EAP DISCOURSE COMMUNITY

The importance of a discourse community

Swales (1980) establishes some basic criteria to recognize as well as to check whether a particular group of people belongs to an academic discourse community or not (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.13).

An evidence of common goals is identified as Kelly- Kleese (2001) indicates “increasing perceptions of community college communicative competence, and moving its professionals into positions of legitimate power within the larger higher education discourse community” (as cited in Editor’s Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators, 2001, p. 1)

As regards participatory mechanisms, Kelly –Kleese (2001) also states that “language can help you meet these goals through an understanding of the community college as a discourse community (p.1)

Apart from these goals; another important characteristic is the information exchange among members of a discourse community. The idea of what is learned and how learning takes place are determinants of people’s interactions. As Soltis (1981) points out  “the sociocentric view of knowledge and learning holds that what we take as knowledge and how we think and express ideas are the products of the interactions of groups of people over time” (as cited in Teachers need teachers to grow, 2004, p.1 )

Learning must be authentic and connected to the teachers’ classroom practice in order to be meaningful. That is the reason why community-specific genres are essential within a discourse community.

The discourse community may use shared and specialized terminology.  Kelly-Kleese (2001) has suggested that the community members share their knowledge and interpretations and thus create policy and redefine language. The term "open door", for example, has acquired a specific meaning within the college discourse community, meaning that any high education graduate can access postsecondary education ( p.1)

To achieve a high general level of expertise, McLaughlin & Talbert (1993) indicate “collaborative culture and an environment that supports risk-taking and reflection are required by any discourse community” (p.15)

To conclude, language learning is a social activity which implies people’s interaction. Understanding the community college as a discourse community means that their members are intercommunicated and it is helpful to move community college professionals into positions of legitimate power, increasing their esteem within that community.

References

Pintos, V. & Crimi, Y. (2010). Building up a community of teachers and prospective researchers. Universidad CAECE

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

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

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