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Running head: Discourse community enthography 1

American Sign Language Discourse Community


Erik Alarcon
The University of Texas at El Paso

Discourse community enthography 2


Introduction

As part of daily life, we communicate and connect ourselves with certain communities.
School, jobs, families, sports, extracurricular activities, and many other communities are just a
few we come into contact with. Although these may seem to appear the same, there are specific
types of communities such as a discourse community. A discourse community is a group of
people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field
(Webcourses, n.d, Website) that has a share a common set of goals and attempt to achieve these
goals (Swales, 1990). According to researcher and educator, John Swales, there are six
characteristics that define whether or not a community is considered a discourse community.
Following the criteria Swales states is necessary to be a discourse community, I did an in depth
research on the American Sign Language community. Through my study, I was able to meet all
six characteristics.

Literature Review

According to Swales, there are two types of communities: speech and discourse. Swales
defines a speech community as a group that shares similar linguistic goals, similar language, or
both as a community sharing knowledge of the rules for the conduct and interpretation of
speech (Swales, 1990). Swales also identifies that speech communities inherit their members,
unlike the discourse community that recruits its members (Swales, 1990). Although these two
communities may appear to be the same, to be considered a discourse community, there are six
distinct characteristics that must be met.

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The six characteristics include: 1) A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of
common public goals, 2) A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among
its members, 3) A discourse community uses it participatory mechanism primarily to provide
information and feedback, 4) A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more
genres in the communitive furtherance of its aims, 5) In addition to owning genres, a discourse
community has acquired some specific lexis and lastly 6) A discourse community has a threshold
level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales,
1990).
The first characteristic uses examples such as a group of teachers goals are to teach
students and help them move forward (Webcourses, n.d) to explain that the group must have a
broad goal that is agreed on. The second characteristic says that as long as the group has a form
of inter communication it will be satisfied. This can include emails, phone calls, texts, etc. The
third characteristic claims that any form of communication that allows an output of your opinions
is also a characteristic of a discourse community. The fourth characteristic says that any source
of communication, such as websites, flyers or articles, spread out the idea of their goals to the
others outside their community. The fifth characteristic explains that each of these groups have a
certain lingo that are specific only to that group. Any type of intercommunication is unique to
that group and be most likely unknown to others. The last characteristic means that there are
certain levels in hierarchy. Normally the ones with more experience or knowledge will be ranked
higher than those that just enter into the group (Webcourses, n.d).

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Methods

In order to be able to decide whether American Sign Language (ASL) groups are a
discourse community I had to research about the ASL community. I found many websites that
contained lots of information about ASL. I obtained this information as evidence to support my
idea that ASL groups are a discourse community.

Discussion

Through Swales six characteristics, I was able to determine that the ASL community is
in fact a discourse community.

The common goal of ASL is to communicate with others who cannot communicate
verbally. Learning ASL is also very beneficial. It helps many hearing parents learn to
communicate with their Deaf children and vise-versa. It can help people get jobs because it is the
third most common language used in the United States behind English and Spanish (Dr. David
Stewart, n.d).

Sign language is the communication through bodily movements mostly using hands and
arms combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. People who are d/Deaf can rely
on sign language to communicate within their group. The alphabet is an important series of signs.
Some hand signs for letters resemble the written form of the respective letter. When you use the

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hand signs for letters to spell out a word, you are finger spelling. Finger spelling is useful to
convey names or to ask someone the sign for a particular concept. ASL uses one-handed signals
for each letter of the alphabet. Many people find finger spelling the most challenging when
learning to sign, as accomplished speakers are very fast finger spellers (Johnathan Strickland,
2007).
Many signs are iconic, meaning the sign uses a visual image that resembles the concept it
represents. For instance, to express the concept of "deer" in ASL, you would hold your hands up
to either side of your head, fingers spread, to represent antlers (Johnathan Striker, 2007). The
sign for baseball portrays the use of bat, while the sign for elephant portrays the elephants trunk
(Flodin, 1991, p. 7). These are just the few ways of communicating within its group.

According to Swales, the third characteristic of a discourse community is the


communication between members requires feedback (Swales, 1990).
A Deaf zone is a term used to refer a place where everyone is expected (out of respect) to
use ASL rather than speaking any other language. A Deaf zone could be a place of worship
which is made specifically for Deaf people, as well as sign language classes and meetings. Here,
people should give and receive feedback to one another (Lifeprint, n.d, Website). When someone
is receiving in an ASL conversation, they should wait for the speaker to fully finish signing and
wait till they look at them to indicate that its their turn to speak. At times a speaker may look
away from who theyre talking to while thinking of the next sign. Looking away does not
indicate that speaker is finished yet and will continue in a moment. (Johnathan Stricker, 2007).

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The fourth characteristic involves sign language classes, many websites and even a Deaf
Awareness Week. Recently, there was a class offered over the summer at UTEP to anyone who
wanted to communicate in ASL. Many websites offer free online information about ASL and also
include videos on how to sign any word. Deaf Awareness Week is celebrated every year the last
full week of September. It is celebrated by regional and national associations of the deaf, local
communities, and individuals worldwide (Signing Swavvy, n.d, Website).

Lexis is terminology that can be understood to those within the group. Although it is the
same word, deaf (with a lowercase d) and Deaf (with a capital D) mean two different things.
Lowercase deaf means lacking the power of hearing or having impaired hearing to which one
cannot understand speech for everyday communication. Capital Deaf, on the other hand, refers to
someone who is part of the Deaf Community and embraces the beliefs, cultural norms, and
values of the community. Furthermore, Deafhood is word that refers to a d/Deaf persons life
experience and acknowledges that all d/Deaf people go through their own special journey.
(Lifeprint, n.d). The term was created by Dr. Paddy Ladd, a Deaf Scholar at the University of
Bristol in England (Deafhood Foundation, n.d, Website).

The last characteristic that indicates a discourse community is that members must have
varying degrees of expertise in their given field. Babies are part of this community as they can
learn to sign before they can learn to speak (Lifeprint, n.d). Many people learn ASL because they
are deaf or know someone who is (Flodin, 1991, p. 6). Newcomers have to understand the sign
language alphabet in order to become part of the discourse community. Many of those who teach

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sign language classes have degrees in Deaf Studies to degrees in English-ASL Interpreting (Start
American Sign Language, n.d, Website)

Conclusion

Through examination and research, I will able to satisfy all six characteristics that John
Swales sets for being a discourse community.

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References

Webcourses: What is Discourse Community? (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2016, from


https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/984277/pages/what-is-a-discourse-community

Swales, J. (1990). The concept of discourse community. In Downs and Wardle (Eds.), Writing
about writing (p. 215-229). Boston, MA: Bedford-St. Martins.

D. S., Dr. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2016, from https://signingonline.com/about

J. S. (2007, June 4). How Sing Language Works. Retrieved September 8, 2016, from
http://people.howstuffworks.com/sign-language2.htm

M. F. (1991). Signing For Kids. New York, New York: The Berkley Publishing Group.

ASL Terminology. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2016, from


http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/terminology.htm

Baby Signing. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2016, from


http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/babysigning.htm

Deaf Awarenss Week. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2016, from


https://www.signingsavvy.com/deafawarenessweek

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Learn Sign Language. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2016, from https://www.start-americansign-language.com/learn-sign-language-asl.html

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