DISCOURSE ASSIGNMENT PAGE 2
Section Two: Definitions of Terms
Read through the following definitions regarding discourse. These terms will be used in the rest of this assignment and throughout the rest of the semester in this course, so try to remember them.
Keep in mind that the ideas discussed below are not specific to any one language; in fact, they apply to all languages. Therefore, while doing this section, think about all of the languages that you use in your normal life.
DISCOURSES- ways of communicating; concerned
with how you communicate.
Ex: to your parents, to your friends,
to your classmates, to your professors
DOMAINS- areas of communication; concerned with
where you communicate.
Ex: your family, your job, a bank,
the grocery store, the university, Hawaii, the U.S.
DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES- specific communication
groups; concerned with where and how you you communicate,
which determines your specific discourse community at any given time.
Ex: your friends at school, the computer
lab, the library, History 151, an ELI class, the university setting
GENRES- types of communications (spoken, written,
body language, etc.); concerned with the kinds of communication that
you do.
Ex: spoken- formal/ informal; written-
letters, email, academic (poetry, prose, history, science)
JARGON- specialized language use of a specific
discourse community; concerned with how specific language is used
in a given discourse community.
Ex: computer technicians, musicians,
restaurant workers, football players, the ELI
POWER RELATIONS- the sense of status between
the different people in a discourse community; can be < (low),
> (high) or = (equal).
Ex: a family, a sports team, an academic
program (Psychology, TIM, etc.), the university community
SCHEMA- the entire background knowledge of a
person, including everything ever done or experienced.
Section Three: Putting it all together
Examine Figure 1 below. Starting with the stick-figure of "You", follow the arrows around the diagram, noticing each term.
Figure 1: You in the World of Domains, Discourses, and Genres
Section Four: Personal Language Use Activity
Thinking about the seven terms defined in Section Two and the figure provided in Section Three, make a list of your personal experiences with language. Use the following outline to write your answers on the same word document from Section One: