Peer Post 2

This is a graded discussion: 2 points possible
due Jan 30 at 8:30am
Swales, Discourse Communities Reading Response/ Discussion
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Veronica Smith
Jan 25, 2015
Swales establishes that the definition of discourse community is vague, and wonders if a set of criteria would be beneficial for understanding. Some researchers of writing belief that
discourse community and speech community are synonymous. After showing what others belief, Swales states that an exact definition of a speech community will allow for an
alternative definition of discourse community, proving the difference between the two. It will also separate a sociolinguistic grouping, one with predominate communicative needs
with social linguistic behaviors, from a sociorhetorical group, a functional discourse community where goals predominate development and maintenance (Swales, 24). Last, "speech
communities are centripetal whereas discourse communities are centrifugal" (Swales, 24), showing that the acquisition of new members occurs differently.
After proving that discourse and speech communities are different, Swales goes into detail about the criteria of a discourse community: common public goals, intercommunication,
feedback, genres, specific lexis, and varying levels of expertise among members. These six criteria can be used to identify any discourse community.
Source Cited
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.
Daniel O'Brien
Jan 26, 2015
Well said, Veronica! I like how you included some examples of differences between discourse communities and speech communities. Were you aware that speech
communities and discourse communities were actually so different, or even aware of the concepts? I know I wasn't. I think the most important thing Swales did here is highlight
the six main characteristics of a discourse community which you mentioned here.
Reply
Daniel O'Brien
Jan 26, 2015
Though the exact definition of a "discourse community" is unclear, Swales attempted at defining them as, "groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve
these goals." Swales then goes on to give several different examples as to what he believes are examples of discourse communities, and offers perhaps a way of classifying them
and sharing some defining characteristics. Swales wonders if there is even a need to define discourse community, as the concept of a discourse community itself could be simply a
translation of a speech community. After though, Swales offers several characteristics that he believes define a discourse community and seperate it from a speech community.
Swales believes discourse communities have common public goals, intercommunication between members, mechanisms to provide feedback, several genres, specific lexis, and
members with discoursal expertise.
This piece was very interesting to me in that I have never read a piece where a writer tried so hard to describe something that he or she could not even fully define. However, even
though Mr. Swales does not give the reader a clear, exact definition of what a discourse community actually is, he goes into characteristics and examples of what he believes
discourse communities are which supply the reader with enough information to make his or her own decision about what their definition of a discourse community is. Swales does a
great job in explaining why some may think speech communities and discourse communities are very similar, then refutes that concept by highlighting the many differences between
the two.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings (pp. 21-32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Edited by Daniel O'Brien (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3862226) on Jan 26 at 5:14pm
Alejandro Arcay
Jan 26, 2015
Well said Daniel! As I read this passage for a second time, It was pretty clear to me as to the qualifications of a discourse community. Then again, I've seen this reading before
which gives me the upper hand in grasping Swales' underlying meaning in discourse communities. One of the main things that I would take away from this passage is that no
matter who you are or what you believe in, you will always be apart of a discourse community. Whether we think it or not, there will always be a group out there that believes
and acts the way you do for a common public goal.
Edited by Alejandro Arcay (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3853014) on Jan 26 at 11:37pm
Matias Marchi
Jan 28, 2015
I'm with Alejandro on this one, having already read the article before kind of gave me insight as to what a discourse community encompasses even though the article didn't
really give us the exact definition. It's weird to think that we're a part of these "discourse communities" without really ever consciously making the decision to join. We never say
"hey I want to be a part of that discourse community." And most of us aren't just in one discourse community, we're involved in many.
Veronica Smith
Jan 28, 2015
Discourse communities are a very important aspect because it shows the communication between peers. In my professional field of veterinary medicine, it is important to be
apart of the discourse community so there is a means of communicating within the lexis. Genre is a very important factor because it is a device that can be interpreted in
different manners.
Reply
Alejandro Arcay
Jan 26, 2015
John Swales' excerpt "The Concept of Discourse Community" discusses the concept of discourse communities and what it entails. First, Swales discusses what a discourse
community is and how it's different from a speech community. Swales goes more in depth by providing six specific characteristics that make up a discourse community. As we go
through this excerpt, Swales attempts to take apart and analyze the underlying meaning of what a discourse community is and how it differs from a speech community.
Swales starts by defining what a speech community is. That is, a community sharing knowledge of rules for the conduct and interpretation of speech (Swales, 23). Swales then
talks about how the separation of the two concepts derives from the need to distinguish a sociolinguistic grouping from a sociorhetorical one (Swales, 23). He goes even further by
saying that speech communities are centripetal whereas discourse communities are centrifugal (Swales, 24). A speech community typically inherits its membership by birth, accident
or adoption. A discourse community recruits its members by persuasion, training, or relevant qualification.
At this point of the excerpt, we see how Swales breaks down discourse communities into six characteristics. He first discusses how a discourse community has a broadly agreed
set of common public goals that can either be formal or informal (Swales, 25). Next, we take a look at how discourse communities has mechanisms of intercommunication among its
members such as meetings, telecommunications, newsletters, etc. (Swales, 25). Furthermore, we learn that a discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to
provide information and feedback. Basically what that means is in order to be a part of it, one must uptake the informational opportunities. A discourse community also utilizes and
hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims (Swales, 26). This means that as the community develops, the ideas, principals and goals may
change. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community acquires some specific lexis (Swales, 26). Lastly, this type of community has a threshold level of members with a
suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise which means that those who join enter as apprentices and leave by death or by an involuntary way (Swales, 26).
To wrap it up, Swales stresses how discourse communities don't necessarily change its members perspective, members can be spread out as opposed to a speech community
that are likely to be close together, and that academic classes are not particularly discourse communities at start but the goal is to become one by end. Looking back at this reading,
I noticed that I have been a part of several discourse communities throughout my life in and out of school. I can honestly say that I now know the difference.
Joel Abad
Jan 27, 2015
This was a great reply Alex, you went into great detail as to what the article was about. I enjoy reading this article because the subject of discourse communities is interesting
to me. After reading this article I realized I was part of discourse communities that I had no idea I was a part of!
Reply
Joel Abad
Jan 27, 2015
Swales attempts to define what a discourse community is in his article, even though he can not define it himself he says there are 6 characteristics that define a discourse
community. Swales pretty much says that a discourse community is a group of people with the same common goal, he says that group of people in a discourse community have a
specific way to talk and write that people that are not in the discourse community can not do (Swales, 25). For example, doctors speak in medical terms to other doctors and nurses,
if you are not in that discourse community you can not communicate with those doctors because you do not know those medical terms. Swales also mentions other criteria that is
required for a group of people to be a discourse community.
Everyone is in a discourse community and most people don't even know, people in this ENC 1102 class is considered a discourse community since we all have the same common
goal which is to pass the class. Discourse communities are very interesting to me and I enjoyed reading this article since it will apply to me for the rest of my life as I try to be a part
of a discourse community by becoming a physical therapist.
Amy Cibulas
Jan 28, 2015
I really like your example here, Joel; I had never even considered our class as a discourse community until now, but it definitely makes sense. I think it's safe to say everyone
wants to pass, and Swale's article itself is an example of a genre we use.
Melanie Cossin
Jan 28, 2015
You make a good point with your example of doctors and this class serving as examples of a discourse community. You have to know the jargon related to the community in
order to assimilate and contribute effectively. It makes sense that the very class where we are learning about this concept could be considered as a discourse community. We
all use a specific way of communicating (like on here in webcourses) and have the common goal of passing this class and for some of us even gaining some knowledge from
what we have discussed. It's funny how such a fancy sounding term is actual very common in everyday life.
Dominic Williams
Jan 29, 2015
I like how you decided to relate your reading to your goals in life. The example with the doctors also caught my eye and gave me a better understanding of what Swales was
discussing.
Leanna Davidson
Jan 29, 2015
Agreed with your analyzation 100%! Everything you said is what I also grasped from the article!
Abdulah Khan
Jan 29, 2015
I like how you related swales back to us and the classroom. I also like how you took what Swales said and applied it to your own life because that is what the whole point of the
assignments are.
Reply
Matias Marchi
Jan 28, 2015
Through this article the definition of a discourse community isnt too clear. Swales does state that a discourse community is a group that has a goal or purpose and uses
communication to achieve those goals. He also gives us examples of what a discourse community is and states that there is a way of classifying different discourse communities
and some of their characteristics. In this article we also encounter speech communities. Swales gives us several characteristics that makes the two (discourse community and
speech community) different.
Although we never really get a concrete definition of what a discourse community really is, we get enough information to get an idea of what a discourse community is. Although we
might think that discourse communities and speech communities are similar, Swales states the contrast between the two.
John Swales gives us six characteristics that define a discourse community. My field of study which is accounting fits into what a discourse community is, according to Swales. An
accountant's goal is to serve their client as effective as possible within their skill set of compiling taxes and external auditing. Every discourse community has it's own mechanism of
intercommunication, that applies to accountants as well. Accountants terms that are used in the world of business, some of those terms being: Cash flow, balance sheet, capital,
expenses etc. These terms aren't just for accountants but these are the terms that accounts use to communicate. I don't think that a group needs to fit all six characteristics to be
considered a discourse community.
Edited by Matias Marchi (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3863091) on Jan 28 at 10:10pm
Kelsey Paris
Jan 29, 2015
Yes the definition is not very clear, but I think that is the intent of the piece. There are so many things that could qualify as a discourse community and each is uniquely
different. Discourse communities are ideas, not physical communities. This is why the aspects of a discourse community are more of ideas than concrete parts and pieces.
