This past weekend, I was sitting on the beach and was very
close to a lifeguard stand. Usually I try to avoid sitting near a lifeguard
stand because they tend to be very loud and a hotbed for anxious tourists, but
the beach was incredibly crowded and like-minded people had already filled the
rest of the beach away from the stand. As I filled the negative space next to
their stand, the lifeguards started to command my attention with their frequent
whistle blowing and the sound of their walkie-talkies. As their loud racket
slowly became white noise for my untrained ears, I started to realize that the
lifeguards were actually apart of their own discourse community.
The lifeguards on this specific beach met all six
requirements of a discourse community as described by John Swales. All lifeguards have the same goal of
saving lives – as basic as that sounds. Their goal is a public goal in the
sense that it is non-exclusive and is available to all. The lifeguards use
their whistles and walkie-talkies as their mechanisms for communications
between each other. All of the lifeguards are taught a specific lexis in order
to efficiently communicate with each other. By whistling a certain amount of
times, lifeguards are able to communicate with each other. Even on the
walkie-talkies, members of this community use shortened words to talk with each
other that outsiders might not understand unless they have been trained. Sitting
next to them, I was unable to understand every conversation that they were
having because it was so specific and tailored to their job.
In order for lifeguards to do their job as well as possible,
it is important that every member actively participates. They must engage with
each other. If they don’t
communicate well, it could literally have a life or death effect. The way that
lifeguards speak to each other is completely different than the way that they
speak to the people that are on the beach. There is also a hierarchy for the
lifeguards. The longer that someone is a lifeguard, the more they are
respected. There is one lifeguard who is in charge of all the others who has
been selected by the town. Depending on where the lifeguards are placed on the
beach also defines their status. If they are placed in a less populated part of
the beach, where this is a smaller chance of them being utilized, it tends to
mean they are a less experienced lifeguard.
It was interesting to realize that there was a small
discourse community between the lifeguards. Although it seems quiet obvious, it
isn’t a thought that naturally comes to my mind. I started to think of it being
a discourse community after realizing they had their own form of communication
with the whistles and then moved on to see if it had the other characteristics
that Swales outlined.
Your post reminded me of my own weekend adventures and now I think we both witnessed a more manufactured discourse community, as opposed to one that forms without direction from communal knowledge or experiences.
ReplyDeleteAfter spending a day at Six Flags I found the step process the ride operators and assistants went through each time rather interesting. They used hand gestures and simple phrases ("all clear" being the most common) to communicate the process of preparing the ride and securing the passengers. Every time there was an error, such as someone not pulling their bar down until it clicked, the whole checking procedure restarted.
Lifeguards have similar obvious and repetitive gestures. The whistle is used since the distance between them and the people they need to protect is further, but they're similar practices. I'd imagine each discourse community was a planned formation, one that forces things to be done in a certain way while doing their jobs to reduce human error. The communication method isn't entirely natural, as life guard don't blow whistles at each other when they're talking off duty and ride operators don't hold a thumbs up and spin in a circle to signal approval in the break room. So it seems to me that a discourse community can invent speech communities to suit their needs and reach their goals (which in both these cases is safety.)
I like how you noticed that discourse communities exist all around us, but we don't usually pay attention to them. The idea that our lives are somewhat dependant on specific discourse communities is also interesting to think about... It's a good thing that discourse communities with the common goal caring for others exists!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting blog! I was wondering what your opinions were regarding lifeguards from not only the beach you were at, but other beaches in the area or even around the world. Do you believe that all lifeguards around the world form a common discourse community? They do not have any intercommunication (the second characteristic) but do maintain all other characteristics of the discourse community.
ReplyDeleteDo you agree with Najjar's 'Cafe Owner Problem' in Swales' excerpt in the sense that individuals can form a discourse community without interacting or communicating with each other, or do you feel that all lifeguards in general don't actually fit into one primary discourse community?
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ReplyDeleteEach lifeguard sets minimum requirements and conducts a local lifeguard training program for those they wish to hire.
ReplyDeletelifeguard class near me