Introduction
The use of lexis is the defining feature of any discourse community, its role in facilitating information and ideas through the use of group specific language is absolutely fundamental to the structure of a community. The purpose of lexis as a communicative tool in discourse communities has long been researched by various different scholars of the writing community. However, there has been little if any scholarly research associated with the use of lexis in the online bass fishing communities.The online bass fishing community that I plan to showcase in my study includes two distinct websites that as a whole exemplify the true dynamic of the community exceptionally. One of the websites being researched in my study is Fishbrain, a fairly new addition to the bass fishing community that follows a certain Twitter/Instagram model. On the website Fishbrain, users interact with one another through the posting of bass fishing related photos and descriptions. Each post is not only unique in picture and description, but they also include specific lexis generated by the author of the post. The lexis in these descriptions are used in tandem with the picture in these posts to describe how and where the fish was caught, as well as what time of day and weather conditions. Additionally, users on Fishbrain will often gravitate towards regional or local groups that exist on the website in order to be more in tune with local bass fishing trends. Overall, the website includes a vast amount of users that communicate with each other via post to post conversation, where members of communities use lexis to explain to other members the conditions in which they caught the fish in their picture.
The other website included in my research that I will be investigating heavily is the forum/thread based website Bassresourceguide.com. The primary literary activities that occur on Bassresourceguide.com are posts on online threads, and online articles to which other users can comment and ask questions. The posts and articles included on the website use lexis in variety of different ways. Lexis on Bassresourceguide.com is most commonly found in posts in articles by specific users however, lexis can also be found in on sidebars of the website, thread titles, and titles of subgroups that exist on the website. For example, when navigating through the threads it is not uncommon to stumble upon a certain thread that is designed specifically to talk about one specific topic related to bass fishing, an example of this would be the "plastics fishing: worms, creature baits, trailers, flukes and more". As noted by the title, this thread incorporates a lot of community specific lexis that relates to using plastic baits to fish for bass. Lexis on Bassresourceguide.com is pivotal to the foundation of the website and is used in many different ways on website, which is why it serves as the perfect subject for my research.
Though the subject of my research is clear, in order to analyze in depth the value of lexis in these two communities I intend to use information about lexis from other writing scholars in the writing studies community. For example, scholars of discourse communities and communication have examined how lexis is community specific and should be hard for outsiders to understand (Swales, 1990), how novice community members are exposed to the specific lexis
of the community (Borg, 2003), how social media facilitates communication (Gruzd, 2011), as well as the meaning of lexis in social media postings (Zappavigna, 2015). Scholarly research has even been conducted on the membership levels of bass fisherman within the community (Wilde, 1998). Yet, despite the vast amount of research related to the lexis and communication within a discourse community, there is still little to no research examining the role of lexis in the online bass fishing communities.
Thus, with Fishbrain and Bassresourceguide.com being the focal points of my research on lexis usage in the online bass fishing community, I will need to consider each and every literary activity associated with both websites in order to develop an accurate understanding of the true value of lexis in this community. To determine this value I have generated two research questions to help guide my analysis of these two sources, which are how is lexis depended upon as the primary characteristic of communication on both websites?, and does the use of specific lexis determined by the membership/experience level of the user? Using both of these questions I will generate and validate relative claims regarding the use of lexis in the online bass fishing community, as well as research the communication patterns of users on both websites and how they use lexis to communicate. Therefore proving that the lexis used on the social media website Fishbrain is necessary in order for communication to occur because of its prevalence in posts by community members, as well as the difference in lexis used by members with varying skills levels based off of articles and threads that use specific lexis based on target audiences on the website Bassresourceguide.com.
Methods
Before conducting any research regarding the online bass fishing community I first had to generate valid research questions that would help to guide me throughout the research process.Thus for my study, I devised two main research questions regarding the use of lexis on both Fishbrain and Bassresource.com. Which included, how do users on the website Fishbrain use lexis to communicate in their posts and replies?, as well as how does lexis correlate to the level of membership of the user on the website Bassresource.com?
