Weiss 1 Danielle Weiss Professor Martinez ENC 1101 2 April 2013 A Closer Look at A Discourse Community: UCF Mens

Volleyball Club I. Introduction Walking into any unfamiliar territory can be an intimidating experience. The unknown is just a scary notion, and everyone can relate to this feeling from some point of their life. For me this territory was property of a bunch of 67 guys in a testosterone filled gym, as I observed the UCF mens club volleyball team. From the minute I walked in the gym I felt like an outsider, not only was I the only female, but the shortest guy on the team was easily double my height. The only thing that comforted me was the playful mood in the gym as players greeted each other and shared laughs. I could tell off the bat that these guys all had a close relationship with each other from conversations about their weekends where they obviously spent time together. However, after about ten minutes in, this mood instantly changed. (By this time all the boys instantly transformed to look like a unit, matching shoes, knee pads.) Without even any sign or warning the clock struck 9:30 and one guy who I then assumed was captain, jumped up and ordered the team to circle up. This was just the beginning of what would be an intense practice; this is also the point where I lost any clue of what was going on. After the routine stretches, the coach yelled out warm up your arms and immediately the team got into designated spots on the court and began what seemed like a routine drill. The lingo only continued from there as

Weiss 2 players shouted out all sorts of colors, numbers, and volleyball terms. This is when I realized that this team was actually its own community with its own language and chain of command. The UCF mens volleyball team is just one of many discourse communities that exist here on campus. James Paul Gee describes discourses as ways of being in the world; forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes (Gee 484). All aspects of this description can be applied to the team. In the same article Gee goes on to say that a discourse is an identity kit, complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize (Gee 484). When trying to decide if a group fits in to the category of a discourse community that Gee defines, one can look to the six defining characteristics that John Swales lays out in his article. According to Swales a group is a discourse community if it has a broadly agreed set of common goals, has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses mechanisms specific to the community to provide information/feedback, possesses one or more genres (texts) to further communication, acquired specific lexis (language specific to the community), and has a has a number of members who have experience and knowledge about the content (Swales 471-3). As one can see discourse communities are structured groups, who rely on communication through many forms, or multiliteracies. Mirabelli describes multiliteracies as addressing the multiplicity of communications channels and increasing saliency of cultural and linguistic diversity in the world today (Mirabbelli 543). Unlike learning a language, one cannot be semi fluent in a discourse community. One must be fluent in all the literacies whether it be nonverbal communication or in a text specific to the community. Discourses have specialized terminology, or lexis, that are shared among members and may be puzzling to outsiders, as Swales describes in his defining characteristics. Members must also be fluent in genres or written texts that are relevant to the community, as well as be able to

Weiss 3 translate numerous other literacies. This is why when it comes to discourses if you are not in it, you are truly an outsider. II. Methodology I attended two simultaneous practices to observe the University of Central Florida mens volleyball club. The practices were two hours long. After observing and taking notes throughout the first practice, I interviewed my friend and freshman member of the team, Eddie Kosiec. I chose to do this in between because after attending the first practice I was left confused and with so many questions. It was hard for me to truly take in what I was seeing without having any prior background knowledge of the sport. I already had some ideas of questions I wanted to ask Eddie that would analyze the discourse community and see how it fits in with Swales six characteristics. But, after attending one practice I was able to come up with specific questions about lexis, genres, and the roles of authority within the community that I was curious about. I was specifically interested in the way the team communicated on the court using colors and numbers, which I later represented plays. Although Eddie is a freshman he is very fluent in the literacy of his discourse and because of this and his skill level he was able to make the A team which is rare for a freshman to do right of the bat. Eddie was able to explain to me all the technical terms I was hearing while observing the practice, as well as describe each position and their role on the court before the interview began. This helped me better understand the sport as whole before I focused in on his specific discourse community. I wanted to key in on how the community is structured and how authority plays a role between coaches and captains. I

Weiss 4 was also interested in public goals vs. private goals and of course the intercommunication between players on and off the court. I did this by analyzing the notes that I took while observing the team practice. I tried to be as detailed as possible in writing down everything I saw. I also kept in mind the articles I read about discourse communities and noted anything that stuck out to me that could be used in my arguments. Between the information from my notes and the interview with Eddie, I was able to come up with arguments. III. Evidence I found out some interesting things while analyzing my data about the discourse community I studied. One thing I noticed was the balance of authority in the discourse community was very unusual between the coach and the captains. I was also interested in the lexis that the team used to communicate as well as the public vs. private goals that existed on the team. All these things just happen to be aspects of a discourse community as defined by Swales. a. Authority Ann Johns in her article Discourse Communitites and Communitites of Practice takes a look at issues of authority within discourse communities. Johns says in this article in each social circle, in each world of family, friends, acquaintances, and comrades in which a human being grows and lives, there are always authoritative utterances that set the tone (Johns 513). This was specifically true on the UCF mens volleyball club. I found the balance of authority between the coach and captains very interesting and thought it was quite a unique situation compared to what i was familiar with. After interviewing Eddie, I learned that there were three captains, but one head captain. When I asked Eddie about the authority the captains had vs. the coach he replied About the

