RUNNING HEAD: The Discourse Community Behind Soccer 1

The Discourse Community Behind Soccer

Connor Carlson

North Central Michigan College

English 111

Seymour

November 18, 2021

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It is a well-known fact that soccer is the world’s most popular sport. Although it may not

be so obvious to some Americans, soccer is practiced, played, and watched all around the globe.

As with any other sport, the sole purpose is to score points, which are called goals in soccer, and

to win games, but there are a lot of components that are required to be successful in this sport.

Ask any soccer player or coach, and they will tell you that one of the most important skills a

great soccer team requires is effective communication. John Swales, an accomplished writer and

linguist, devised six rules that characterize discourse communities. He defined communities as

“groups that have goals and purposes, and use communication to achieve their goals” (Swales,

2020). Because of the lexis, methods of communication, a standard of knowledge required to

play, and more that is known to soccer, this community is a great example of a discourse

community.

Lexis

If you are an athlete or even a spectator of a sport, it is easy to pick up on what the

players are saying during a game. They often use slang, short phrases, or specialized call-outs to

communicate with each other; this is known as lexis. Lexis is “a shared and specialized

terminology” that is used within a discourse community (Freedman, 2020). When it comes to

soccer, there are a variety of different terms and phrases that are spoken (or screamed) between

players. Some basic terms of the sport are chip, ping, and split. These are all types of passes

between players, but they have very different meanings. These terms are very useful to quickly

tell your teammate how to play the ball or how you want it passed to you.

Sometimes, a single word is not sufficient to pass on information to your teammates. Due

to the fast-paced nature of soccer, it is not practical to use whole sentences to get a point across,
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so they are often condensed down to short phrases or commands. For example, you wouldn’t say

“There is an opponent behind you” to your teammate that had the ball, you would say something

along the lines of “One on” or “Man on”. From my many years of playing travel soccer, and

playing teams from all across Michigan and even from Canada, I have learned that many teams

have their own variation of these phrases that all mean the same thing.

Methods of Communicating

You don’t have to play soccer to know that there are many different types of

communication, and some are more effective than others in certain situations. As one could

probably guess, verbal communication is the primary method used in soccer. It is common to

hear non-stop chatter among players. This helps everyone on the team to stay engaged and be

able to work together effectively. Coaches will often say something along the lines of “Talk them

off the field”, referring to the opposing team. This means to work together and communicate

every little thing, from who is open to receiving a pass to how much time is on the clock. Doing

this will sometimes intimidate the other team to the point where they get frustrated and start

making mistakes.

Another useful form of communication in the sport is nonverbal communication. This

spans from hand motions, pointing, and simple eye contact. These are all efficient

communication methods that allow you to play quicker and not give away your plans to the

opposing team. An example would be one of your teammates making eye contact with you when

you have the ball and pointing up the sideline. This implies they want a long pass that they can

run onto. The nonverbal communication in this scenario allows your team to have an advantage

because the opposing team most likely didn’t catch on to your plan.
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Standard of Knowledge Required for Membership

Another one of Swales’ six rules for a discourse community is a standard of knowledge

needed to become a member, which he defines as “A threshold level of members with a suitable

degree of relevant content and discoursal experience” (2020). When it comes to soccer, all you

really need to know are the rules of the game. There are simple rules that everybody knows such

as not being able to use your hands and not being able to push or shove. Most players or fans

start out with this basic knowledge and are not yet considered “masters” of the discourse. It takes

time to learn all of the rules by just playing the game. There are much more complex rules,

including obstruction and offsides, that you pick up with experience.

Conclusion

The soccer community can be seen all over the world. From kids playing pick-up games

after school to the pros like Ronaldo and Messi, they all are part of the soccer discourse

community. When you think of discourse communities, soccer is probably not the first thing that

comes to mind, but after taking a closer look at the sport, you can tell that it is a great example.

There are many great examples of discourse communities out there and sometimes you just have

to look a little deeper to find out.

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References

Feldman, A “Galaxy-Wide Writing Strategies Used by Official Star Wars Bloggers”

(Eds.) Writing About Writing (Fourth ed., pp. 656-661). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2020.

Swales, J. "Reflections on the Concept of Discourse Community", (Eds.) Writing About

Writing (Fourth ed., pp. 544-559). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2020.