With both research questions in mind, I then proceeded with gathering specific texts and data associated with each website. For the website Fishbrain, I researched over a hundred post from various users until I found three of the best examples for my study. Before I began this process however, I had to establish a certain criteria needed for each post I was researching. Yet after researching for hours I found that I often had to adjust the criteria requirement so that I gather adequate research for my study. In order to meet the criteria for my study the post had to contain community specific lexis, responses from other users, and at use at least 25 or more words in the description. In the end I found three post from three different users that explained things such as specific tackle and technique using community specific lexis. For Bassresource.com, I gathered posts based on the level of membership of the author and the target audience that the post was written for. Therefore, from Bassresource.com I collected two articles, one that served as a guide for beginner anglers written by a fellow angler that was starting out, and another article written by a professional level angler in which he discusses tips and tricks that he has learned from fishing on the pro circuit. In order to gather these articles I also had to look for certain characteristics that I knew would match the criteria created by the research questions that I had imposed. Which is why both post showcase the differences in membership level because via their authors and their target audiences.
Once I had collected a set amount of data for my study, the next step was to analyze what I had collected in order to draw certain conclusions and answer the research questions that I had
presented. With no face to face interaction needed in order to draw conclusion from my data I found that there would be no need for any interviewing of any kind. Instead I decided to analyze my data through line by line observation and systematic pattern analyzation of the texts that I had gathered. Considering the briefness of the post on Fishbrain, I decided that it would be best to analyze these post via line by line. On Fishbrain, I was looking at each post line by line so that I could determine the amount of lexis used in each post compared to the overall length of the post, the relation in lexis and/or type of lexis used by each post, and how the lexis was used in responses to the post by other members. For this I simply just highlighted and made not of each account of lexis in each post as well as number of times it was used throughout the three post anf replies. I also took note of the overall word count of each post and the amount of total lexis used in by all three. When analyzing the articles from Bassresource.com I used a far different method from the one I used on Fishhbrain. Knowing that the length of the articles far superceeded that of the post from Fishbrain, I instead developed a system in which I analyzed the usage of lexis in each article as well as any patterns of certain types of lexis that were specific to membership levels of users on the website. For example, in my analysis of the article written by the professional angler I made note of not only how often he used lexis compared to the non-professional article, but also what lexis he was using and how it differed in complexity to the lexis used in the beginners guide article. In the end I had a detailed list of lexical terms from both articles and was able to compare complexity based on how each term matched to style of fishing expected from a professional/non-professional user of the website.
Results & Analysis
After analyzing all of the texts from my community, one of the first and foremost claims I have devised from my data, is that the use of lexis on Fishbrain is needed in order tocommunicate ideas between anglers effectively. The data I collected from this website best explains the main point of my claim because each of the texts I gathered illustrate how much the different members of the community all use lexis specific to bass fishing at some point in their posts. For example, I have determined that from the three posts that I gathered from Fishbrain there was a total 95 words used. Out of these 95 words, I found that exactly 29 of these words were lexis specific to the community. This shows that each of the post that I collected uses lexis about 30% of the time on average, and with the average post consisting of about 30 words, most posts will usually use lexis about 10 different times. Furthermore, for each of these posts on Fishbrain, other users will often reply, comment, or ask a question regarding the information the angler presented in his post. From observing these replies I have also found that between each of my three texts, lexis has been used in order to either ask a question, respond to question, or communicate another point that was not previously mentioned in the original post. The feedback and dialogue this extensive use of lexis creates, proves that lexis is needed in order for communication within the community to flow cohesively. This idea of lexis as a necessary component for the fluidity of communication, closely parallels the arguments presented by scholar John Swales (1990). In his research, Swales explains how discourse community conversations are often times hard for outsiders to comprehend due to the wide use of specific language and lexis used, and that without this complexity, the community is no longer a discourse community and therefore loses its unique conversational identity. The relatability of this argument to the claims I present in my analysis is most apparent when considering that I am also proving how the use of lexis is depended upon in order for intercommunication amongst members to be both "unique" and successful. Therefore when generating and establishing my claims for my research, I often referred to this piece by Swales in order to grasp a better
understanding for the role of lexis within discourse communities like the two at the head of my study. Swales's description also helps prove the validity of my own claims because he explains, much like I do, how lexis is necessary in order for a community to identify as a discourse community, where as I am also proving lexis to be a necessary element of communication within my own discourse community. Thus, with lexis making up about 30% of the primary communication on Fishbrain, without it the community would for certain would lose the post by post dialogue that occurs on the website. This would in turn cause the communication within the community to collapse. On the other hand, the need for lexis in these post could also stem from the limited word count that each post is confined to. However this could not be the only reason because, as shown in the post I have collected, there are certain things anglers use or do that just require the use of lexis to describe or explain. For example, in one of the post I collected by a local fisherman, he attempts to explain a specific bait he used to catch fish for the day at his local pond. To do this, the fisherman had to use lexis to describe the action of the bait, how it was rigged, and even what it's official name was, which proves the need for lexis in these post despite the word count restriction created by the website. Nevertheless, from the data I collected on usage patterns I have showed how lexis dominates community texts that are used for communication and even how it is included in responses regarding these texts.
