Discourse Communities

Discourse Communities

Discourse Community: “A social group that communicates, in

part, using written texts but also shares common goals, values, writing standards, specialized vocabulary, and specialized genres” (GFC, 2013, p. 742).

Defining Discourse Communities

In "The Concept of Discourse Community," John Swales proposes six defining characteristics of discourse communities:

A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.

A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.

A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.

A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.

In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis.

A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise. (pp. 471-473)

Conventions

Conventions: “The traditional, commonly understood,

unspoken, or official guidelines or rules of communication or behavior in discourse communities” (GFC, 2013, p. 742).

Conventions can include rules governing language.

Genres

Genres: “Different kinds or categories of writing,

composition, or production” (GFC, 2013, p. 742)

In this class, genre does not mean fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc.

Discourse Communities

Family

Friends

Work

School

Church

Military

Online Games (MMORPGS)

Video Games

Comics/Manga

Sports

Clubs, frats, sororities, etc.

Hobbies (crochet, knitting, woodworking, etc.)

Fantasy football

Online communities

Bands/Music scenes

Book clubs

Discourse Community: Lolcats

The Discourse Community Map & Response

This is a two-part assignment:1. Create a map of 3-5 discourse

communities you belong to.2. Write a 2-3 page essay (double spaced,

12 point Times New Roman font) that describes your discourse communities.

This assignment is worth 30 points, which is 3% of your grade.

Resources for Creating Your Map

Prezi.com

easel.ly

bubbl.us

Microsoft Word (or openoffice)

Microsoft Powerpoint

To Turn in Your DC Map and Response

Turn in your map and response on Blackboard through the Week 3 learning module by midnight on Monday, February 3rd.

After clicking “Assignment: Turn in DC Map and Response Here,” click “Browse My Computer” and select the file for your response. Make sure to save your response as a .doc or .docx (please no .pages!) and to include your last name and first initial in the document name.

Click “Type Submission” and paste the url for your map. Make sure your map is publically viewable. You can also post your map as a separate document if it is not online.