Characteristics Of a Discourse Community
Keslande Gabriel
14 Feb 2023
During last week’s lesson after listening to the professor’s description John Swales’s concept of a discourse community. I asked myself this question, “Have I ever been part of a discourse community?” Then my mind took me back to the different jobs I’ve had in the past. My job at a fast food restaurant, the airport, and the nursing home. It was made clear to us that a restaurant is indeed a discourse community because it holds all of the six categories of a discourse community. Since I have held the same job in the education field for the past eight years, I became anxious to find out whether or not my job is a discourse community. I’ve been a Paraprofessional/ Teacher’s Aid working in a middle school working with students with disabilities since 2015. Although the entire school is not a special need the group of students I work and travel with from class to class is.
One of the characteristics of a discourse community is that it utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. Because it is required that each student take an assessment to determine their disability, that is classified as the genre to them being in that program. The threshold level of members use their expertise to put together a plan that must be followed strategically to take the students from where they are and where they need to be succefully. For one, there is a broadly agreed common public goal set for these students described in their IEPs when we receive the assignment to work with them. Those goals include short and long-term. Which is to help them adjust their behavior, and provide assistance with completing assignments. This community also has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. As the assistant, the head teacher of the class plans the lessons and communicates with me explaining specific instructions on what she needs the students to accomplish. Following that, the teacher and I discuss strategies on how to provide support to each student in order to reach the goals that have been set. Then I report to the teacher on whether or not the strategies work, and how we can revise the previous plan. That’s how this community uses its participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback. Over the years I’ve had many students. Each of them left a lot smarter than they entered the program.
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