Analyzing Discourse communities within a Writing About Writing course can empower students to learn about their careers and personalities, so long as they’re focused on their own interests.

1. COMBATTING OTHERNESS: HELPING
STUDENTS NAVIGATE BELONGING THROUGH
DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ANALYSIS
CHRIS FRIEND, SAINT LEO UNIVERSITY
christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend
Full text of this presentation: http://bit.ly/friend-nemla17-text

2. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Freshman year:
assimilation
challenges & the
prospect of social
failure leading to
isolation.
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “Frozen” by bmalarky; cbnd

3. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
“WRITING-DOING-BEING-VALUING-BELIEVING
COMBINATIONS”
—JAMES PAUL GEE, 1989
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend

4. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “Yes?” by Florence Ivy; cbd
Studying group
memberships &
dynamics adds
meta-awareness,
making students’
professional actions
more informed &
deliberate

5. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “Right On Target” by Jeremy Brooks; cbn
Using FYC to explore
students’ majors &
view assimilation as a
subject of study is
both content-relevant
and personally
beneficial

6. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA’S DESIGN FOR 1ST-SEMESTER
WAW FYC COURSES
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend
WRITING
PROCESS
DISCOURSE
COMMUNITIES
RHETORICAL
ANALYSIS
GENRES
LEXIA
AUTHORITY

7. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Study the professional Discourse community
you wish to join through your degree.
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend

8. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “Support” by jurek d.; cbnd
The personal
connection helps
students feel invested
in their work, showing
that the theories of
writing studies apply
to their lives.

9. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “Drawer of Keys” by Barry Cruver; cbnd
Knowing the
intricacies of a
group’s lexis can
unlock their
assumptions and
ways of thinking
about the world.

10. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “Taxes” by John Morgan; cb
Students go from
guessing
haphazardly about
types of writing to
seeing the
importance of a
specific text.

11. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend | “thorns on green” by Sam Javanrouh; cbnd
Requires student
self-advocacy
Relies on other
faculty participation
Confounds
undeclared majors

12. Combatting Otherness: Helping Students Navigate Belonging Through Discourse Community Analysis
MY VIEW OF ASSIGNMENTS STUDENTS’VIEW (I HOPE)
DISCOURSE
COMMUNITY
ANALYSIS
DESIRED
CAREER OR
MAJOR
INTERACTION
WITH DC
MEMBERS
INTEREST IN A
CAREER/MAJOR
CLASS
DISCUSSIONS
INTERACTION
WITH DC
MEMBERS
ASSIGNMENT
COMPLETION
CLASS
DISCUSSIONS
Chris Friend, Saint Leo University | christopher.friend@saintleo.edu | @chris_friend