Explorations of Written Communication
Explorations of Written Communication: Social Media, Church, & New Parents
The Concept
Everyone has relationships. Most of us have a family, close
friends, coworkers, colleagues, and acquaintances. However, we don’t always mix
these relationships together when we spend time with these people. We keep them
separated into… circles. This concept is the essentially the application
of some theory in the academics of literacy and composition.
You are part of several Discourse Communities (like
Circles). Discourse Communities can be thought of as social groups that share
things in common, such as beliefs, values, and goals among other things. Within
these groups, ideas and concepts fluid and always passing between individuals
within the group and changing. Any time you are drawn to a group of people
around a similar theme, you’re entering another Discourse Community. A
well-known contributor to Discourse Analysis, James P. Gee, identifies and describes
unique aspects about the different ways we speak to others within the same
Discourse Community, called “social languages”. He describes it in an analogy.
“Consider how thongs, bathing suits, tank tops, shades, and sun hats
‘co-locate’ together to ‘signal’ to us things like outdoor and water activities
and the situated identities we take up in such situations” (Gee, p. 30, Discourses
and Social Languages). In the realm of academic literary studies, these
communities can be described in terms of their complex ideologies. Brian street
states, “in talking about literacy, we are referring to the ideology and
concrete social forms and institutions giving meaning to any particular
practice of reading and writing,” (Street, p. 121, The Ideological Model)
and this is literacy taking place within Discourse Communities.
Example 1)
New mothers who go on the internet for information and
comfort from other mothers who have been where they’re going are searching for
a Discourse Community such as BabyCenter
LLC. BabyCenter provides mothers with reliable information, peer advice,
products, online community, newsletters, and other features. Mothers who go
there know they are interacting with other mothers and those experienced in
motherhood.
Example 2)
New Harvest
Ministry is a Christian church ministry in Seoul, Korea. It is one
ministry of Sarang Community Church, created for the purpose of sharing about
Jesus with English speakers in Korea. People who join this ministry are all
part of a Discourse Community. Together they worship, sing, pray, take care of
the homeless, orphans, and each other. Having common beliefs gives the freedom
to freely use a social language which includes subjects such as the Holy
spirit, the devil, and the power of prayer, which might not be appropriate
outside of the ministry, since people who do not share these beliefs might not
understand the language used.
Example 3)
The Association for Teachers
of English in Korea (ATEK) is an organization comprised of English
teachers in Korea who have similar goals of advancing English education. The
idea is to provide a place where teachers can grow in the profession by
communicating and sharing and promoting the knowledge, tools, and experiences
gained. They also have Facebook groups for different regions of Korea in order
to localize the communities.
What groups do you belong to?
Now that you know what a Discourse Community is, think
about some in your life that you’re a part of? Why are you a part of that
community? Is it by choice? What is the purpose or function of that community?
What are the means for achieving that purpose? And finally, is it effective,
and how could it be more effective? Let’s explore the strengths and weaknesses
in examples 2 and 3 above, and then see how some of the problems could be
addressed. I bet your personal examples could follow the same path. Since I’m
not a mother and don’t have direct experience with example 1, we’ll pass on
that in favor of more reliable analysis.
Example 2: Analysis of Successes and Failures
Successes within New Harvest Ministry:
On the New Harvest Ministry website under the “Who are we?”
section, they list a vision statement and five ways they believe their vision
will be accomplished. The vision statement of New Harvest Ministry states, “To
reach every English speaking foreigner and native, and make them disciples of
Christ who radically impact Gangnam, Korea and the World.” Five ways to
accomplish this vision are listed as:
1. Spirit filled dynamic Sunday Worship Experiences
2. Meaningful and spiritually nurturing Small Groups
3. Leadership and Discipleship Training
4. Local and Global Community outreach serving opportunities
5. Networking with other churches for the advancement of God’s Kingdom
2. Meaningful and spiritually nurturing Small Groups
3. Leadership and Discipleship Training
4. Local and Global Community outreach serving opportunities
5. Networking with other churches for the advancement of God’s Kingdom
Within these 5 approaches listed to accomplish their vision
statement by this Discourse Community, written communication is used in various
ways, contributing to the overall success.
1. The Sunday Worship
Experience is supplemented with written communication throughout the service.
When first entering, visitors are given a pamphlet which is a compilation of
all important information regarding the ministry. The time for singing praise
and worship songs is accompanied by displays with sing lyrics for those
attending to participate and follow along. The pamphlet contains the subject of
the message that the pastor will speak on, along with the verses from the Bible
which relates to the message. There are lines for those attending to write
notes. Other parts of the pamphlet contain announcements and ways to get
involved in the ministry. The NHM pamphlet is a source of information that
connects each person attending with their private needs to the many facets of
the ministry.
