Discourse Communities I Identity And Communities Of Practice

A N N M. J O H N SDiscourse Communities Iand Communities o fPractice:Membership, Conflict, andDiversityA N N M. J O H N SJohns Ann M. "Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict,and IDiversity." Text, Role, and Context: Developing Academic Literacies. Cambridge, New YoricCambridge UP, 1997.51-70. Print. Discourse Communities and CommunitiesofPractice4 9 ithin conventions o f communities, t h e relationship o f identity t o discourse comunity membership, and t h e problems o f authority and control over acceptablemmunity discourse. As always, t h e reading will be easier for you if you can try0 relate what t h e author describes t o your own experiences or t o things you haveitnessed or read about elsewhere.etting Ready t o Readeforeyou read, d o a t least o n e o f t h e following activities: If you've read ot her articles in this chapter already, make a list o f t h e difficul ties or problems you've had with t h e concept o f discourse communities so far.What have you not understood, what has not made sense, o r what questionshave you been left with? Write a note t o yourself on this question: What does t h e idea o f merribershipmean t o you? When you hear t h a t word, what do you associate it with? Whatmemories o f it do you have? Do you often use it or hear it?As you read, consider t h e following questions:Framing the ReadingAnn Johns, like t h e other scholars whose work you have read so far in this chapter.nwhT"coedited a journal with John Swales from 198501993. While she was a t San Diego State University, Johns directed t h e AmericanLanguage Institute, t h e Writing across t h e Curriculum Program, t h e Freshman Suc cess Program, and the Center for Teaching and Learning, and she still found timet o research and write twenty-three articles, twenty-two book chapters, and four W h a t does it mean t o have authority in relation t o texts a n d discoursecommunities? How does trying t o become a member o f a discourse community impactyour sense o f self—do you feel your "self" being compressed or pressured, orexpanding?' How are discourse communities related to identity?h h he aassroom [2001] and Text, Role, and Context, fromwhich t h e following reading is taken). Since retiring from San Diego State. Johnscontinues t o write articles and consult around t h e world.extension o f an ongoing conversation in this chapter.When John Swales defined discourse community, he noted in passing t h a t partici pating m a discourse community did not necessarily require joining it. but he didnot pursue t h e idea o f conflict within communities any further. James Gee does nothelp much with this problem because he argues that people from nondominant homeiscourses can only join dominant Discourses through mushfake. This is where AnnJohns steps in. She published well after both Swales and Gee. s oshe had time t o think through some o f t h e issues they were con Text. Role,sidering and then extend the conversation by really delving intoiind ('onfextthe problem o f conflict within discourse communities.When talking about conflicts related t o discourse communi ties. Johns focuses primarily on academic discourse communi ties. She talks about some o f t h e "expected" conventions ofdiscourse in t h e academy (what she calls "uniting forces") andthen describes sources of contention. Johns brings up issues ofrebellion against discourse community conventions, change[498I f there is one thing that most o f [the discourse community definitions] have incommon, it is an idea o f language [and genres] as a basis for sharing and hold ing in common: shared expectations, shared participation, commonly (or communicably) held ways o f expressing. Like audience, discourse community entailsassumptions about conformity and convention (Rafoth, 1990, p. 140).What is needed for descriptive adequacy may not be so much a search for theconventions o f language use in a particular group, but a search for the varietieso f language use that work both with and against conformity, and accuratelyreflect the interplay o f identity and power relationships (Rafoth, 1990, p. 144).Asecond irnportant concept in the discussion o f socioliteracies is discourse icommunity. Because this term is abstract, complex, and contested, I willapprodch it by attempting t o answer a few o f the questions that are raised in' he literature, those that seem most appropriate t o teaching and learning inacademic contexts.Some o f the contested issues and questions are; "How are communities defined?" (Rufoth, 1990); "Dodiscourse communities even exist?" (Prior, 1994); "Are they global or local? Or both?" (Killingsworth,1992); "What is the relationship between discourse communities and genres?" (Swales, 1988b, 1990).

F b O OChapter 4A N N M. J O H N S5oTlCommunities and Membership1. W h y do individuals join social a n d professional communities? Whatappear t o be the relationships between communities and their genres?2. Are there levels of community? In particular, can we hypothesize a gen eral academic community o r language?3. W h a t are some o f the forces that make communities complex and var ied? W h a t forces w o r k against "shared participation and shared ways ofexpressing?" (Rafoth, 1990, p. 140).I have used the term discourse communities because this appears t o be themost common term in the literature. However, communities o f practice, arelated concept, is becoming increasingly popular, particularly for academiccontexts (see Brown & Duguid, 1995; Lave & Wenger, 1991). I n the term dis course communities, the focus is o n texts a n d language, the genres a n d lexis thatenable members throughout the world t o maintain their goals, regulate theirmembership, and communicate efficiently with one another. Swales (1990, pp.24-27) lists six defining characteristics o f a discourse community:1 D i s c o u r s e C o m m u n i t i e s a n d C o m m u n i t i e s o f PracticeSocial, Political, and Recreational Communities21. [It has] a broadly agreed set o f common public goals.2. [It has] mechanisms o f intercommunication among its members (such asnewsletters o r journals).3. [It] utilizes and hence possesses one o r more genres in the communicativefurtherance o f its aims.4. [It] uses its participatory mechanisms primarily t o provide informationa n d feedback.5. In addition t o owning genres, [it] has acquired some specific lexis.6. [It has] a threshold level o f members with a suitable degree o f relevantcontent a n d discoursal expertise.The term communities o f practice refers t o genres and lexis, but especially 3t o m a n y practices and values that hold communities together o r separate themfrom one another. Lave and Wenger, in discussing students' enculturation intoacademic communities, have this t o say about communities o f practice:As students begin to engage with the discipline, as they move from exposure toexperience, they begin to understand that the different communities on campus arequite distinct, that apparently common terms have different meanings, apparentlyshared tools have different uses, apparently related objects have different interpre tationsAs they work in a particular community, they start to understand bothits particularities and what joining takes, how these involve language, practice,culture and a conceptual universe, not just mountains of facts (1991, p. 13).Thus, communities o f practice are seen as complex collections o f individualsw h o share genres, language, values, concepts, and "ways o f being" (Geertz,1983), often distinct from those held by other communities.In order t o introduce students t o these'visions o f community, it is useful to 4take the m outside the academic realm t o something more familiar, the recre ational and avocational communities t o which they, o r their families, belong.Thus I begin with a discussion o f nonacademic communities before proceedingt o issues o f academic communities and membership.People are born, o r taken involuntarily by their families and cultures, into somecommunities o f practice. These first culture communities may be religious,tribal, social, o r economic, and they may be central t o an individual's daily lifeexperiences. Academic communities, o n the other hand, are selected a n d volun tary, a t least after compulsory education. Therefore, this chapter will concen trate o n communities that are chosen, the groups with which people maintainties because o f their interests, their politics, o r their professions. Individualsare often members of a variety o f communities outside academic life: socialand interest groups with which they have chosen t o affiliate. These communityaffiliations vary in terms o f individual depth o f interest, behef, and commitment.Individual involvement may become stronger o r weaker over time as circum stances and interests change.Nonacademic communities of interest, like "homely" genres, can providea useful starting point for student discussion. In presenting communities ofthis type. Swales uses the example of{ Mlthe H o n g Kong Study Circle (HKSC), o f which he is a paying member, whose I Why do individuals join socialpurposes are t o "foster interest in a n dand professional communities?knowledge o f the stamps o f H o n gAre there levels o f community?Kong" (1990, p. 27). H e was once quiteWhatare s o m e o f the forces thatactive in this community, dialoging fre quently with other members throughmake communities complex andHKSC publications. However, a t thisvaried?point in his life, he has other interests(birds and butterflies), and so he is n o wan inactive member of HKSC. His commitments o f time and energy have beendiverted elsewhere.Members o f m y family are also affiliated with several types o f communities.We are members o f cultural organizations, such as the local art museum and thetheater companies. We receive these communities' publications, and w e attendsome o f their functions, but we d o n o t consider ourselves t o be active. We alsobelong t o a variety o f conununities with political aims. M y mother, for exam ple, is a member o f the powerful lobbying group, the American Association ofRetired Persons (AARP). The several million members pay their dues because oftheir interests in maintaining government-sponsored retirement (Social Security)and health benefits (Medicare), both o f which are promoted by" AARP lobby ists in the U.S. Congress. The AARP magazine, Modern Maturity, is a powerfulorgan o f the association, carefully crafted t o forward the group's aims. Throughthis publication, members are urged t o write t o their elected representatives Note that most communities use abbreviations for their names and often for their publications. Ailcommunity members recognize these abbreviations, o f course.' These written interactions are impossible for the noninitiated t o understand, I might point out.