Discourse community

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliations

Course

Date

Communication is considered the necessary foundation of any society. Humans are interactive beings, and they cannot survive or thrive without communicating with each other about matters around them. Humans develop speech as infants, yelling when they need something, smiling when happy, and crying when in pain or disappointed. However, community discourse sums up all the communication between human beings, either voluntarily or obligatory.

According to John Swales, through his six discourse characteristics defined discourse community as a group of people of the same background who have common knowledge of a particular topic and value a standard communication method. On the other hand, Porter defines a discourse community as a form of life that integrates attitudes, words, beliefs, acts, values, clothing, gestures, and body positions (Porter, 1986). This essay would like to compare the volleyball lovers’ community and the public accounting discourse community. However, we have to first understand various characteristics of discourse communities, according to Linguist Swales.

Linguist John Swales summarized six characteristics that define a discourse community. One of the notable characteristics is a standard set of goals or objectives. Every group has common interests they are focusing on. The second characteristic is the mechanisms used for intercommunication between members of the group. The modes can be through writing or mobile phones and so on. The next characteristic is members’ participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback (Swales, 1993). It can be through annual meetings, FAQs webpage, and so on.

Another one is genres possessed and utilized to communicate their aims. These genres differ from one discourse to the other, and they can include graffiti, blogs, and so on. Also, a discourse should acquire specific lexis, which involves jargon, which cannot be easily understood by people outside the discourse. Finally, a discourse should have a threshold level of members to make it useful. Swales put it that leave by death or other less involuntary ways. There should be a functional ratio between experts and beginners to keep the discourse alive and useful.

A discourse community is defined as the distinct group of people in which people are involved in communicating with each other to discuss the various issues and topics to share their perspectives and get more knowledge and education about that issue. The discourse community is involved in discussing the issue to be solved efficiently, and the people can handle problems related to culture, religion, or traditions. Communication is considered an essential part of life because it helps people understand one another’s the situation.

In the discourse community, the groups of individuals select one topic to discuss that topic efficiently. Thus they share knowledge and education related to that topic so that all the group members can determine the effect of that topic in the development of the community. The sharing of knowledge occurred to share thoughts, and there is no need to fight between the people because they calmly discussed the thoughts instead of imposing them. This is an efficient method of communication between the people because, with this method’s help, people become able to learn more knowledge and education. Thus by sharing their thoughts and communicating in this manner, they reach their goals.

It has been determined from the research that communication is one of the most important methods of learning. People use this method for learning at all ages because they can learn more than any other method. The learning method of communication is mostly used when people want to perform their duties efficiently or perform any specific task. Thus, they communicate with any experience person to quickly determine the practical and easy task method. There are different examples of discourse communities in the societies in which people use communication to share their thoughts based on their culture, religion, and thoughts.

People use different communication methods, such as one-to-one, e-mails, text messages, and social media applications. The use of the internet has been increased in the last few years and is considered one of the most comfortable communication methods. The discourse community also uses this communication method because it is the cheapest and efficient method where people can share their thoughts easily. They can also select the number of people that are required in the group to share their thoughts.

Various scholars have shared their thoughts and understanding about the group of discourse community from which the definition proposed by John Swales give most useful and significant definition such as; according to him, “discourse community is the group or team of people that are involved in sharing their thoughts by the help of communication to get specific purpose.” Thus it is clear from the research that the goal of communication is to get a specific goal. Therefore, the discourse community communicates to achieve their targeted goals.

There are different examples of the discourse communities from which one of the most common examples is a family. In this group, people share different rules and vocabulary, and they share these values by communication. Different kinds of social groups in society communicate with one another to share their values and traditions. The social groups present throughout the world such as in developed or developing countries come under discourse community such as lover of gardening have different thoughts and values, but the major concern of all people is same; therefore, they communicate with each other so that they can share their learning, knowledge, and education.

There are six characteristics of discourse community such as joint and specific public goals, methods that are used for communicating with each other in the group, genres that are used to define or distinct the group, lexis, and in the last standard of the knowledge that is significant for making groups or membership. Thus discourse communities are distinguished from each other based on these six characteristics, such as a group of valley ball lovers is also distinguished based on these features and characteristics.

One example of discourse communities is the volleyball lover’s community because they share different values and thoughts, but the purpose of the community is to achieve a similar target.

The volleyball lover’s community is a group of people who are enthusiastic fans of the volleyball game. The group comprises different categories of people ranging from fans, players, coaches, and referees (Mobley, 2013). Volleyball is an indoor game that comprises six players on each side and two leading referees. However, because of its popularity, volleyball involves many fans worldwide. Therefore, this notion makes volleyball lovers a discourse community since many people can participate and get involved in it.

