John Swales is a linguist who created an outline of how a discourse community should or could work. It is based on how a community understood values and assumptions while also mentioning the manner that they are communicated to each other. Several guidelines are put in place. For example, an acquired lexis for the community. While also mentioning how one or more genres are needed to further its goals. This is achieved by having a threshold level of members with relevant content experience. Which includes being a novice and an expert. (Swales, 544-558) I was considered a novice three times in my high school and college life. Having two high schools to a college in the USA, has really tested my ability to find my discourse community. Especially when the difference from my original school to VMI is 16,627 kilometers. But it also showed me the positives and negatives of each discourse’s morals and beliefs. Being a novice and not understanding a new discourse shouldn’t be viewed negatively as I think it is perceived. It should be thought of as an opportunity to better oneself through learning new skills and seeing new perspectives within society.

         Moving schools isn’t always the easiest or smoothest task to take on. Moving from my local high school to the most prestigious high school in my state brought its pros and cons. On one hand, my new school, Prince Alfred College, brought better academics, athletics and environment. While it also brought a new culture, it was geographically far away, and that I didn’t know anyone. I had to adjust to a whole new culture and experience a whole different lifestyle whether that was what I said or how I acted. My original school, St Michaels, was my local school with all my friends who I grew up with and it was the school my sister attended. My discourse community was shaken up even more by moving to attend Virginia Military academy. This in itself brought many new and different challenges I had not previously experienced at either high school. But all three schools have helped shape who I am and teach me different aspects in furthering my career.

             My first real change or realisation of change within a discourse community was when I attended Prince Alfred College in my sophomore year. It was nothing like I expected it to be, from the language used and the culture; I was really baptised by fire. It was hard leaving a life that I would’ve been able to go through the motions and not really worrying about pushing myself. I dropped to the bottom of the food pyramid; I truly became a novice. This was the opposite at Prince Alfred College. The school was on the opposite side of the city and the geographical location brought the first change in the community. This area was considered for the wealthy, thus people tended to speak differently and carried varying opinions on society. Speaking an Australian form of received English. However, the biggest difference I found between these two schools was the pride and the willingness to sacrifice for the school, especially in our rivalries. Prince Alfred College and their rival school Saint Peters have a 150-year rivalry which holds the longest annual sporting fixture in the southern hemisphere. I’ve never seen so much enthusiasm and ‘hate’ for another group of people. Whether it is through ‘trash talk,’ chants or technical jargon specific to this group, moving to Prince Alfred College forced me to learn these new speech communities. Which is seen in our rivalry against Saint Peters. Wardle and Downs capture this perfectly as they state that “People use texts and discourse to do something, to make meaning. And those texts and language then mediate meaningful activities” (Wardle and Swales, 540). Multiple fight songs and chants were used to garner all the school spirit to encourage the competing teams but at other times degrade the opposing players and fans. (Much to the teacher’s distain) These different outputs of language really stuck in my mind which only adds to my experience to my schooling experience at Prince Alfred College. Moreover, a reason why this discourse community was so important was the school goals and their culture in general. It was a school nationally known for their sports program in particular getting their football players drafted to the AFL. Hence, the culture of being a high-performance athlete built up the work ethic on the court and in the classroom. Seeing other people succeed really spurred myself on to achieve my goals. So being a semi-decent sportsman, I found an outlet that played to my strengths when I was trying to find my feet at Prince Alfred College. The culture only allowed me to prosper as I was interacting with and building relationships with a bunch of high achieving students, whether that be on the field or in the classroom.

