Phillips 1 Caleb Phillips Megan Keaton ENG111-09 08 July 2013 The Classroom Community Comparison Every classroom is a discourse

community. A discourse community consists of people and genres of written communication in order to achieve a common goal. Discourse communities also use participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback. This essay will talk about two different discourse communities in a classroom setting. This essay will also identify the people in the communities, the roles they play, the way they communicate and the ways they shape their writing. Every discourse community has a threshold level of members with a degree of relevant content, or students in this case. The community must also have members that are experts which in this case are the teachers. Naturally the teachers have the higher, authoritative role and the students play a lower, more subordinate one. Before any teacher becomes a teacher they must first apply for a job and meet the required educational criteria. In order to be a student one must have a high school diploma or GED and pay a semesters tuition. Once a class has started, the students will socialize, get to know one another better and share their personalities with the class. Students often communicate when the teacher initiates a group discussion. These group discussions are a participatory mechanism used to provide information and feedback. Other mechanisms used for written means of communication are blackboard and Moodle.

Phillips 2 In English class Moodle is an internet site used for intercommunication between teacher and student. Moodle is where the teacher posts assignments, the syllabus and graded work. Students also use Moodle to turn in the second draft of an essay. During English class the teacher will often ask the entire class their thoughts on something such as a definition or their thoughts on last nights homework. This usually leads to a group discussion. The English teacher strictly observes the group discussion and only intervenes when the class gets off topic or falls silent. This semester the teacher has cancelled class twice and has promptly adjusted the syllabus. She wrote the syllabus herself and it is very clear in her expectations for the class. Sometimes if a student asks a question the English teacher will respond sarcastically, but is not intentionally being mean. In class the teacher shows power point slides and talks about everything her students need to learn in order to pass. The English teacher will answer the question of any student and tries to ensure they understand each topic before moving on. Every students goal is to obtain a passing grade and learn important information and skills. In the English class this goal is accomplished in part by writing essays. An essay is a detailed academic writing or genre, used to persuade, define, or inform. A student must complete three separate essays in order to pass the class. One of the required essays is the definition essay, it must be organized and include an introduction, body, and conclusion. The definition essay must define a topic and explain to the reader how or why something works and what it consists of. If a student does not write an essay or fails to write it adequately, he or she may fail the class. The rhetors in this case are the students that write the essays and their audience is the teacher and every other student in the class. During workshop, students help shape each others essay or genre by giving valuable feedback to the writer telling them how to improve their essay. Workshop allows the students to interact and share ideas about what they believe is best for the

Phillips 3 essay. Students decide what is best by considering what the teacher is looking for, past books and articles theyve read and by their own knowledge of how proper literature is written. While work-shopping, students collaborate and share all their smart ideas and advice and inevitably shape each others writing. The English teacher also shapes the essay by grading second drafts and providing comments stating what the paper is lacking. Plagiarism is not tolerated and the teacher is the only one who can decide what the essay is generally about. A student must work past these and other constraints in order to achieve his or her goal and pass the class. The Communications class uses blackboard to see the syllabus and to check for updated posts or messages from the teacher. Unlike the English class, the Communications teacher does not post any grades onto blackboard. Graded work and tests are given back to the students with the numerical grade at the top written in red ink. The Communications teachers name is Tara. Tara was absent the first day of class and had another faculty member instruct the class. On the second day of class Tara was over an hour late. Unlike the English class, the Communications class only meets two days a week. The teacher will sometimes ask the class questions regarding different topics such as colloquialisms, types of slang, or connotative meanings of words. When this happens one student typically tells a story of their past experiences after which another student might make a comment, leading to a group discussion. Tara often listens intently while the class converses. She has said she likes to remember different things the class talks about so she may bring them up in future classes. Discussions range from talking about racial slurs to cell phone texting. The syllabus used in Communications class simply states what chapters to read each week and when assignments are due. Once she neglected to bring a test to class the day the class was meant to take it, she said she left the test in her other car. The syllabus wasnt adjusted until the next week. In preparation to a test, Tara will go over some vocabulary words in one or

Phillips 4 two chapters. The test involves questions from five different chapters of the textbook. The student must study the textbook on his or her own in order to do well on the test. Everything the student needs to know in order to pass the test is in the text book. The students of the Communications class use speech outlines and presentations to pass the class and achieve their communitys goal. The students must give three separate speeches in front of the class. One of these is the demonstrative speech. Before the student begins their speech they must first pick a topic and make an outline. An outline is a written plan that uses symbols, margins, and content to reveal the order, importance, and substance of a speech. The student may choose to write the outline in complete sentences or in key words. Outlines must also have an introduction, body, and conclusion, and are to be turned in on the day of the presentation. The communications class also uses vocabulary words such as eye contact, gestures, pauses, vocalized pauses and fluency. The vocab words are the lexis and jargon used in the class; they are also the foundation of a good presentation. A demonstrative speech is used to demonstrate something to an audience and explain why it is significant or important. The presenter must keep the audience interested in what theyre saying. The rhetor is the student giving the speech and the rest of the class, including the teacher is the audience. It is important to use eye contact to see if the audience is confused. If the audience doesnt understand something the speaker should go back and re-explain important details of the speech. In this sense, the audience helps shape the speech through eye contact and body language. Other ways the writing is shaped is through the outline. The student usually writes the outline in such a way that the audience is able to relate to what the speaker is saying. Sometimes the speaker will put markings throughout the outline indicating them to make a gesture or eye contact in order to emphasis a point in the speech. The students shape the genre in an attempt to relate to the audience.

Phillips 5 Each class has its own way of teaching and learning. The goal of each class is reached in different ways, one through written essays, the other by oral speeches and written outlines. Once the students goal is achieved and the class is passed, they enter a new discourse community and start the process over again until graduation. After graduation a student will find a new discourse community. This time it will be a job, not a classroom and hopefully theyll be well prepared for the task at hand.