Anthony Stockwell
Jan 30, 2015
I think that Swales was somewhat vague in his definition because he knows that his opinion is not the only one on the subject and that he should leave the idea of discourse
communities open for other people to expand upon as well. Stating his definition as fact would make others less likely to reference his work and some people may disagree
with his statements.
Marisa Fullone
Jan 30, 2015
I like your example of your own discourse community to what Swales was talking about. I also agree that a discourse doesn't need to fit the exact six characteristic mold to be
considered a true discourse community; the definition is open to interpretation which makes it such a complex term.
Reply
Amy Cibulas
Jan 28, 2015
The goal of Swale's essay is to come to a clear definition of a discourse community, in contrast to the vague ideas that were floating around the academic community at the time. To
do this, he first establishes the difference between a discourse community and a speech community, specifically by comparing how the two gain new members. While new members
of a speech community are introduced by "birth, accident, or adoption", there's a process to joining a discourse community (Swales, 24). Swales continues to add a set of six
characteristics a community must have to be considered a discourse community.
Swale's six characteristics aren't set in stone, and he recognizes this. In spite of his first characteristic, that a discourse community shares a common goal, individual members may
have different goals from one another. He also explains that the concept of genre is "fuzzy" and hard to pin down, with a lot of freedom for interpretation. Despite his best efforts to
come up with a clear definition, Swales accepts that there is no such thing when it comes to discourse communities. His six characteristics do however provide a helpful base for
discussing discourse communities.
Matthew Albano
Jan 28, 2015
Very well put Amy! This is my second time reading this article and I feel like you understand Swale's fuzzy definition of a discourse community very well. I think it is imperative
to understand that the with the characteristics of a discourse community are tied together by a common goal, the broader the goal the bigger the audience. I think it would
benefit you to better understand a discourse community by identifying some of your own discourse communities.
Edited by Matthew Albano (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3730736) on Jan 28 at 4:45pm
Hannah Foster
Jan 28, 2015
I liked how you mention that there is no specific definition for a discourse community, but Swales uses the six characteristics as a guide to determine whether a community is a
discourse one. I agree when you say concepts are "fuzzy" and there is a lot of freedom for interpretation. I think when this happens, there is lots of room for discussion between
many different people, which allows for maximum communication.
Abigail Michael
Jan 29, 2015
I feel like you a great understanding of the concept of discourse communities. Swales doesn't provide a clear definition of the term, but his six characteristics help with clarity.
While they are not set in concrete, they do provide an excellent guide for the determination of a discourse community. We can use these characteristics to determine whether
or not a group in our lives is in fact a discourse community. Great job!
Holly Wooley
Jan 30, 2015
Amy, I enjoyed reading your discussion because I found myself both agreeing with your thoughts. One very interesting point you made was that Swales accepts that there is
not a clear definition of discourse communities. I had not thought about this and as I think over what I read, I find that you are correct! There are some parameters as to what
could define a discourse community, but nothing is set in stone. Your discussion was thought-provoking which caused me to go back and reread parts of the article in order to
better understand your point and Swales' point. Well done!
Reply
Matthew Albano
Jan 28, 2015
I had a much easier time reading through this article a second time because of the amount of time I spent studying a discourse community last semester in ENC1101. Although
Swales' definition of a discourse community seems to be vague I found it easier to identify my discourse communities and WHY they are my discourse communities. As a
percussionist/ music educator I consider the UCF percussion Studio a type of discourse community.
A huge characteristic of a discourse community is sharing a common goal and in the percussion studio at UCF we share a plethora of goals. Some personal goals we share are
going to graduate school, becoming better performers/ educators and a unique characteristic to the UCF percussion studio is that we try to make each other better instead of making
everything a competition. As a percussion studio I believe we do achieve a lot of these goals because there are many percussionists from UCF that have moved on to schools such
as Indiana, Peabody, North Texas and Eastman where the music programs are considered as the best colleges of music in the country.
Payton Kuenzli
Jan 30, 2015
I also had an easier time reading it the second time around! I think it was easier for us this time because we already had a general idea of what the writing was about so we
could look in between the cracks a little more for this assignment. For me, I feel that my Mock Trial team here at UCF is a discourse community because we have a common
set of goals just like you and your percussion studio do. We all want to improve our public speaking skills, learn to critical think, get into law school, etc. I can relate very well to
your post!
Reply
Hannah Foster
Jan 28, 2015
In "The Concept of a Discourse Community," John Swales talks about discourse communities and the six characteristics that a community needs to be considered discourse. To
begin the article off, Swales mentions how speech communities are different than discourse communities in the fact that speech communities "absorb people" and discourse
communities "separate people." (Swales 24). He then goes into the specifics on how discourse communities share goals, have intercommunication, use participatory methods, have
their own genres, lexis, and different expertise levels. Swales talks about how discourse communities are not specific to educational settings, they can be a workplace or even a
club. Swales' writing was quite easy to comprehend and read, I enjoyed this article the most out of all the ones we have discussed.
One of the six characteristics is genres, genres are how things get done, when language is used to accomplish them. (Martin, 1985: 250), these discoursal expectations are
created by the genres that articulate the operations of the discourse community (Swales 222). An example of genres in the discourse community of a restaurant is the menu. In the
community of a school, the genre may include flyers being put up on a bulletin board informing students when activities will be held, etc. The menu and flyers in these two
communities implement information, which is the purpose of a genre and members of the communities accomplish the goals and get things done through the genres. Members in a
discourse community all share a mutual interest in the community, using Swale's six characteristics, allowing the discourse community to function properly.
Victoria Finzi-Smith
Jan 29, 2015
I really like your analysis. Your discussion of this piece definitely successfully put it in a much clear, more concise form. The overall point is clearly conveyed here.
Sarvesh Khemlani
Jan 30, 2015
I think you demonstrated your point very well, you did a nice job of analyzing how Swales conveys his argument.
Danielle Brogan
Jan 30, 2015
I think you did a good job on your analysis on Swales' article. I liked how you explained the difference between a speech community and a discourse community because many
people are typically confused by that. I also liked how you added an example of what a genre could be in a discourse community because this is one of the topics I was
confused about when I first read this article is ENC 1101.
Reply
Qiturah Bholai
Jan 28, 2015
Swales distinguishes the difference between a speech and discourse community. Swales identifies a speech community as a group that shares similar linguistic goals, similar use of
language, or both. A discourse community is a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic and has six characteristics, defined by Swales:
1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.
2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among their members.
3. 3.
A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.
4. 4.
A discourse community utilizes and possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
5. 5.
In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis.
6. 6.
A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise
Swales then goes on to describe a genre and says that a genre is used to refer to a distinctive category of discourse of any type, spoken or written, with or without literacy
aspirations (Swales, 33).
I found the article to be an interesting read and when you relate Swales six characteristics of a discourse community to yourself, I found the text easier to understand. The UCF
student body itself is a discourse community and I would say we all have a common goal of graduating. The mechanisms we use to communicate are through social media, for
example each class of has their own Facebook group. We give feedback through communication, and everyone has common terms that we know that refer to specific things
around and on campus.
Reply
Melanie Cossin
Jan 28, 2015
Reading this piece for the first time, I have to say that it was more intriguing than I expected. Swales essentially elaborates on this topic of a discourse community as he tries to
define exactly what it is and is not. From what I understand, a discourse community is just a fancy concept for a group of people who share a common interest through a form of
communication specific to their shared hobby. Although Swales mentions that many sociolinguistics have their own versions of what this term means, he proceeds to strip it a part
by differentiating it from speech discourse, creating a six fold criteria for it and by providing a personal example of what a discourse community may look like. I find it interesting how
technical Swales could get with an idea thats commonly perceived of as vague. He even brings in the idea of genre and how it impacts the content within in a discourse community.
For example, I could apply this concept to my high school drama club. It was a group of students with a desire to perform, mostly from a theatre background, who communicated
with each other using theatrical specific jargon in order to achieve our goal of putting on performances. We were a genre specific discourse community in that our shared interest
was based from the topic of theatre and the performing arts. The term discourse community sounds more official and proper than it actually is and this reading was eye opening in
that I could understand and apply this concept to my everyday life.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press.
Antoinette Walton
Jan 29, 2015
I completely agree with your analysis of this reading. I was part of a soccer team for 10 years and reading this gave meaning to the type of community I was part of although I
still find it somewhat confusing. I think drama club is a definite discourse community because if it was not, the production would be way off and be an absolute disaster. Great
job with the summary and analysis!
Leanna Davidson
Jan 29, 2015
The first time I read it I absolutely hated it and was completely lost! The second time made it a lot more clear for me. It's good that you were so intrigued the first time around.
Samantha Merto
Jan 29, 2015
I agree with your analysis completely, and can totally relate to you when it comes to drama club. I was in chorus (which I talked about in my analysis) and being a part of a
community like that helped me understand the meaning of this much better.
Reply
Antoinette Walton
Jan 29, 2015
John Swales attempts to establish the true definition of discourse community and by doing so he creates six characteristics that describe a discourse community. He also argues
that there is a difference between discourse community and speech community. He describes speech community as a group that shares similar linguistic goals, similar use of
language, or both. Swales gives an example and further discusses the issues regarding discourse community from a conceptual prospective. Also he makes a distinction between
how discourse communities gets its members and how speech communities acquire its members.
