UNC Charlotte Softball Discourse Community Ethnography A discourse community is a group of individuals who share a common language, whether

the language is writing, electronic, or even body language, in service of their work !his community comes together in an effort to achieve specific goals An e"ample of this can be found with the softball team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte !he UNCC softball team shares a common goal of becoming the best team that they can possibly be !hey achieve this goal by working together as a team and helping one other out, both on and off the field Although there has been little research done on the softball team as a discourse community, this ethnography will provide enough reasoning to clarify that a softball team does #ualify as such A softball team is a discourse community because it falls under the #ualifications set by $ohn Swales and Ann % $ohns, and is consistent with other concepts of discourse communities $ohn Swales, an English linguist, claims that a discourse community consists of si" ma&or characteristics Swales states a discourse community has a set of common goals, has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback, utili'es one or more genres, has specific le"is, and has different levels of authority !he ()ers softball team falls under each of these categories in at least one*way +irst, they share a plethora of goals, such as victories, improvements and titles !he team also has various ways of communicating with one another, both on and off the field ,n the field, the main mechanism of intercommunication is through hand signage, or using hand signals and signs !here are different signs for what the batter does at the plate, what the base runner does on base,

what pitch the pitcher is going to throw ne"t, even where the fielders should stand on the field At an observed practice of the team, the coach gave the batter at the plate an indicator sign, the actual sign, and a closing sign She would then give the base runner another sign in that same se#uence Ne"t, the catcher gave the pitcher three different signs that e"plained the location, the pitch, and whether to throw it as a ball or strike +inally, the middle infielders gave the outfield a sign so they, as well, would know the ne"t pitch coming !his demonstration proves that in &ust one pitch, many different signs occur to ensure that every player on the team is aware of what will happen !hus, every player on the team must be an e"pert with this discourse community language ,ff the field, the team members communicate with each other either through te"t messages, phone calls, e*mails, and in*person meetings All of these forms of communication are important for the discourse community because they provide a way for the players to touch base with one another regarding details about games, practices, meetings, and other important information Additionally, there is a speciali'ed le"is that the softball team uses during practices and games +or e"ample, when the coach says that someone is -on deck. this means that person is up to bat ne"t Another e"ample is when someone says, -you are in the hole., which simply implies that the person is up in two batters /hen the third base coach gives the batter a -sacrifice. sign, she is telling the batter to bunt the ball on the ground in order to get the runner to move to the ne"t base /hen the team is in the field and the coaches say to -turn two., she is implying that she wants the infield to get two outs by throwing it to second base and then first base !hese are &ust a few of potentially endless e"amples of le"is, or terminology, that the ()ers softball team uses as a means of

communication during a game or practice !he team also #ualifies as a discourse community through its different levels of authority !he highest level of authority is the main coach, Amiee De0os, who is in charge of finali'ing any decisions regarding the team !he ne"t level of authority is the two assistant coaches, 1risti 2ainter and Alyssa 3ackett 4eneath them is the athletic trainer, Stacy 3ummer Ne"t is the team caption, senior Chelsea 5ngersol 6astly, the rest of the team in descending order depending on grade level 5n this discourse community there are also -old*timers. or e"perts !o be considered an e"pert, the player must be considered legendary, particularly by receiving an honorary award such as All*American or Academic All* American, or by being inaugurated into the 3all of +ame !he UNCC softball team is a discourse community because, as set by $ohn Swales, the players share goals, intercommunicate, utili'e their genres, have specific le"is and have different levels of authority7 further they abide by the discourse concepts of Ann % $ohns Ann % $ohns, a well*known linguist, wrote many concepts about discourse communities She was curious to know if there are conflicts within these communities, and if they related to diversity, authority, or conventions Chelsea 6isikatos, a current member of the UNCC softball community discourse, stated in an interview that, -,f course there is always going to be a conflict within our discourse community Not everyone is going to get along with one another Also not everyone is going to agree with the way the coaches teach us or tell us what to do 4ut the diversity and confrontation is what brings the team together and makes us stronger /e learn to get over these differences and in the long run that is what makes us a better team. 86isikatos9 Another #uestion that $ohn:s brings up is, -/ho has the authority and where does it come from;.

5n the UNC Charlotte softball discourse community the head coaches have the overall authority over everyone !his is mostly because they are responsible for bringing everyone into the community and they also hold the power to remove any person from the community $ohns also stresses her concern with what elements the newcomers must learn in order to fit in 6isikatos stated, -All the new recruits have to get accustomed to the way things are done around here !hey need to learn when and when not to talk, who they can go to for advice, how early they should be at meetings and practices, what to wear, and more At first it is very overwhelming but it becomes second nature in a matter of weeks 5t soon starts to feel like you have been doing it your whole life. 86isikatos9 Some of the stereotypes that are associated with softball are not the kindest 5n general, when an outsider thinks of a softball player, they often imagine strong, buff, manly looking girls, when in fact this is not the case at all <es, there are some players that do fit this description, but there are plenty of players who do not 6isikatos commented, -5t:s the worst when someone looks at you and says =wait you play softball; <ou don:t look like a softball player : 5 &ust look back at them and say sorry 5 don:t fit your general description. 86isikatos9 !hese negative stereotypes are not taken lightly by the community, and the community is in a constant effort to reverse them %ushfaking has been proven as a common act in certain discourse communities %ushfaking simply refers to when a person -fakes it. or pretends to fit into the community 5n the softball discourse community at UNC Charlotte there is no way to mushfake 6isikatos stated in the interview, -<ou can:t fake your way through a Division 5 college sport All of the conditioning and practices and effort you put into it, why would

you ever want to fake it and go through the motions 5t &ust isn:t worth it to yourself or fair to anyone else on the team. 86isikatos9 5t is easy to tell if someone is mushfaking in this specific discourse community because that person would not be able to keep up at practices and would fall behind with the weights and conditioning that is done in order to prepare for the season !o be an athlete at a Division > level, there is a certain mentality that the athlete must maintain 3e or she must be willing to sacrifice a large amount of time and effort in order to attain success !his is why if a person tried to mushfake in the UNCC softball community it would be completely obvious and everyone would know After collecting this research, it is evident that the softball team at UNC Charlotte does fall under the category of a discourse community !he team has a common main goal and constantly works to reach that goal !hey share mechanisms of intercommunication, on and off the field, whether it is hand signals or te"t messages !he community has speciali'ed le"is that only would be understood by being around the community !he list is ongoing, but they all add up to an obvious conclusion? the softball team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is in fact a discourse community

/orks Cited De0os, Amiee -Softball 2ractice . University of Charlotte at North Carolina Softball +ield ) Nov @A>B 6isikatos, Chelsea 2ersonal interview C Nov @A>B