Monday, October 25, 2010
Call for Discourse Community Activities
During office hours today, I heard Heather and Laura talking about some activities they are doing to help students understand the unit on how communities shape writing. Both activities are fantastic, (one for Wardle and another for Swales) and I'll let Heather and Laura describe those activities in more detail if they so choose. As we move to teach our students about how discourse is linked with identity and shifting rhetorical situations, there is a need to help students connect with some concepts that are sometimes difficult. By tomorrow, I will be posting a new Prezi that covers concepts from James Gee's "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction". Please post your activities, initiatives, and plans here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I feel really badly for not seeing this sooner, but maybe it'll be handy for next semester. I actually stole this activity from Laurie Uttich, so I can't take the credit.
ReplyDeleteAfter describing DCs using Swales and Wardle, I asked students to get in groups and choose a collaborative reality show to discuss. They were then to decide, using the six criteria, whether the members of the show would classify as a DC. Regardless of whether the show classified as a DC, students were then to explain how a newcomer would have to enculturate into this community. What does the community value? How do they communicate? Who holds power? How do you gain power? This was an interesting way to connect Wardle and Swales, and students had some heated arguments as to whether their shows would be considered DCs or speech communities.
Some show examples: Jersey Shore, Bad Girls Club, Jackass....you get the idea =)