Blog 6

Question: Is our class a Discourse community?
     I do believe that our class is a Discourse community because of what we talk about in class.

What evidence do you have in terms of "insider" ways of talking and meaning (e.g. words and patters for talk) that are different from other classes?
     In the class discussion about ethnography, everybody took notes on what they perceived the class to be like and what was going on in the classroom through their perspective. I have not used the word Discourse in any other class- other than ENG 3005. We use the same lexis, goals and there participation mechanisms.   Ethnography is definitely a term I have not used in any other class.  If I were to start a conversation in an education class on Discourse, everybody would look at me like I had three heads.   There are certain terms only used in certain classes.  Not every class at Kean is a class where discussion in the classroom is evident.  Many of the classes are lecture based- the professor tells information  you write it down, talk to the person next to you and then write more information down.  We, as a Discourse community are looking for patterns in what we observe.

Shared goals?
     All of us have shared goals- to pass all of our classes.  We all have a common goal of doing the work the professor asks of us.

Genres? (expectations about what "counts" as writing)?
     I think everybody as a different perception of writing.  Some may find it as research and some taking notes.  It all depends on the class you are "writing" for.

Is our class part of the larger Discourse community for "writing studies" or "being a student" or "writing  majors at Kean" but NOT a distinct Discourse community on its own?
     I think our class is part of the larger Discourse community for "writing studies" and "being a student".  All of us in the class are writing majors/minors and we are all students.  We have that in common.  We all use the same language to talk to each other   If you attend class, you will see all of the students taking part in a discussion about Discourse, Ethnographic studies, Conversation.  All of these words are understood (or at least have some knowledge about) by all students in the class.  When we all wrote our notes on what we observed, we basically wrote the same thing.  This person did this, then they did this.  The professor said a comment- everybody laughed.  We are all on the same page and that's what makes our class a Discourse community at Kean University.