Running head: DISCOURSE COMMUNITY 1

A Discourse Community and It’s Elements

Bethany Onopa GED

University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

The definition of a discourse community according to John Swales states that it is not one

specific thing, but a concept that consists of six characteristics. Those six defining characteristics

that can be visualized as a checklist that must be completely filled out in order to have a definite

discourse community. Even if that “checklist” is missing just one of these six characteristics it

will not be defined as such. A discourse community can affect the way things are communicated

as well as the creation of knowledge and transmittal of that knowledge. A classroom specifically

RWS 1301, is a discourse community because it contains all six of the defining characteristics in

its environment. The reasoning behind this can be justified by referring to the criteria that will be

explained in the following.

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Intro

The meaning of the word discourse can be simply put as “communication” while a

community is defined as “a group people who share a common and distinct mode of

communication or discourse, especially within a particular domain”. When those two words are

combined into Discourse Community, the meaning for that combination of words can be thought

of as a collective group consisting of six elements. The six elements that make up a discourse

community are listed as having: Common Public Goals, Intercommunication Mechanisms,

Looped Communication, a Dedicated Genre, Specialized Vocabulary, and a Self-Sustaining

Hierarchy. One common example of a discourse community is a classroom. Now, a classroom

may not seem like a place of such stature as a discourse community, but when it is put into

perspective, all the criteria are met. This paper states that a classroom can very much be a

discourse community and RWS 1301 specifically, is a perfect example of a discourse community.

Literary Review

There has been much research done on this topic in and outside of the class room by my

peers and I on the meaning of a discourse community. The original source was a

mandatory reading for the class. This reading was an essay by John Swales and a required

reading for RWS 1301. This essay sets the foundation for knowledge on the topic of a

discourse community. Following that reason, this foundation was built upon by

continuing research for almost two weeks and examining many scholarly sources to

properly be able to analyze and conclude a statement on this subject. Another scholarly

source used to strengthen the thesis of this paper was an essay written by E. Borg as well
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as another by another scholar; A. Duszak. Both of these essays were analyzed thoroughly

and therefore, helped to build on Swales’ foundation that was set before-hand.

Methods

The class was divided into six groups to thoroughly research and study each piece of

Swales characteristics through interviews and observations. Every group observed many things

about our classroom and what could possibly make it a discourse community. Interviewing the

professor about this topic ensured that this course is, in fact, a discourse community and by

analyzing all of the attributes of a class session and comparing it to the criteria of a discourse

community it revealed proof that they matched up exactly.

Discussion

Common Public Goals

The first element in Swales’ definitive elements of a discourse community is common

public goals. Common public goals is a simple concept and when broken down, common refers

to mutual, public refers to throughout the community and goals refers to their purpose. One

example of a proper common public goal in a classroom setting where the teacher has a student’s

best interest in mind, the goal of the class would be to maintain a good grade whilst still learning

and achieving new things every session. According to Gill (2014) you can accomplish these

goals through communicating because, everyone has a different method of achieving that goal

and there needs to be mutual compliance to make sure that happens and communication is the

only way that is going to happen.

Intercommunication Mechanisms

The second element in a discourse community is Intercommunication Mechanisms.

According to Swales, an intercommunication mechanism is a way of interpreting and responding

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to similar purposes and being able to communicate in any form. Mechanisms of

intercommunication can be seen as somewhat of a transfer point for information. Some examples

of mechanisms are our own minds and mouths (communication skills) as well as computers and

phones. The reasoning for this is because you can still communicate with others even though the

community may not be together. Groupchats, for example, can be created on so many forms of

social media which in turn creates a platform for communication even though you are dispersed.

In this day and age, it is hard to find a person without a phone or computer because they have

become such a big part of everyday life. They can make communication so much easier and

quicker by increasing the amount of communication a community can get and how quickly they

receive it. In rhetoric class it is imperative that we have computers and phones to receive emails

from our professor and to properly do our assignments.

Looped Intercommunication

The third element of a Discourse Community is looped intercommunication. According

to Swales (p 472), looped intercommunication is when you are provided with as well as give

feedback on information and/or when you yourself provide information and receive feedback.

