While interaction inside the classroom – frontstage discourse – has been a subject of
study and has been considered the most significant type of discourse that teachers
engage in, I propose that interaction outside the classroom – backstage discourse – is
equally significant and has not thus far received as much attention as it merits. This
paper is concerned with the institutional interaction of English language teachers using
a corpus of (currently) over 40,000 words, consisting of a variety of meetings. It
will consider the characteristics of the community of practice (CofP) and how membership
is realised in language. It looks at the inexplicit nature of the language that
teachers use in relation to their practices as indicative of this membership, and how
humour is related to the establishment of a shared communicative space, as well as
evidence of it. Highlighted also is the creation of this space within the meeting with
the construction of in- and out-groups. The paper concludes that reflection not only
on our practices within the classroom, but our practices as a professional community
opens a new window on our profession as a whole.