PAGE 4Sara SmithJohn ChrismanENC1102 DATE \@ "MMMM d, y" January 26, 2015Ridge Community High School Band as a Discourse CommunityWithin the diversity of Ridge Community High Schools (RCHS) campus, several subgroups and discourse communities can be found, each operating in a custom fashion within itself and extending communication outwards to larger communities and inward towards even more subdivisions of student life. Among these lies the RCHS Band where I found my home. I had the unique experience of examining the department from the three main perspectives found within the community: entry level student, student leadership, and as a volunteer I got a glimpse of what it looked like from the administrative perspective. Not only does the RCHS Band meet John Swaless strict criteria for a discourse community, but also fits within Ann Johns more realistic discourse community model.A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals. (Swales, 471)Everyone within any sect of the musical community is forever working towards personal progress in the arts. The RCHS Band is no exception to this. There is no end goal, but rather a constant urge to gain more experience and a broader understanding of the art as you move along. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.(Swales, 471)In addition to face-to-face meetings in class and after school, the we utilized multimedia communications within the department. These included emails, bulletins, social media pages, and intercom announcements. This ensured that necessary information was delivered in a timely manner in multiple formats to fit every students needs.A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. (Swales, 472)Everyone reviews and offers advice to each other within the community. Communication is always open and questions are always welcomed. This not only enforces the home away from home but also encourages a positive learning environment. Because everyone shares a common goal, everyone is generally willing to help each other make progress.A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. (Swales, 472)Regular meetings and classes take place within their respective areas in the department. Announcements keep everyone up to date through methods ranging from text messages to written mail.In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired a specific lexis. (Swales, 473)You are expected to understand the basic concepts of music as it relates to your particular area within the department. This includes an understanding of the mechanics of your respective instrument, musical definitions and notation, and some concept of musical theory, ideas, and goals. The lexis serves as a sort of musical jargon to ease communication within the group. It also serves as part of the bands identity (Johns, 500) as it sets the members of the community apart from non-members.A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, 473)Everyone begins as entry level students and has the opportunity to work their way up by devoting time and effort to the department. Each year, new students enter the program as existing members exit. Some former members will continue their education in music and possibly return to a similar discourse community as an educator or faculty member, fueling the cycle to continue. In addition to fitting all of Swales rigid characteristics, the RCHS Band also follows Johns looser adaptation of the discourse community model. Because this discourse community exists only within one high school, members are not born into it, but rather choose to be apart of it. (Johns, 501) Johns also explains how joining one discourse community can mean leaving or being excluded from another discourse community as a result of conflicts of interest, time, or general distance from the other communities. The idea of opportunity costs come into play, where time spent invested in one community is time not spent in another. The RCHS Band also falls into two of Johns discourse community categories: musicians and academics, creating a unique hybrid of educational and artistic goals and practices.Seeing that the RCHS Band Program is only turning ten years old in this 2014-2015 academic year, it still has a long way to grow and establish itself in the larger community of high school band programs. However, it is still off to a swift moving start with its effect structure, caring faculty, and a tradition of Superior ratings since program launched in 2004.

Works CitedSwales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.Johns, Ann M. Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity. Text, Role, and Context: Developing Academic Literacies. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge UP,1997. 57-70. Print.