key concepts in elt Discourse community Erik Borg We do not generally use language to communicate with the world at large, but with individuals or groups of individuals. As in life, for discussion and analysis in applied linguistics these groups are gathered into communities. One such grouping that is widely used to analyse written communication is discourse community. John Swales, an influential analyst of written communication, described discourse communities as groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals. Central to his analysis is the notion of genre, the organizational patterns of written communication which he sees as ‘belong[ing] to discourse communities’ and conversely, helping to define those communities (1990:9; for genre, see Allison 1999). The concept of discourse communities developed from the concepts of speech community and interpretive community, and sits somewhat uneasily between them. ‘Speech community’ (Hymes 1972) refers to actual people who recognize their language use as di¤erent from other language users, e.g. Australian English or Geordie English. ‘Interpretive community’ (Fish 1980), on the other hand, refers not to a gathering of individuals, but to an open network of people who share ways of reading texts, primarily literary texts; this term therefore highlights the social derivation of interpretation. Unlike a speech community, membership of a discourse community is usually a matter of choice; unlike an interpretive community, members of a discourse community actively share goals and communicate with other members to pursue those goals. One additional element generally characterizes discussions of discourse communities: these discussions typically focus on the use and analysis of written communication. Swales (1990), for example, suggested that a prototypical discourse community might be a society of stamp collectors scattered around the world but united by a shared interest in the stamps of Hong Kong. The collectors never gather together physically; instead a newsletter that has a particular form of text organization, making it a genre, which they use to pursue their goals, unites them. Other writers (e.g. Johns 1997; Porter 1986) have suggested that discourse communities might have common interests, but not necessarily common goals, as, for example, a family or the alumni body of a university. Some writers have described an 398 ELT Journal Volume 57/4 October 2003 © Oxford University Press ‘academic discourse community’, while others have identified discourse communities within the academy, for example, palaeontologists or political scientists. Beyond the study of writing in academic contexts, the concept of discourse community has proved fruitful for the study of writing for specific purposes. For example, the need to identify and address a particular audience in business settings has been studied by Killingsworth and Gilbertson (1992), Olsen (1993), and Orlikowski and Yates (1994) among others. O¤ord-Gray and Aldred made ‘research into the learner needs as perceived by the discourse community’ (1998: 77) the first principle in designing their ESP course for accountants, and, by implication, an organizing principle of any ESP course design. However, several issues have not been well defined in relation to discourse communities: how large (or small) a discourse community might be; whether speech is needed to maintain a discourse community; whether purpose is the defining characteristic of a discourse community, and how stable a discourse community, and therefore its genres, are. Porter (1992) argued that there is a ‘public discourse community’, and others have suggested there may be an ‘academic discourse community’. It is necessary to ask whether the discourse of such nebulous communities can be described in meaningful terms. At the opposite end, can a family scattered around the world but united by e-mail be described as having a discourse? In 1990, Swales described a discourse community that was united only by written communication. However, in 1998 he revisited the question and di¤erentiated between discourse communities and ‘place discourse communities’ which were united by both written and spoken communication. This element is significant, as it touches on how the community reproduces itself, and how novice members are initiated into the expectations of the community. Whether novices can learn these expectations through the analysis and teaching of written texts, or only through a process of apprenticeship (Atkinson 1997; Wenger 1998) has implications for the teaching of writing within a community, such as academic communities. There is a further question of whether shared goals are necessary to define a discourse community. Although Swales (1990) felt shared goals were definitive, a ‘public discourse community’ cannot have shared goals, and more crucially, a generalized ‘academic discourse community’ may not have shared goals or genres in any meaningful sense. This may be why, as Johns (1997) noted, ‘discourse community’ is being displaced by ‘community of practice’, a term from sociocultural theory rather than linguistics, even in contexts where a linguistic term might