Coaches Can Read, Too

Establishing the territory:             In the piece, “Coaches Can Read, Too: An Ethnographic Study of a Football Coaching Discourse Community,” Sean Branick discusses football coaches as a discourse community.  He speaks extensively of the qualities that make a good coach, and the behind the scenes efforts that make coaching effective.  The author feels that coaching is an important, noble profession and structures the analysis and commentary on the subject to reflect this.  Among his main points is the idea that coaches, in various ways, are very literate, despite the jock stereotype.  In addition, the act of coaching is in itself a very specialized literacy all it’s own.  It takes a great deal of strategy and skill to get a team motivated and ready to play at their full potential. 

Establishing the Niche:                  The author discusses the amount of strategy and preparation that a coach must put in from the first day of practice, all the way to game day.  A coach must be a teacher and a motivator, as well as a friend.  This is a very specialized practice, from little league all the way to the pros.

Occupying the Niche:                     The coach must not only possess all of the attributes necessary, but he must be able to effectively communicate his goals to the team.  He not only must have knowledge of the game and of the characteristics of the team, he must be able to perform along with the team on gameday.

Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers

Mirabelli’s research question seems to investigate the idea of what he calls ‘”multiliteracies.”  He is investigating the idea that a majority of the communication that goes on in the diner is not general spoken or written language.  The restaurant environment entails it’s own specific literacy that the workers try very hard to adapt to and learn.  This is stated in the beginning of the writing in the section entitiled, “literacy and contemporary theory.”  He seeks to examine the skills and literacy of the foodservice workers at the diner.

It is stated that his method for collecting information is through direct observation and field notes and recording.  In addition, he seems to conduct informal interviews with the workers as part of his information.  This method of data collection really allows his to paint an accurate picture of the diner and the interactions that go on.  Also, it allows the reader to better understand the point that he is trying to make when the reader can directly observe some of the example interactions and conversations that the author presents.  Mirabelli makes his point to the reader by directly showing them examples of the multiliteracy in action, in addition to his explanations.

The main point that the author is trying to make with the piece is that there are many more forms of literacy than people acknowledge.  He feels these specific sorts of literacies need to be recognized and encouraged more than they are.  He uses examples of the language of waiters at the diner to show his points.

Project 4 Proposal

Almost a year ago while I was doing online research in my search for a new (to me) car, I came across the forum, SubaruForester.org.  I joined the site as a new member and found a great deal of advice and information from other, older members.  Given that I did end up buying the car in question, I have remained a member of the forum.  When we began discussing discourse communities, my experience as part of this community immediately stood out to me.  The sire itself is an online forum for owners and enthusiasts of a certain type of car.  There are numerous threads and posts concerning everything from buying advice to modifications and repairs, in addition to ‘want to buy’ and ‘for sale’ sections.  All of the members share the same general goal of discussing, learning about, and enjoying the vehicles that they are so enthusiastic about.  The conversations can be extremely varied, with subgroups of members that have unique focuses when it comes to their vehicles.  In addition, there is an obvious hierarchy when it comes to noobs vs. senior contributing members.  Thus, I feel this not only qualifies as a discourse community, but it will be one that may provide some unique insights while studying.

In all of the discourse communities that have been discussed so far, the members were all centrally located and interacted directly.  In most cases, a significant amount of the interpersonal interaction of the members of the community was verbal communication.  For example, a workplace environment, a sports team, or a club all fulfill this criteria.  I am interested in a different kind of community.  My plan is to look at the online Subaru Forester owner’s forum, Subaruforester.org.  it more than fulfills the criteria for being a discourse community, but it is unique in several ways.  I am interested in how the unique interaction of the members affects both the conversations that go on as well as the function of the community as a whole. 

As I have mentioned, I am mainly interested in looking at the fact that almost all of the interaction between members occurs through posts and messages I on the web rather that actual interaction…IRL.  I want to examine how the means of communication between members affects what they say.  It is my theory, based on my experience in this particular community, as well as my experience on the internet in general that individuals communicate much differently when on the internet than they would through direct interpersonal communication.  I feel as though an important factor in this is the anonymity that the internet provides.  More so than even facebook, members of a forum can remain as anonymous as they choose.  This may cause different types of conversations as opposed to what one would consider to be a traditional discourse community.

Through my examination of the aforementioned discourse community I wish to also examine the concepts and theories on discourse communities presented by several of the authors in Writing about Writing.  First off, I will obviously be referring to Gee’s 6 charactoristics of a discourse community while I examine y subject.  I will also be considering Elizabeth Wardle’s, “ Identity, Authority, and Learning to write in New Workplaces” as I discuss the enculturation process for a new member of the community.  Given that for the past year I worked to become a full contributing member of the community, I fell this will be insightful.  I feel that how one becomes a full member of a discourse community says a lot about the community itself.  Lastly, I will be referring to John Swales “The concept of Discourse Community” as I connect my experiences in my specific community to communities as a whole.

