Jacquelyn Blain

Discourse Community- Monika Rahman

Discourse groups abound, but until I read excerpts from Diaz and Klass’ writings, I had never given them any thought. I’m a part of a few groups, including the academic community since I want to go to dentistry school. When I say academic, I’m referring to those who are academic by nature. These people assist me in my growth and rationality. They inspire me to push over my usual boundaries. In addition, I am now working as an assistant in a dental clinic to obtain expertise in this industry. I spend a lot of time talking with patients, getting to know them, and answering their questions as a dental assistant. Each day presents a fresh opportunity to learn from the dentist, patients, and other dental assistants. Every patient contact or treatment appears to have a lesson to be learned, and as a dental assistant, I am always grateful for the chance to learn something new. As a result, this encounter will be extremely beneficial to me in the future and will help me overcome obstacles as a professional dentist.

As a dental assistant, I am the first person to interact with patients during an appointment, in addition to interacting with other members of the dental team on a regular basis. As a result, I work with people from various walks of life. This interaction has forced me to learn how to negotiate and converse with others in ways that are very different from what I’ve learned at home or at school. Due to a language barrier, it may be difficult for certain patients to communicate verbally with healthcare personnel. According to the United States Census Bureau, around 20% of persons in the United States speak a language other than English at home. Other than English, the most often spoken languages are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and French. As a result, in order to communicate effectively with all patients, I will need to acquire several languages in addition to English. Because becoming bilingual will be extremely beneficial to my job.

1 Comment

  1. Jacquelyn Blain

    Very interesting. Focusing on the need to learn other languages in order to follow your profession would be a pretty fascinating way to go with this Portrait. You could, of course, talk more about what it’s been like to become part of the discourse community by way of academics — how you learned the language of dentistry, etc. But whatever way you go should be good.

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