I enjoyed this reading and how it was difficult to really define what a discourse community is. I know that i have difficult describing things and reading a passage about someone
attempting to describe something that he did not fully understand himself, was very interesting to me. I was able to somewhat make a connection to the author by my own
experiences with describing concepts.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. Print.
Amanda Cintron
Jan 29, 2015
Before reading this passage I had not thought about the differences in speech community and discourse community. I thought how he defined them and explained the
difference between the too was interesting, especially how the members for each were acquired. Even though it was a bit challenging at first to understand, I thought his
examples helped a lot as well, as making connection to our own experiences.
Maya Givon
Jan 29, 2015
I like how you connected Swale's experience to your own. You're right, describing something that you yourself are not quite sure of can be difficult. I do believe however that
Swales did a great job creating six characteristics to help define a discourse community. His example also helped me to further understand those characteristics.
Reply
Dominic Williams
Jan 29, 2015
Swales discusses the lack of a clear definition of the term discourse community. He claims the definition is "not well defined as yet" (Swales 22) but needs to be clarified. There
cannot be a definition that is too narrow or one that is too wide because it will cause confusion and eliminate some of the contenders for a discourse community. He then wonders if
there is a need for a true definition of the term.
Speech communities and discourse communities are completely different according to Swales. "Speech communities are centripetal, whereas discourse communities are
centrifugal" (Swales 24). He explains six characteristics of discourse communities and gives us an example of his own discourse community, the Hong Kong Study Circle. He
describes the goals and the difference in its members and in turn explains the difference between discourse communities and speech communities.
After reading this chapter by Swales, I also begin to wonder if there is really a need for a set definition of a discourse community. Will some of the communities we believe to be
discourse communities stop being discourse communities if we finally define the term?
Work Cited
Sarah Dunn
Jan 29, 2015
I agree Dominic, Swales defines the term Discourse Community very loosely to allow almost all genres of reading and communication to fall under its umbrella. You bring up a
good point which is why I don't think the term should be redefined because then it loses it's value to categorize all genres as a discourse community. Just because a baseball
team may not be the usual discourse community We'd think of in terms of communication, they do in deed loosely follow the six characteristics Swale's provides.
Kathryn Leonard
Jan 29, 2015
I will have to disagree with you on the need for a set definition of Discourse community, I think it actually is quite necessary. Without this definition for Discourse community,
any group could claim to be one, making the title loose its meaning and validity. As well as without a definition, the term 'Discourse Community" would hold no meaning what
so ever. He states that he doesn't want to give the term a definition that is too wide, or too narrow- which gives the definition some breathing room for certain groups.
Reply
Leanna Davidson
Jan 29, 2015
For me, The Concept of Discourse Community was easy to understand because I had read the article before as well as gone in to depth about what a discourse community is in
class. What I did get from the article at first was that Swales opinion on discourse was that it has yet to be fully defined and there needs to be a lot of clarification in the process and
what exactly it is. Reading it the second time was a lot more clear. We have all been a part of discourse communities at one point or another in our lives. Whether it be a team, a
club, or a study group these all fall under the category of a discourse community as long as they meet the 6 criteria Swales describes in his article.
Edited by Leanna Davidson (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3856030) on Jan 29 at 1:49pm
Hannah Simon
Jan 30, 2015
The first time i read this article in ENC 1101 I had no clue what it was about and i had to re-read it. Going in depth of what a discourse community is last semester helped me
with this article as i read it again. We have all been a apart of a discourse community before and we will continue to be in them through the rest of our life.
Reply
Amanda Cintron
Jan 29, 2015
Swales begins the essay by discussing several problems in defining discourse community. One of those problems is deciding what defines a discourse community. Swales cites
Porter : Should discourse communities be determined by shared objects of study, by common research methodology, by opportunity and frequency of communication, or by genre
and stylistic conventions? Another problem is that community involves discourse and discourse involves community so it is hard to define them without being circular. He
attempts to clarify the definition by giving a set of characteristics that identify a group of people as a discourse community.
Even though I had learned about discourse communities in the past, I had difficulty understanding the first few paragraphs since he was addressing the problems that were
raised several vague definitions. Once he stated the characteristics and gave examples, I understood what he meant.
At the end, he explained that people can belong to several discourse communities, and they can vary in the number of discourse communities they belong to as well as the
different genres they command. Also, individuals that belong to a discourse community are not necessarily assimilated to it, which was something that I had never thought about.
Something I thought was interesting was how he explained that Academic classes are unlikely to be a discourse community at the beginning. However as the class progresses and
information is exchanged, goals are set, technical vocabulary is developed, etc., then it eventually becomes a discourse community.
Qiturah Bholai
Jan 29, 2015
I also thought it was interesting that academic classes when first established aren't a discourse community, until goals are made, it made me think about what other things are
also not a discourse community until it reaches the six characteristics that Swales mentioned.
Reply
Sarah Dunn
Jan 29, 2015
A discourse community to me is a group of like-minded people who share a common goal or purpose. My discourse community would ultimately be a community in which people are
trying to raise awareness as well as change for women's humans rights. A discourse community that is known for its campaigns on women's issues is NOW, the National
Organization for Women. Swale's most noted characteristic is genre, "Genres are types of texts that are recognizable to readers and writers and that meet the needs of rhetorical
situations in which they function." (Wardle and Downs, 216) For example, NOW has a website that provides information about their organization to anyone interested. They also
have a blog, twitter, youtube, flickr, and a Google plus account making their information virtually available to anyone with access to the internet. This helps members of the discourse
community to stay actively involved with the community. They also provide an Email subscription to their page. These are some of the ways NOW keeps in touch with it's members.
The NOW Foundation does allow for anyone interested in their cause to join as long as the dues are paid on time, however, it is not necessary for one to subscribe to their website
in order to be a member of their cause. They provide information about events and ways to get involved with the community. Although one can be a member without actually joining
NOW, it is recommended that in order to stay up-to-date and receive more access to their organization, membership is required. Their may be a certain lexis used within this specific
discourse community. The lexis used is one that will not offend or be biased towards anyone. The name NOW itself is a lexical term specific to this particular discourse community.
They also use the term PAC also known as "Political Action Committees" which is a term used in other discourse communities as well and serves its own unique purpose to their
cause. The threshold level of membership depends on one's commitment to the cause, as well as the education and knowledge they retain about women's rights. A member will
lose their membership if their dues aren't paid.
Sources Cited
http://now.org
(http://now.org)
Andrea Aviles
Jan 29, 2015
I liked how you used a personal example of a discourse community is to you. As I read this passage it was pretty clear as to what the qualifications of a discourse community
are. One of the main things of the passage that I got was that whether we know it or not, we will always be a part of a discourse community, there will always be a group out
there that believe in something the way you do.
Reply
Kelsey Paris
Jan 29, 2015
It can be difficult to define what qualifies as a discourse community. In, The Concept of Discourse Communities, John Swales identifies the key determining factors. He proposes
six defining characteristics that make up a discourse community. A discourse community has a set of common goals, uses mechanisms of intercommunication, has feedback
participation, utilizes one or more genres, has a lexis, and is made up of levels. Swales discusses his attempt to join the Hong Kong Study Circle by highlighting on these
characteristics. The Hong Kong Study Circle is a hobby group that qualifies as a discourse community.
Swales earliest attempts to become a full member of the Hong Kong Study Circle were not very successful. In terms of the defining characteristics, Swales fell short when it
came to their specific lexis. The specific terms, phrases, and forms of communication make up some specific lexis. Swales published in article in the Journal early on. The article
suggested an alternative explanation to a puzzle well known to the group. The response was less than great. This feedback proved more hurtful than helpful in Swaless attempt to
join.
Work Cited
Swales, John The Concept of Discourse Communities Writing About Writing. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs, Boston: Belford/St. Martins, 2011. 215-299 Print.
Edited by Kelsey Paris (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3853040) on Jan 29 at 4:32pm
Reply
Payton Kuenzli
Jan 29, 2015
Swales does a great job clearly explaining a discourse community. He gives a set of prongs that each community must hit otherwise it cannot be considered a discourse community.
1) public goal, 2) intercommunication, 3) providing information and feedback, 4) genre, 5) lexis, and 6) high-ranking members in the group. I have read it before but understood it
much more clearly the second time around. Before, I actually considered people who are living in the same city or in the same class together to be considered a discourse
community, but now I understand that it's not because it says so specifically in the piece; something I hadn't noticed before.
It's important to understand how discourse communities function because 1) we are all part of discourse communities and knowing the background behind how they work helps us
function within them better and 2) we all have certain discourse communities that we want to enter and knowing the dynamics behind them will help us become a part of them. For
example, I want to go to law school and become a lawyer. It is important for me to have the same goals, the same intercommunication skills, to be able to understand the lexis, to
know who's in authority, etc. to be able to enter into some type of law discourse community. Because I'm aware of all that, I can take steps to familiarize myself with that discourse
community (by being a part of Mock Trial, for example, another discourse community) so I'm able to successfully integrate into it.
The
Swales, John M. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Webcourses. Cambridge University Press. Online. 29 January, 2015.
Edited by Payton Kuenzli (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3859758) on Jan 29 at 6:09pm
Alexis Bourgeois
Jan 29, 2015
I completely agree with you Payton. I like the way you thought about how you can familiarize yourself with some type of law discourse community for your profession. I took the
same stance on the reading as well, and tried to think about all of the different characteristics the hospital embody from a discourse community. I understood the reading a little
bit better the second time around as well, and I was able to think through what discourse community looks like in real life, which is basically every group we're in. Even this
class could be considered a discourse community.
