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Literature Review

Victoria Malaszuk

University of Central Florida

ENC1102: English Composition II

Professor Mooney

March 8, 2020
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As defined by Gee and Ann M. Johns in Writing about Writing, “if there is one thing that

most of the [discourse community definitions] have in common, it is an idea of language [and

genres] as a basis for sharing and holding in common” (p. 320). A key aspect the passage

contains is “the relationship of identity to discourse communities.” (p.320). When looking at the

discourse communities I am involved in, my identity to a discourse community is seen through

my involvement in the Pre-Dental Association at UCF (PDSA). The Pre-Dental Association at

UCF is based on collaboration among the members and other professional discourse

communities such as dental offices in order to accumulate new knowledge and social skills. As

an active member of PDSA, I want to raise awareness towards the need for implementation of

more pre-professional clubs like PDSA in universities and college campuses. Furthermore, I

want to fill in the gap of research that hasn’t been touched upon, that being how these clubs make

one aware of genres and effectively use writing and rhetoric to communicate with their members.

With this in mind, I want to focus on how these clubs make one form an identity as well.

Numerous studies have analyzed the benefits of pre-professional school clubs, primarily being

that these clubs promote human development/self-identity, communication, and contain

necessary literacy strategies reflecting writing and rhetoric. These concepts led me to develop my

overarching themes in my synthesis matrix which will help me in turn build my research from

the sources I have used.

Taking the Ferrara, M. et al. (2018) and Cave (2004) pieces for example, these two pieces

expand on the concept of self-identity through studies done in school clubs. Cave’s piece

researches six different Japanese school clubs while Ferrara, M. et al piece researches five STEM
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clubs. Both conclude that self-identity is a positive outcome and almost always results with a

student’s development due to an individual’s tie to that specific discourse community. In other

words, the idea of self-identity comes from one’s focus on the passion behind what they are

engaging in. This perfectly reflects John’s (2019) article in which he states “the relationship of

identity to discourse communities.” While the Foreman, E., & Retallick, M. (2016) article

doesn’t explicitly state self-identity like the three other sources, it expands on the concept of

leadership in clubs and the values associated with it. Leadership is linked with self-identity and

Johns talks about it in her article as well where she mentions how one can “gain authority in the

classroom or over texts” (p. 335).

Similarly, Alvermann, D. et al. (1999) and Casey (2012) examine the benefits of school

clubs as well but they aim their research towards finding what literacy strategies are used in these

school clubs. Alvermann, D. et al. (1999) assess that communal activity plays a big part in these

clubs and defines this term as “the interactions that occur as adolescents negotiate, reinvent, and

jointly create their lifeworlds with others of their own age and with the adults who share their

world.” Casey focuses on visual representation of text in a pre-professional club setting and

concludes with the “importance of individual and collective engagement” in these types of

discourse communities.

Beach, R., & Yussen, S. (2011) articles pays attention to the practices that contribute to

productive discussions in book clubs. Specific lexis goes hand-in-hand with this because every

club has a certain speech/language which members follow to interact with one another. Gee’s

(1989) article does well explaining this by stating in the text that “people construct meaning

through texts and language, and texts construct meaning as people use them” (p.275).
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Based on these research articles, one can conclude that there is enough evidence showing

why pre-professional clubs are a necessary part to be implemented in schools and universities but

as mentioned previously, there is a gap to be filled when it comes to answering the question of

how exactly rhetoric and writing act as a foundation for this type of discourse community.

Researching this topic is important because communication, one of the major themes found

across all the articles researched, relies heavily on the basis of rhetoric and writing.
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Annotation Dissection

Victoria Malaszuk

University of Central Florida

ENC1102: English Composition II

Professor Mooney

March 8, 2020
 !6

References


Alvermann, D., Young, J., Green, C., & Wisenbaker, J. (1999). Adolescents' perceptions

and negotiations of literacy practices in after-school read and talk clubs. American

Educational Research Journal, 36(2), 221-264. Retrieved February 26, 2020, from www.jstor.org/

stable/1163539. When looking at this article, the main idea is found to be after-school clubs

acting as social outlets reflecting communication and rhetoric through literacy. The authors also

point out a theme that is central to their research which is “communal activity-a term used to

refer to the interactions that occur as adolescents negotiate, reinvent, and jointly create their

lifeworlds with others of their own age and with the adults who share their world.” An exper-

iment is done where 2 adults and 20 adolescents meet over a 15-week period in read and talk

clubs. At the end of the 15 weeks, it was concluded that through a discourse community like this

one, individuals were found reflecting new subject positions due to the integration of literacy

strategies.

