Every time people interact with each other, they must choose what words to say and how to act. To do this, they use experiences and must consider who exactly they are communicating with as behaviors yield different results in different circumstances. For example, it is unwise to act similarly with a businessman or doctor as one would a friend. James Paul Gee refers to grouping of behaviors as “discourses.” Gee defines discourses as “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions and clothes” (Wardle 484). In addition to acting and speaking alike, groups of people share beliefs and values as well.
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a discourse, I watched Major League Gaming's Starcraft 2 tournament over the weekend. Major League Gaming streams many matches live online, so it can be watched from almost anywhere. While watching the stream, you can see the match being played and a chat where people discuss players and strategies. There are also two commentators analyzing the game in a similar fashion to other sports like basketball or football. While watching the tournament, it became immediately apparent that both the viewers and commentators shared a unique way of speaking. The word “cheese” no longer referred to food, but instead a strategy involving a rush designed to kill an opponent quickly. Many words were shortened or abbreviated. “Barracks” becomes “rax,” “natural” becomes “nat,” and wishing someone good luck or a good match becomes “gl hf gg.” Most commonly, instead saying something's name, people called units and upgrades what they do. “Metabolic boost,” the upgrade that makes Zerglings run faster is called “speed” instead. Commentators also combined several words in a sentence. Instead of saying “Zerglings with speed,” they combined the words into “speedlings.” In addition to their language, Starcraft 2 viewers share many beliefs and values. At the most basic level, they all consider watching a tournament a worthwhile activity and being a nerd is generally completely accepted. Their beliefs also run deeper. Being a professional video game player is not frowned upon. On the contrary, players and commentators alike are widely seen as celebrities and idolized. At Major League Gaming tournaments, it is common practice for the fans in attendance to ask popular personalities for autographs. Most importantly, the tournament viewers and commentators hold a passion for e-sports and wish to see them grow. From what I observed of Major League Gaming's tournament, James Paul Gee's ideas about the existence discourses are correct.
All participants in the tournament exhibited comparable languages, actions and beliefs that would not be applicable in other situations. They specifically molded their behavior in order to feel more included.
After defining a single discourse, Gee goes on to segment them into dominant and non-dominant varieties. A dominant discourse “brings with it the (potential) acquisition of social 'goods'” (Wardle 485). They are a way of being people follow with the intention of gaining money or fame. A non-dominant discourse serves to feel more connected to a group, but does not gain an individual anything else. For example, doctors have a dominant discourse, while people who go bowling on the weekends have a non-dominant discourse.
Starcraft 2 tournaments follow this separation. Commentators earn money and therefore use a dominant discourse. However, even though the language viewers use is near-identical to that of the commentators, they are not also a dominant discourse. The commentators are required to act more professionally and entertain an audience. Their abilities to speak clearly and keep current knowledge about the game are highly valued. Conversely, the tournament viewers' discourse only allows them to effectively communicate with other viewers. They do not stand to procure or forfeit any social goods. This reinforces Gee's idea that a discourse includes all aspects of a person and not just
language. James Paul Gee claims that discourses have a measure of innate exclusivity. He says, “However, someone cannot engage in a discourse in less than a fully fluent manner. You are either in it or you're not... there is, thus, no workable 'affirmative action' for discourses” (Wardle 487). This means that until an individual fully comprehends and follows a discourse, they have no way to belong in it. If that person should try to participate before they are ready, they will be known as a foreigner and neglected. Also, there are no methods to expedite the process as learning a discourse involves more than simply language; it involves of all facets of the group.
Beebe, Steven A., Susan J. Beebe, and Mark V. Redmond. "Understanding Self and Others." Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others. Boston: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson, 2009. 43. Print.
At Children’s First, our mission is to keep a safe, healthy, prosperous environment for children. Being a part of this community, I know firsthand what it takes to maintain an ideal setting for children to grow. It is essential for the caretakers to communicate, share information, and work together to put the children first. This core goal of ours, along with my own experience, analysis, interviewing, and observation demonstrate that Children’s First Daycare is a discourse community according to Swale’s six characteristics of a discourse community.
Discourse communities are groups of people with a unique point of view. There are many discourse communities around your everyday life. These communities are part of the entire human environment. Many discourse communities are distinctly large due to all the societies wanting the same things. My discourse communities are mostly Facebook.
...e cited this as another major limitation of discourse analysis, stating that the array of options available through the various methods can create inconsistencies and render issues of methodology problematic. In terms of application, discourse analysis involves a re-design of the topic through the study of interactional order (Schiffrin, Tannen and Hamilton, 2008).
To examine various discourses, it is crucial that the idea of discourse and the way in which discourses operate is clear. A discourse is a language, or more precisely, a way of representation and expression. These "ways of talking, thinking, or representing a particular subject or topic produce meaningful knowledge about the subject" (Hall 205). Therefore, the importance of discourses lies in this "meaningful knowledge," which reflects a group’s ideolo...