Reply
Alexis Bourgeois
Jan 29, 2015
I was assigned John Swales The Concept of a Discourse Community, last semester in ENC 1101. This reading is what made the course make sense to me. I like that in the
reading Swales tries to come up with a strong definition for discourse communities, and also differentiates between a discourse community and a speech community. People
naturally become members of speech communities, where as discourse communities recruit its members by persuasion, training or relevant qualification (471). I began thinking
about my future profession, and considering whether our not the Newborn Intensive Care Unit meets all of the requirements of a discourse community.
I believe it does.
1.) The NICUs main goal is to provide optimum healthcare to the patient, so that they are able to survive and live the healthiest life possible.
2.) The units mechanisms of intercommunication vary between hospitals, but are generally telephone, pagers, intercom, and sometimes IM.
3.) There are seminars and courses held throughout the year for nurses to be able to receive any new information that has come about, and also receive feedback on their skills.
4.) This one is a bit more tricky, but I would argue that lab reports, and shift change write ups could be considered genres of writing for the nurses.
5.) The NICU as well as every unit in the hospital has certain terminology that has been developed to make sense of certain conditions, and certain situations in the hospital. For
example, the most widely known code in a hospital is code blue: meaning a patient requires resuscitation or needs immediate care.
6.) Not everyone within the discourse community has the same level of experience. For example, the charge nurse is expected to be able to handle any questions a nurse may
before going to the nurse practitioner or doctor due to the charge nurses length of practice compared to a regular RN.
I do believe every discourse community meets all six of Swales requirements in their own way. It wasnt until I thought about this assignment that I began to realize how well the
NICU fit into Swales requirements of a discourse community.
Brandon Wagenhauser
Jan 29, 2015
I like how you applied your personal discourse community when summarizing the six components. It gives an example to other people on how they can apply the components
to their own discourse communities.
Sydney Scheiding
Jan 30, 2015
I also liked how you applied it to your profession. I did mine like this too and I really found it interesting to think about how everything fits together to make up a discourse
community. It's true that everything really is connected in some way, shape or form. And for people who don't know anything about discourse communities and the six
characteristics, this is a great way to explain it because you have personal examples that make it easy to understand!
Mackenzie Campbell
Jan 30, 2015
I think you did a good job at applying what Swales said in the article to what your future profession could be. I think by doing that you demonstrated an understanding of
discourse communities.
Reply
Samantha Merto
Jan 29, 2015
This was my first time reading The Concept of Discourse Community by John Swales, and I can say that I actually enjoyed it. Swales explains that a discourse community is a
group of people (community) with a common objective. In my opinion it is just an elegant way of saying that a group shares an interest. Swales elaborates on this, as he tries to
define exactly what a discourse community is and what it is not. I also like that Swales shows of this idea of genre and how it influences the content/ideas in a discourse community.
The first thought that popped into my mind after reading this was how I could apply this to chorus back in high school. It was a group of students with a love for music, who
communicated with each other in order to achieve our objective of putting on multiple concerts throughout the entire year. We were a discourse community that was genre specific
because we shared a common interest.
The Cheerleaders
Edited by Samantha Merto (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3856045) on Jan 29 at 6:49pm
Fiorella Anda
Jan 30, 2015
I really liked the way you tied discourse communities back to one of your own experiences. After reading Swales, I too figured out that I could apply it to several groups of my
own in my life. It's really interesting to see the ideas it brings out in all of us don't you think?
Kali Walker
Jan 30, 2015
Samantha, you're discussion post is spot on. Although Swales did not actually have a definite meaning of a discourse community, he states what needs to be present in order
to be considered a discourse community. The six traits include use of certain genres, use of lexis, hierarchy of expertise, intercommunication, information and feedback, and a
set of common goals. You're chorus back in high school probably meets all these characteristics if you consider it to be a discourse community you are apart of.
Reply
Kathryn Leonard
Jan 29, 2015
Swales starts out by arguing that there is no good definition for 'Discourse Community'. He spend a little bit of time discussing speech communities, and how they differ
from discourse communities, but then goes straight into his definition of Discourse Community. Swales offers these six criteria he believes are important to classifying what a
discourse community is. In short, it's a group of similar people, with similar goals, trying to achieve results, that work together, while meeting those six criteria he proposes.
The first time I read this, I didn't actually understand it that well. It took reading another article, where the author defined 'Discourse' for it to finally click for me. Discourse
being how one acts, what one believes in, and their values (loose definition). Often times people taking on a second Discourse depending on the group they find themselves into.
Basically Discourse is yourself, and Discourse community is a group of people with a similar Discourse as you, trying to achieve certain goals. Once you understand it, it's easy to
see how Discourse community can be applied to one's everyday life. For example, working with Theatre, everyone has a similar Discourse, and we all work together to get the
show up and running.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Wardle, Elisabeth and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing. Bedford/St. Martins. 2014. Print.
Miguel Paulino
Jan 29, 2015
I like how concise and to the point your response is. I too had to read another article for me to understand thisone. I like how you pointed out that people act differently in
different communities. Ive noticed this change first hand.
Erin Martin
Jan 29, 2015
I love that you talk about the definition of discourse on its own before putting it into the context of a discourse community. This makes the idea of a discourse community much
more understandable. I believe the concept of of a discourse community, as explained by Swales, is not as complicated as he makes it sound in his research article. I also
found it easy to apply to everyday life because there are an infinite number of discourse communities throughout every profession in action at all times.
Reply
Abigail Michael
Jan 29, 2015
Swales wrote this article in an attempt to clarify the understanding of a discourse community. He recognizes that there is no set definition, so instead, he listed six characteristics
that the communities must possess. They are: have common universal goals, have specific ways of communicating, use communication to provide information and feedback, have
more than one form (genre) of communication, have their own lexis, and consists of a combination of novices and experts. He then went into detail about each of the six
characteristics, making it a little easier to understand. Although his definition is vague, he cleared it up enough that one can determine whether or not a group is a discourse
community.
Having already read the article in ENC 1101, I found it a lot easier to comprehend. There were still a few rough patches, but overall, I knew what Swales was saying. From my
understanding, a discourse community is a group of people who share common goals and are in constant communication. There are a couple of examples of the concept in my life.
For instance, I am a part of a club at UCF called "Future Theme Park Leaders of America" or (FTPLA). This is a perfect example of a discourse community because thee group
possesses all of the criteria. For one, we all share the common goal of working for a major theme park industry one day. This is a universal goal that everyone in the group is
working towards. We also have specific genres of communication that all members are aware of. The group leaders post information on the Facebook page, send emails, and have
discussions during the meetings. Finally, FTPLA has a mix of novices, like myself, who have recently joined the club and experts who have been a part of the group for several
years. Reading the article a second time helped me get a better understanding of what a discourse community is and helped me relate it to my own life.
Reply
Andrea Aviles
Jan 29, 2015
In The Concept of Discourse Community Swales starts out by saying that there is no right definition for discourse community, but his definition of a discourse community went
along the lines of how a group of people who share a set of goals/values work together to reach it. He spend a little bit of time discussing speech communities, and how they differ
from discourse communities. But some people believe that discourse community and speech community are synonymous. While Swales did not state a clear definition for a
discourse community he did state the characteristics a discourse community should have. He believes a discourse community should have six defining characteristics that make it
up. According to Swales my field of study, which is financing, fits into what a discourse community is. We all strive for, basically, the same set of goals, and we all need to
communicate to reach it.
Swales, John M. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Webcourses. Online. 29 January, 2015
Edited by Andrea Aviles (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3855928) on Jan 29 at 8:02pm
Kelly Jimenez
Jan 29, 2015
There shouldn't be a right definition of a discourse community because there are so many factors that can contribute to describing a discourse community. They are so many
communities in the world that share the same interests that it is nearly impossible to have a specific parameter for those groups to fit in. I think that there are some cases that a
discourse community and a speech community are synonymous, but for the times that these two terms aren't synonymous it is unfair to those who are left out in the dark. I feel
that a profession, like finance, is definitely one of the largest discourse communities because every country in the world is connected by economics in some way.
Reply
Victoria Mosca
Jan 29, 2015
What I got from reading Swale's article on discourse communities is that there is a lot that defines a discourse community. He really tried hard to define exactly what a discourse
community and the exact aspects that make up one. I liked how he used a non-academic discourse community as an example. His example of the Hong Kong Study Circle showed
me that to be a discourse community, it does not necessarily have to be academic based. Some discourse communities can be formed off of interest in something. I applied this to
the snowboarding community. Although it is a very broad community and it could arguably not discourse related, I believe it is because it fits the criteria that Swales listed in his six
characteristics that make up a discourse community. First and foremost, it is a community of people that share a common interest and a goal of achieving mastery in the sport. Not
necessarily on a professional level, but learning the different techniques to ride different terrains. There is intercommunication as well as mechanisms that provide feedback to the
general community. An example of this would be the Snowboarding magazine primarily. There definitely is an obvious lingo or lexis that people outside of this community would not
understand. Lastly, it is always evolving.
Swales made it more clear to me what a discourse community could be-- he contrasted it to speech communities, and explained their differences. I believe I have a better
understanding of what a discourse community now, and can identify examples of them. Starting ENC 1101 I was confused about the term, but after reading this essay and the six
characteristics Swales listed, I feel more confident about what it is and what it is not.
