In the article “The Concept of Discourse Community” John Swales touches a few very important main ideas about what discourse community really is, but ultimately Swales does not give a direct definition. I found it to be refreshing that he is able to express his feelings about discourse community and how we are all apart of one in someway it's just a matter of how much effort one puts in as opposed to another with little effort. Swales talks about discourse community and how our world today really is not that good at being a part of them because of other distractions such as technology or other issues like being bad communicators. He discusses the six qualities or characteristics of being apart of a discourse community. You have to be active …show more content…
in communicating and wanting to be a part of that community. Of Swales criteria, conceptualization of discourse community gives the reader the best idea of what discourse community is. A main point Swales wants to get across to the reader is that discourse community is a group of people who want to make the effort to get the job done and be better ( Swales 219 ). They typically have similar qualities and share common interests and they come together because they have one common goal. In the text it states that “ In some instances , but not in many, the goals may be high level or abstract” (222). Which goes to show that no matter what idea or thought that comes across the people of a discourse community , they are ready to attack it. Even if they fail, it is good because that is the only way they're getting better. I do not think that Swales really touched on the fact that there is going to be negatives when it comes down to a direct definition of a discourse community.
Sometimes within a large group of people you tend to have disagreements about certain things because the communication isn't there, but I do agree with the fact that interaction and clear communication are huge when it comes down to a discourse community. For example, I am on the women's soccer team here at Western Illinois and communication is one of our most enforced rules. Being on a team of 33 girls and having zero communication would be very hard for our own discourse community to function. During meals we all eat together, and each time we eat we make sure we sit next to someone different every time so we can on be on the same level with getting to know each other and making sure we all communicate. We all have our set of common goals as well and without communication and readiness to attack them we won't be able to reach …show more content…
them. Another point Swales gets at in this piece is that, as one is making goals, it can fall into a number of different categories.
He makes it clear that discourse community isn't one set idea or it doesn't have a set definition and you really can compare that to how an idea doesn't either. Swales states “ A discourse community has developed and continues to develop discoursal expectations”(221) This shows that he thinks that the expectations are only going to be raised and things can only get better from where they are now. People in a discourse community have to have the willingness to be open to new ideas and thoughts and they can fall into any genre at any given
point. Having an open mind to anything in life can open up doors for you that you probably never thought you would go in. In my experience since I have been here being open to things needs to be one of the required qualities in being an athlete. You need to be committed to getting better always in all sorts of different ways. Swales feels strongly that there is no one set definition to the term discourse community, it is not something that is easily identifiable. He believes there are multiple ways to describe the qualities of a discourse community which are that you need to be able to accept the fact that many ideas will come from many different people and they will fall into all different genres. Also Swales talks about how communication is key when it comes down to being apart of a discourse community. You need to have the passion to help and the drive to make things in life better. I think Swales makes a lot of logical points about discourse community and how much communication effects it. It all depends on the people on the community, if they put in the effort to communicate they will succeed and if they do not they will not. This matters because in our world today we are losing communication. We are glued to technology and are losing the skill of being able to communicate, and communication is key for a discourse community to survive.
Discourse Communities are defined as “a group of individuals bound by a common goal who communicate through approved channels and whose discourse is regulated” (Couzelis et al. 12). Every person on this planet belongs to a discourse community whether they realize it or not. If you start at a larger scale, Texas A&M University-Commerce is a large discourse community, and within that larger discourse community there are hundreds, quite possibly thousands of smaller discourse communities. Many of the discourse communities overlap with members belonging to several communities at the same time.
A discourse community has mechanisms of communication amongst their members. A discourse community uses its sharing mechanisms mainly to provide information and feedback. A discourse community applies and holds one or more genres in the communicative progress of its goals. In addition to holding genres, a discourse community has to obtain some specific lexis. Lexis is the total stock of words in a language. A discourse community has a level of members with a proper degree of appropriate content and discoursal expertise, ranging from a novice to an expert. I will further explain each characteristic and how it relates to the dance
Joining a discourse community is when you all share a common like or belief. Joining a discourse community can sometimes be a challenge. Rather you’re new at it or been participating in something for a very long time. Every discourse community is different and can be operated differently and by different type of people. They say drill team and dancing is easy and doesn’t take a lot of hard work like in other sports so in this paper I will be sharing with you all my journey of joining drill team/dance team and appealing ethos, logos and pathos.
This is essentially reinforcing the second characteristic as well as stating that a discourse community should provide information and feedback through its means of communication. Sticking with the basketball team example, information and feedback would be given to the players, to critique them. They may have meetings with their whole team or separately with the coach. They’re given constructive criticism by their players and coaches for the betterment of the team.