The volleyball lover’s community has two common goals. One goal is to achieve high skill levels and the quality of their games. Volleyball game lovers want to learn different skills during playing games. One of the most common and significant skills is discipline because it is needed not only for players but also for the game lovers to use it in their personal and professional life.

One of the essential skills achieved by the volleyball lover’s community is giving importance to other people to take part in the communication and give information about their thoughts and learning. During the game, they learn discipline and found how to work with other teams and satisfy the needs and preferences of the people at the time of playing.

The community of volleyball lovers is working since 2010, and the purpose of the entire team is to respect other team members so that they can also get respect from others. The quality of the game is not a unique feature or demand as the significant goal of a discourse community is to make the team that can communicate with one another to achieve a common goal; therefore, the people involved in this discourse community work to enhance the quality of the game so that they can also get benefits from the shared values and traditions.

The second goal that this discourse community wants to achieve is to give the new volleyballs’ a place where they can learn the game and enhance their love for the game by narrating their experiences as active players, fans, coaches, and referees (Mobley, 2013).

There are different countries where the concept of volleyball is new; therefore, they do not give importance to allocate some space for the playground so that volleyball lovers can play and learn different skills and make the time valuable and memorable. Thus the people of the same discourse community work efficiently to give the concept to the government that they should get someplace to enjoy the game and share their thoughts and values about the game. Volleyball lovers are present worldwide, and all the people interested in playing volleyball come under this group. Therefore, they work efficiently to learn new skills and knowledge but related to the game.

In the discourse, volleyball lovers use magazines, websites, and social media platforms to further this goal. The use of the internet has been increased in the past few years as it has been determined that people from any part of the world can communicate with one another to share their thoughts about games to achieve better results. Different social media applications are used by Volleyball lovers, from which the most common applications are Facebook and YouTube. These social media applications are used to target people of a specific age, and thus they can present their thoughts there about the games.

The rules and policies and any change in the game are also discussed in these social media applications. Moreover, it is also considered the most important and significant way of communication between people, and Volleyball lovers can communicate with one another without any problem.

The use of official websites has also increased in this community to share information with other people, especially for the people who are new in the community and need motivation and guidance to act efficiently in the group. Volleyball lovers have official websites where they can share important information about the game and significant incoming events. On social media pages like Facebook, members can share the stories of their experiences and opinions, and the other volleyball lover’s members will be responding and commenting below the post.

The social media outlet is the most used mechanism of intercommunication. On many occasions, volleyball lovers have managed to achieve their goal of spreading volleyball creativity and information to all parts of the world. Members of this discourse have subscribed to various social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Volleyball lovers use several genres to further their course, depending on individual countries. Some people use graffiti on walls, other use magazines, journals, and blogs. Besides, volleyball lovers have specific lexis, including using words like blocks, dodging, pancake, set, bump, free ball, and spike.

Also, volleyball lovers could use phrases like “cut back,” which means spiking the ball the opposite way you are facing. Another skill is “sealing the tape,” which means making sure the opponent cannot spike past you (Mobley, 2013). People of all ages can join the volleyball lover’s community to make it grow. Different countries create new fan club sites to engage the new fans. The volleyball lovers are a discourse community because it exceeds the six characteristics identified by Swales. All the terms used in this discourse community are efficiently understandable by the Volleyball lovers present in every corner of the world. The information about a new concept in the game or new skill is shared on social media by Volleyball players. Other Volleyball lovers who are part of the discourse community can also learn the new concept specifically. Thus it is clear from the discussion that the people present in the discourse community work efficiently to learn new things.

Another discourse community is the public accountants’ discourse community. The public accountants’ discourse community meets all the six characteristics that Swales highlighted. The public accountants’ main goal is to provide their clients with outstanding accounting services and guarantee client satisfaction (Flowerdew et al., 2006). Further. Public accountants communicate with their clients through engagement letters, financial statements, work papers, e-mail correspondence, and tax returns.

The public accountants’ discourse community uses international seminars and forums to provide information and feedback. This participatory mechanism is convened annually in a specific country. The discourse uses different genres to further its aims. They mostly use journals and official accounting magazines. Also, accountants have their lexis. They use jargon, which includes terms like footing, PAJ-E, SAL-E, debiting, invoicing, among others. Finally, the public accountants’ discourse community has a membership of twenty-five thousand certified and licensed members. For instance, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is responsible for licensing and evaluating new accountants. This discourse community has checks and balances in place to ensure that their common goals are met.

Similarities

The two discourse communities have some similarities. Both volleyball lovers’ discourse community and public accountants discourse community attract members who share their common goals from different countries (Motta-Roth, 1998). Both discourses focus on bettering the quality of their agendas and objectives by streamlining members’ interests in their respective fields and providing a platform where members can share different productive information. For the volleyball lovers’ discourse, new members are given a platform where they can learn new skills and improve on their ability to win matches. The main concern of both discourse community is to achieve the goals by enhancing their works and by motivating their group members to work efficiently. It is similar in the public accountants’ discourse community. Members are given a platform to sharpen their accounting skills by discussing emerging problems with their fellow experienced members. Space is the primary demand of all the community people to share their thoughts and information.