Jonathon Sauers
Jan 29, 2015
I agree with you that it was good for him to use a non-academic discourse community because it shows how they can be anywhere, not just in academics. Also, I liked how you
used snowboarding as an example. As someone who grew up in Pittsburgh, I snowboarded a lot and realized when I came to college that not many people from Florida know
anything about it.
Reply
Victoria Finzi-Smith
Jan 29, 2015
Swales commences his discussion about discourse communities by conceding the very definition of the term. He states that it is indeed a very unclear title being that it itself is its
own cluster of ideas. He then references Herzberg who defines it as a center of a set of ideas rather than the sign of a single notion. Swales states that although there are indeed
entities identifiable as discourse communities, not criteria for establishing or identifying them. He breaks discourse communities in to having 6 specific traits: broadly agreed set of
public goals, merchanism of intercommunication among its members, use of its participatory mechanisms, utilizes one or more genres, acquire specific lexis, and a threshold level of
memebers with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal enterprise. He then contrasts a speech community to a discourse community and clarifies that although they are
not the same, a speech community can possess discoursal characteristics. A discourse community is centrifugal while a speech community is centripetal. He then goes on to
further break down speech communities in to either sociolinguistic and sociorhetoric. The difference being that the first group stresses the groups solidarity rather that the discoursal
characteristics. Although this piece was not the easiest to comprehend it did indeed slightly further clarify the meaning and purpose of a discourse community.
Maja Veselinovic
Jan 30, 2015
After reading your response, I have a much clearer idea on the article. You did a good job at explaining Swales' article.
Reply
Jonathon Sauers
Jan 29, 2015
In John Swales' excerpt, "The Concept of Discourse Community", he attempts to describe what a discourse community is. Although he cannot give one specific definition for what a
discourse community is, he states six characteristics that many discourse communities have. Since Swales cannot define a discourse community in words, he then proceeds to
describe what makes them discourse communities, such as their goals, lexis, intercommunication etc. Overall, Swales does a good job at allowing others to understand what makes
a discourse community.
While reading "The Concept of Discourse Community", I thought it was interesting how Swales could not really give a straightforward definition to what a discourse community is.
However, after reading the paper, it is very clear how discourse communities are everywhere and how we are currently, and will always be in discourse communities throughout the
rest of our lives.
Swales, John The Concept of Discourse Communities Writing About Writing. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs, Boston: Belford/St. Martins, 2011. 215-299 Print.
Joshua Kernica
Jan 29, 2015
I'm with you 100% on this because while swales couldn't really define a discourse community, he did give some basic requirements and what they are made up of. Swales was
vague in his definition but somehow got is point across clear about what a discourse community is. He really just wanted to inform people about an unclear topic but he couldn't
define it that well.
Reply
Brandon Wagenhauser
Jan 29, 2015
After reading this for the first time I feel like a discourse community is another word for an activity system. I may be wrong, but the more I read this the more I kept thinking back to
reading about Activity systems in ENC 1101. Each are defined as a group that shares a common goal over time, and each have six key components: subject, tools, motives, rules,
community, and division of labor (for activity systems) which are pretty much the same things described in Swales writing. From what I read previously on topics like this I found this
one to be a bit more in depth but not as complex.
Samantha Barrett
Jan 30, 2015
As I was reading this article I was thinking the same exact thing. I see a lot of similarities between the two groups. Although they do have some differences, both of the groups
have a common goal and have to communicate in order to achieve it.
Reply
Kelly Jimenez
Jan 29, 2015
According to Swales, a discourse community can be defined by six characteristics; common goals, mechanisms of intercommunication, the use of participatory mechanisms
primarily to provide information and feedback, utilizing and possessing one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, acquiring specific lexis, has a threshold
level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discouraged expertise. Swales believes that a group can be a discourse community without being academic or
scholarly. He points out a group called the Hong Kong Study Circle which possesses a variety of members, including the poor, rich, old, young, hobbyist, specialized dealers, etc..
He calls them "kindred spirits", but the group is difficult to join. In contrast, a speech community is a group that share similar "linguistic rules", such as "the English-speaking world".
This is a community that shares the same heritage, culture, and background.
These two concepts should be considered separate. A discourse community seems to have a specific topic in common. The members in this community have a certain hobby they
discuss or collaborate on to produce an essay or experiment. This is different than a speech community. A discourse community may possess people from many different countries
who speak different languages. Some members may have different rules on how to research or have a discussion because they do not follow the same set of rules that a member
from a different country. But these members share a common goal, hobby, or interest in which they take very seriously. A speech community can be diverse as well, but the
characteristic that links the members together is the common language they share. Each member can vocally understand each other and follow the same linguistic rules in any
situation, interest, or hobby.
In many situations, these two communities are connected, but the concepts should be considered separately.
Shakeena Lubin
Jan 29, 2015
I really enjoyed your reply, the way you broke down the definition of both a discourse community and a speech community made much more sense to me. I find it interesting
that there are so many discourse communities, as well as speech communities around without us even knowing.
Reply
Shakeena Lubin
Jan 29, 2015
In Swales writing The Concept of Discourse Community, he explains the true definition of what a discourse community is, as well as the difference between a discourse community
and a speech community. Swales takes definitions from several others who define speech and discourse communities. Swales breaks down the definition of a discourse community
in six different steps. Each step clearly defines what a discourse community was and its characteristics. The first step was that a discourse community had to have an agreed set of
goals. The second step is that a discourse community has different ways of communicating with one another via email, newsletters, etc. The third step of a discourse community is
providing feedback and information to one another. The fourth step states that a discourse community utilizes many different genres. The fifth step to look when looking at a
discourse community is a specific lexis, or language that only the group would understand. The last step of a discourse community is a threshold level of membership. After
explaining each step Swales gives an example of a discourse community and names a couple issues that may arise when looking at a discourse community.
This article was very interesting to me, because at one I never knew that we are surrounded by many discourse communities all around us. Another interesting fact is that all
discourse community have a specific genre, who wouldve known! It reminds me of the codes I used to use with my friends as a child when playing at school. I enjoy Swales writing
about explaining a discourse community and the steps when pointing out what a discourse community is.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990.21-32.Print.
Edited by Shakeena Lubin (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3861450) on Jan 29 at 8:38pm
Reply
Maya Givon
Jan 29, 2015
John Swales article starts off with discussing the difference between a speech community and a discourse community. Swales along with others have found the two to be
different. A speech community is more of a group of people in which members become a part of based on their culture or the environment that they grew up in while a discourse
community is a group of people brought together based on ability or interests. Swales was able to further define a discourse community by creating an open list of six characteristics
to describe it. A discourse community should consist of a set of common objectives, methods to communicate within the group, places to offer feedback, genres, lexis, and a certain
level of expertise. Discourse communities may not share the same characteristics or background like those in a speech community, but the group will usually share a common
interest. A common misconception about discourse communities is that they are mainly for scholarly people due to regular discussion of them within academic texts, but a discourse
community can be united by a simple hobby.
Im not quite sure of what profession I would like to enter yet, but if I were to stick to advertising then I would place myself in an advertising agency discourse community. As
of now I am not fully aware of many things about this specific community, but I do know that the common goal of it is to successfully create an advertisement. The method of
communication within this group is most likely email, meetings, etc. The meetings probably serve as a place where the members can provide feedback. I think it is safe to say there
are multiple genres for this professional group as there are for other discourse communities including a written schedule, emails, the advertisement copy, and more. The
advertisement copy or gaze motion are commonly spoken terms used. There is definitely a divided level of expertise with the VP of Planning watching over everything, to the interns
making the coffee runs. You can tell the difference between a discourse community and a speech community with this example because the advertising agency is a group that I
chose to join while those in speech communities grow into their groups. I do wish to learn more about my specific future discourse community. It would be nice to have more clarity
on the actual genres and lexis they use to communicate.
Although this article was pretty confusing the first time I read it, ENC 1101 and rereading it for the second time around definitely helped to clear up the idea of a discourse
community. Providing an example of my specific future community also helped me break down Swales six characteristics, and get a better understanding of each.
Edited by Maya Givon (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854730) on Jan 29 at 9:09pm
Reply
Miguel Paulino
Jan 29, 2015
The Concept of Discourse Community focuses on John Swales attempt at defining a discourse community and how it is different from a speech community. Although he doesnt
truly give an exact definition of a discourse community, he gives the six main characteristics including: a "broadly agreed set of common public goals", "mechanisms of
intercommunication among its members", "uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback", "utilizes and hence processes one or more genres in
the communicative furtherance of its aims", "has acquired some specific lexis", and "has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal
expertise" (Swales 25-27). He uses a group called the Hong Kong Study circle as his example of a discourse community.
I can relate to this article because I am apart of a discourse community here at Ucf. The common public goal is to win the national championship every year, create productive
members of society, and to have everyone graduate with at least their bachelors degree. Communication is done through many different forms including e-mail, internet posting,
mailing lists, magazines, and many more. "Regulation" was our genre, the rules, they kept us from making any decision or mistake that would threaten our goal. For example we
have curfew and study hall to make sure no one messes up and doesnt help us reach our goal. Discourse communities have changing memberships (Swales 26). All the guys we
recruit have different personalities and we were raised different but yet we all come to UCF to share those common goals. We use sport specific terms that would be lost to the
general public. For example we use words like RB and WR, which mean running back and wide receiver. These abbreviations allow us to have our own custom language. Finally, in
college football, four years is the allotted time for one to be a member of this particular community. They may not go all four years, but there will always be novices, and veteran
players, some get kicked out, some simply graduate. It's a constant cycle.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. Print.
