As technology is rapidly increasing new forms of communication are being made. Communication is a big part of today’s world and one uses it everyday. Communication is especially a big part in groups. John Swales defines a discourse community by “groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals” (Swales 220). Within a discourse community members use genres to get important information to others, which enables intercommunication throughout the whole group. Genres in a discourse community can range from a various amount of things. In a certain bible study group from the University of Oklahoma their genres consist of Group Me, which is a messaging app, text messaging, email, and person-to-person communication. Communication …show more content…
For example, Elizabeth Wardle shows this when she uses Alan’s story about how he acquired a new IT job and had to communicate to others every day. He thought to have all the authority from the beginning (291-297). A major mistake he made was in his communication to his other co-workers, which then lead to their opposing views on him and basically thought he was a joke (Wardle 93). When he would write his emails he would not use appropriate word choice and format. Even though his information could be useful and valid he wasn’t writing how he should have been in a professional workplace with his co-workers being older than him. Knowing how to communicate effectively is a major thing in life and one needs to know the right type in a certain setting. In this specific bible study group multiple ways of communicating are used and each one has different uses to when to use it and what it is. I observed them and was able to see if they had poor …show more content…
The discourse community I observed had great communication, which is why problems hardly occur. To achieve any goals within a group communication is vital. For example, if any group had a major lack in communication, then the group would not be successful with what they are trying to do. To communicate with others can be such a simple task, but knowing how to do it and what to communicate can be a more challenging
For that reason, our group struggled to continue a conversation. Certain people in my group did not take part in the conversation, and I believe myself and two others controlled the entire discussion. Additionally, one other member contributed little and did not present any statements to completely answer a question. Other groups struggled with the same situation. Instead of debating over a certain topic, we tended to agree with each other and then exhaust our concepts that related to the specific question that was asked.
daily life there are few ways in which these groups can properly communicate to allow
A basketball team is a great example of a discourse community. In a discourse community you have a few characteristics such as the goals, lexis and genre of the team. Goals are the team’s main focus/points that they want to achieve. Genre is basically how the members of the team stay connected and in contact with each other. Lexis can be described as the language and terminology used between the team members.
“A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory
John Swales theorizes that discourse communities must meet six elements of shared criteria: commons goals, participatory mechanisms, information exchange, community specific genres, have highly specialized terminology, and members who possess a general level of expertise. For the purpose of this paper, I will analyze three of these components and observe how they function within the CPhT community. My analysis will emphasize the unique lexis that is necessary to function as a member of this community. Methodology: Insider Access and an Interview over a Plate of Kibbi.
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
Discourse means communication or debate. (oxford dictionary). The word discourse is used to show the difference of opinions among people. Plato who was a famous philosopher has written about discourse in many of his works. In Gorgias he shows discourse among Callicles and Socrates.
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
A discourse community is a group of people with relatively the same goals and interest to achieve a specific goal. Discourse communities gain there members by qualification, shared objectives, training, or persuading others to join their discourse community. In order for a group to be a discourse community, they must have their own languages, text, rules, and ethics that will make the discourse community run more efficiently. They will also have a form of intercommunication among the group to keep everyone involved or informed with upcoming events or just important news. Discourse communities will have a type of mechanism to provide feedback to help improve the group. The participatory mechanisms provide feedback from inside and outside of
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.
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
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
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.
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...
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.