Ayanna Ferrell
Parker
English 111
2/23/2023
Taekwondo and the Discourse Community Around It
What comes to your mind when you think about martial arts, especially taekwondo? Taekwondo's direct translation is tae meaning to kick with the foot, Kwon to punch with the hand and do to follow a path of discipline. Naturally, most people assume kicking, punching, and board breaking are all that goes on in the sport. Shockingly theirs a plethora of written language through the sport of taekwondo. Taekwondo has a multitude of communities both inside and outside the gym. The majority of these communities use written language. The communities of taekwondo fall the categories in both discourse categories of local and focal. An example of a local taekwondo discourse community is a study group preparing for the written test. The focal discourse community r/taekwondo is a group of practitioners with a common goal, that communicates through Reddit. The subreddit r/taekwondo can be considered a discourse community because along with having a common goal we utilized multiple genres of communication, have mechanisms of intercommunication, and acquired a specific lexis.
In Swales's journal, Swales, John M. “The Concept of the Discourse Community: Some Recent Personal History.” Composition Forum, vol. 37,
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The discourse community of r/taekwondo developed lexis which is an English and Korean blend. The specific lexis within this discourse community manages to be a sign of respect to both countries. The specific lexis for r/taekwondo primarily comes into play while responding to a post. The taekwondo lexis is primarily used with new members or when explaining in grand detail. The lexis is also used when members are getting technical. The longer a member is a part of this discourse community the better they understand and slip in and out of the