Some examples of looped intercommunication within our classroom are replying to discussion

boards, academic discussions, and communication with group activities. Replying to discussion

boards makes us think critically about organizing our thoughts, giving feedback and helping

expand ideas as well as giving the reader information on a topic they may not have been aware

of. Academic discussions grant students knowledge more often than not via the professor, we

then show the professor what knowledge we obtained by taking quizzes, tests or simply

responding aloud when questions are asked. Looped communication is also beneficial to the

professor because it reveals how effective their methods of communication are and shows them
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what they may need to improve on. By communicating in groups, we gain knowledge from our

peers and it helps us see different point of views as we see our peer’s information and ideas to

better our own.

Dedicated Genre

The fourth element in a discourse community is dedicated genre. Dedicated genre is

defined by Swales as a way of organizing through the use of words. Genres are used in our

everyday lives. A few possibly recognizable genres are found in books, music, and history. In

rhetoric class specifically, one type of genre that is used is in the formatting of this paper, which

is known as APA. When using this formatting, it creates a specific writing style used by scholars

to write an informational paper while using a uniform format that is easy to identify so that

people will recognize it as such. Genres have been created and discovered as our lives continue

to go on to help organize and make things easier to identify.

Specialized Vocabulary

The fifth element in a Discourse Community is Specialized vocabulary. Specialized

vocabulary is imperative in a discourse community for a few reasons. According to Swales,

Specialized vocabulary helps establish a discourse community by using specific key terms that

are exclusive to the group. When referring to the “group”, we are referring to a set of people

who are sharing a common goal, who will also share that mode of communication. They share

that mode of communication in order to properly address and achieve this common goal because

otherwise that “group” of people would not be considered a discourse community. For example,

in the rhetoric classroom setting there are three different ways used to convince an audience of

your viewpoint using either ethics, logic, or emotions, but in the discourse community we use

their Greek translation to represent those terms; ethos, logos, and pathos. By using these
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vocabulary words that are specifically made for a rhetoric/writing/speaking setting, it is clear

what the professor is asking of their students, therefore in return they will receive a specific

response.

Self-Sustaining Hierarchy

The final element in a Discourse Community is a Self-Sustaining Hierarchy. Self-

sustaining hierarchy, according to Swales (1990) is to be able to maintain yourself by

information people have impart to you. In a discourse community we have two types of people;

the experts and the newcomers. In order for a community to function properly, there needs to be

a leader to follow and set the “ground rules”. The experts/leaders can provide the new members

uniform information for success based on their research, experience and leadership skills. An

example of a self-sustaining hierarchy, in terms of this rhetoric course, would be the professor.

Every person must start off somewhere, usually as a novice, and following them would be a T.A.,

or teaching assistant. The people at this level of a hierarchy know enough about the course to

enlighten beginners, helping them move up in their own expertise, but are not quite yet masters

themselves. The final stage/example would be a Professor or PhD. The person on this level of the

hierarchy is an expert on the subject, therefore the one who can now provide guidance to the

people below them in the hierarchy as well as their own because we all learn from each other.

Without experts, there would be no intermediates or novices and no opportunities to increase

their knowledge. Every piece of a hierarchy is equally important and plays a critical role in how

beneficial the community is.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, I believe that a classroom, specifically RWS in this case, is a discourse

community by meeting all the criteria that is needed in order to define it as such. By comparison,
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a classroom is a Discourse Community because it contains a proper form of all the criteria. This

criteria includes having Common Public Goals, Intercommunication Mechanisms, Looped

Communication, a Dedicated Genre, Specialized Vocabulary, and a Self-Sustaining Hierarchy.

Our classroom has the common public goal of learning about rhetoric, the intercommunication

mechanisms; cell phones and computers to keep in contact, looped communication by

replying/reciting what we have learned through out a period of time in the class or on

blackboard, the dedicated genre of rhetoric writing and APA formatting, specialized vocabulary

such as ethos, logos and pathos, and a self-sustaining hierarchy consisting of the students, T.A.

and professor which all make up the basis of a Discourse Community which therefore makes it

such.
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References

Swales, J. (1990). The concept of discourse community. Genre analysis: English in academic and

research settings, 21-32.

Borg, E. (2003). Discourse community. ELT journal, 57(4), 398-400.

Duszak, A. (1997). Cross-cultural academic communication: A discourse-community view.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS STUDIES AND MONOGRAPHS, 104, 11-40.