SUMMARY |
ANALYSIS |
Swales, John M. Genre Analysis: English in academic and research setting. The University of Michigan, Anne Arbor: Cambridge UP, 1990. PDF.
In the second chapter of his book Genre Analysis, Swales speaks about what he believes are discourse communities, and some of the guidelines that it needs to follow in order to be considered one. He mentions that a discourse community needs have six specific characteristics, a genre, specialized lexis, it needs to have the same common goals, different levels of expertise within the members of the community, a set place or manner in which the members communicate, and constant participation from all of the members. After his views on the guidelines required he goes on to explain that there is a thin a line between what should be considered a discourse community and what shouldn’t. Swales uses the example of students and the way that they go to school most with same purpose. He mentions that there is an established communication and lexis and a feedback system through which the more experienced members grade the less experienced. But he goes on to say that they detachment of the students is so evident that it would not fall under the category of a discourse community. |
January
28, 2013 The definition of discourse is communication of thought by words; talk; conversation. In his book though swales gives discourse a new meaning, he pairs the word discourse with community and gives us the guidelines to follow in order for us to decide whether or not a group or a network of people would be considered one. After deciding what my focus was going to be for the rest of the semester I understood further what he meant by a discourse community. In my opinion based of swales guidelines a discourse community is a group of people coming together in something they are all interested in whether it be a hobby or a career choice and they form a network in which they communicate about the field they chose. They might be stamp collectors like swales Hong Kong Study Circle, or they might be part of the Public Relations field like I hope to be someday. In both fields there is a specific common goal being achieved, there is specialized lexis whether it be through media material like in Public Relations or through auctions like in HKSC, both groups have specific forms of communication and they use things like journals to provide feedback and communicate with other members. And last but not least in the PR field there are specialists and managers which satisfy swales need for the community to constitute of people with various levels of experience. |