Post 12

Wardle provides three “modes of belonging” that newcomers to a discourse community use to connect with more experienced members and the topics and issues of the overall community. The three modes are engagement, imagination and alignment.

Engagement is the interaction and relationship building between newcomers and old-timers. In order to position oneself as part of a community, a connection must be made among members. Newcomers to the baseball fan community strive to be part of their team of choice’s fan base. However, acceptance into these groups is commonly difficult. To newcomers, old-timers appear to speak another language when discussing baseball. It is best for the newcomer to engulf his or herself in the lexis of the group to learn and be able to communicate with the rest of the community.

Imagination is the newcomer’s ability to expand his or her knowledge of an anterior community. A newcomer has to imagine a world ensconced from the everyday that revolves completely around baseball. This alternative way of thinking helps new members understand the community on more than just a superficial level.

Alignment is fitting into the group by finding common ground between members. To fit into a baseball fan community, it is expected that one knows several different pieces of information: an understanding of the rules and strategy of the game; at least a general recognition of the sport’s top players; knowledge of one’s favorite team; and a passion and love for baseball.

The hardest part of enculturing for a newcomer is learning the rules and language of baseball. Baseball is one of the most complicated and strategic sports played in the United States. The terminology itself is like another language to someone new to it.  Usually people become baseball fans in their childhood because it is such a traditional, nostalgic sport. This is the best time to learn the discourse of the community because the retention rate is much higher than later in life. Once a person learns the lexis and rules of baseball, it is then just keeping up with the news to see what changes are made in the MLB.