Discourse Community Ethnography

Rhetoric and Writing Studies 1301

Michael Flores
September 22, 2017
 Introduction

The claim stating that the RWS 1301 class is a discourse community is valid because all

of Swales six characteristics are present. A discourse community is a group of people sharing a

common and distinct mode of language. The constraints given on this paper is that the discourse

community must be specific to the RWS 1301 class.

Each one of Swales six characteristics will be proven and represented within the class.

Some of the ways discussed may be specific to the class only, and will be presented with

evidence and detail.

Literature Review

Swales six characteristics are common public goals, intercommunication mechanisms,

looped intercommunication, dedicated genres, specialized vocabulary, and self-sustaining

hierarchy. Swales states each discourse community has a form of specialized communication,

which is interaction through many different forms of technology or face to face. With the types

of communication within discourse communities, all have specific or specialized ways each of

them are communicated in. This is where Swales six characteristics break them down into their

category. The Norton Field Guide, The Concept of Discourse Community by John Swales, and

The Cultural Prison: Discourse, Prisoners and Punishment by John M. Sloop, all helped with

the data given in this paper.

Methods

Secondary resources and research used comes from the book, The Cultural Prison:

Discourse, Prisoners, and Punishment by John M. Sloop. The constraints within this paper are

limited to the class itself, but analyzing the text, specifically the summary helps present what
discourse communities are in relation to their environment. The primary research and resources

came from the RWS class itself. RWS from observation has all the six characteristics

represented, but some specific to the class. Students in the RWS class communicate, use

composition books, interact among each other, technology and have discussions, which all take

part in each of Swales six characteristics.

Discussion

Swales first characteristic of a discourse community is Common Public Goals. Common

Public goals in the RWS class helps each individual student to comprehend and understand what

is being asked or taught. With comprehension and understanding comes success. Understanding

a topic or what Dr. Vierra is talking about is the first step. Not only is it listening to his lectures

and reading the assigned readings, but also acting on it. Dr. Vierra always mention these five

words, Write a little every day. If students follow his keys to success in his class by writing

every day, not only will they understand that their writing style will get better but will start to

comprehend and implement it on their assignments. The key to success is in the way each

student writes. Knowing how to write leads to being successful in Dr. Vierras class. Students

will not be able continue without comprehending and understanding it first.

Swales second characteristic in a discourse community is Intercommunication

Mechanisms. In RWS, students use many types of these mechanisms with the main function of

all of them being communication. Examples of resources that help the students with this specific

type of communication are their Journals, reflections and BlackBoard. When the students are

taking notes in their journals, they are taking what Dr. Vierra is saying and summarizing his

words to show comprehension of the readings or topic. What students take notes on, leads them

into their next step which are the Reflections which are found on the website BlackBoard.
Reflections are due every night at 11:30 p.m. and can be about a wide variety of things within the

class. Dr. Vierra can assign a reflection to be about what the students overall learned in class, the

students overall understanding of a certain topic or reading, or to show the students progress in

an assignment. BlackBoard is where the students reflections are posted, and is also where

grades, assignments, and specific information to the class are posted. Students are able to find

useful information on BlackBoard to help them with their assignments put on the website by Dr.

Vierra himself. Within the Discourse Community RWS 1301, BlackBoard is a huge part in

communication amongst Dr. Vierra and the class. BlackBoard is specific to the class and will

help students obtain the information needed to be current on what is going on in RWS 1301.

The third aspect in Swales Discourse Communities is looped communication. Looped

communication is interaction between the students and Dr. Vierra. Interaction plays a key part in

Dr. Vierra lectures. When Dr. Vierra lectures to the class, it is not just him only talking. It is

about his students responding/interacting as well. Students provide examples to show their

comprehension on the topic being discussed and ask questions to make sure they are fully

understanding what is being presented. Dr. Vierra is able to provide feedback and give his

opinion on absolutely anything discussed. Student interaction is not limited as well. Students are

encouraged to interact within each other or within groups. One-way students provide feedback is

through reflections on BlackBoard. Students are able to respond to at least two of their peers

reflections by providing positive or constrictive feedback, by agreeing with the students opinion

on the topic, or by commending the student for what they got out of the class on that day.