Weiss 5 same, they assist in placing players, and deciding who deserves to play. They also assist in coming up with drills. The head captain has the most authority of the three. It turned out that the coach was mostly there to serve the role as a mentor, and someone to represent them as well as to organize tournaments and handle money. However, the coach would instruct the captain which drill he wanted the team to do at times. This exercising of power would sometimes result in an utterance if the captains were not happy about the drill he used, and since they were used to feeling a sense of authority it might result in an unhappy captain. For example at the second practice the coach ordered the last 20 minutes of practice to be dedicated to a game focused on serving to certain spots on the court. At the previous practice the team played a laid back game called Kings of the Court at this time, and it seemed routine. This demand angered the head captain and resulted in a small quarrel between the coach and captain. At the end, the coach had the finally say, showing the power is more in the coaches hand at the end of the day. b. Lexis I learned while studying the team was that they had their own lexis specific not just to the volleyball community but to just their team. They had their own sort of lingo that only members could understand and are required in order for them to reach their goals as a team. John Swales mentions that the uses of lexis are requirements for efficient communication exchange between experts (Swales 473). An outsider such as me would hear the team communicate and have no idea what they were communicating about, especially if they knew little about the sport of volleyball. Terms for positions on the court such as setter, middle hitter, outside hitter, and libero were thrown around during the course of the practices. Other terms such as hit, set, and dig were also used, in which case I had no idea what they referred to until I

Weiss 6 interviewed and discussed with Eddie. The terms associated with the sport of volleyball are way less recognizable than the terms associated with a sport like football or soccer. This was why I was so lost when hearing so many phrases thrown around at practice such as: side out shanked ball or pancake. From talking to Eddie I was able to learn the meanings of these terms, side out simply means to get the point back and the serve, a shanked ball is a bad pass that causes the ball to go out of bounds, and a pancake is when a player dives and sprawls his arm out so the ball lands flat on his hand. But not knowing these terms would make it difficult for a player to communicate on the court. The team also used codes while playing to refer to specific plays. For example a player in the front row on the left side that wanted to receive a set from the setter in attempt to spike the ball would yell out Black! Black! Black! If the player in the middle position wanted to receive a set he would yell out Gold! Gold! Gold! These plays have to be learned by all new members of the discourse community in order for them to be fluent in the lexis in order to know how to effectively communicate on the court. With these team specific lexis, even someone who may be fluent in the language of volleyball and tried to be a member of this discourse community would seem like an outsider. c. Common vs. Private Goals As in the case of any discourse community, the UCF mens volleyball club shares the same common goal: to win. As Swales states in his six defining characteristics, all discourse communities have a common public goal. However, after observing and my interview I was able to conclude that just as in other discourse communities, certain private goals exist. After discovering during the interview with Eddie how the team was structured and that your spot on the court is pretty much earned, by the second practice I noticed that instances of private goals.

Weiss 7 Eddie, like all other members of the discourse community, had to tryout to be a part of it. He then was placed based on skill on the A team, although a B team of less skill level exists. He stated however that your spot on the team you are placed on is never guaranteed. Players are constantly competing with each other , and aiming to impress the captains and coach in order to either stay in their current team or move up to the higher team. Amongst teams, players must fight to keep their position on the court, or attempt to earn a position. Before and after practice players are friendly with each other but when it comes down to it and once practice starts, although they have the same common goal in mind, they are technically at odds with each other. This sense of competition emerges and is common in many other discourse communities. Some players may just be satisfied with their membership in the community; however, some may be aiming to make their way up to a leadership position such as head captain. As Eddie says in my interview with him no one is ever safe and with this being the case, it only leaves room for private goals to develop. IV. Conclusion

Studying the discourse community, UCF mens volleyball club, has taught me more than just the positions on the volleyball court and what a set or dig are. Throughout life we will attempt to enter and assimilate to many discourse communities whether it is a new profession, or just a new club. In doing so it is important to recognize and understand what it takes to be a member of such a community. In order to be appropriate, one must understand the language of the community, and be aware of addressing the whole identity kit whether it be an athletic uniform or a suit and tie. When you look deeper into a discourse community you start to realize how important all these components are. Keeping them all in mind will help you smoothly transition and begin the process of becoming a knowledgeable member of your desired discourse community.

Weiss 8

Works Cited Gee, James-Paul. Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction. Journal of Education 171.1 (1989): 5-17. Print Johns, Ann M. Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity. Text, Role, and Context: Developing Academic Literacy, pp.55-70. Cambridge University Press. 1997. Print. Kosiec, Eddie (2013, March 26). Personal Interview. Mirabelli, Tony. Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers. What They Dont Learn in School. Jabari Mahiri, ed. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. 143-162. Print. Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Workplace Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.