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 each 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 UNCC 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 is 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, etc )urther, there are 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 some of these endless e"amples of le"is, or terminology, that the UNCC 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 De.os, who is in charge of finali'ing any decisions regarding the team !he ne"t level of authority are the two assistant coaches, /risti 0ainter and Alyssa 1ackett Underneath them would be the athletic trainer, Stacy 1ummer Ne"t is the team caption, senior Chelsea 2ngersol 3astly, the rest of the team in descending order depending on grade level 2n this discourse community there are also +old(timers, or e"pertise !o be considered an e"pertise, 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 1all 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 authority4 further they abide by the discourse concepts of Ann % $ohns Ann % $ohns, a well(known linguist, created 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 3isikatos, 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 5ut 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 , Another concept that $ohn6s brings up is, +-ho has the authority and where does it come from7, 2n 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 $ohn6s also stresses her concern with what elements the newcomers must learn in order to fit in 3isikatos 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 2t soon starts to feel like you have been doing it your whole life , Some of the stereotypes that are associated with softball are not the kindest 2n 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 8es, there are some players that do fit this description, but there are plenty of players who do not 3isikatos commented, +2t6s the worst when someone looks at you and says 9wait you play softball7 8ou don6t look like a softball player 6 2 &ust look back at them and say sorry 2 don6t fit your general description , !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 2n the softball discourse community at UNC Charlotte there is no way to mushfake 3isikatos stated in the interview, +8ou can6t fake your way through a Division 2 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 2t &ust isn6t worth it to yourself or

fair to anyone else on the team , 2t 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 1e 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 steps 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 De.os, Amiee +Softball 0ractice , University of Charlotte at North Carolina Softball )ield < Nov =>:? 3isikatos, Chelsea 0ersonal interview @ Nov =>:?