An Essay On Discourse Community John Swales

Discourse Communities

A discourse community can be defined in many different ways. Some people would say that they exist in more places than people would expect, others would say they only exists in small groups that are very excusive. I agree with the person that believes they are all around in everyday life. In order to be a discourse community John Swales believes that there are six requirements to meet. Once all six have been achieved a discourse community has been formed. Swales argues that communities are all around and if you look closely you will see just how many there really are. Discourse communities can range from a highly structured military to a college soccer team. This is because the requirement to be a discourse community

are much easier that most would expect. One discourse community that I find to be very interesting is the Medical sales field. I find this discourse to be interesting for two reasons. I would like a chance to join this community whenever I graduate from college and I have an experienced source that has been in the field for over 25 years. This source is closer to me that anyone I know, my mom. Maureen, my mom, has been to many different companies and has been given many awards for her accomplishments in her field. She has given me all the ins and outs of her field. These highly sought after professionals operate on an incredible level. They must communicate and strive for the same goals to accomplish the tasks that the company asks. This community can fall under all six of Swales elements. In my paper I will explain how all six of the elements can fall under the Medical field discourse community.
The Medical Sales field is a competitive market with few room for failure. If a Doctor is not satisfied at any time they can simply move to another company. This means that the sales people must always be communicating trying to find new ways to spread their product while also maintaining their present clients. Swales first element that must be met is, “a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals” (Swales 471). This set of goals is needed for the community to survive and continue to exists, without set goals a discourse community has nothing to work towards. In the Medical Sales field each person has a quota set at the beginning of the year that they must meet in order to maintain their jobs. This quota will increase each year to make the overall goal of the community to keep expanding over time. My mom said, without set goals for the company they cannot set quotas for the sales force to meet.” This means that there are not only goals for the sales people but also for the company as a whole. The companies all want to be the best so they strive to one up the competition each year to be called the best company. The sales force and the company both have set goal which means they have met swales first element to be considered a discourse community.
Swales believes that in order to be considered a discourse community there must be constant communication. If a community lacks communication they are not working as a whole. Swales second element is, “a discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members” (Swales 471). The Medical Sales field must be in constant contact within and outside of the discourse community. Inside the discourse community they must schedule meeting for all the sales force to come together and talk about all the changes on the market. Maureen could not stress how important these meeting really are, “without these weekly meeting we might not know who has lost and gained clients and we might make the mistake of going after a doctor that we already have.” She went on to talk about how meticulous doctors are about structure. She said if two people from the same company try to get the exact doctor they can look sloppy and unorganized as a whole. Meeting are not the only way of communication within the discourse community but this is where the sales reps get to communicate to each other. This meets Swales second element to be a discourse community due to communication occurring within the community.
Swales believes that a discourse community must have communication within its community but it also needs to generate knowledge for that community.

The third element to swales discourse communities is, “a discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback” (Swales 472). Swales also believes that there must be different forms of that communication, a discourse community utilizes and hence possess on or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims” (Swales 472). The Medical Field has many different options when it comes to transferring information. Emails are the biggest form of communication because they allow corporate to keep everything on file. This gives corporate the capability to bring up older emails if there is any confusion or controversy over a past topic. Emails also allow the company to reach the whole branch in a matter of seconds. Calling a meeting can take away precious time that the sales force could use working with doctors. The communication also accrues on the outside of the company when sales people are in contact with their clients. The client or doctors are always demanding attention from the sales people. Running on short notice doctors could need a drug test done or a screening might be needed to make sure a baby is still healthy and on track for birth. The Medical rep best source to stay in contact is through text message. Text messages allow short quick exchanges of information so the test can be sent right away. Maintaining contact with the doctors is the most important part about the job. If a doctor cannot get in contact with a medical rep they will change companies to someone that will respond faster. This means doctors can get instant feedback at any time. The Medical sales force uses many different ways of communication within and outside of the company to receive feedback. This meets Swales third and fourth elements to be a discourse community because there are many

different means of communication that can all generate positive information.
Swales often looks at this fifth element as one of the biggest factors on if a group is considered a discourse community. The reason for this is because this is special language or terms that only that specific community have. This is what makes one discourse community unique from another discourse community. The fifth element to be a discourse community is, “in addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis” (Swales 473). This specific lexis are special terms or saying that only people within that discourse community can fully understand. In the Medical Sales field there are many special term that only makes sense to them. The most unique lexis that the Medical Sales field has is their codes. The codes are used to give specific test for a doctor. Instead of a doctor having to say the entire test they need they can just say a code. This code is easily understood between the doctor and rep. This help prevent confusion between either parties. They also use billing codes to send to the insurance companies. The billing codes only make sense between the insurance and Medical reps. This keeps the patient safe from others discovering what they are being tested for. Keeping clarity between doctors and protecting the patients is why this special lexis is needed. Swales would consider this the fifth element because of the complexity of the language within the community.
The last element is there to keep the discourse communities longevity. Swales says the sixth element to becoming a discourse community is to have a varied mix of individuals. If you have just old experienced people the community will cease to exist in due time. On the contrary if you have only young members in the community they will have no experience and will end up dissolving the community due to no prior knowledge of how it has lasted for so long. Swales says his sixth rule needs, a discourse community (that) has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise” (Swales 473). In the Medical Sales field there are accomplished older members and younger unexperienced members, both the young and old play a huge role in maintaining the discourse community. In the Medical Sales community the younger members will often shadow the older members. They will follow them wherever they go and just watch the older members. This helps the younger members see the tricks and tactics the older members have obtained over the years. Maureen said, “Without shadowing some people I would have never learned some of the little tricks sales people do to get the edge on the competition.” This ensures the longevity of the company because as the younger people get enough experience they too can go out in the field alone and become another independent sales person. Swales would believe that this follows the sixth element to become a discourse community because the community is passing on prior knowledge along the expertise.
Discourse communities are much simpler to understand when you look at Swales six elements. They allow you to see each level of the community from a different perspective, whether the community striving for an overall goal or passing experience from one to another. The Medical Discourse community fulfills all six of Swales elements. Swales would call the Medical Sales field a discourse community.