This research article relates to my primary research because it examines the same

discourse community I am researching. Though the research article does not necessarily research

a pre-professional club, it researches school clubs which are a broader branch associated with my

research question. Looking at it in relation to my other secondary sources, this article goes hand-

in-hand with the Casey’s (2012) piece because both pieces ultimately research school learning

clubs that contain literacy strategies, which will help me develop my rhetoric/writing theme from

my synthesis matrix.
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Beach, R., & Yussen, S. (2011). Practices of productive adult book clubs. Journal of Ado-

lescent & Adult Literacy, 55(2), 121-131. Retrieved March 9, 2020, from www.js- tor.org/stable/

41309667 Looking at an abstract view of this article, the main idea is found to be the practices

that contribute to productive discussions in book clubs. Specifically, two adult book clubs are

analyzed in depth and researched. Data is collected to find the specific practices used to

contribute to the success of this club.

When analyzing this article, the practices that make a club so successful involve a

member’s use of language/lexis. Specific lexis goes hand-in-hand with this article be- cause

every club has a certain speech/language which members follow to interact with one another.

Gee’s (1989) article does well explaining this by stating in the text that “people construct

meaning through texts and language, and texts construct meaning as people use them”(p.275).

Conversely, I will find this piece useful when connecting it to my primary research because

PDSA has specific dental lexis that is used between its members to communicate. This lexis is

found all over in powerpoints, the official web- site, during meetings, etc. and relating this article

to my research will help me to find a link in successful practices intertwined with lexis used in

clubs.


Casey, H. (2012). Multimodal learning clubs: students in multimodal learning clubs use a

variety of texts to learn important content. Middle School Journal, 44(2), 39-48.

Retrieved February 26, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/41763118. The main idea of this article

is the incorporation of new knowledge through digital tools contain- ing literacy strategies. An

observation study was done in a classroom setting in

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collaboration with a health teacher in order to develop a multi-model study. The

participants included sixth graders and during classroom lectures videos would be played for

students to learn visually after reading from a textbook. Results por- trayed 4 main themes: “the

value of blending modes for learning, the importance of individual and collective engagement,

the need to expand conceptions of men- tor texts, and the importance of managing technology.”

As mentioned previously, this article relates to my other secondary source: “Ado-

lescents' Perceptions and Negotiations of Literacy Practices in After-School Read and Talk

Clubs.” from the American Educational Research Journal because both texts go into detail about

literacy strategies found in school clubs. In regards to connecting this piece to my primary

research, I find it useful when comparing it to the technologic portion of my research. I will be

breaking down the PDSA website and Instagram page to find over- lapping themes in rhetoric,

writing, and lexus. I believe that after analyzing the club’s so- cial media I will be able to relate

the 4 main themes found in Casey’s article to my own themes I find in my primary research.


Cave, P. (2004). "Bukatsudō": the educational role of Japanese school clubs. Journal of

Japanese Studies, 30(2), 383-415. Retrieved February 26, 2020, from www.js- tor.org/

stable/25064493. This article talks about the importance of Japanese school clubs and how being

involved in them promotes school order, human de- velopment, and learning. Cave states that the

learning which goes on in these school clubs follows a model based on observation and activity.

He describes what takes place during these clubs and takes the reader along a typical student’s

day at one of these clubs. Later in the reading, he goes into detail about his re- search in

which he observes six different school clubs and relates each to one an- other. He reveals that all
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six of the clubs follow a pattern of organization. Along with this, Cave connects these clubs by

stating there is a link to individualism and self-identity.

Although this article doesn’t necessarily talk about a Pre-professional organiza- tion like

PDSA, it relates to an important theme found within my synthesis matrix: self- identity.

Similarly, it relates to many of my other sources such as the John’s (1997) article in Writing

about Writing which talks about the relationship of identity to discourse com- munities. Both

these articles discuss how an individual’s development and identity is shown through an

individual’s ties to a specific discourse community, in this case the dis- course community being

after-school clubs. Cave’s article will aid me in answering the question of how these clubs make

one aware of genres and form an identity in the dis- course community. As mentioned previously,

this source observes a certain model of learning that promotes an individual’s learning and

development. By knowing this, I will be able to relate my primary research of the Pre-dental

Association at UCF to Cave’s re- search and compare the two in order to fully answer my

research question and fill in any gaps of information.


Ferrara, M., Talbot, R., Mason, H., Wee, B., Rorrer, R., Jacobson, M., & Gallagher, D.

(2018). Enriching undergraduate experiences with outreach in school STEM clubs.

Journal of College Science Teaching, 47(6), 74-82. Retrieved February 26, 2020, from

www.jstor.org/stable/44840705. The main idea of this article are the

benefits of STEM Clubs which relate to communication skills, writing, and

metacognition. The articles goes into detail about the need for “a more robust, well-trained

STEM workforce” and directs one’s attention to the “The STEM Club Leadership for

Undergraduate STEM Education, Recruiting and Success Project” where case studies are
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conducted across five undergraduate schools in the U.S. Ultimately, results state that each STEM

club pinpoints a numerous amount of benefits reflecting an individual’s success in the STEM

field and as a future professional.

