Centre for Initiatives in Education
FAculty of Arts and Social Sciences
This web site is constructed to fulfill the course requirements for 18.297X Writing Theory and Practice. It presents some of my intersts and my work in this course.
Please select a link below:
Section A
What is our class 18.297X? According to McKenna, an academic class
is unlikely to be a discourse community at the outset. However, the
hoped-for outcome is that it will forma discourse community (McKenna, 1987).
Although this is a valid point, the question does need to be answered,
is our class 18.297X a discourse community? Swales, outlines six
criteria that defines a discourse community outlined below,
1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public
goals.
2. A discourse community has mechanism of intercommunication among
its members.
3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily
to provide information and feedback.
4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres
in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
5. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired
some specific lexis.
6. A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable
degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, pp 24-27).
So, Swales has outlined the requirements of a discourse community, now we need to examine the class 18.297X and see if it as a whole fits any or all of the criteria that Swales has given to us. I feel that our class (18.297X) achieved the status of a discourse community sooner than most academic class would. We are all in a unique post-secondary program, the ESP program, which makes us a part of the discourse community. We all came into this class in September, already members of one university discourse community. We all had a broadly agreed set of common public goals (Swales, p 24).
As well, we have a few means of intercommunication. For one, we have our scheduled class time, although not every member of the community is in attendance at all times. We also have our course newsgroup, which most members are active participants. We also have the means to communicate between ourselves outside of these academically structured communication devices. Therefore the class fits Swales second criteria.
Does the class 18.297X have participatory mechanisms? In my opinion yes we do. For instance this journal entry that I am writing could be interpreted as a participatory mechanism for feedback and such. Part of the agreement for me to be a member of this community is to fulfill certain expectations to help promote feedback and communication between its members. This would include the instructor s/he being the primary member of the discourse community.
Does this discourse community posses genres? Any community that wishes to be defined as a discourse community must posses genre. Unlike a discourse community, which is formed, genre is formed solely based on the interactions of those members, whether they are officially a discourse community or not. Therefore this discourse community which we are examining does have its own genre. Looking at the community’s methods of intercommunication, which is primarily spoken word, and text, which is some of, is available to a larger discourse community (Carleton University).
This discourse community has acquired its own lexis, examining the structure of this journal entry alone is an example of this. And to fit Swales final criteria for a discourse community, its members change on an annual basis. The members of this discourse community can only be members during a specific period, (00-09 through 01-04).
Since the class 18.297X fits all six criteria Swales has said make a discourse community, the logical conclusion is that this is indeed a discourse community.
Section B
1. The discourse community that I have chosen to study is history.
But since the history discourse community is so large and broad, I’ve decided
to focus on one discourse community within, American History. I’ve
chosen this specific discourse community because I first have an interest
in pursuing history throughout my post-secondary academic career, but quite
possibly examine American history more closely. I do not know at
present if this will lead me into a future job or not.
2. American History meets Swales six criteria for it, has a common
goal which is the study of American history. It has methods of intercommunication,
which is why it is defined as American history and not just general history.
It provides feedback and information through several means, one would be
the library style guide, and others will be explored in the near future.
It must posses genres, although most are not known to me yet. Like
any community it has its own lexis, which is defined in much of the text.
Its members change regularly as people come in and leave this field of
study regularly.
3. At the present the only means of contact is through the internet,
possible reference people may include, Prof. J. Miller, Prof. N. Hillmer,
Dr. S. McIntyre, Mr. P. Hughes, Dr. M.M. Johnston-Miller, Prof. G.F. Goodwin,
and Prof. Y.A. Bennett. These are people who teach in Carleton’s
history department, either in American History or related historical topics.
4. The number one thing that will hinder my research is time.
With other assignments due, and the onset of exams soon I will not have
as much time to research my topic as I would like. I have an interest
in my topic, which gives me motivation to research and study it.
5. Time management, is a major strategy that I must use. As well
as people I have contact with, which can help me acquire information on
this subject.
This site is maintained by warnerdang :| (Dan)
Last Update: 00-11-15 14:00 EST
