Ashanty Barrios 10/30/13 English 106 A.

Halliday Reading Response to Beware the Jargon This article addresses some of the many issues involved in academic writing and their use of certain jargon. Geoff Mulgan explains that many times they write too much and use unnecessary words that just make an article lengthy. Mulgan mentions the program that will let you input a 10,000-word article and reduce it to whatever length you wish which implies that often times, academic writing can be lengthy when there is no need for it to be. I agree with his thought as well that people who know the jargon may not give you the same level of respect as someone who may not know the jargon. This is mostly true in authorities and several professionals. I feel that they use very distinct jargon that is exclusive to their field or discourse in order to make themselves feel superior over those that cannot comprehend their language. In doing this, they create their own discourse that excludes others and in a way can become problematic if they are trying to communicate information with others. However, it is true that due to technology, our vocabularies have expanded to include the jargon by which we are surrounded. It becomes easier to pick up on certain words here and there if you are constantly surrounded by it. He brings up a debatable point as well. Whether or not certain jargon loses its meaning after being bunched together is a matter of context. Sometimes in order to explain something, you need the extra words to really get your point across. Too much however, can lead the reader to be confused therefore lose focus

on what the author may actually be talking about.