seem appropriate, such as the 2002 conference theme of the British Association of Applied Linguists, ‘Applied linguistics and communities of practice’. ‘Communities of practice’ (Wenger 1998: 78) has a clear definition that includes ‘mutual engagement’ and ‘a joint enterprise’, which separates it from the more di¤use understandings that surround discourse community. Key concepts in ELT : discourse community 399 Finally, there is the question of the stability and power of discourse communities and their genres. If discourse communities are seen as stable, with experts who perform gatekeeping roles, then their genres are normative, and novices must conform to the expectations of the community in order to enter it. Other writers (e.g. Canagarajah 2002) suggest that this view takes power away from learners, and instead he proposes that conventions and rules should be deconstructed, with novices encouraged to appropriate the discourse of the community, both for their own purposes and for the renewal of the discourse community itself. In this, as with other disputed issues surrounding ‘discourse community’, there are significant implications for the teaching of writing. References Allison, D. 1999. ‘Key concepts in ELT : Genre’. ELT Journal 53/2: 144. Atkinson, D. 1997. ‘A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL ’. TESOL Quarterly 31/1: 71–94. Canagarajah, A. S. 2002. ‘Multilingual writers and the academic community: Towards a critical relationship’. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 1/1: 29–44. Fish, S. 1980. Is There a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard. Hymes, D. H. 1972. ‘On communicative competence’ in J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (eds.). On Communicative Competence. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Johns, A. M. 1997. Text, Role and Context: Developing Academic Literacies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Killingsworth, M. J. and M. K. Gilbertson. 1992. Signs, Genres and Communities in Technical Communication. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company. O¤ord-Gray, C. and D. Aldred. 1998. ‘A principled approach to ESP course design’. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics 3/1: 77–86. Olsen, L. A. 1993. ‘Research on discourse communities: An overview’ in R. Spilka (ed.). Research on Discourse Communities: An Overview. 400 Erik Borg Carbondale & Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Orlikowski, W. J. and J. Yates. 1994. ‘Genre repertoire: The structuring of communicative practices in organisations’. Administrative Science Quarterly 39/4: 541–74. Porter, J. E. 1986. ‘Intertextuality and the discourse community’. Rhetoric Review 5/1: 34–47. Porter, J. E. 1992. Audience and Rhetoric: An Archaeological Composition of the Discourse Community, Englewood Cli¤s, NJ: Prentice Hall. Swales, J. M. 1990. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Swales, J. M. 1998. Other Floors, Other Voices: A Textography of a Small University Building. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The author Erik Borg is a lecturer in the English Language Centre at Northumbria University and a PhD student at the University of Leeds. He is a member of the co-ordinating committee of the IATEFL Research SIG, and is interested in academic literacy and all sorts of writing. Email: erik.borg@unn.ac.uk ENGH 302 ADVANCED COMPOSITION Spring 2018 Jacob Broderick jbroder3@gmu.edu OVERVIEW This course is designed to build on the general writing skills and techniques you have acquired in 101 and other university courses, and to prepare you for completing advanced level writing, analysis, and research tailored to your major discipline and possible future workplace. We will, therefore, practice the various genres of writing you are likely to encounter. Throughout the semester, you’ll also learn to recognize the way(s) that knowledge is constructed in humanities disciplines (focusing on your own discipline or career interest), adapt your writing to common purposes and audience needs, conduct and synthesize research, use computer technologies as part of your research and writing process, and produce writing that employs the organizational techniques and genres typical in your discipline. We’ll also focus on the professionalism and professional writing forms and techniques that you’ll need throughout your career. THE WORK 50% Reading (online); 50% Interactive. Most class sessions of English 302 will be interactive and will involve a significant amount of student writing and discussion. Students may be asked to work individually as well as collaboratively as they investigate issues, practice writing strategies and techniques, learn research and critical reading approaches, and review their own and their peers’ writing. Students who stay engaged in class activities, who keep up with all of the assignments, and who block off sufficient time each week for thoughtful drafting and revising usually succeed in this class. THE WRITING Make no mistake: this is a writing-intensive course. You will be required to write, on average, two to three pages per week—sometimes more than that. Be prepared for this