Quote: “Many people are occasional members of more than one discourse community. In my own case, I am a member of the institute where I have had an office for the last thirty years, but also I am active in the wider world of English for Academic Purposes by, for instance, serving on a number of editorial boards. My current hobbies are bird-watching and butterfly-watching, and I belong to various associations that support these similar but not identical activities. In the past, I was a member of a focal DC that brought together a very disparate group of people who were interested in the postal history of Hong Kong, about a hundred philatelists from some twenty countries.”
How I Feel: I found this quote sort of interesting because it opened my eyes to realizing how many discourse communities you may be in, and you don’t even know it. As human beings, I don’t believe we think and analyze things this way. We don’t subconsciously think that we are apart of something, maybe for the fact being that we are just so comfortable in the space we are in. However, when a topic related to this is brought up, it allows you to sit back and reflect on everything that’s occurring or has occurred in your life, and categorize what communities you would be in.
Quote: “I know which codes to use for the photocopier, and where to find certain office supplies, and so on. However, when I travel to another university for a conference, I do not know any of these things and, unless the signage is excellent, I will probably soon get lost. ”
How I Feel: I felt this is something we all know and are consciously aware of on a day-to-day basis. We all know what we are comfortable in and what we are now. This deals with the overall settings of every situation we go through; whether it be the place or event, the people you are around, and the reason for you being there. Everyone is different. Some people can fit in to and setting, whereas some others may crumble under nervousness. These are very common human characteristics.
Three different discourse communities I feel I’m apart of would be family, friend, and a work/school environment. I separate family and friends, because how we talk or act are completely different in some cases. I am the same person no matter where i am, but certain actions will be adjusted. With family everything may be for calm and relaxed, whereas with friends everything is loud and all over the place. At work I am required to follow protocol to get tasks done, so many factors that would branch from being with family and friends would be non-existent in the work environment.
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