Sabrina Andersen
Jan 29, 2015
I really enjoyed how you related this excerpt to your experience with playing college football here at UCF. It is a great relation to the text. You even mentioned specific details
like the constant cycle and the specific genre in which you guys operate. Great job!
Reply
Joshua Kernica
Jan 29, 2015
Swales attempts to define what a discourse community is in his article, even though he can not define it himself he says there are six characteristics that define a discourse
community. Swales said that a discourse community is a group that has a goal or purpose and uses communication to achieve those goals. He also gives us examples of what a
discourse community is and states that there is a way of classifying different discourse communities. I thought the article wasn't very clear but i thought it was interesting that
someone would try and write about a topic that is that difficult to define. I pretty much understand what a discourse community is not only because of this reading but because of my
prior knowledge that i obtained from ENC 1101.
Marc Krispinsky
Jan 29, 2015
I enjoy this topic because it helps me communicate with people in my same major/field of study. Maybe you should try relating it to something that could benefit you and you
would enjoy this topic even more!
Reply
Marc Krispinsky
Jan 29, 2015
After learning a lot about discourse communities last year in Comp 1, I enjoyed reading this again because I liked this topic last semester. Swales explains what discourse
communities and how they affect you. A discourse community I consider myself currently in consists of all the students at UCF that are pre-med. I know a lot of people who want to
go in the same career that I do and I enjoy speaking to these peers for advice. A discourse community I hope to one day be in is the community of practicing physicians. Physicians
communicate with each other to learn more about diagnosis' and to learn about new techniques for treating patients. Swales' article definitely made me rethink the way I speak to
people by looking at my peers as a whole community.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. By Elizabeth A. Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 21527. Print
Ayla Arrebola
Jan 30, 2015
I agree, I also liked learning about discourse communities in ENC 1101. Also, I think it's interesting that you identified your discourse community of pre-med and mentioned one
you hope to be a part of in the future, practicing physicians. Also, there will be certain lexis that you use within this community that other people who are not a part of it will not
understand. Especially being a practicing physician, there will be many things that only other physicians know about.
Reply
Erin Martin
Jan 29, 2015
Swales begins his paper by voicing his opinion of the fact that the definition of a discourse community is vague and unclear. He feels the need to set a certain amount of criteria so
that the idea of a discourse community can be universally recognizable and evident. Following this opinion he begins to denounce the idea that a discourse community and a
speech community are the synonymous, although some researchers believe this to be true. He goes on to explain that a speech community is a community of people whose motive
for interacting is predominantly social, whereas a discourse community is a community of people whose motive for interacting is predominantly functional. Once he clarifies the
differences between these two communities, he continues his earlier thought and lists six characteristics of a discourse community that may be used to clarify the definition.
1. A discourse community has a common set of goals.
2 .A discourse community has a set mechanism for intercommunication among members.
3. This mechanism is used predominantly to provide information and feedback.
4. A discourse community has evolving expectations.
5. A discourse community often has it's own specific lexicon.
6. A discourse community has changing levels of expertise where all levels are important in reaching the common goal.
I would never choose to read this article if it was not assigned to me, however, I find myself respecting Swales for creating these criteria and completely renewing an idea that had
been unclear and wavering for an excessive amount of time. His six criteria are very interesting and can be seen often in everyday life, although most would not notice as Swales
had. His mention of lexicon within a discourse community interests me the most because the difference in vocabulary used from one community to another is obvious but often
unnoticed by the speaker ; I work in retail and I often say thing like "RFID Tag, Pennystock, MICR scan, and EIC" to my associates because they understand these terms, where my
mother or my friend would have to ask me to explain its meaning because they are not a part of that discourse community.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Web.
Reply
Sabrina Andersen
Jan 29, 2015
Throughout the expert from John Swales' "The Concept of Discourse Community", the author circles around different ideas from himself and other authors in order to create a
definition of a discourse community. Instead of defining it, which he never does, he gives six criteria for which a discourse community consists of, such as common goals, methods
of intercommunication, a way to provide information and feedback, common discoursal expectations, specific lexis, and a threshold level of members who can contribute. These
criteria are Swales' only definition he gives for a discourse community. He also states that we are surrounded and involved in all sorts of different discourse communities. These for
me would be the clubs I am involved in and the job that I currently have. These concepts were really helpful in giving a common name to all of the organizations in which we are all
involved in and definitely helps us to understand that our majors and our future occupations will be huge discourse communities that we will be involved in.
Reply
Abdulah Khan
Jan 29, 2015
I found reading Swales a second time was a lot simpler because of the amount of time we have discussed discourse communities. Although I wouldn't explain discourse
communities as complicated as Swales this did help me understand discourse communities better. Swales describes a discourse community as groups of people who have similar
goals and verbally express that to one another. I would explain UCF to be a discourse community. Every student is there for a common goal to be educated and get a job in our
desired field. The discourse community could even be broken down into smaller discourse communities by major. Being a marketing major I probably have different goals than a
biomedical sciences major who's goal is probably to get into medical school. Swales also describes that a speech community is seen as centripetal and a discourse community is
seen as centrifugal. What I believe Swales meant by this was that the way that each community gets "members" is different even though a speech and discourse community are
similar.
Swales goes into more detail about discourse communities by explaining the six criteria. The first time I read this I focused a lot on these six criteria's and how this was different from
a speech community. Reading this a second time I see that a discourse community could be defined without the six criteria. Swales also says that discourse communites have
different ways of speaking than others. What I believe he meant by this is that lawyers have a different vocabulary than doctors would. If someone from a law discourse went into a
hospital they would not understand all of the terminology.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Wardle, Elisabeth and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing. Bedford/St. Martins. 2014. Print.
Edgar Ramirez
Jan 30, 2015
I completely agree with UCF being a discourse community because this institution provides a set of goals for each specific student. I also agree that its can be broken into
smaller discourse communities but majors aren't the only discourse communities that its broken down to, theres also others such as frats/sororities, intramural sports, student
clubs, etc.
John Cook
Jan 30, 2015
Though I have read multiple articles in the past on discourse community I have to say this one by far made it the clearest to understand. I do agree with you that UCF can be
considered a discourse community because of the multitude of different academic classes present here. I also have to agree with you that even though speech and discourse
community do share a small amount of similarity, I do think that the way each community does get its members is different form each other. All and all your post is very
intriguing and clarify's greatly what the main purpose of what message is trying to be conveyed.That is that discourse community is important because every discourse
community can be different from each other.
Reply
Maja Veselinovic
Jan 29, 2015
John Swales attempts to define what discourse community is in this article. By using examples of many intellectuals attempts to define discourse communities, he presents the
readers with the idea that the communities dont fit into one single definition. Swales states that there are six different characteristics that belong to the community. These six
characteristics dictate whether or not something can be labeled discourse community. If the community is missing one of these characteristics, it cannot be considered a discourse
community.
This is my first time reading the article and I can say it really helped me understand what a discourse community is exactly. Swales gives a very detailed explanation of the topic and
helps form a clearer outlook on such a broad topic. I now feel more confident in my knowledge on discourse communities. An example of a discourse community that I am a part of
is the feminist club, here at UCF.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. By Elizabeth A. Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 21527. Print
Edited by Maja Veselinovic (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3855899) on Jan 29 at 11:59pm
Reply
Ayla Arrebola
Jan 29, 2015
In his piece, Swales talks about what a discourse community is. Although he has trouble actually defining this term, to me its basically a group of people with common goals and
who can relate to each other. I feel like I belong to several discourse communities: colleagues at work, classmates in my grade, students in my major, etc. More specifically, I was a
part of a program called STEP (Supporting Teacher Education Pre-professionals), which consisted of freshmen who were education majors. This program was an introduction to
education and what it was going to be like to become a teacher. A way that we communicated with other people in the program was through Facebook groups and group texting. We
all had a common goal of eventually becoming teachers. Although we had different interests in specific subject areas, there was still lexis we used with each other. We used terms
like No Child Left Behind and IDEAS which were both acts that only teachers and possibly parents would be interested in knowing.
Reply
Samantha Barrett
Jan 30, 2015
Throughout this article Swales has a difficult time explaining what exactly a discourse community is. Although, he is able to define 6 characteristics that make up a discourse
community. These characteristics are; having a common goal, having intercommunication between members, being able to provide information and feedback, utilizes genres in
"communicative furtherance of its aims", having specific lexis and has members with different levels of expertise.
It is very important for everyone to know what a discourse community is because we are all a part of at least one and will be entering even more as we get older. By knowing what a
discourse community is, it allows us to know how they work and how we can operate within them. This can also be helpful when entering a new discourse community because you
can learn about all of their goals, communication methods and everything necessary to join so that assimilating to the group goes very smoothly.
Mikayla Thomas
Jan 30, 2015
I agree with you in that it is important for people to know what a discourse community is. Knowing about the community around you allows you to function more efficiently and
effectively as an individual and as a group. Having a common set of goals and effective communication makes being a part of a community easier.
Lindsey Belanger
Jan 30, 2015
Samantha I also agree that it is important for everyone to know what a discourse community is. I definitely think knowing about something you are always going to be a part of
will make life easier and potentially more enjoyable.
