Journal #3 Summary: Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings.

Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print. In Swales The Concept of a Discourse Community he defines what he believes is a discourse community by using six characteristics. They are: A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback, A discourse community utilizes and hence possess one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis, and a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise. He explains them and then gives an example (The Hong Kong Study Circle) of a discourse community and why it is one. Lastly, he discusses remaining issues like being a member of multiple discourse communities and whether an academic student can be considered as one.

Larissa Macko ENC 1102 January 25, 2013 Analysis: Swales idea of discourse community and its membership relates to my major, Biomedical Sciences, and the career I hope to pursue. Doctors have their own discourse community and Im sure Swales himself might be willing to define it as one as well. It fits his criteria in every aspect. They each have a goal, whether it is helping others for selfenjoyment, making money or both. Amongst each other an understanding blossoms that helps the group grow through communication and feedback they give to one another. The lexis helps others distinguish whether one is a part of the community and can also be used as part of a filter. Those who are deemed to be at a higher level than the rest can also filter out people from the community and keep it running for those who do meet the criteria necessary to be a part of it. Within the community there are even genres that are specifics to the whole community itself. For example, I wish to be a doctor and within that community my genre will then be classified as a surgeon and within that specifically classified as a plastic surgeon. All of these characteristics are there and go hand in hand with one another and thats what I feel helps this community to be one of the top successful communities. If I want to become a successful plastic surgeon then I will have to study all the different aspects of their discourse community from beginning to end. Make sure that I can understand their lexis, be able to give the feedback necessary and communicate well with others, not just the other doctors but also explain myself well to patients. All these ideas help contribute to my goal. Swales definition of discourse community acts as a rubric

for my specific field. I know what I need to do in order to join it and stay as an active member, which will help me achieve my personal goal of becoming a plastic surgeon.