Discourse Communities

Defining a “Discourse Community” A “cluster of ideas” A “group of people who share certain language-using practices” Writing and knowledge building Writing and community building

Knowledge and the Notion of a “Discourse Community” The focus on community composition studies shows that “language use in a group is a form of social behavior, that discourse is a means of maintaining and extending the group’s knowledge and of initiating new members into the group, and that discourse is epistemic or constitutive of the group’s knowledge” (Swales 468).

Swales’ Characteristics of a “Discourse Community” Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

Let’s look at each characteristic in more detail.

1. Goals “A discourse community has a broadly agreed upon set of common public goals.”

Goals of The Plastics?

2. Intercommunication “A discourse community has mechanisms of communication among its members.” The communication takes place regularly, but the mechanisms can vary according to the community (meetings, correspondence, newsletters, conversations, Facebook posts, etc.).

Intercommunication between The Plastics?

3. Participation “A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. Thus, membership implies uptake of the informational opportunities.” Communication and participation involves the exchange of knowledge.

4. Genres “A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.” Genres “articulate the operations of the discourse community.” Examples include chemistry reports, personal narratives, hip hop music, emails, etc.

Genres of The Plastics?

5. Lexis “A discourse community has acquired some specific lexis.” Lexis includes specialized terminology, community-specific abbreviations, and community-specific acronyms.

The Lexis of The Plastics? “Fetch” “Burn book” “The Plastics” “Fugly”

6. Expertise “A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise […] Survival of the community depends on a reasonable ratio between novices and experts.”

“Is it a discourse community?”

The STL Cardinals Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

UMSL students Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

Facebook users Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

Republican voters Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

College Democrats at UMSL Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

Philosophy Professors Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

Americans Goals Intercommunication Participation Genres Lexis Expertise

Discussion Swales argues that membership in a discourse community does not necessarily involve assimilation of world-view. What does this mean? Do you agree?