Reply
Anthony Stockwell
Jan 30, 2015
In this article, Swales says that the definition for discourse communities is not a very detailed definition and that it is somewhat open to interpretation. He goes on to discuss the
differences and similarities between and discourse community and a speech community. He makes the argument that having a stricter definition for a speech community would not
eliminate the need to have a more thorough definition of a discourse community. In the article, Swales also talks about a set of six characteristics that he believes are all that is
needed to determine whether a group of people is in fact a discourse community or not. These characteristics help to distinguish between what is and is not a discourse community.
They also help to apply the knowledge of a discourse community to things in your own life. For example, the topic that I am going to be writing about in this class is a career in the
stock market. The stock market itself is a discourse community because it adheres to the six characteristics that Swales lays out. 1) A broadly agreed upon set of common public
goals. Everyone knows that the goal of the stock market is to invest your money or someone else's money into companies that you will be able to sell for a higher amount later. 2)
Mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. One of the main ways that people in the stock market communicate is on Wall Street. Tons of people meet there every day
to talk business or make investments. There are also other forms of communication like the Wall Street Journal and other business magazines and newspapers. 3) Uses its
participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. In order for people in the stock market to actually know what is happening, they need to keep up with the
current status of the market and make predictions about what will happen next. They do this either by checking on the internet, looking in newspapers or watching TV. 4) Utilizes and
possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. There are many types of genres in the stock market. The most obvious one is in the name, a stock.
People buy and sell stocks on the stock market. Who knew? Another type of genre in the stock market might be a loan. I'm not entirely sure if this counts or not though. 5) Has
acquired some specific lexis. I think anyone that has tried to watch a stock report on TV knows that the stock market has a special lexis. Terms like NASDAQ and DOW JONES are
two examples that many people might recognize. 6) A threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise. Anyone is able to trade on the
stock market. There are many people who are professionals and have college degrees to help them do this, but there are some people with little experience as well.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. (1990) : 21-32. Print.
Briana Pierre
Jan 30, 2015
I like how you applied the six characteristics of a discourse community defined by Swales and incorporating those into your unique discourse community in the career in the
stock market. The way you described these characteristics provides with insight and information in the world of the stock market in which I no nothing about and I think that is
what Swales whats us to take from this.
Reply
Fiorella Anda
Jan 30, 2015
Although a little imprecise, Swales effectively utilized examples and descriptions clear enough for me to understand the overall meaning of discourse communities. Discourse
communities dont necessarily have to be a certain career field or team, but could be anything from a club to a group of friends wanting to go on a specific trip, to a group of
teachers. As long as they have common goals, one of the six characteristics, then its safe to say theyre a discourse community. I wont list all the characteristics, but instead
mention the ones I find to be the most helpful of understanding the actual meaning and definition of discourse communities. Genres, or any text really, are used to further
communicate aims and expand the discourse community, it could be anything from a magazine to an advertisement, lexis or jargon is very important as well. As a pre-veterinary
student there have been moments where not understanding the way vets intercommunicate, has hindered me from learning new information. For example, not knowing the name of
a general anesthetic used for animals can cause great confusion. Knowing how discourse communities function is important because were all part of them somehow. Without even
knowing it, Im a part of many. I really liked this reading due to the fact that I learned that I'm a part of several groups and "communities" with similar goals and aspirations.
Source Cited
Shane Wright
Jan 30, 2015
I completely agree with what you have said. The way that Swales had provided his ideals to me made me think that discourse communities were only related with a
professional community. However, with what you brought up, and plain group of people can become a discourse community if they follow the criterion.
Andrea Wertz
Jan 30, 2015
I agree that genres and also lexis are two very unique things that define a discourse community and separate it from others. I also like the way you casually related the idea
behind discourse communities to everyday things rather than the scholastic view of them. Often times I think we get too wrapped up in reading scholarly journals that we
believe it has to be as complicated as the form it was presented to us.
Jaydon Perez
Jan 30, 2015
It is interesting how you say that as long as a community satisfies at least one of the six characteristics given by Swales then it is considered a discourse community. Many
students in this discussion from what I skimmed through would disagree. I however agree with that statement considering many communities only share a common goal.
Although, as far as sharing, gathering, and preserving knowledge, not all communities are equally effective. I feel that the more a discourse community can satisfy these six
criterion, the more long-lasting and impactful a discourse community ultimately becomes.
Reply
Sydney Scheiding
Jan 30, 2015
Swales starts off explaining that discourse communities have no exact definition, but more a suggestion of guidelines in which to follow. He goes on to explain that there are 6
characteristics that a discourse community needs to have. These characteristics include having a broad sense of common goals, having ways of communicating between members,
has ways to provide information and feedback, has genres, and lexis. The last characteristic is that a discourse community must have levels within the membership. While I am still
learning my way around the events industry of hospitality, I believe that it fits all of the criteria. We have common goals in providing great service and putting on events that not only
fit the occasion but make lots of people happy. There is communication through networking and by social networking such as linked in. There is also communication through
personal contact such as phone calls and emails. The last step of every event is evaluation. In this step, feedback is given as to how the event went and what should be done
differently if it was done over. Genres are always a little difficult to point out, especially since I'm not yet in the field. The genres would probably be a RFP or request for proposal.
Lexis, or a unique language known to a certain group, are used everywhere. Lexis would be all the acronyms that are used and the terms such as conventions, expositions, and
FAM trips, among others. Of course there are levels of membership within the events industry. There are the interns at the bottom and the main event planners and coordinators at
the top. There are special certifications you can take to help your career and help make yourself more qualified for certain companies and events. Overall I think that the events
industry definitely fits the 6 characteristics needed for a discourse community according to Swales.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing About Writing: A College Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011.
Edited by Sydney Scheiding (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3865014) on Jan 30 at 12:30am
Reply
Mikayla Thomas
Jan 30, 2015
Swales uses this article to describe what a discourse community is. While he does not expressly state what a discourse community is, he uses the 6 categories to make it more
clear what it is. A discourse community is basically a community of people coming together who have similar goals and mindsets that are alike. There are genres used within the
communities . These genres are what the community uses to function. An example of a genre for a church would be religious books or for a band a music book. Swales describes
something called lexus. Lexus is a specific choice of wording that people within the community use. A group of doctors will use acronyms and vocabulary that is very specific to their
profession and those outside the community would not understand it.
Each person is a part of their own discourse community. Being in this English class and discussing terms such as discourse community and literacy sponsors makes us our own
discourse community. As long as your group fits the criteria that Swales describes, it can be considered a discourse community.
Shakiera Jackson
Jan 30, 2015
Mikayla it seems like me and you got the same understanding of Swales article. The Lexus stuck out to you like it did me. I believe that the Lexus is an important part of the
discourse community. I like the way you used the example of how our classroom is a discourse community. That makes things easier to understood for people who are
confused by the definition of a discourse community. Our class can also be named a discourse community because all have a common goal which is to pass the class and
learn something from it.
Reply
Hannah Simon
Jan 30, 2015
A Discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common goals, has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory mechanism primarily to
provide information and feedback, utilizes and possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, acquired some specific lexis, and a threshold level of
members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales 220-222). People in a discourse community interact with common people, create, receive, and
reply to the same kind of messages for the same purposes, and have a similar range of genre skills. . They need to keep up with informational opportunities to continuously strive to
improve the common goal. Genre is a text that helps further communication between people in the discourse community, each genre uses a specific lexis depending on the
community. In each discourse community there are specialized lexical items that are used that differentiate one discourse community from another because people in a discourse
community will be able to recognize and understand the lexis. People enter discourse communities as a student and stay depending on their expertise in the community.
In my future I plan to be apart of the medical discourse community by understanding the common goal of helping people get better. In the medical field professionals
communicate with other professionals about the same patient for background information. The genres we use to communicate will be through medical records, books, and articles of
studies that similar professionals have researched. Knowing the lexis will allow me to communicate with people in the discourse community. People who are not in the disoucrse
community, such as patients will not understand and I will have to use different lexis when I am with patients and when I am with associates. Everyone in my Discourse community
will have a degree in math and science. We will all be trained professionals, but some will have higher degrees and more experience. Knowing the rules of the Discourse
community will assist me in figuring out how to assimilate into the community.
John Swales, The Concept of Discourse Community, English In Academic and research settings, (1-16)
Angela Clayborne
Jan 30, 2015
I really like how you included a quote from the text describing a definition of a discourse community and then described a definition in your own words. I feel that demonstrates
that you adequately understand the concepts stated in the excerpt. Great job on that! I am also planning to be a part of the medical discourse community so I can fully relate to
needing to know the lexis and the different genres in order to be successful in this community. As Swales said though, it won't be easy at first to be successful in understanding
the way they communicate and how they formulate their medical records and research, but with practice I'm sure we'll both get the hang of it!
Reply
Shane Wright
Jan 30, 2015
The definition of a discourse community by Swales is kind of tricky. He gives the readers a basic definition by basically saying a discourse community is a certain group of people
who communicate in order to achieve a common goal for all these people. However, coming up with a concrete definition is a very hard task, because he tries to Incorporate other
definitions within his own, which causes confusion by making the whole term itself make no sense. Swales then compares the discourse community to a speech community. (Swales
23)
Swales later gives six criterion that a discourse community needs, in order to be a discourse community. He then points out that in reality, members of a discourse community will
commonly come from different social and economic backgrounds, but are apart of the same discourse community in order to achieve a common goal.