To examine various discourses, it is crucial that the idea of discourse and the way in which discourses operate is clear. A discourse is a language, or more precisely, a way of representation and expression. These "ways of talking, thinking, or representing a particular subject or topic produce meaningful knowledge about the subject" (Hall 205). Therefore, the importance of discourses lies in this "meaningful knowledge," which reflects a group’s ideolo...
“A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory
Football is a discourse community I am involved in where the members have similar goals and expectations. As in, what Swales describes a discourse community as groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals”. In his article “The Concept of Discourse Community” (Swales 466-479) Swales argues for a fresh conceptualization of discourse community, especially as a distinct entity from the similar sociolinguistic concept of speech community, and building upon the foundations of that argument defines discourse community in his own. In the Conceptualization of Discourse Community he talks about the six defining characteristics of a discourse community. The discourse community I am part of is playing and coaching football.
Looking for an activity that is is fast-paced, aggressive, and competitive? There is a discourse community that perfectly fits this description. These communities are a defined as a group filled with individuals who share a main interest, idea, and goal. Each discourse community has its own set of intercommunication, lexis, genre, and hierarchy within the members. This year, I was lucky enough to join the Women’s Water Polo Club at Purdue. When I first joined the organization, I felt as if it was going to be difficult to fit it into my busy work schedule, but I was wrong. With school work and other priorities that come with the college lifestyle, the Women’s Water Polo Club works hard to win as many games as possible with the implementation of daily practices, team meetings, and many versions of communication. The team is welcoming of new members, whether they be novices or previous players, and encourages other students to join the organization through social media and campus advertisements. Overall, this active club allows a group of athletic females to bond with one another in order to achieve the main goal of being a successful water polo team.
When a person is asked what he or she knows about discourse community, they might not have any idea of what that means. However, they are probably involved in more than one discourse community. Discourse community in a general definition means that a number of people who have the same interests, values, concerns, or goals. The discourse community term spanned to include everything from religions and morals to sports and games. In all these various kinds of discourse communities, there are some common fundamental forms of communication that participate in keeping these groups related like written regulations, requirements, instructions, and schedules. Being a
In the Swales document we looked at in class, a discourse community has a set of common goals (Discourse Community). In high school basketball, the goal is to win the state championship. Also, a discourse community uses a specific jargon (Discourse Community). We see this in the rules and how some players and coaches communicate. Finally, a discourse community has its new members learn from experienced members (Discourse Community). This is evident when we talk about learning the fundamentals from the coaches. High school basketball can be a very diverse discourse community because while every team has different ways of doing things, they all have the same end goal of being the state champions. Basketball has always
As put by Jen Waak in regarding the human need for community, “By surrounding yourself with others working toward a similar goal, you’ll get...yourself a bit further than you would have done on your own,” (Waak). By being able to see and participate in these different communities centered around different objectives, the goal becomes easier to achieve and bonds the group into something more through trying to reach it. This new unit is called a discourse community and is defined by John Swales as containing six specific characteristics: having a common goal, showing intercommunication and using lexis, having participation within the group, being defined by genres of texts, and having members with areas of expertise for the community. When looking
In his article “The Concept of Discourse Community,” John Swales describes a discourse community as a group of people that “have a broadly agreed set of common goals, contain certain mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, have acquired a specific lexis, and have a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content discoursal expertise” (Swales #). An example of such a discourse community is the legal profession. The legal profession has the common goal of understanding and applying general principles to particular factual situations. In doing so, lawyers use language, concepts, and methods that are unique to their community. In order to become a recognized member of the legal community, a person must graduate from law school and pass the bar exam thereby demonstrating an in depth knowledge concerning all areas of the law and the specialized rules, methods, and jargon used by lawyers to communicate about legal principles.
My discourse community is Christianity. My discourse community involves people who believe in God and lives up to the guidelines of the Bible. The people from this community are trying to enhance themselves by learning the Bible. An impeccable member attends church, strive for better lives, and aim to help others spread and disseminate words of wisdom. There are several reasons why Christianity is a discourse community. My discourse community has all of the six characteristics defined by John Swales. In my paper, I will describe how my discourse community meets all of Swales characteristics.
Discourse communities play a big role in life and how humans interact in general. A discourse community refers to a group of people who have language, life patterns, culture, and communication in common with each other. The idea of a discourse community has also been used to bring people of different orientations together, like family members, students, or committees. All of these types of people might have different standards of living, like their level of income, education, and work abilities. Discourse community can also refer to a speech community, because the main feature of a discourse community is communication. A discourse community can include groups of different regional areas that may or may not share norms and living patterns
Communication can be the glue that binds society together in many ways. There are more than just the verbal communications. In the business world you have verbal and writing communication. The worst feeling in the world is to be in front of your peers giving a speech and have terrible communication. I learned by watching some people in my old office when then presented something to the boss with poor writing and verbal communication on what they thought we should do with a problem and the boss just look and them and then look away and move on to the next