"The Concept of Discourse Community"

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

            John Swales is stating in this characteristic that any discourse community it has sets known goals within the community. For example, a football team knows that the overall goal of the team is to win games. People may join for perhaps what they believe to be a social advancement.

2) A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.

            During this portion Swales is telling that all discourse communities have a type of mechanism that they communicate through. Swales is stressing the communication in a discourse community isn’t limited. Rather discourse communities can rely on several different forms of communication besides direct speech with one another. Carrying on the football team example, one can see that a football team doesn’t always communicate through direct speech. There can be phone calls between coach, emails sent to inform on game cancelation, or weekly scouting reports drafted by the coaches and staff.

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

            This is saying that in order to be considered as part of a discourse community you must participate in the exchanging of information. You may stand on the side lines of a football team every game and be a part of the team, but if you don’t go to practice and interact with people in that discourse community you really aren’t apart of it.

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

            Swales is saying here that discourse communities are dynamic. If goals aren’t being met by a specific fashion within the group then that community adapts and transforms to fix the problem. For example, if the kicker for a football team isn’t consistently making field goals the coach may perhaps recruit soccer plays to kick for football team.

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

            This specific point is telling that discourse communities create a language that is native to that specific group. Continuing our football team discussion one can see that in this specific community there are symbols and letters that have specific mean. For example, TE (tight-end), QB (Quarterback), 3-4 defense, 5-2 defense and so on.

6) A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

            In this last characteristic Swales tells us that discourse communities have a sense of hierarchy and linearity. You step onto a football team as a freshman. As a freshman you are taught and mentored by the seniors. Years go by and you become a senior. Now it is your turn to teach and instruct those that are new to the discourse community.