The Cheerleaders
Works Cited
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Edgar Ramirez
Jan 30, 2015
Swales defines a discourse community as "groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals. He also presents six defining characteristics to
determine whether or not a group truly is a discourse community. According to him a discourse community must have a set of common goals, have mechanisms of
intercommunications among its members, uses participatory mechanisms to provide feedback, etc. He also goes on to talk about primary and secondary discourse communities. A
primary discourse community is basically the community you were born into or the first real communities you were a part of. Examples would be a church group, family, and any real
first community you took apart of. A secondary community is basically all the rest of the communities you joined later on in life. Examples would be frats/sororities, athletic team, etc.
Reply
John Cook
Jan 30, 2015
It took some time to fully understand what Swales was trying to convey in his writing but once I thoroughly read through, it can became very clear. For starters, when it comes to the
term discourse community, there is no definitive definition that can be used to describe it. There are multiple factors that Swales does point out that can claim attribute to this. The
first one that is pointed out is that there is no set criteria out that indicates if the requirements are met so that one may be considered a part of a discourse community. This is a
problem because it means that it becomes difficult to determine whether or not a person is actually part of a discourse community. The second problem that is identified is the fact
that many people tend to combine discourse community with that of speech community. Though this seems like a solution, there are many things that are wrong with this, mainly
there are multiple differences between speech community and discourse community. The first problem is that of the medium, where Swales puts it as Literacy takes away locality
and parochiality, for members are more likely to communicate with other members in distant places, and are more likely to react and respond to writings rather than speech from the
past. (Swales, pg.24), in other words distant of communication can play a big role in this disposition. The next problem is that speech community is predominantly social while
discourse community is predominantly functional, this indicates that the sense of how each group works is different. The third problem is that speech community assimilates the
people of the groups while discourse community separates and organizes them into much different groups. Upon seeing this it is safe to assume that these two separate entities can
coexist with each other. He goes on to state that in order for there to be a distinction for discourse community there needs to be a criteria that can be established. As such he sets
out a criteria that consists of 6 rules that need to be followed. He then gives an example, which is a stamp collecting society, which would meet this criteria and thus be considered a
discourse community. I now understand that a discourse community is not as simple as many people try to make it out to be, on contrary, it is more complex and as such needs to
have a definitive definition and criteria. This is crucial because the discourse community is important to me and many others such that academic classes meet the criteria put out by
Swales and as such is considered a discourse community. Since that is the case it is imperative that one now tries to understand how his or her discourse community functions. It is
also imperative that definitive definition is put in place for discourse community.
Citation
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. English in Academics and Research Settings. Cambridge University Press. 1990. SwalesDiscourseCommunities.pdf
Edited by John Cook (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3855961) on Jan 30 at 1:22am
Reply
Skye Barba
Jan 30, 2015
Swales is letting us know that discourse communities exist, but are almost undefinable. There really isn't one definition of what a discourse community is, as he shows with
examples from many different writers. I honestly believed in Herbergs description the most. I liked that point he made about the community could be academic, disciplines or social.
Our classroom discourse is much different then they everyday lunch table discourse (oh remember those middle school days..) Later on, Porter states the question "Should
discourse communities be determined by shared objects of study////or bygenre and stylistic conventions?' No in my opinion. Let's say your in the library studying with friends, but
with friends taking different classes. Your in the same discourse community at that moment, but are you all studying the same thing? are you all focused on the same genre? no, you
each studying your own thing.
Swales continues on to discuss speech communities and how it differs from discourse communities. He uses NYC as an example of a speech community, and thats honestly
the first place I though of as well. Speech community is something your born or raised into which makes you understand and assign meanings to certain words not know everywhere
else. For instance, in NY, we use "pop" instead of "soda" and the ignorance for just crossing the street without looking is pretty normal for a New Yorker. This differs from a discourse
community because in a discourse community you are persuaded or trained to join the community, your not automatically apart of it.
Citation:
Danielle Obrien
Jan 30, 2015
I found the New York example to very useful as well. New York may have a large population that may be a part of one giant speech community, however within it there are so
many discourse communities. Someone part of the chemistry discourse community in New York will most likely have lexis that is very different from someone who is part of the
acting discourse community. This also goes for genre, as the topics both groups are investigating will most likely be different as well.
Tevis Tucker
Jan 30, 2015
The NYC example really helped me separate speech communities from discourse communities. In NYC, everyone has their own "lexis" because their English dialect is unique
to their location, but it is something you are born or adopted into. The entire city doesn't share a common goal, either, although a few may overlap. The community also largely
revolves around being clustered together. The "lexis" of NYC wouldn't have evolved if the NYC population was spread across the entire US equally. NYC is a perfect example
of a speech community and by seeing that, I better understood discourse communities.
Reply
Andrea Wertz
Jan 30, 2015
John Swales spends a great amount of time picking apart the different aspects of discourse communities. He begins by defining it in general terms and comparing it to speech
communities which results in him deciding that speech communities fit best as separate from discourse communities. Especially in the sentence where he describes how speech
communities are things you are born into while you have to actively join a discourse community (Swales 24). From there, Swales goes right into his six characteristics of what
constitutes a discourse community. To summarize those characteristics in a small statement: Discourse communities have their own goals and their own methods of
intercommunication. Gaining new information and providing feedback to the community is also essential and each community has a collection of genres and other specific materials
that aid the progress and function of the community. These genres will most likely contain unique lexis that only those who are in the discourse community will fully understand.
Finally, the members of the discourse community are organized in tiers of hierarchy and experience. Swales continues his article with more discussion on discourse communities'
interactions with the world and with each other within the community. He provides an example of a discourse community that he was in, which was the Hong Kong Study Circle
(Swales 27). An interesting idea presented by Swales was that over a person's lifetime, they could belong to many different discourse communities and multiple ones at the same
time. Being a double agent or a bystander to a discourse community could be something that is accidentally initiated just through the regular course of life (Swales 30).
Specifically to the professional field that I am interested in, it definitely represents a discourse community. In the veterinary field, you encounter a very exclusive array of genres and
lexises that most outsiders would not understand. Some of the genres include medical journals and professional publications about research. These genres encourage the
intercommunication between the members of this discourse community around the world. The studies done by various veterinarians and the experiments conducted provide great
opportunities for others to replicate those experiments and publications. All of these things working together help fulfill the goal of expanding the practice of veterinary medicine and
carrying out the job successfully today. As you work your way through the profession you encounter people who have higher positions and more experience, but that does not mean
that you are limited to your lower tier and cannot climb the ladder to be one of the top members of the community.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. (1990): 21-32. Print.
Cesar Hernandez
Jan 30, 2015
I like that you not only stated what Swales wrote but also that you were able to put the definitions into your own words. This shows that you understand what Swales meant
when he wrote the six criteria for discourse communities. You also did a great job at explaining how each of the six criteria help define your field as a discourse community.
Your examples show that you understand what they are that you able to recognize them. Overall, great job.
Reply
Shakiera Jackson
Jan 30, 2015
Swales gives his audience a clear understanding of his definition of a discourse community is. He breaks down characteristics, or qualities that describes a discourse community. He
comes up with these qualities through analyzing his speech communities and discourse communities as separate definitions. Swales six characteristics of a discourse community
are fairly understandable methods to define what a discourse community actually is. To me, the most important characteristics are the lexis and the public common goals. I say the
lexis is very important because only the people within the discourse community understand the terms particular to their community. Also, the common goals are important because
very discourse community has their own goals to reach and only the people in the discourse community know how to reach those goals and can achieve those goals.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. pg. 23-24 and 35. Print.
Caleb Silvers
Jan 30, 2015
I totally agree that lexis is one of the most important characteristics. Becoming part of a discourse community is nearly impossible until you learn the lexis. Until then, no matter
how much time you spend with the community, you still feel like and outsider. It is hard to achieve common goals when members don't have a clear way of communicating to
each other.
Alexander Laguardia
Jan 30, 2015
Very nice summary! I also agree with the characteristics you think are most important. When it comes to being a part of discourse community goals are very important or else
you will never Succeed! Lexis is also important because it could allow you to quickly and fluently speak with people in you're discourse community.
Isabella Cura
Jan 30, 2015
Even though lexis are important, I believe the most important part would be keeping a happy balance of old to new people in a community. If all the old people leave you won't
have anyone to train the new people.
Reply
Kali Walker
Jan 30, 2015
Swales defines discourse communities as, a community of people that have a set publicly known goals, mechanisms of intercommunication, exchange information and
feedback, usage of genres, have specific lexis, and have stratified membership within the community, (471-473). Having a set of publicly known goals would be when a company as
a whole has a goal that the outside community is aware of. Intercommunication is the way members communicate within the community. Exchanging information and feedback
within the community and with the outside community is way that the discourse community grows. Usage of genres, such as play books in football, allows the intercommunication
within the community to expand. Specific lexis is certain vocabulary or slang that only members in the community really understand. And lastly, stratified membership is basically the
hierarchy of expertise in the community. I am involved in a couple discourse communities that all meet these requirements. For example, my dance team, my job, and my major.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing About Writing. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 466-480. Print.
Edited by Kali Walker (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3861095) on Jan 30 at 2:06am
Kali Walker
Jan 30, 2015
Elizabeth Plazewski
Jan 30, 2015
Nice job summarizing the key aspects of a discourse community. It would have been nice for you to define them using examples from you dance team, job, or major.
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