              Additionally, the transition to VMI was another step up from Prince Alfred College. Moving across the world to study and play division one basketball shows the difference in the discourse community from Adelaide to Lexington. From expectations to follow a strict certain protocol, Prince Alfred College prepared me for VMI. For instance, wearing a proper school uniform and being held to the highest academic standards. Conversely, VMI is a different beast in itself. From the workload of being a scholarship athlete and the rigorous course of the VMI ratline, it has caused me to shift in how I speak and act. Whether it be the jargon of the basketball plays, learning the military abbreviations or understanding the American accent and slang. It has caused me to shift my speech communities. Firstly, the basketball and military jargon has been a steep learning curve to understand in a short space of time. Practices are full of different terms for plays or movements which takes time to adjust. Although these plays and movements are identical to what I would do back home, some words may crossover from past basketball teams. For instance, the word ‘burn’ back home may mean to set a punch screen or to double a specific player. Over here it is considered to be a type of ‘cut’ or movement for a player on the certain point of the court. The change although with time is not a big deal, it’s the added pressures to pick up and understand the terms really show who are the novices and the experts of members. (Swales) Secondly, the speech community has at times been difficult or frustrating being an international student. Whether it is the words I say how I say them, the language barrier has at times caused confusion. In my short stay in Virginia making sure my teammates and fellow peers can understand me has been a priority. But it hasn’t been as detrimental or influential in a negative manner. I guess in a sense that this is an added genre which further of VMI’s goals/aims. (Swales and Johns) In other words, meaning that it has helped me make my time here easier as it opens a line of communication with people I wouldn’t usually meet or speak with. Whether that be the commandant or clueless a cadet who thinks Australia is upside down. The Lexus in the Lexington area has caused me to slowly adopt terms like ‘ya’ll,’ ‘DMV’ and ‘stamp’ (Swales). The process of understanding American society and culture will take time to adjust too. However, all this new stimulus and experience, although not all positive, will allow me to further my journey to a high standard within the new discourse at VMI.

          So, which discourse community was the most supportive of novices? I would lean toward Prince Alfred College. Although every school has their reasons and beliefs and all have been successful at it, Prince Alfred College bred a culture of diversity from different socio-economic levels and varying hometowns. A decent percentage of each year level were made up of country kids, scholarship athletes and international students. Thus, bringing such a diverse background at times were difficult. But that is the beauty of it, it took on a life of its own. Heaps of students were novices or out of their depth at Prince Alfred College. Hence, it quickly formed friendships and the idea of building off each other in order to achieve their personal goal but the schools’ goals as well. So, what would I suggest to novices? Find others in a similar position. Adversity builds character but also lasting friendships which will stick with you through ‘thick and thin.’ I would also mention that respect goes along way as a novice. As obvious as it sounds, when you are unable to fully master a skill or a discourse, the little things are what count. A simple act of respect or kindness could snowball into someone saying something nice to a senior figure within the discourse. However, it shouldn’t never consist of being respectful for personal gain as that will contradict a lot your reasonings for joining or wanting to become an expert. Being novice tends to carry a negative burden, which at times I felt no matter which school I attended. However, it should be a perfect opportunity for you to learn more about life and you as a whole. Allowing for new experiences in language and society to push you toward your goals.

        Throughout my schooling career there were many ups and down’s. There were times when I felt invincible and loved every second of school, to the opposite end where the long days that dragged on or being pushed out of my comfort zone really challenged whether it was worth it. However, ‘hindsight is always 20/20’ is a perfect quote for a lot of my journey. In the moment it wasn’t always the funniest or enjoyable, but I am so grateful to experience these different discourses. It has really shaped me into the man I am today while also putting me in good stead for my future endeavourers. Whether it was new language or transitioning from a novice, the discourse or in this case the institutions, play a big role in how fast and strong of an expert you become. Thus, I believe I have had the privilege to attend multiple high-level institutions. With one instilling my values and morals while VMI having the chance to open my eyes to new cultures and experiences.

 

 

John Swales’s “Reflections on the Concept of Discourse Community” (544-558)

Ann M. Johns’s “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice” (560-583)

Perri Klass’s “Learning the Language” (584-588)

Doug Downs, “Rhetoric: Making Sense of Human Interaction and Meaning-Making,” pp. 366-395