Discourse Community

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 Introduction

Dr. Vierras RWS 1301 college course is considered a discourse community. According

to John Swales a discourse community is a group of people sharing a common and distinct

mode of communication or discourse especially within a particular domain of intellectual or

social activity. In order for something to be a discourse community it needs to have 6 specific

characteristics listed by Swales. The constraints of this paper are to have all 5 steps in

organizing an academic paper and prove the RWS 1301 class is a discourse community.

The rest of this Academic paper will focus on proving Dr. Vierras RWS 1301 class is

indeed a discourse community. Primary and secondary sources will support this claim

throughout the rest of the paper.

Literature Review

Swales article talks about what a discourse community is and how it differs from speech

communities. The biggest issue is that, there is an ongoing academic argument over discourse

communities. A lot of people have misconceptions of what discourse communities really are or

try to combine it with speech communities when they are two different things and are not meant

to be combined. Swale explains that we need to be able to distinguish sociolinguistic grouping

from socio-rhetorical, thus the difference between speech communities and discourse

communities. In order for a group or organization to be considered a discourse community it

needs to have all 6 of Swales characteristics. The characteristics are common public goals

intercommunication mechanisms, looped intercommunication mechanisms, dedicated genres,

specialized vocabulary and a self-sustaining hierarchy. Swales claim on what a discourse

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community is directly correlates to this academic paper because his claim is being used to

support the notion that Dr. Vierras RWS 1301 class is a Discourse community.

The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings is a guide to make writing

easier. This book has 8 parts and covers 14 genres that are most commonly assigned in college.

The Norton Field Guide identifies with this academic paper because the information provided by

the book played a big role in writing this paper. The parts that were most utilized were the

academic literacies, rhetorical situations and genre sections.

The WRITING HISTORY ESSAYS is a template that was assisted in writing this

academic paper. Although its intended to accommodate those writing essays there were a lot of

principles utilized in writing this paper. Of the 16 chapters in the book, chapter 6 and 13 most

resourceful. Chapter 6 explained how to understand the context of what your reading so your left

with a firm understanding of what you read. Chapter 13 was important because it really made it

clear that you should have your paper read before you turn it in. These two chapter were

analyzed and used in the writing process of this paper.

Methods

Primary and secondary resources were used to gain insight on this RWS class using

observation. The secondary research used in the class was the Norton Field Guide to Writing

with Readings. This book shared an insight of what this community was all about. Its literally a

guide to writing which directly correlates to this RWS class. As the year progresses, more

students will be learn from this book but things such as Rhetorical situations and the 5 parts to

writing an academic paper will be discussed. This paper is actually written using the 5 parts of

an academic paper which are introduction, literature review, methods, discussion and conclusion.

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The primary research used was the composition journal that was specifically prescribed for the

RWS 1301 class. *****Notes about Power point presentations and lectures were written into

this journal. Notes were taken about rhetoric, writing expository reflections, types of sources

and discourse communities.

Discussion

The shared goals for this RWS 1301 community are to give us the necessary

fundamentals to succeed in college and in life. One of the core fundamentals being taught is

rhetoric and learning, this will help students in RWS reach their goals. Rhetoric is the ethical use

of language to alter the reality of a defined audience. This is one of many definitions but the

important thing to know is when writing anything whether it be a text to a friend, a letter to kin

or even an essay we are always using rhetoric. Rhetorical situations are always present when

writing, so learning about rhetoric early on is advantageous and will help RWS students

throughout college and essentially life when they begin their careers. Passing this class is a

shared goal along with garnering a diploma.

This RWS learning community uses all kinds of wonderful intercommunication

mechanisms. These mechanisms are tools that allow us to interact with our class. There are

electronic mechanisms such as our laptops, E-mail and blackboard. With these mechanisms,

students are able to receive important information from our professor such as homework

assignments and last-minute information. The biggest mechanism would have to be the in-class

lectures. Dr. Vierra literally gives all the information needed for the RWS class. He doesnt just

hand out assignments and ****expect it to be done, there is a student instructor relationship.

Students receive lectures about topics, examples from work turned in and power point

presentations that explain the assignment. These are examples of intercommunication because

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we are connected to the RWS class through these mechanisms listed above and receive

information through correspondence.

The purpose of these mechanisms is to allow students to interact with everyone in their

RWS class/community. An example of this is E-Mail. E-Mail is known as just a

intercommunication mechanism but it goes further than that because students can interact with

their professors whenever they feel necessary. If help is needed students can reach out to their

professor with questions about the assignment or about the class in general and in turn he can

respond or provide answers. Another example is the Responses to class assignment. The

objective is to write a response after every class about the lecture or what is learned that day. By

doing this student are interacting and responding which is key to looped communication. To go

even further than that they edit and give their opinion about their class mates responses. The

whole idea behind looped Intercommunication is that as a community, there needs to be the

exchange of information along with feedback.

In this RWS class students use genres that are dedicated to the class. One of the genres

dedicated to the class is their composition journal. This journal is their personal journal that they

use to take notes in specifically for the class. The Norton Field Guide book, class syllabus and

any form of writing that is specifically for this class is a form of dedicated genres. These are all

the things that average people wouldnt be able to fully grasp because its devoted to the RWS

1301 class. Essentially all these genres help articulate how the class is organized and performs.

This RWS class uses Specialized vocabulary. The most committed words to this class

are constraints, rhetoric, expository, exigence, and audience. All of these words have 1 thing in

common and it is that they all work together in order to help write the perfect essay. These

words are used throughout class and is essential for the students to understand so they can utilize

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their specialized vocabulary efficiently. The lexis used is unique to the class and defines their

learning community. This a huge sign that the class is a learning community; The dialect is

unique and outsiders cant always understand.

SELF SUSTAINING HIERARCHY

This RWS class is a self-sustaining hierarchy. A hierarchy is a system where groups or

people are placed on certain levels based on status or authority. Imagine a pyramid where the

professor is placed on top and the student at the bottom based off the authority and status in the

classroom. The idea of a self-sustaining hierarchy is very simple in this situation. Eventually

their professor will need to retire and when he does someone will have to take his place in order

for this community to be self-sustaining. During the time it takes for a professor to grow old and

retire, students are striving to reach their goal of graduating college and attaining their diploma.

Granted, the students will all have different degrees and pursue different career paths but some of

them will eventually cycle back into the discourse community only to return as professors.

Conclusion

Swales Concept of a discourse community is very well developed and over all a

successful concept. Swales concept was new to the class but taught a lot, especially how

discourse communitys and communication go hand in hand. Communication single handily

plays one of the most important roles in deciding whether it is or isnt a discourse community.

The RWS 1301 class does indeed meet the requirements needed in order to be considered a

discourse community. The class has all six characteristics which include shared public goals

intercommunication mechanisms that allow for interaction and dedicated genres. It also has

specialized vocabulary and the most important thing a self-sustaining hierarchy. There is one

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thing though that questions swales whole entire notion. Swale states that if the lexis is

completely understood, every single word then that grouping would not yet constitute a

discourse community. The problem with this is we have experts in everything now these days

and there will always be someone who understands all of the specialized vocabulary of a

discourse community.

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 Bullock, Richard, MD Goggin, and F. Weinberg. "The Norton Field Guide to Writing." (2008).

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

and Research Settings (1990): 21-32.

Mabbett, Ian W. Writing History EssaysLondon : Macmillan Education/Palgrave, 2016; 2nd

edition, 2016, http://0-

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