References:

Swales, John. "The concept of discourse community." Writing about Writing. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. Print.

Wardle, Elizabeth. "Identity, Authority, and Learning to write in New Workplaces." Writing about Writing. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. Print.

Gee, James Paul. "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics." Writing about Writing. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. Print.

Identity Authority and Learning to Write in New Workplaces

In the piece, “Identity, authority, and learning to write in new workplaces,” Elizabeth Wardle discusses ideas cited from the sociologist Wenger.  Among the things discussed is the idea of “modes of belonging.”  The three modes of belonging mentioned include, Engagement, Imagination, and Alignment.

The first of the three, Engagement, involves the new member being accepted into the community.  This is when interpersonal relationships are first established and developed.  In this process, the new member tries to connect with the older, more senior members.  Also, they begin to adapt to the common goal of the group and align their own goals with those of the community.  If their goals to not align with the pre-established goals of the group, there will be conflict.  For example, if a new member of an online community immediately violates the rules for their own gain or vanity, there will be a conflict between them and the more senior members.

Once the member is accepted and acclimated to the group comes the mode of imagination.  This involves the new member not only accepting the common goal of the group, but expanding on it with ideas of their own.  This is assuming that the new ideas and goals of the member are good and accepted.  If the group does not accept the new ideas, it can cause a rift. Going with the example of the online community, new members are encouraged to share information and ideas, but if it differs from what the accepted convention is, it is not well received.

Once the member has been accepted into the group and has proven themselves through the mode of imagination, the last step is Alignment.  In this step, the new member creates deeper relationships with the older, more established members.  In addition, boundaries are created and the common goals of the group are more closely aligned with the new member in question.  To proceed with the same example, after proving themselves as a good member to the community, a new member may develop close discourses and personal relationships with some of the older members with which they share common ideas.

Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics

In “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics” Gee discusses the “constant tests” for individuals whose discourse in question is not their dominant.  An individual develops a dominant discourse through their initial socialization, based on their position, culture, or status.  In order to interact properly in situations that don’t require their primary discourse, individuals must develop secondary discourses through interaction.  These can be thought of as almost different languages, or at least different ways of speaking and interacting.  For example, my neutral language is fairly casual, with the use of colloquialisms and other unique language elements.  However, when I am in a formal interview or other situation, I adopt a much more formal, ‘correct’ way of speaking.  This would be a secondary discourse for me. 

The purpose of the “tests” is for individuals to determine whether others do indeed possess the proper discourse and belong in the situation that they are in within the community.  This is described at as being the “right” person, in the “right” place, at the “right” time.  This implies that possessing a secondary discourse involves more that language skills, but specific situational social skills as well.  An example of this would be when one starts a new job.  It is always difficult for me when starting a new job to figure out the correct way to speak and act while performing the job.  One must aquire the skills and experience to act and speak correctly in certain situations.  In addition, coworkers are constantly applying the “tests” to determine if you are going to be a good employee; if you possess the proper discourse for the situation.

The concept of a Discourse Community

A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals:

The discourse community has a set of goals that extend beyond the scope of the group itself.  Even though there may exist division or even competition within the group, the overall goal is always the ultimate purpose of the group.  The discourse community within Wikipedia strives for the goal of increasing the accurate knowledge available on the site.

A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members:

Members of the community have some means of two way communication with each other.  This can be directly, such as in person, or indirectly. 

A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback:

The exchange of information within the discourse community defines its purpose and membership.  People who read online forums for information, but do not post cannot be said to belong to that discourse community.

A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communication further hence of its aims:

Each discourse community must have defined functions and methods of operations called genres.  Genres can be borrowed from other groups, but they must be adapted to the specific purpose of the group in question.

In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis:

The discourse community utilizes its own specific set of terms and vocabulary that applies to their specific field.  Those involved in engineering research for example have a vast set of abbreviations and terms that apply to specific topics within the field and community.  These may have little significance to those not involved in the community.

A discourse level has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discourse experience:

The people within the group must have some amount of experience or skill.  They may be inexperienced when they join the group, but they will become experts in the end.

From Pencils to Pixels

After reading the selection by Baron, I would agree with the assessment that he shrugs at the idea that technology will fundamentally change writing.  It seems to me that technology has already done this.  The use of technology allows for a much more streamlined writing process, with a vastly increased ability to edit work.  In addition, as we witnessed on the first project, integrating technology into writing allows for a new and unique sort of collaborative writing environment.  To say that one cannot imagine technology fundamentally changing the way we write seems to be a very shortsighted observation.

In addition to simply the use of technology to facilitate the basic process of writing, much of the time digital writing includes other forms of media.  Using technology allows for the integration of pictures, videos, animations, links and other visual forms to be integrated into the work.  Given the extent to which this is already done in pieces of writing on the internet, it is fair to say that this is changing the nature of writing through technology.  In general, I would claim that in point in time, it would be false to claim that technology isn’t going to fundamentally change every aspect of our lives to some degree.