When looking at other data I have collected, another claim regarding the use lexis that I have constructed, is that the use of lexis on Bassresourceguide.com varies based on level of membership of the user. Though there has already been research regarding lexis usage and membership level by writing scholars like Erik Borg (2003), my research will attempt to prove a specific correlation between types of lexis used and skill/membership level of the user. I have found that specific word usage and lexis differs amongst the many posts and articles on the website, which is based on the audience and writer of the piece in question. On BassResource.com I have conducted a full scale observation of two specific articles with two different intended audiences and authors, who differ in professional experience. One article by John Neporadny Jr. explains specific professional bass fishing tips that he has learned from his time in professional Bassmaster Elite Series competitions. In this article I have noted the incredibly technical and specific terms that he uses that relate to his experience as a professional. For example in the article Neporadny mentions different types of baits such as reaction baits as well as their subsets, such as spinner baits and crankbaits. He also mentions highly technical and specific bass fishing techniques, such as bait selection based on water clarity, temperature, wind conditions, cloud cover, and vegetation. The other article "Angling 101", by Bonita Staples, is an introduction to the world of bass fishing and offers tips to aspiring bass fishermen. In the article Staples uses very little lexis and sticks primarily to explaining the different types of fish and certain very basic lure and baits such as crank baits and standard worms. Unlike the article by Neporadny, Staples uses very little to no lexis in the article in order to appeal and be able to communicate effectively with her target audience, which consists of beginner anglers. However, the lexis Staples does use mirrors slightly the words used in the professional article This contrast in lexis usage proves that on Bassresource.com members with different levels of membership will at times use lexis more suited to their own personal skill level or experience with bass fishing. On Bassresource.com articles written by professionals, including this one, use this exact same style of complex lexis because their advance skill level in real life allows for them to be a higher level community member on the website. Writing studies researchers such as Erik Borg even explain how higher level members of the community will use more complex lexis as introductory device for new members of the community, which falls in line with my own claimregarding the changing patterns of lexis based on membership level. Borgs's research on lexis comes from the analysis of an online community with forums and threads just like Bassresourceguide.com, which even further proves the discrepancies in lexis use due in part to the fact that Bassresourceguide.com is forum and thread based community. Overall, the difference in use of lexis between members of Bassresource.com not only highlights a fundamental characteristic of the community but it also plays into the communities membership hierarchy that controls the actions of the community.