fact, and schedule plenty of time each week for the work ahead. You should be checking in to Canvas regularly, looking ahead at the work to come, and planning accordingly. Instruction and learning in this course will take place synchronously (at the same time) and asynchronously (at different times). This means that on homework and many assignments, you will have the opportunity to set your own pace to some extent, provided you complete the work by the deadline. Sounds good, right? But let this also serve as a warning: you will need to allot the time to do all of your work each week! Spring 2018 ENGH 302 M Syllabus ! of 6 1 ! ABOUT ME My teaching philosophy is very simple: as your instructor in this class, I am here for you. I am not here to listen to myself lecture. You, in turn, must give me your fullest effort for our unique partnership to work effectively. I feel that the role of an instructor is to be a role model and a resource for students and members of the greater academic community. I will explain and demonstrate what I expect of you and will give you every opportunity to excel in the classroom and help you fulfill your academic/professional goals during this term. ABOUT YOU Be respectful of your fellow students and instructor at all times. Be assertive, but not autocratic. And as you would in an employment situation, please notify me in advance of anticipated absence or the need to miss a deadline. IS THERE A TEXTBOOK? No. I will provide all necessary readings through Canvas. You’re welcome. Save up for an Apple Watch instead. LATE POLICY CRISIS DAYS Papers should be uploaded/handed in at the date/time on which they are due. You will lose one third of a letter grade for every day your assignment is late. Papers graded down for tardiness are not subject to the REVISIONS policy below. In addition, each student will start the semester with five “crisis days” which can be used at your discretion throughout the semester, up until the final week of classes.* I will track these days for each student; just be very sure to notify me when you are using one or more on an assignment. If you still need an extension, ask me, but do so well in advance (e.g. a week or more) of the due date. You WILL NOT be graded down for using a crisis day; they are yours, and you may invoke these whenever you choose on a given assignment. That said, my advice is not to burn through them in the first month of classes. Things will get harder. Much harder. I guarantee it. All work, including revisions, is DUE WEDNESDAY, MAY 16. No CRISIS DAYS may be used to extend the term. SUBMISSIONS You will submit all of your work this term via Canvas REVISIONS You may revise Project #1, and EITHER #2, OR #3. In addition, I will at times, give a paper the grade “R,” which means you must revise the paper before I give it a formal letter grade. Spring 2018 ENGH 302 M Syllabus ! of 6 2 ! Revising is serious business: I expect to see a markedly improved essay—a complete overhaul, not little tweaks here and there. You must hand in your revisions no more than two weeks after the original assignment was due. Your original grade will be averaged with the grade you earn on your revision. STUDENTS AS SCHOLARS This section of English 302 is participating in GMU’s “Students as Scholars” program. Across campus, students now have increased opportunities to work with faculty on original scholarship, research, and creative activities, through their individual departments and the OSCAR office (http://oscar.gmu.edu). Assignments in English 302 will help prepare you to be contributors to knowledge in your field, not just memorizers of facts: you will: • • • • • Understand how knowledge is created and transmitted in a field/discipline Understand key methods and conventions of scholarly research in your field/discipline Articulate and refine your own question for scholarly inquiry Situate your investigation in an ongoing context conversation in your field, and Design a final project that adds new perspectives and/or data to the conversation LEARNING OUTCOMES For primarily text-based research that prepares students to make original contributions: students will: • SLO-1, Discovery: Understand how they can engage in the practice of scholarship at GMU • SLO-2, Discovery: Understand research methods used in a discipline • SLO-3, Discovery: Understand how knowledge is transmitted within a discipline, across disciplines, and to the public • SLO-4, Inquiry: Articulate and refine a question • SLO-5, Inquiry: Follow ethical principles • SLO-6, Inquiry: Situate the scholarly inquiry [and inquiry process] within a broader context • SLO-7, Inquiry: Apply appropriate scholarly conventions during scholarly inquiry/ reporting At the end of the course, the Office of Institutional Assessment and the Composition Program will collect random samples of student Metacognitive Writing Assignments and Final Research Project in order to assess the effectiveness of the Students as Scholars Program. This assessment has no bearing on your grade in the course. Spring 2018 ENGH 302 M Syllabus ! of 6 3 ! WRITING CENTER Since you will be writing several papers in this course, you may want to visit the University