Football is a discourse community I am involved in where the members have similar goals and expectations. As in, what Swales describes a discourse community as groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals”. In his article “The Concept of Discourse Community” (Swales 466-479) Swales argues for a fresh conceptualization of discourse community, especially as a distinct entity from the similar sociolinguistic concept of speech community, and building upon the foundations of that argument defines discourse community in his own. In the Conceptualization of Discourse Community he talks about the six defining characteristics of a discourse community. The discourse community I am part of is playing and coaching football.
Communication is the foundation of any society. Humans are interactive beings that must communicate in order to survive. Humans develop communication skills as infants; learning to yell when something is needed, cry when something is painful, and smile when feeling happy. As babies age they learn words; eventually learning to compose sentences allowing them to express their feelings or desires. Humans finally learn to communicate within different parts of their life with different forms of communication such as letters, spoken, visual, and more. As one ages, they become aware of the different rules of communication used with certain people and situations; such as learning to speak to a teacher in a different manner than how one talks to their friends. While doing this, people are unconsciously starting to learn how to conform in the different discourse communities. Discourse communities are an essential part of life, and learning to communicate in those communities is just as vital.
In order for something to be a Discourse Community it has to fulfill many requirements including a broadly set of common goals, communication between members, a way to provide feedback, possesses at least one genre, has a specific lexis, and has a threshold of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales). After observing this group of people I have come to a decision that they do in fact represent a Discourse community. The groups broad set of goals woul...
Pages 261- 267. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2011.10.006. Cameron, D. (2001). The 'Case Working with spoken discourse and communication. London: Thousand Oaks & Co. Carson, C., & Cupach, W. (2000).
There are many different types of communication, whether that be group, mass, or interpersonal communication. For the purpose of this paper, the identification of interpersonal communication is necessary. Interpersonal communication is the involvement of direct communication between two people. There tends to be three stages involved in such a process. The personal, phatic, and intimate stages. Nonverbal and verbal methods are used in this type of communication. People often define themselves as communicators by ways in which they communicate. For example, when I am communicating with family members I may talk with more expression and use more nonverbal communication. However, when I am with peers, I may communicate in ways similar to them. This may mean less nonverbal communication. I think when we define ourselves as communicators it is important to know who we are. The experiences and personality of a person should make up who they are and how they like to communicate. I see myself as an active communicat...
Social norms are the rules of behavior that are acceptable within members of a society. They are acceptable expectations that must be followed by a group or society. Some social norms are flexible according to the environment or situation. These norms also vary within different cultures, social groups, and social classes. Interactions provide the social setting for appropriate behavior and is the basis for the social roles that individuals play as a member of a social group. As each social role is portrayed, a proper behavior must manifest to fit the expectations of that role. These basic terms of social norms, interactions, and roles are associated with the Symbolic Interactionism Theory, which focuses on the actions of an individual and the social interaction that individual contributes to. The framework of the theory is dependent upon the social interactions between individuals and the meaning that is given to their actions.
Communication is a crucial aspect in people’s everyday life. Everything from word choice to personal perception can influence the interactants’ behaviors and styles of communication. Kim’s Contextual Theory of Interethnic Communication depicts the many layers and facets that attribute to the communication between two people belonging to different identities or groups. While there are four layers to Kim’s theory, this paper will focus on the behavioral aspect. Kim’s theory will be analyzed and explained through the lens of associative and dissociative behaviors.
James Paul Gee defines discourse as “a socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or ‘social network’” in his article What is Literacy (1). After defining discourse, Gee compared the word to an “identity kit”. A person’s identity is subsidized into social and personal identity and social identity is broken down even further into type (characteristics) and role (actions). A person might have to take on different roles throughout their life and therefore their social identity may change. Just as the world around us and definition of the word literacy changes and evolves, so do people 's discourses. Technology has empowered people and allowed them to become what they consider to be literate. Context and interpretation both play important roles in the definition of literacy. Context dictates the literacy and identity of the situation and how people interpret different discourses changes the definition of literacy. Most people would consider literacy to be the ability to read and write, but there is more to it than
As humans, one of the most frequent instinctive activities that we partake in is socializing. Our lives revolve around socializing with other people in our society in order to satisfy our many needs. In order for everyone’s needs to be met, we must all work together as a group. In society, there are many different types of groups that influence all types of different aspects of our lives. These groups are very influential throughout our lives because they influence as well as alter our views, choices and other factors of our lives on a daily basis.
Interaction is a significant part of our daily lives. Oral communication with others is inevitable, and therefore it is crucial for us to acquire the skills to do so correctly. Aside from simply stating words or expressing ideas, oral communication serves various purposes. Oral communication allows an individual to express emotions, ideas, and feelings; it gives people the ability to empower, inspire, and motivate those who listen; and it allows people to share knowledge and traditions, as well as build their self-esteem. Oral communication is also useful in leading us to new discoveries, ideas, cultures, and perspectives (O’Neill). Thus, oral communication serves several different purposes in daily life; yet each of these purposes are connected to an even larger purpose. According to the textbook Communication: Making Connections, “Effective communication is critical to living successfully in today’s soc...