The Third Man: Pseudo-Objectivity and the Voice of Passivity
One of the hallmarks of academic language is the use of the third person. Developed as an academic register primarily in the natural sciences, it is seen as having an air of objectivity. Consequently, it has been mandated in a range of disciplines where the values of objectivity and detachment ar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UiTM Publisher
2006-06-01
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| Series: | Asian Journal of University Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.rmc.uitm.edu.my/images/stories/AJUE/vol2-no1/bab%206.pdf |
| Summary: | One of the hallmarks of academic language is the use of the third person. Developed as an
academic register primarily in the natural sciences, it is seen as having an air of objectivity.
Consequently, it has been mandated in a range of disciplines where the values of objectivity
and detachment are less clear-cut. Students are issued with blanket instructions such as,
“Never write in the first person.” The problem is that sometimes the nature and content of the
task is such that the only appropriate and honest voice to use is the first person. I describe a
number of cases I have encountered in my work as an academic skills adviser where students
have been asked to respond to tasks which call primarily on their personal observations,
insights and experiences. In being told to record such accounts in the third person, students are
being asked to surrender their position of personal authority. The effect is corrosive; students
lose confidence in themselves and their ideas. Potentially rich writing becomes bland and
corporatist. I suggest a number of strategies that could give students more autonomy in their
use of academic language. The choice of voice should never be totally conventional. There are
times when the third person should shut up and let someone else speak. |
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| ISSN: | 1823-7797 1823-7797 |