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Audrey Minch
John Chrisman
ENC 1102
20 February 2015
Unit Paper 2
Discourse communities are constantly being studied. How they work, what makes them
work, and what are they made of. The study of discourse communities keeps going farther
leading to the study of genres within discourse communities. The University of Central Florida is
a discourse community with multiple genres, one in particular being Webcourses. Studying these,
like studying other discourse communities and their genres, leads to a deeper understanding but
also leads to more questions.
University of Central Florida as a Discourse Community
A discourse community is defined by six criteria according to John Swales in his article The
Concept of Discourse Community. John Swales is a professor of linguistics at the University of
Michigan who received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University and has spent the majority of his
career working with students on how to succeed as readers and writers. His six criteria are 1) a
discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals (220), 2) a discourse
community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members (221), 3) a discourse
community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback
(221), 4) a discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the
communicative furtherance of its aims (221), 5) in addition to owning genres, a discourse
community has acquired some specific lexis (222), and 6) a discourse community has a
threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise
(222).

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The University of Central Florida fits all six of Swales criteria. An agreed set of common
goals include graduating and student success. UCF want all their students to become successful
during their years at the university and after graduation. A mechanism of intercommunication
among the members is Knightsmail, our emailing system. Emails are sent daily notifying the
different members about events on campus, grades and due dates for students, even weather
updates. Participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback are the classes available
here at UCF. There is a wide variety of classes for students to take on all sorts of topics within a
variety of majors. Genres we have include financial aid, webcourses, academic advising,
textbooks, and more. Since student success is very important to all members at UCF, having
multiple genres is as well. The university definitely has a specific lexis fitting to Swales
definition as puzzling to outsiders (222). There are chants, cheers, and puns of all kinds that
outsiders wouldnt understand. An outsider may not understand Central Floridas need to spell
the word night k-n-i-g-h-t at all costs. And of course UCF has a threshold of members.
Ranging from students to teachers to staff to alumni, the University of Central Floridas number
of members is soaring.
The University of Central Florida in Activity Theory
Activity theory is defined as a way in which scholars understand how people in different
communities carry out their activities (275) in the article Activity Theory: An Introduction for
the Writing Classroom by Donna Kain and Elizabeth Wardle. Donna Kain is a professor at East
Carolina University and Elizabeth Wardle is a professor at the University of Central Florida.
They both were at Iowa State University as Ph.D. candidates where they wrote their article on
activity theory. Kain and Wardle explain that within activity theory is activity systems, a group of

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people that share motives with tools and rules to act on that motive. The parts of an activity
system include the subject(s), rules, community, motives, tools, and division of labor.
The subject(s) is the person or people who are participating in the activity directly.
The motive can be split in two parts object and outcome. The object is more immediate while
the outcomes is more long term. The subjects use tools to help them complete their motive which
can be both physical and nonphysical. The division of labor is how tasks are split within the
activity system. The community is the larger group beyond just the subjects but the subjects are
still a part of. Lastly, rules are how conflicts or problems remain managed and at a minimum. All
these parts of an activity system work in a community by giving everyone and everything their
place resulting in shaping the community and having it work and run smoothly.
Looking at UCF as an activity system, the subjects are the students and faculty. They are
the ones who are directly participating to achieve their motive. For UCF, that motive is student
success. The object is for students to be successful and get good grades while the outcome is for
students to graduate. Just a few of the physical tools at Central Florida include textbooks,
computers, and notebooks among others and nonphysical tools include academic advising,
financial aid, and scholarships. At the university, the division of labor would be split between the
professors, the students, other faculty, the chairs, the president, and other staff. The community
includes all the students and professors along with all faculty, family members, sponsors, fans,
and alumni. The main rules at UCF are based off the UCF creed integrity, community,
scholarship, creativity, and excellence. One must have academic and personal honesty, one must
be open and respectful to all individuals, one must honor learning, one must use their talents
positively, and one must strive only for the highest performance. These parts are what make the
University of Central Florida a smooth-running, well-oiled, well-working activity system.