Writing Center (http://writingcenter.gmu.edu), located in Robinson A114, for assistance. The Writing Center is one of the best resources you will find on campus. They have an outstanding website that offers a wealth of online resources for student writers. You can schedule a 45‑minute appointment with a trained tutor to help with any phase of the writing process. You can even obtain assistance with papers by visiting the online writing center at http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/owl/index.html, but please plan ahead and allow yourself at least 2‑3 days to receive a response. Make an appointment via their website. PLAGIARISM Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another source without giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books, articles, and websites is not sufficient. This class will include direct instruction in strategies for handling sources as part of our curriculum. However, students in composition classes must also take responsibility for understanding and practicing the basic principles listed below. To avoid plagiarism, meet the expectations of a US Academic Audience, give their readers a chance to investigate the issue further, and make credible arguments, writers must put quotation marks around, ad give an in-text citation for, any sentences or distinctive phrases (even very short, 2- or 3-word phrases) that writers copy directly from any outside source: a book, a textbook, an article, a website, a newspaper, a song, a baseball card, an interview, an encyclopedia, a CD, a movie, etc. completely rewrite—not just switch out a few words—any information they find in a separate source and wish to summarize or paraphrase for their readers, and also give an in-text citation for that paraphrased information give an in-text citation for any facts, statistics, or opinions which the writers learned from outside sources (or which they just happen to know) and which are not considered “common knowledge” in the target audience (this may require new research to locate a credible outside source to cite) give a new in-text citation for each element of information—that is, do not rely on a single citation at the end of a paragraph, because that is not usually sufficient to inform a reader clearly of how much of the paragraph comes from an outside source. Writers must also include a Works Cited or References list at the end of their essay, providing full bibliographic information for every source cited in their essay. While different disciplines may have slightly different citation styles, and different instructors may emphasize different levels of citation for different assignments, writers should always begin with these conservative practices unless they are expressly told otherwise. Writers who Spring 2018 ENGH 302 M Syllabus ! of 6 4 ! follow these steps carefully will almost certainly avoid plagiarism. If writers ever have questions about a citation practice, they should ask their instructor! Instructors in the Composition Program support the George Mason Honor Code, which requires them to report any suspected instances of plagiarism to the Honor Council. All judgments about plagiarism are made after careful review by the Honor Council, which may issue penalties ranging from grade-deductions to course failure to expulsion from GMU. PREREQUISITES Students must have completed or transferred in the equivalent of English 100/101, 45 credit hours, and any required general-education literature course designated by their college or major. Students should take a version of English 302 that connects to their major field. Students in the School of Engineering are required to take English 302N, respectively. If you are enrolled in a different version, you should contact your adviser immediately. GENERAL EDUCATION This course is part of the GMU General Education Program, which is designed to help students prepare for advanced work in their major field and for a lifetime of learning. For more information on the mission of the Gen Ed Program, consult the GMU Catalog or visit http://provost.gmu.edu/gened/ COMPLETION POLICY All final essays must be accompanied by one or more earlier drafts. You must complete all main essay assignments to earn a “C” or higher. DISABILITIES If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the ODS. CAPS Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides a wide range of services to faculty, staff and students. Services are provided by a staff of professional counseling and clinical psychologists and professional counselors. To make an appointment, visit the CAPS website at http://counseling.gmu.edu/, or go to their office in Student Union I, Room 364 Spring 2018 ENGH 302 M Syllabus ! of 6 5 ! GMU NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY George Mason University is committed to providing equal opportunity and an educational and work environment free from any discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or age. GMU shall adhere to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity/affirmative action statutes and regulations. Spring 2018 ENGH 302 M Syllabus ! of 6 6 !
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