Running Head: Accounting as a Discourse Community 1

Accounting as a Discourse Community

Jose R. Silva

University of Texas at El Paso

Accounting as a Discourse Community 2

Introduction

We all enjoy doing something whether we consider it to be our hobby or our job. We also

enjoy discussing these interests with other individuals. This discussion of common goals and

interest with a group of people that share the same common goals is what is known as a

discourse community. There are six characteristics according to John Swales that a group must

meet to be considered a discourse community. I will be analyzing an online discussion forum on

the topics of accounting and finance for those six characteristics and determining if the online

forums meet the definition of a discourse community. A description of each characteristic will be

provided and whether the online forums meets each specific characteristic.

Literature Review

The article The Concept of Discourse Communities by John Swales was written to

inform the reader about what Swales considers to be a discourse community and how it differs

from a speech community. According to Swales, there are six defining characteristics that are

necessary and sufficient for classifying a social group as discourse community. For a group of

people to be considered a discourse community they must have a common set of goals that its

members agree and work towards, methods of intercommunication, participatory mechanisms

that allow the exchange of information and feedback, one or more genres in the communicative

furtherance of its aims, specific lexis, and levels of expertise among its members (Swales, 1990).

Swales then goes on to give the reader an example of a discourse community that he has

first-hand experience with because he is a member of it. Swales begins to talk about the Hong

Kong Study Circle (HKSC), and how it meets his six characteristics of what a discourse

community is to him. After discussing how his example can be considered a discourse

community he goes on to talk about the gray area that still exists when comparing and
Accounting as a Discourse Community 3

differentiating between a speech community and a discourse community. He says that a

discourse community could be classified as speech community but the same could not be said for

a speech community being classified as a discourse community. He then concludes his article by

talking about how a lot of social groups from hobby groups to formal business groups meet the

six characteristics and can be considered discourse communities.

The article Intertextuality and the Discourse Community by James Porter, begins by

defining what intertextuality. Porter (1986) defines intertextuality as the principle that all

writing and speech-indeed, all signs-arise from a single network (p. 34) meaning that every text

contains similar traceable ideas like those of texts that were written before it. He then talks about

plagiarism and how everything that is written could be considered to be plagiarized. He gives the

example of the Declaration of Independence and how Thomas Jefferson was the author but his

ideas were borrowed heavily from John Lockes social contract theory. He explains that the ideas

are not always taken on purpose but subconsciously when one does research or looks at

examples we take what we read and put it into our writing because all text is connected in some

way.

Porter then goes on to talk about what his definition of what a discourse community is.

He defines a discourse community as a group of individuals bound by a common interest who

communicate through approved channels and whose discourse is regulated (Porter, 1986, p. 38-

39). He also has characteristics that a group must have to be considered a discourse community.

To be considered a discourse community they must share assumptions about what objects are

appropriate for examination and discussion, use forums to communicate and provide information

and feedback, and can have competing factions and indefinite boundaries within a somewhat

regulated system.
Accounting as a Discourse Community 4

Swales and Porter have similarities and differences in their definition of a discourse

community they both believe that they must have an agreed goal within the community and the

members must be able to communicate with each other and with the outside for feedback. Where

they differ is that only Swales believes that a community has to have levels of expertise and

lexis. Porter doesnt believe that there needs to be levels he believes that they can be divided and

have competing factions.

Methods

For this paper, I used the Accountant Forums community to gain insight into the

accounting community participating in this website by using the discussion boards and questions

posted on the website. I gained insight into this community by analyzing the questions and

answers, discussions, and archives within the website. I used these sources because they were

written by a variety of people with insight in the community such as professionals in the

accounting profession, teachers, the general population looking to get answers from industry

professionals, and students.

Discussion

The first characteristic that needs to be meet for a group of people to be considered a

discourse community is the establishment of a set of common goals within its members. The

common goals of the Accountant Forums community are to provide expert advice on a wide

range of accounting related topics. They encourage people to ask questions on their forums

whether it be a basic entry level question or a more complex question asked by a professional.

Other people will try to answer the questions and provide the best information they can with their

background. The people answering and asking the questions ranges from qualified advisors,

teachers, professionals, and students all pertaining to the field of accounting.

Accounting as a Discourse Community 5

The second characteristic of a discourse community is methods of intercommunication.

The Accounting Forums community also meets this characteristic of a discourse community. It

allows its members to communicate with each other by allowing people to register for their

website and after they are registered they can use the forums and discussion boards to post their

questions, ideas, or thoughts for other users to see. It is also organized into subsections as a way

to make it easier to reach people more knowledgeable on a certain topic. For example, they have

the General Accountancy Discussion for general questions, the Technical Queries section for

specific accounting queries, and the Accounting Software section relating to accounting

software such as Quicken, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Money. They also have other boards

regarding taxes, students, and the community in general.

The third characteristic of a discourse community is participatory mechanisms that allow

the exchange the of information and feedback. The participatory mechanisms in the Accounting

Forums community would be all the forums and subsections of discussion boards because people

can post to them and other registered users can reply with their own post providing their opinions

or answers to the post. This gives the community ability to provide information and feedback to

its members it is also moderated so it keeps all discussions civil and on topic so that members

can receive useful information and good feedback quickly and without any arguments on

opinions getting out of hand.

The fourth characteristic needed for a discourse community is one or more genres in the

communicative furtherance of its aims. This group also has this characteristic because it is on the

internet, it uses this to its advantage because it can be found easily by others looking for a

community on accounting topics. It also allows anyone to register to be a user of the website and

post things. This ease of registration allows the community to further its aims by increasing its
Accounting as a Discourse Community 6

total number of members and the number of members online at a given time that can provide

information and feedback.

The fifth characteristic of a discourse community is a specific lexis, meaning terms or

acronyms used within the community that would not be usually understood by outsiders. In the

community, they use a set of acronyms and terms to refer to a variety of processes done and to

refer to different types of businesses and business practices. For example, the use of the acronym

LLC meaning Limited Liability Company.

The sixth characteristic of a discourse community according to Swales is levels of

expertise among its members. This online community also has this characteristic because it is run

by Chartered Tax Adviser and includes members that are Chief Financial Officers of companies

all the way down to students and people with no experience in the profession.

Conclusion

After analyzing the Accounting Forums community, it can be determined and called a

discourse community. The Accounting Forums community included all six characteristics of a

discourse community so in accordance with Swales this online community could be considered a

discourse community. It included a shared set of common goals, ways of communication among

its members, ways for others to provide information and feedback, a way to further its aims,

specific lexis, and levels of expertise.

Accounting as a Discourse Community 7

References

Porter, J. (1986). Intertextuality and the discourse community. In E. Wardle & D. Downs (Eds.),

Writing about writing: A college reader (p. 395-405). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Swales, J. (1990). The concept of discourse community. In E. Wardle & D. Downs (Eds.),

Writing about writing: A college reader (p. 212-227). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

B. (2010). Accountant Forums. Retrieved October 15, 2017 form

https://www.accountantforums.com