2. Small Groups is the
greatest strength of the ministry. Members of this community sign up online to
be in a group of (maximum) 15 people in order to have a more intimate
experience of discussion, friendship, prayer, worship, study, and serving
inside and outside of the ministry. Written communication is used in the form
of e-mail for announcements, and messaging apps where members can join one
group and offer frequent encouragement and other important messages pertaining
to their relationships.
3. Leadership within this
ministry is built up in part through a Discipleship Training School, which
is comprised of a small group of men and a small group of women who separately
study and serve under the guidance of the head pastors for an entire year. It’s
a very intimate and personal experience. The DTS is thought of in the same
terms as taking an educational course, and some of those tools for education
are employed. Participants will complete readings, have discussions, and write
papers to reflect on all of these things.
4. New Harvest Ministry works
regularly to serve local homeless, orphanages, and refugees from North Korea.
They also work closely with a few international ministries such as Child Life
in Thailand with annual visits. The main way that writing plays within this
aspect of NHM is in raising awareness and soliciting donations, volunteers, and
prayer for these causes. Announcements are done during the Sunday services, on
the website, and through e-mail and social media.
5. New Harvest Ministry is
part of a larger network of ministries which serve English speakers in Korea.
This larger network is known as AIM (Association of International Ministries)
in Korea. They collaborate to organize events which align with the goals and
beliefs that unite these ministries together, and also hold annual joint
gatherings for all members of all ministries that are part of AIM. The written
aspect of this is the same as in #4 above.
In each of these 5 successful approaches, written community
discourse takes place to bind things together as a whole and interconnect them,
making them more intimate and the effects longer lasting. Written communication
is used within each aspect of the ministry as well as shared across all of these
aspects like a web.
Failures within New Harvest Ministry:
There is need and room for improvement within the written
communication found in the community discourse of New Harvest Ministry. Listed
are some shortcomings:
1. During the Sunday messages,
many references are made to different passages of the Bible, yet those
citations are not provided except in very brief flashes across a screen. This
limits the ability of those attending to successfully copy down the references
for further reflection and investigation.
2. Within the small groups,
there is inconsistency in the level of the use of written communication. For
example, some people don’t have a smart phone, so using apps is not an option
(True story! I have witnessed this scenario!) Depending on which small group
leader you have, questions for reflection regarding the week’s readings may or
may not be provided before the actual meeting time. Lastly, there is no clearly
established method for small group leaders to communicate with one another and
share strategies and ideas. This last point is the greatest failure of all, and
is the greatest need for improving the overall quality of small groups.
Example 3: Analysis of Successes and Failures
Successes within ATEK:
Admittedly, the failures within ATEK are so great and
numerous that this association is on its last leg of existence. The successes
in written communication are few, but include the successful implementation of
a detailed vision and goals, regionally based Facebook groups to provide
written communication within local communities, and the all-important addition
of membership to an aspiring English teacher’s resume. Since one of the great
failures of ATEK includes the fact that the website seems to be down (at the
time of writing this blog), I will provide some basic information listed on
another database (Koreabridge.net):
Our goal is to provide English instructors with a voice.
Our mission is to:
- advance English education as an art, science and profession;
- advocate for and represent members to all levels of stakeholders in English education;
- improve the living and working conditions of members;
- improve the usefulness of English teachers through high standards of ethics and conduct and provision of advice related to the same;
- increase and spread best practices in education through meetings, professional contacts, reports, papers, discussions, publications, and online forums;
- and provide a community where English teachers can come together in a spirit of mutual collaboration to advance their common goals.
- We will accomplish this mission in a democratic and accountable manner.
About PMAs
ATEK is a federation of local associations of teachers of
English and their supporters. Provincial/Metropolitan Associations (or PMAs)
are organized to respond to the needs of local members. Each PMA elects a local
council, or executive, responsible for assisting teachers in the region.
PMAs also elect members to the National Council. The
National Council works to represent teachers of English throughout the country,
whether they work in hagwons, public schools, or colleges.
About Membership
Anyone who supports our Mission is welcome to join the
Association.
There are two classes of membership: General and Associate.
General membership is open to instructors whose employment status has been
confirmed by the Association. General members may vote, and accept leadership
positions within the organization; this ensures that ATEK is run by and for
instructors of English in Korea.
Associate membership is open to everyone who is concerned
about the status of educators in Korea. Associate members are teachers' friends
and family members, concerned citizens, journalists, activists, academics,
recruiters and employers.
Failures within ATEK:
First of all, I am a member of ATEK, and I have been
largely unaware of their slow fade from existence. In the beginning, I recall
seeing a positive community of professional English instructors in Korea. They
would share on a limited basis and ask for help from one another. On Facebook,
they would sometimes share relevant articles for teaching ESL in Korea as well
as dates for upcoming conferences.
However, recently I visited the ATEK Facebook group for my
region and discovered that most of the recent posts are from spammers selling
things to recruiters listing self-serving and commonly available job
opportunities. The website doesn’t work. All written communication is reduced
to scraps and the entire association is fading from existence.
"WHY is this relevant to me?"
Making practical use of written communication within the
discourse communities in your life can be difficult! But as we’ve seen, it’s worth
your time. When used successfully, written communication can create a powerful
binding effect that has a long lasting positive impact on your valued
communities. Conversely, when not used, it can cause the discourse communities
you love to dissipate into disarray or worse: non-existence.
James Porter writes, “in freshman [composition] texts and
anthologies especially, there is this tendency to see writing as individual, as
isolated, as heroic. Even after demonstrating quite convincingly that the
Declaration was written by a team freely borrowing from cultural Intertext.” He
shows that writing incorporates pieces and ideas from many minds. In this way,
it’s a social act, and thinking about it in this way can help you understand
the importance it plays, especially in a community (Porter, p.232, Intertextuality
and the Discourse Community).
"So WHAT can I do?"
In chapter 4 of his book, Leading the Starbucks Way,
Joseph Michelli describes Starbucks’ entrance into the Chinese market.
Initially, it didn’t go so well as he states that “its mere presence was met
with strong opposition in the [Chinese] press,” (Michelli, p.121, Ch.4 Macro
Resistance, Leading the Starbucks Way). In response to this unwelcoming
reception, which came via written communication, the response was to listen to
what the Chinese people wanted and to adjust their model of business to suit
the preferences of a new culture. “To go” became “To stay”, as Chinese people
prefer to enjoy their drink in house.
In other words, it’s important to know the audience for the
written communication that you use in your community, and to have clearly
stated goals for moving forward. I’ll tell one last story, as my own personal
example of success in implementing written communication in one of my valued
community discourses. Having lived in Korea for going on 8 years, now, it’s
important for me to keep up with my family relationships: my mom, dad, two
brothers, and my sister. I was inspired by a revelation from a Chinese friend
of mine who sang praises over her own recent discovery. A dominant social
messaging app for smart phones in China is called WeChat. Her family made a
group chat which includes all of her cousins, aunts, and uncles. In this way,
they can keep in touch despite living far apart, and share short videos, jokes,
and updates. She says that she has never felt closer to her extended family,
before. Piggybacking off this idea, it quickly occurred to me that all of my
family members use Facebook (to varying degrees of frequency). I quickly
created a Facebook group centered around my immediate family, with hopes to
expand in other ways to extended family.
Quick Tips:
Increasing written communication is a great idea, but don't "think big", think smart. One drawback of writing is that it's time consuming and everyone holds their time as precious. Start small and choose a format which maximizes a balance between time, commitment, and efficiency.
Citations:
Gee, James Paul. "Discourses and Social Languages."
Michelli, Joseph A. "The Starbucks Experience: Five Principles For Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary."
Porter, James. "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community."
Street, Brian. "The Ideological Model."
Hi Christopher!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the way you grounded discourse communities in the example of Google+. While my personal presence on the social networking site was abysmal at best, I remember noticing almost immediately the way they organized people's contacts into circles and I liked it. I remember when Facebook tried to mimic the notion, but it never quite caught on. Or, it didn't for me, at least, but I am also an abysmal Facebooker at best. Using social media as a way to ground your discussion of discourse communities is an excellent means to bridge a rhetoric-specific concept with the general public. You handled the purpose of your post with eloquence and clarity-I commend you for such!
You demonstrated your expertise of the matter by examining discourse communities from a wide variety of perspectives-even a discourse community of which you are not a part and were generally unfamiliar. The various perspectives you cover also provide a variety of access points which your audience can use to enter into a discourse community, or at least examine themselves in relation to one. I appreciated the way you aligned yourself with a specific discourse community, but you did not do so in a way that challenged anybody else's power or legitimacy outside of the discourse community. You clearly provided your perspective and understanding of the situation, but left your audience to determine his or her specific relation and "worth" to the situation.
I really appreciated the way you developed your personal experience throughout the post. If you would like, I think it would be very interesting for you to develop your perspective with the BabyCenter discourse community because it would show your audience the practice of acclimating to an unfamiliar discourse community. Clearly, you would not be able acclimate yourself in a single blog post, but perhaps explaining the process of how you work to establish yourself in the discourse community will encourage and equip your audience to navigate a new discourse community for themselves.
The one suggestion I have for improving the appearance of the blog post would be to use some various formatting to improve the organization. I found myself having to backtrack and reorient myself when you changed topics. Sometimes I missed that you had change organizations and I had to look back to see your purpose for analysis. Again, it didn't affect your content at all, but it would help ease the navigation for the reader.
Overall, an excellent post that I enjoyed reading very much. Thank you!