Discussion
The claims posed in the analysis section of my research highlight and support the basis of my thesis because they explain and define the literary situations occurring in the online bass fishing community. In my thesis I stated that I would attempt to explain the role of lexis as a necessary tool for communication as well as why lexis differs due to the membership level of the author or intended audience of a certain piece through the analyzation of both Fishbrain and Bassresourceguide.com. The claims made in my analysis not only attempt to explain the situational lexis that occurs in these communities, but it also validates a certain characteristic of lexis that is unique to understanding the dynamic of the two communities. Through my claims I prove the prevailing role of lexis in the Fishbrain community and how it dominants the content of posts through statistical evidence. I also provide ample reason to believe firmly that lexis usage on Bassresourceguide.com differs based on the membership level of the member who is either writing the piece or part of the audience that the piece is written for. Both of these claims outline the statements presented in my thesis closely by reiterating the general ideas presented in my thesis and turning them into provable, valid claims with evidence to support my reasoning.Though there are no obvious rebuttals to the claims I present in my paper because of the lack of research specific to the online bass fishing community, hypothetically speaking, there are possible rejections to my claims that could be made by an outside researcher of the academic writing community. For instance, in regards to my claim about the necessity of lexis in member-to-member communication on Fishbrain, a possible refutation to this claim would be that lexis is used in such large amounts because it delivers a short concise point on a website that limits users with a word count. Though this claim is substantial, upon further analyzation it is clear that the lexis used cannot be substituted to explain the items or actions being portrayed in the picture that corresponds with each post. For example, there is no way to describe a junebug paddle-tailed senko without calling it exactly that. Therefore proving that lexis isn't used to deliver a message effectively, but instead to describe the message presented by the picture that accompanies the post, making the picture the communicative device that helps deliver the message without the use of many words.
Another possible objection to one of my claims is that lexis use does not correlate to the experience/membership level of the member, but instead is situational and depends on what type of communication is taking place. While this may seem like another possible rejection to one of my claims, with further analysis of the community it just does not make sense as an opposing argument. One reason why this doesn't make sense is because it does not take into consideration the context of the situation surrounding members of varying membership levels on Bassresourceguide.com. For example, on the website members with high membership levels are considered to be either professional or semi-professional bass anglers. Thus, because of this elevated real life status, their fishing experiences will differ from that of beginning anglers in that they will have access to more advanced techniques and equipment. This will in turn reflect how
they relay information in the community because in the forum setting, these anglers will be more inclined to communicate at their own level which requires the use of veteran-level lexis that only other high caliber community member will be able to understand. Meaning that there use of lexis is different because when they use lexis it serves as a direct reflection of their ability and experience with bass fishing.
Furthermore, after analyzing and collecting data associated with the online bass fishing community, as well as establishing and validating claims, I believe that the information gathered has serious implications on the writing studies community. By establishing that lexis is a defining characteristic in the communication of members as well as finding other characteristics, I have, according to John Swales (1990), determined that both of these websites can be labeled as participants of "discourse". I have also opened the door for other researchers to conduct their own study regarding the many online bass fishing communities. I have even determined a major component of communication that will aid in understanding the fundamental design of communication, which will help aid in researching other aspects of the online bass fishing community. My claims regarding lexis unveil the vast learning curve that comes with being a part of not only the bass fishing community but any community with an online counterpart. Through my research I have exposed a vital communication aspect of social-media-type communities, which is that all online social media groups have a specific way of communicating that involves lexis. Even scholars like Michele Zappavigna (2015), who have extensively researched the discourse of social media websites, would value my research because of how it applies her social media theorems to a real life online example. With the new information collected about the involvement of lexis in a discourse community, I hope to also add to the conversation of discourse community characteristics continued by Erik Borg (2003). Who I
believe would see my research as a meaningful contributor to his conversation about discourse communities because of how I explain a new side to the use of lexis within such communities. My research about lexis in the online bass fishing sphere also contributes to members of the real world bass fishing community. After reading my research, such members would have a better understanding of the community dynamic due to the fact that most of the principles applied to the online counterpart reflect that of the real life community. Non-members could even use this information as a guide to entering one of these communities.
Overall, any reader of my research should understand that lexis is a major component of all discourse communities. The study of lexis in any specific discourse community is crucial to understanding both what the community is about as well as how they communicate. Therefore, with my research I hope to open the door for any future researcher to analyze and discover more about the truly complex and unique online bass fishing community. The many components of this community make it unique to that of any other discourse community, and it is perfect case study for any writing studies researcher. My research regarding how members of the online bass fishing community use lexis is important because it reveals the powerful role of lexis in a discourse community that may have been overlooked by other writing studies scholars. As proven through my research, even in a non-academic discourse community, lexis plays a vital role in communication is the single defining feature of communication on both websites. Without this lexis there would be no communication between members at all. My research explains and proves the role of lexis as more than just one of the many characteristics in the online bass fishing community and instead as both a necessary tool used in communication and decisive factor in determining membership level.
Works Cited
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