Sie sind auf Seite 1von 4

Jean Philippe 1

Wendy K. Jean Philippe


Professor Wolcott
ENC 1101
November 10, 2014
Discourse Communities
Writing about Writing: a college reader (Wardle, Downs, 2014) goes beyond just telling
us what a Discourse Community is. More specifically, it does a good job of giving the keys to
any Discourse Community, and how these keys apply to us as readers. The book presents many
credible writers and researchers and connect their ideas about Discourse Communities in an
interchangeable way.
Initially, the people who study writing as a discourse community all present their findings
interchangeably. This is done by many steps: 1. setting a need for clarification, 2. characterizing
the concept, 3. providing examples, 4. referring to other writers. The most notable of these writer
of Discourse- John Swales (Swales, 1990, pg. 21-32), Tony Mirabelli (Mirabelli, 2004, pg. 14362), and James Paul Gee (Gee, 1989, pg. 5-17), initially sets a need for clarification of the term
Discourse and how it molds literacy. In this case, Discourse is established as mastering or having
full control of secondary discourses. We observe that these writers then characterize the concept
of Discourse. More specifically, they give us different concepts that helps identify a group of
individuals as a Discourse Community. Swales for example, characterizes Discourse as having
six things: 1. has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, 2. uses mechanisms of
intercommunication among its members, 3. provides information and feedback, 4. utilizes and
possesses one or more genre, 5. has specific lexis or words, and 6. members have varying levels
of expertise. Likewise, Gee characterizes Discourse with the same criteria and further identifies

Jean Philippe 2
them as either a primary Discourse or secondary Discourse; and this secondary Discourse is
either dominant or non-dominant. Sequentially, these writers provide the readers with examples
to illustrate how the characterizations would apply to different communities. This is best
exemplified with Mirabellis Lous Restaurant, where the Discourse Community is the food
service industry. This illustration helps the reader understand that Discourse doesnt only apply
to the academic and medical fields. Finally, the book has succeeded in introducing the readers to
the Discourse Community by referring back to other writers as credible sources. The writers
primarily fall back on Swales description for a Discourse- its a foundation for later works to
build upon.
However, there are questions that come up that may challenge the effectiveness of
Discourse Communities: How or to what degree is this useful to me as I move on beyond ENC
1101? It is true that before a course like this, one rarely knows anything about the term
'Discourse' and how it is used in literacy and different fields. But to counter-argue this apposing
notion of Discourse, I will focus on and propose how I can take what I have learned about the
topic and apply it to when I go to med school. According to Swales, it would be considered a
discourse community within the educational realm. (Wardle, Downs, 2014, pg. 227) This is
because at this level, I would be much familiar with the material being taught. A prime example
of this would be the lexis that this type of community uses or terminology that's abbreviated or
characterized into acronyms (Wardle, Downs, 2014, pg. 222). And because it's not easy to
understand by people outside of the medical discourse community, this further gives evidence to
how I can apply what I know now to prepare myself for not just advanced levels of education,
but also for the workforce, when face to face with medical patients. Moreover, information

Jean Philippe 3
exchange and feedback between my colleagues and me, and our patients will manifest itself
greatly.
All in all, the concept of Discourse Community may seem broad. But upon closer
examination, its terms of condition are narrow. Writing about Writing: A College Reader does a
good job of giving the readers the keys to understanding this concept by setting a need for
clarification, characterizing the concept, providing examples, and referring to other writers as
sources. Thus, readers and those who want to understand Discourse are able to apply the given
presentation of it to their lives beyond the classroom.

Jean Philippe 4
Works Cited
Gee, James P. Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction. Journal of Education
171.1 (1989): 517. Print.
Mirabelli, Tony. Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers.
What They Dont Learn in School. Ed. Jabari Mahiri. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. 143
62. Print.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic
and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 2132.
Print.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Writing about Writing: A College
Reader. By Elizabeth A. Wardle and Doug Downs. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins,
2014. 220-22. Print.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen