Running Head: DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES 1

Discourse Communities

Joshua Miranda
University of Texas At El Paso
September 2017
DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES 2

Every person, animal, or object falls into a category or a group. The way people fall into

groups is by their characteristics, likes, behavior, etc. or in other words each group has elements

that differs them from the rest. This paper will be talking about Discourse Communities only,

due to professor request. Throughout the reading there will be proof that certain elements

established by Swales classify the group into a discourse community. In specific, this paper will

argue how a classroom can be consider as a discourse community when analyzing observations

and sources.

Under the readings of Swales (1990), there are six characteristics that define a discourse

community. These six elements are essential to this writing since they are going to help

determine if the classroom is a discourse community. An Academic Journal will be used to

demonstrate that different classes are still discourse communities no matter the subject being

taught. Finally, throughout the writing there will also be observations made by a student during

his class, to prove that the research from the other authors are true, in a way, and to check if all

the characteristics made by Swales are being applied in this community.

While researching for evidence on how different classrooms are discourse communities,

there was an article that talked about these types of communities in a middle school math class.

Lynn L. Hodge and Ashley Walther created an article that teaches teachers to create a discourse

community in their classes. In this article, theres evidence that discourse communities can be

found in any type of classroom no matter the level of education; the reason is that almost all

classrooms use a traditional method to teach students. For the most part, during the reading there

were examples of a middle school teacher showing how her teaching process fell under the

definition of discourse communities.

As a primary resource, observations will be used as an eye witness to prove that all

discussions are being applied in different classrooms. Inside the composition book there is

evidence about what has happened in the classroom since the first day of school until todays

lecture. With the information provided, it can show the detail insights of how the classroom

works when theres a lecture. Analyzing the structure of the composition notebook and the notes

taken describes the routine of the class and the requirements wanted for this course. Some

observations made were the communication mechanisms and participation of students in

different topics of the class. These observations will fall under the Swales Test to determine if

the class is a discourse community.

The Swales Test consist of analyzing a classroom and identifying if it contains the six

characteristics made by Swales. These characteristics are; Common public goals,

Intercommunication mechanisms, Looped intercommunication, Dedicated genres, Specialized

vocabulary, and Self-sustaining hierarchy (Swales, 1990). If all six characteristics are found

when analyzing the group, this will mean that it falls under the category of a discourse

community.

One of Swales characteristics that define a discourse community is the common public

goal. A common public goal in this class is the passing on Knowledge. As a class, they want to

help the community to become better writers and help those who dont or barely understand how

to write. In other words, they are the mentors of civilization that require help with this subject.

Their knowledge is created by lectures and readings that will help them now and in the future in

for any other class that involves writing. This is one way to identify if an organization is a

discourse community because many choose to help themselves rather than the community.
DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES 4

An example of how they are working to achieve this goal is by giving their time to learn

this subject and master it. Students give up their personal time to go to every lecture, do the

readings that are assigned for homework and the actual assignment. Each reading explains in

detail how writing should be composed and it talks about all the other elements necessary to

make the writing work. Now when a student goes to class he receives additional information

about what the book is talking about. When the assignment is given, its the students

responsibility to use what he learned and apply it to complete what the instructor wants. In case

there is a doubt about the class, readings or assignments there is always a form of

communication.

There are many ways students interact with their professor or other students, that leads to

the second characteristic, Intercommunication mechanisms. Forms of communication in this

class are: Email, Black Board, one-on-one meetings and group exercises. The professor uses

email and black board to help students and assign their homework. One-on-one meetings are

usually to give different types of instructions for the undergraduate to understand better. Black

board and email can also be used by students to ask questions between them or help each other,

but the best way for classmates to help each other is by group exercises. During the group

meetings, there is a share of ideas and the team work that help other group members. These

shared ideas can be taken outside the classroom to be shared with other people.

When theres a return of knowledge from one person to another it falls under the third

element; Looped intercommunication. Helping another person or giving them feedback within a

group it is possible that the group is a discourse community. In this classroom, the students help

each other out to expand their knowledge and master this course. Also, students and the

professor provide feedback to each other to increase their ideas and learn from their mistakes.
DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES 5

Following with the test, the next element is dedicated genres. This community is based on

the syllabus, textbooks, and composition notebooks. Each of these compounds make up the genre

for this specific course. On the syllabus, the professor writes the expected requirements for this

class. The textbook is used by students to follow up and get familiarized with the professors

lectures, plus it helps them become better writers. Now the composition notebook is used to take

notes during class, reflect on the readings, and expand their ideas by contributing to group work.

Under this community there are different vocabulary that differs this group from another

classroom. Each course uses different vocabulary to explain the subject better, so in this class

they base their vocabulary on academic language. What this vocabulary means is that students

need to use vocabulary based on their academic level, which is college. For example, the class

can be described in one word, rhetoric. Every topic discussed in this class falls under the

definition of rhetoric which can only make sense when having specialized vocabulary.

Lastly, there is the element of self-sustaining hierarchy. This means that no matter what

happens there will always be a person with the capacity to teach students about the class. For

classrooms, the hierarchy is the professors and their assistants. They have the power to guide the

group into achieving the communities public goal mentioned in the beginning. Now, the self-

sustaining part refers to an experienced replacement in case something happens to the previous

person whom are not able to teach.

To demonstrate that any classroom falls under the discourse community category, the

article by Lynn L. Hodge and Ashley Walther explains how a middle school math class is a

discourse community. The authors give examples about how the discourse community is created

and one example says: Ms. Brown directed students to use think, pair, revoice/compare to

discuss the second question which may not look like anything but it contains at least three
DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES 6

elements that Swales requires for the group to be a discourse community (Hodge, 2017). That

quote contains a self-sustaining hierarchy, intercommunication mechanism, and looped

intercommunication. The fact that uses the word direct shows that Ms. Brown has the power

to guide the students. Now the mechanisms and the looped are in the words pair,

revoice/compare because by pairing with other students there will be one-on-one discussions

and when they compare the students will be providing feedback to each other on how to solve

the problem (Hodge, 2017). The goal of this community is to [understand and take] on

appropriate roles in discussions. Lastly the two missing elements, specialized vocabulary and

the dedicated genres, are based in the fact that it is a math class and all their terms are math

related.

As a student, several observations were made while being in class. Being in groups,

writing reflections and commenting on other reflections does provide feedback between students

and they also help them understand the concept a little better than before. Both the professor and

the peer leader provide knowledge for the students that can not only be used in that class but in

others as well. Communication has not been a problem for now. Students participate voluntarily

or the professor asked for their opinion, whichever comes first, and in case of any problems there

are always office hours where the one-on-one help can be provided. Everything happening inside

this classroom can be determined as a discourse community.

In conclusion, based on resources and experiencing the class environment, I can say that

this classroom is a discourse community. Different from any other groups a classroom is a

learning discourse community ready to spread their knowledge outside the class into the real

world where other discourse communities will rise.

References

Hodge, L. L., & Walther, A. (2017). Building a discourse community: Initial

practices. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 22(7), 430. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=122000201&site=e

ds-live&scope=site

Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis : English in academic and research settings Cambridge

England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1990. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b21290

84&site=eds-

live&scope=site; http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cam024/90002464.html