambridge Ch6.)

However, the main lessen that I learnt was that our surrounding cultures shape the way we see ourselves and our identity, and also our identity also shapes the cultures that surround us.

The hardest part of the course in my opinion is the subject of communication, in a wide variety of contexts. This was especially difficult when completing the last assessment where we had to apply what we learned in class, and analyse a communication event, or text. This assessment incorporated the following categories for discussion:
• Context of Culture
• Intertextuality
• Narratives
• Genres
• Discourses
• Cultural rules and conventions surrounding a text
• Field
• Tenor
• Mode
• Language

My experience in this subject has helped me to develop a skill of reading and analysing texts and forming an argument from them. I have also learnt that when completing assignments, it is not a good thing to just read everything, you have to choose to read what is relevant to the question, or else you will run out of time.


Click this link to view assignment for communicationCommunication essay

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