In “The Concept of Discourse Community” by John Swales, The author points out the key points and overall idea of a Discourse Community. It was interesting to see what the actual idea and the real meaning of a Discourse Community mean because many of us would describe Discourse as something verbal or to exchange ideas. But that isn’t the general idea of “Discourse.” “Discourse Community” and “Speech Community” are two different things. “Discourse Community” consists of a group that is distinguished by an abundance of specialized writing and dedicated recruitment efforts while “Speech Community” is a group of people who are familiar with the guidelines for behavior and speech interpretation.
As I mentioned earlier, “Discourse” with a capital D means a community or a society. In a Discourse Community, there is a set of goals that are placed. Each member of the Discourse Community wants to reach that goal. It perhaps can be to improve their community or draw people more into their group if they have met the criteria. Another reason can be to look good in front of the people who are going to observe their society for example. According to Swales, “The goals are public, because spies may join speech and discourse communities for hidden purposes of subversion, while more ordinary people may join organizations with private hopes of commercial or romantic advancement.” This is why when joining a discourse community it is important to have this in mind.
It amazed me to see how many of a “Discourse Community” we might have joined but we weren’t aware of. For instance, a society such as the KDP where you get to learn strategies about being a teacher and do activities that a teacher would do or portray. Your job can be another example because there isn’t anywhere else where there are the same coworkers, bosses, or the way the building is run. A “Discourse Community” is more than just being a part of a friend group. Instead, it is being in a group or organization that requires more to get in who adhere to the same objectives, methods, and speech patterns when communicating.
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