Belonging to a Discourse Community

Belonging to a Discourse Community

Whereas many attempts have been made to define what a discourse community is (Carrol, 1956; Bizzel,1987; James, 1980; Johns, 1988; Herzberg, 1986), Swales’(1990) invaluable set of criteria proves to be an effective tool that helps to “eliminate many of the marginal, blurred and controversial contenders” (p.22). The four articles selected will be analyzed against the six defining characteristics in order to discover whether the authors belong to a discourse community apart from being members of a speech community.

Their common public goal seems to be oriented towards teachers’ reflection upon their practices for further development.

The situated learning discourse community emphasizes the shared nature of reflection through three concepts: situated activity, reflection as a social endeavor, and reflection as a distributed process with distributed content (i.e., the situation, the group, and the artifacts utilized in reflection that permeate this discourse). Reflection is understood as a process that is embedded in everyday activities situated in school cultures that are social in nature, where interactions with others are an important medium in which reflection occurs.  (Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Lopez Torres, 2003, p. 3)

The fact that the four articles have been published in journals where membership is required brings another characteristic to light which is having participatory mechanisms of intercommunication where there are writers, editors and readers engaging in empirical and comprehensive studies. Furthermore, members of Community Colleges are encouraged to participate in discourse “by reading and implementing changes at their campuses [, which] is just as important as publishing in keeping the discourse community alive and well” (Kelly-Kleese, 2004, p.8).

Not only are their genres akin, but also field-specific terminology and acronyms are used; for example American Association for Higher Education (AAHE ), National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). According to Kleese (2004), Higher education has a discourse community that governs the university's spoken and written words” (p.2). Giroux (1983) defines language as “a social event that is defined, shaped, and constrained by the culture of the setting in which it is used” (as cited in Kleese, 2001, p.2).

Suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise may be indicated by their shared knowledge and relevance on the subject matter. Most of the authors cited in the articles, together with the topics discussed are likely to be recognized by any educator. As Wenzlaff and Wieseman (2004) contend, “[a] discourse community cannot exist in the absence of a collaborative culture” (p.9).  Cole (1999) also suggests that “culture itself mediates human actions in the sense that it is a system of shared meanings or social inheritances” (as cited in Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Torres, 2003, p.5).

Given the fact that the authors seem to meet the defining criteria proposed by Swales by sharing the common goal of critically analyzing the community they are immersed in (and providing clear recommendations), belonging to a network of professionals who share related concerns and publishing their research papers in education journals utilizing genres and vocabulary understood by the academic world they address to, it can be suggested that they do belong to a discourse community.

References

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., and Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved September 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor’s Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved September 2011, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved September 2011, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541

Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers Need Teachers To Grow. Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved September 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405