When breaking down this article, I found that it connects to two of my themes from the

synthesis matrix. The first theme this article connects to is self-identity, just like my other

secondary sources by Cave (2004) and Johns (1997). It talks about the partici- pation of STEM

programs results in positive outcomes and self-identity is developed when individuals focus on

the passion behind what they are engaging in. The second theme the article connects to is writing

and rhetoric. A key aspect of the article is metacognition, the awareness of one’s thought process.

During the interactions within these STEM clubs, individuals are fully aware of what they are

doing and have to think and use appropriate strategies in order to solve problems. Additionally,

the article men- tions content knowledge which ties into my primary research. This is important

because each pre-professional club has specific content to be learned with different ways of

learn- ing the content. When conducting my primary research, I will analyze the different meth-

ods used as content knowledge in the STEM programs and compare it to PDSA’s. This

will help me to successfully answer my research question in addition to breaking down

how PDSA uses metacognition during workshops, shadowing events, meetings, etc. Foreman, E.,

& Retallick, M. (2016). The Effect of Undergraduate Extracurricular In-

volvement and Leadership Activities on Community Values of the Social Change Model.

NACTA Journal,60(1), 86-92. doi:10.2307/nactajournal.60.1.86 This arti- cle chooses to focus on

the involvement of undergraduate students in extracurricu- lar clubs with the goal of showing

benefits in leadership development. Additional- ly, the article draws conclusion around the
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concept of the Social Change Model of Leadership Development. The researches use the

“Socially Responsible Leader- ship Scale” to analyze the community values in relation to clubs

and students. Foreman and Retallick conclude with stating that students who were involved in

more extracurricular organizations and held officer position ended up scoring higher on the scale.

This article is valuable with my primary research because a key aspect of the Pre- dental

Association at UCF is leadership. The club consistently promotes officer positions and events to

get individuals to develop the skills associated with leaders. I will be able to analyze this

research article and depict what values are seen from the authors’ findings in and link them with

the values the PDSA club holds. In terms of how this research article fits in with my other

secondary sources, I can see a connection in the Johns (2019) article which expands on the

concept of self-identity through discourse community. Even though Foreman and Retallick don’t

specifically mention self-identity like Johns does, they ex- pand on the concept of leadership in

clubs and the values associated with it. Leadership is

linked with self-identity and Johns talks about it in his article as well where he mentions

how one can “gain authority in the classroom or over texts” (p. 335).


Gee, J. (1989). Literacy, discourse, and linguistics. In E. Wardle & D. Downs (3rd). Writ-

ing about writing: A college reader (pp.274-295). Bedford/St. Martins. Gee’s main idea is

seen to be discourse communities and the many aspects of them. He introduces the term

“discourse” and goes in depth with related topics such as metaknowledge, mushfake, etc. When

expanding on these topics, Gee makes sure to define them clearly to the reader as well as provide

examples to go along with these terms.


As mentioned previously, I can draw connections with this article to my other

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secondary sources, specifically the Beach, R., & Yussen, S article, because both analyze

language as an important factor in discourse communities and expand on the elements of a

discourse’s lexis. Gee’s piece will aid me in my primary research because the terms he analyzes

are themes found in my synthesis matrix, for example one being literacy. This will ultimately

help me when defining the themes in relation to the club’s website, meet- ings, powerpoints, etc.

that I will be dissecting.

Johns, A. (1997). Discourse communities and communities of practice. In E. Wardle & D.

Downs (3rd). Writing about writing: A college reader (pp.319-339). Bedford/St. Martins. Johns

examines the term “discourse community” and focuses on “the relationship of identity to

discourse communities” in which she explores the topic of authority and conflict in these

communities. Johns makes sure to communicate with the reader by making the reader consider

key elements found throughout all

discourse communities: shared goals, communication, new skills and learning. By doing

this, she creates a bigger picture of how all this relates to an individual’s tie to a specific

discourse community.


This journal article highlights a similarity within several of my other secondary

sources, those being the Ferrara, M. et al. (2018) and Cave (2004) pieces and the Fore-

man, E., & Retallick, M. (2016) piece. As mentioned in my summary, the main idea Johns

highlights is “self-identity.” The Ferrara, M. et al. and Cave articles expand on the concept of

self-identity through studies done in school clubs. Cave’s piece researches six different Japanese

school clubs while Ferrara, M. et al piece researches five STEM clubs. Both conclude that self-

identity is a positive outcome and almost always results with a student’s development due to an
 !13

individual’s tie to that specific discourse community. The Foreman, E., & Retallick, M. article

expands on the concept of leadership in clubs and the values associated with it. Leadership is

linked with self-identity and Johns talks about it in her article as well where she mentions how

one can “gain authority in the classroom or over texts” (p. 335). I believe self-identity is a major

factor in pre-profes- sional clubs, especially PDSA, because this is where students really open

their eyes to the passions they want to carry out in the future. With that stated, one of my

overarching themes is self-identity and examining John's article at a closer look will help me to

an- swer how exactly do pre-professional organizations create a foundation for finding self-

identity.