Discussing the Concept of Discourse
Community
Several definitions
have been proposed for the term "discourse community”. This paper discusses
the six criteria suggested by Swales (1990) in order to determine the scope of
the concept.
Swales (1990) argues
that in order for a group of people to be considered a discourse community,
they must share common goals. An example of this could be a group of teachers
who want to improve their teaching practices and grow professional. As Chadding
(1995) states, people join together to achieve objectives, solve problems or
create products (as cited in Wenzlaff & Wieseman, 2004).
Another key
characteristic of a discourse community is information exchange. It is essential that members interact with
each other in order for them to learn (Wenzlaff & Wieseman, 2004). It seems
that group work is a fundamental factor required for professional development.
As McLaughlin and Tabert (1993) put it a “discourse community cannot exist in
the absence of a collaborative culture and an environment that supports
risk-taking and reflection” (as cited in Wenzlaff & Wieseman, 2004, Summary
and Implications, para. 2).
Discourse community
members use one or more genres which are specific to their community (Swales,
1990). In fact, they agree to abide by certain language styles and structures,
which become a social convention (Bizzell, 1992; as cited in Kelly-Kleese,
2004). This results in members acquiring community competence, that is to say,
the knowledge of the language you need to communicate appropriately in a given
discourse community (Kutz, 1997; as cited in Kelly-Kleese).
In addition, Swales
(1990) asserts that discourse community members interact by means of certain participatory
mechanisms in communicating and providing feedback to each other. For instance,
when describing the community college discourse, Kelly-Kleese (2004, Teaching
as Scholarship, para. 7) states it flows in different ways, which may include
“oral dialogue or text in arenas such as e-mail, electronic mailing lists, and
discussion forums on the Web”.
A discourse community makes
use of highly specialized terminology (Swales, 1990). This includes words that outsiders would not
usually understand since according to Giroux (1983) “language is a social event
that is defined, shaped and constrained by the culture of the setting in which
it is used” (as cited in Kelly-Kleese, 2001, Abstracts, para. 4). Therefore,
concepts acquire specific meanings given by a specific group at a certain time
(Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Lopez Torres, 2003).
Discourse communities are
characterized by having a high general level of expertise. Clark (1994, as
cited in Kelly-Kleese, 2004) states that although it is assumed that all
members in a discourse have equal opportunities to have their voices heard and
to shape reality through language, some members exert more influence than
others so that “individuals and groups with greater skill in using the language
system will exercise power in naming and thus controlling how others will view
social reality” (Bowers, 1987, p.28, as cited in Kelly-Kleese, 2001).
To
sum up, a discourse community implies common purposes and relationships, and
similar attitudes and values, as well as sharing knowledge following certain
conventions, and a discourse structure and style related to how to communicate
such knowledge and achieve the proposed goals (Kutz, 1997, as cited in
Kelly-Kleese, 2001).
References
Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L.
(2003). Beyond reflection:
teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved October
2007, from
Kelly-Kleese,
C. (2001). Editor’s choice: An open memo to Community College Faculty and
Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved October 2007, from
Kelly-Kleese,
C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and
discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved October 2007, from
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and
research settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers need teachers to
grow. Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405
Este obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 Unported.
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