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Webcourses as a Genre
The definition of genre has changed again and again over time. And according to Carolyn Miller,
a leading technical communication professor, genres effect our everyday lives (Dirk 254). We
find ourselves in more than one genre, sometimes without even knowing. And we are also in
different discourse communities which increases the sum number of genres we are a part of. But
what is a genre? Amy Devitt, a specialist in the study of genre theory, says, genres have the
power to help or hurt human interaction, to ease communication or to deceive, to enable
someone to speak or to discourage someone from saying something different, (Dirk 252). In
other words, a genre is a tool that is used to accomplish a specific goal or certain task.
A genre specific to the University of Central Florida is Webcourses. Webcourses is an
online system were teachers and students can stay up to date with their classes. Teachers can
create new assignments, update grades, and notify their students while students can turn in their
assignments, check their grades, communicate with their professors if need be, and keep track of
important dates. The overall goal and task of Webcourses is to aid students in furthering their
success.
Webcourses through a Lens
Ann M. Johns, retired San Diego State professor and well-known linguist who directed the
American Language Institute, the Writing across the Curriculum Program, the Freshman Success
Program, and the Center for Teaching and Learning, explains in her article Discourse
Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity the different
lenses to look through to see what gives communities their character (511). Those lenses
include cost, authority, values, identity, gatekeeping, and change over time.

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Cost is the price paid to be in the genre. This doesnt just refer to money and the actual
price paid but also other things like what one may need to give up in order to be in the genre.
Authority refers to who has most control in the genre. This is usually someone who does most of
the decision making. Values are what is important to the genre. Often times this is what is most
honored and treasured. Identity is how one talks or acts while being a part of this genre. A certain
image is created of a member in a genre. Gatekeeping keeps the members to a limit. Only certain
people and a certain amount can be let in. Change over time is how the genre may evolve.
For UCF, the cost would be tuition money and giving up other schools. For students, they
must pay a certain price to go to UCF and part of that tuition money goes to running Webcourses.
By deciding to go to the University of Central Florida, the student has given up going to other
universities. The same goes for professors. If working at UCF, they may give up working at other
colleges. Authority on Webcourses would go to the professors. They make all of the decisions
like when assignments are due, what is expected of students, when students are notified of
important dates, and so on. Webcourses definitely enhances the authority of the professors
allowing them more control on how to run their class and communicate to their students. Identity
is created for both professors and students. Both act and talk respectfully, mature, educated, and
responsibly. Gatekeeping comes in to play because only enrolled students and current employees
can be a part of Webcourses. Members must need a username and password to gain access. And
Webcourses definitely changes over time. Classes that both the students are enrolled in and the
professors teach change.
Lastly is values. In Webcourses, the values include organization, responsibility, good
grades, remaining on task, and overall student success. This genre was created by the head of the
school because they want the best way possible for students to achieve their goals. Webcourses is

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organized simply where everything a student needs can be found quickly and easily. One can tell
after analyzing the University of Central Florida as a discourse community, looking at it using
activity theory, and analyzing Webcourses and looking at it though a lens that values are
incredibly important to the university community. These values say that UCF as a whole takes
student advancement very seriously.
Research Questions
After analyzing webcourses as a genre for the discourse community the University of Central
Florida, there is a deeper understanding as to how the university and the genre webcourses
works. But along with that understanding also comes more questions. The following research
questions were gathered:
RQ1: How do the values in this genre go hand in hand with the values of the overall
community?
The University of Central Florida like every university has certain values. Its been noted
that the values of UCF as a whole are the same as the values of webcourses alone. Does one
effect the other? How are they related and did one come first or were they just naturally
expected?
RQ2: How do professors use authority online and how is it different from in class?
Professors have authority both online and in the classroom, but the authority can be used
in different ways. What exactly is different in the classroom from online? Is it different at all and
is it different for all professors?
Answering and researching these questions will result in greater comprehension.

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Works Cited
Dirk, Kerry. Navigating Genres. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. Eds. Charles
Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. West Lafayette: Parlor Press, 2010. 249-262. Print.
Johns, Ann M. Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict,
And Diversity. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and
Doug Downs. Boston/St Martins, 2011. 498-518. Print.
Kain, Donna and Elizabeth Wardle. Activity Theory: An Introduction for the Writing
Classroom. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth
Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 273-283. Print.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing about Writing: A College
Reader. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St Martins,
2014. 215-229. Print.