Interaction is also face to face within the students. When students are put into groups within

RWS 1301, it is to come up with ideas and give explanations as to how and why they think of

something a certain way. Interaction within this discourse community helps the students and Dr.
Vierra communicate in many ways. With the use of all the resources available, it does not limit

students to technology.

RWS 1301 uses many types of dedicated genres which is Swales fourth characteristic of

a Discourse Community. Specific genres used in the class are the syllabus, secondary sources,

and the Norton Filed Guide. At the beginning of the year students were required to read the

syllabus and understand its content. The syllabus contained Dr. Vierras contact information,

office hours, materials, class policies, assignments, key dates, and other valuable information

specific to his class only. Secondary sources are used throughout the year in Dr. Vierras class.

These specific types of sources are monographs, compilations, academic journals/articles,

reports, and digital media. When writing to prove a claim, Dr. Vierra requires students to obtain

accurate and reliable sources to complete any assignment. The Norton Field Guide is one of the

two required books in RWS 1301. Dr. Vierra will assign students certain chapters during the

week to help them better understand what will be going on in the classroom. The syllabus and

Norton Field Guide are sources specific to the success in Dr. Vierras class. Both contain a

multitude of information to help, or at least guide students in the right direction on getting their

questions answered.

Discourse Communities all share one thing- communication. Within them there can be a

specialized vocabulary. Thus, leads to Swales fifth characteristic. Specialized vocabulary is used

in many ways in RWS. Dr. Vierra always brings up the term Rhetoric and is constantly

mentioned by his students as well. Rhetoric is the ethical use of language to alter the reality of a

defined audience. This means whatever something is being written students must take into

consideration the audience they are trying to gather or the audience that are presenting their

information to. For example, the audience this paper will be going through is Dr. Vierra, who is
an academic audience. Since this paper is going through him, it also must use Academic English.

When something is in Academic English, it is legible and easy to be understood. Within RWS

Dr. Vierra is teaching his students to become familiar to these specialized vocabulary words

because it does not just fall into the RWS discourse community but can also be helpful and used

in many others.

The sixth and final characteristic of Swales discourse communities is Self- Sustaining

Hierarchy. A Self-Sustaining Hierarchy in RWS 1301 could go farther within the actual

discourse of the class, but with the constraints, students are only able to talk about this discourse.

This last characteristic does not just involve the professor Dr. Vierra, but as well as the students.

Without his students, the discourse community of RWS 1301 would not exist. The Self-

Sustaining Hierarchy in the class are both Dr. Vierra and his students. Dr. Vierra has the highest

amount of knowledge within the discourse community, which he is passing along to all his

students. Before Dr. Vierra had all his knowledge, he was a part of another discourse

community. He himself was the student getting knowledge passed onto him and his classmates.

With this comes interchanging roles. Interchanging roles is when Dr. Vierra is done teaching,

someone else will always be next in line to take his spot as the teacher. It does not necessarily

have to be one of his students, but it will be someone who is as capable as teaching the class to

the best of their ability like it has always been taught since 1920.

Conclusion

Swales six characteristics represent what discourse communities can be, but not what all

of them are. Some discourse communities do not have all the same characteristics and some may

even not have all six. Characteristics of discourse communities can also be like others and may

even help while adjusting to an entirely new one. Discourse communities may not always seem
to be present but will always be present even in the simplest forms. Discourse communities have

absolutely no limits as to what they can be and have no limits on how many different types of

each characteristic they have. The constraints given on Dr. Vierras paper was to limit it to his

class only. Yet within his class many other discourse communities may come out of it, making

RWS 1301 a part of an even bigger discourse community.

 Bibliography

Sloop, John M. The Cultural Prison : Discourse, Prisoners, and PunishmentTuscaloosa :

University of Alabama Press, c1996, 1996.

Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in Academic

and Research Settings (1990): 21-32.

Bullock, Richard. Goggin, Maureen Daly. Norton Field Guide to Writing, with ReadingsW w

norton, 2013.