The concept John Swales has for a “discourse community” in, “Concept of Discourse Community” is the idea in the field of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis. Swales explains a discourse community as a group of people who share a common set of communicative goals, practices, and the ways of speaking or writing. Specialized language or discourse characterize these communities allowing members of the group to communicate efficiently to each other.
One of the most important characteristics that Swales defines is genre. In the document it says, “Genres are the types of texts that are recognizable to readers and writers, and that meet the needs of rhetorical situations in which they function.” For example, report cards and wedding invitations are examples of genre. (para 4)
John Swales discussions about lexis within discourse communities highlight how vocabulary and word choice are central to the idea of specialized discourse practices and community identity. Lexis is also a marker of membership and a means of achieving clarity, precision, and inclusivity within these communities.
Swales work is primarily focused on the field of sociolinguistics, which is a branch of linguistics that study the connection between language and society. In Swales research, he studies how language is used in various social contexts and communities and how it shapes social structures and interactions. Swales says, “in a sociorhetorical discourse community, the primary determinants of linguistic behavior are functional, since a discourse community consists of a group of people who link up in order to pursue objectives that are prior to those of socialization ad solidarity.” His studies proved to be insightful. (para 17)
Conclusion
In summary, John Swales provides extensive information on the concept of a discourse community and issues the importance of one. I believe anyone who reads this article can gain knowledge they didn’t previously know about discourse.
Our class blog: https://eng2020.chrisfriend.us/blog/category/discourse-communities/concept-of/
Leave a Reply