My Ethnography Madison Griffin Fuentes ENGL 1101 11/8/13 My Ethnography

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Madison is doing her Ethnography on soccer. She has played soccer for thirteen years. This is her discourse community. She went to her old club teams game last weekend to observe soccer game. She observed the different language in the discourse community and how it is used to affect the game. She was able to get an interview with one of the players on the team that she observed. In soccer there is a particular language used, for instance: Swing used when a defensive player wants the ball to be swung through the defense to get to the other side. Outside- pass the ball to the outside player(s). Through- pass the ball through two players on the other team. Corner- corner kick. The goal box represents the area that the goalie can use his or her hands in. Header- Letting the ball bounce off of your head. The referees represent who is in charge, for instance the uniforms they have to wear in order to show their importance.

Comment [EG1]: In a formal academic paper, the third person tense is used, yes. However, the author generally does not refer to herself in third person. Find another way to describe the research conducted on this paper in third person. For example: This is an ethnography on the soccer discourse community. When a player has been involved in soccer for thirteen years, she learns quite a lot about the sport. Comment [EG2]: No bullet points. Indent 1. Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial Formatted: Normal, Indent: Left: 1", Hanging: 0.5", No bullets or numbering

Comment [EG3]: Not vocab. This goes somewhere else. Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial

When the sideline referees waves his flag that means that either a foul happened or a player was offside.
Comment [EG4]: This is not vocab, so it doesnt belong in the list. Find another place to mention this later. Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial Comment [EG5]: Not vocab. This goes somewhere else. Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial

If the ball is to go out of bounds the sideline referee will use his or her flag to show which way the ball will be going.

Yellow cards- a warning that the player or coach needs to calm down and has to sit out of the game for ten minutes.

Red cards- received when a player or coach has done something completely against the rules and puts another player in great danger. Can be given after a yellow card or before depending on the foul.
Comment [EG6]: Not vocab. Explain this somewhere else.

Madison played soccer for thirteen years; her favorite position she played was sweeper, which is a defense position. In the position she had to do a lot of communicating, especially with the goalie. Playing sweeper was her favorite because she was able to have a lot of control over the game. Dr. Ann M. Johns says, Nonacademic com munities of interest, like homely genres, can provide a useful starting point for student discussion. (Johns 501). According to my interview Madison saw that soccer being their discourse community helped the players all have one thing in common. When Madison went and observed the soccer game she was able to see how efficiently the team was able to communicate not only with the each other but also with their coaches. Although Madison had played soccer for thirteen
Comment [EG7]: Good! Comment [EG8]: Im confused by this.

years she never realized how well they communicated with each other. Even after thirteen years she was had never gone to another womens soccer game and played as close attention as she did at this one and with that she was able to realize how interesting the language was and how as an outside perspective would have a difficult time understanding what the players and the coaches were talking about because you would need to play the sport to fully grasp the understanding of the context and what was being said. According to Madisons observations it sounds like you can tell who belongs in that group and who doesnt belong in that group. Being able to play soccer sounds like there is a lot of vocabulary needed to be learned to understand and to communicate well with teammates and also with coaches. It would be difficult to mushfake in soccer. Acting like you know what is going on could work but in the game how well would that turn out for you? It wouldnt, as a player you wouldnt know what was going, you wouldnt know what play you would be running or where one of your teammates would be placing the ball for you to run onto. Madison was able to tell that a majority of the parents didnt know fully what the players were saying or talking about by the way they were yelling at their girls. Madison always found that to be a little humorous. For Madisons interview she was able to talk to one of the players on the team, this is how the interview went: Madison: How long have you played soccer? Harleigh: 10 years, its what I spend all my we ekends and week nights doing besides school work.

Madison: What made you want to become involved in this discourse community? Harleigh: I started playing when I was 6. My parents originally put me in soccer so that I wouldnt be one of those kids who just didnt do anything. I enjoyed it so much that they just continued to let me play. Madison: In this discourse community we clearly have a particular language why do we use these words? Harleigh: We use these words to understand each other , to be able to communicate with one another and our coaches. Its probably just as important as the skill needed to play this sport. Madison: How did you learn the language? Harleigh: Honestly, I dont know. It just kinda came to me after a while. Once youre around it for so long it turns into something youre used to and pick up. Madison: What are some ways you communicate with your teammates and coaches? Harleigh: Well obviously the most used way to communicate is speaking. But we also do hand signals. For instance if one of my teammates wanted me to play the ball up the field so that she could run onto it she would wave her hand in front of her while she was running so Id know she wanted to the ball played in front of her for her to run onto. By this interview you can see that soccer as a discourse community is a unique one. There is much more to soccer than kicking a ball around and attempting to kick it into a net. Being able to communicate with each of the
Comment [EG9]: Incorporate this into your paper. The interview exists to help you

players and coaches on the team is a big part of the sport along with the necessary skill to play this sport. From the interview you can tell that this discourse community has had quite an effect on Harleigh. It is the only thing she does on her weekends and during the week other than school that takes a lot of commitment for a sixteen-year-old girl. Soccer as a discourse community has played a big part in Madisons life as she has grown up. It has helped her grow as a person and has quite effect on her life. This is the biggest and best discourse community she has been in throughout her life. You have all the information for a good ethnography here, but there are three main problems at this time: 1. 3rd person does not mean narration. Write the paper from the perspective of a scientist reporting on a community, rather than a narrator telling a story. The language of this paper right now is more like fiction than academic reporting. Remove any mention of yourself. 2. The list of terms common in soccer is too long and includes more than just vocab. See my notes in the margin. 3. The structure of this paper needs to change. The interview and observation exist to help explain how the soccer community is a discourse community. Review John Swales six characteristics of a discourse community. Then, consider how the interview and the observation prove that soccer players and teams are discourse communities.

Work Cited Miller, Harleigh. Personal interview. 2 Nov. 2013 Johns, Ann. Writing About Writing.
Comment [EG10]: Review MLA formatting guidelines.