Another similarity is both discourse communities have their jargons to facilitate their understanding. They both use specific lexis, which is only understood by their members. There is no age limitation for all the members in these discourses, although members must be ready to follow the main goals. In both cases, members engage with each other through various communication mechanisms, providing information and feedback. Also, the two discourses are similar because every country has formed individual subgroups of the central discourses. For instance, the volleyball fans have several fan bases in their countries who tend to focus more on their local challenges and improve the game quality. Also, the public accountants have smaller local groups in the country like the Ohio public accountants. These local groups do not affect the common goal of the more significant discourse community. All the members of the discourse community work in a group to share the same benefits. Therefore, they work in a group and take part in communication to enhance the work’s quality.

Differences

Volleyball lovers’ discourse community and public accountants discourse community have various differences. One of the differences is that there are no licenses needed for the members to join the discourse in the volleyball lovers’ discourse community. However, in the public accountants’ discourse community, the accountants must be evaluated and licensed for them to join the discourse. The licensing is done by certified accounting bodies that act on the guidelines on the international organization of accountants. For the volleyball lovers’ discourse, members need to accept the group’s terms and conditions and assure their allegiance to the game.

Another difference is that the public accountants’ discourse community uses official channels to communicate. These channels include convening annual consultative meetings and seminars to discuss matters of concern and using e-mails to share information. In contrast, volleyball lovers use unofficial channels to communicate. These channels include webpages, social media outlets like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The volleyball lover’s community does not convene international meetings and seminars but rather discuss their issues on the webpage and different social media outlets. There are pros and cons of both channels used by volleyball lovers, and public accountants’ discourse community uses such as the official channels used for the communication are a more expensive method of communication, and only a specific number of people can take part in the communication and can share their knowledge. Public accountants’ discourse community uses a secure channel for communication not to be leaked and can remain among the specific group.

But the problem with this type of channel is that more people cannot take information from the channel because only a limited number of people have the authority to access the channel. While on the other hand, the channels used by Volleyball lovers, such as the official website and social media application, are available for the people present in all parts of the world. The people shared information with this website’s help, either they are living in developed or developing countries. The use of this channel increases the chances of getting knowledge and learning because all the group members can take part in the communication. But the problem with these channels is that these channels are public and information present in these channels is not necessarily based on reality. When more people become able to get access, then the chances of spreading false information are increased, due to which various issues related to the problem arise.

Also, the public accountants’ discourse community uses a formal language to communicate. They use a conventional syllabus and a language that observes grammatical correctness. Grammar and language are considered an important part of the community and all the members of the community work hard to make their language easy and understandable by other people too. But people who do not belong to the public accountants’ discourse community cannot understand the language because specific and formal language is used for communication. While on the other hand, the volleyball lovers’ discourse community uses informal language, which involves a lot of game jargon phrases that can only be understood by the volleyballs’. They do not observe grammatical correctness and mostly use pictures to convey messages due to the language barrier. The language used by the community of Volleyball lovers is a more complex one because many phrases are used in the language, due to which the people outside the community are not able to participate in the language.

It is always good to understand the differences and similarities in different discourse communities. One advantage is to enhance understanding and avoid conflicts. Understanding different discourses help someone easily integrate with different people in the work or social environment. Also, members who want to join a particular discourse community may have an easy time t assess themselves whether they meet the threshold to fit a particular group. For instance, members who want to join the public accountants’ discourse community must first know that they must go through various evaluation processes before being embodied in the discourse. Knowing different discourse communities allows a new member to understand the groups’ common goals, customs, beliefs, and objectives. The potential member can appreciate the existence of various people by understanding their way of doing things. People can understand different lexis, ways of communication, and where to use a particular language. Understanding various discourses is essential in corporate social responsibility and integrating with different kinds of people. It is always good to understand different discourses to increase the chances of increasing individual interests. It is clear from the whole discussion that the discourse community worked in a specified manner to achieve specific goals related to their community. Communication is the essential method that is being used by a member of groups so that people can learn maximum knowledge and skills. Thus communication is a significant part of the discourse community, and the classification of the people is based on the six points that have been discussed by John Swales.

References

Flowerdew, J., & Wan, A. (2006). Genre analysis of tax computation letters: How and why tax accountants write the way they do. English for specific purposes, 25(2), 133-153.

Mobley, A. (2013). A secret history of volleyball (Doctoral dissertation, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

Motta-Roth, D. (1998). Discourse analysis and academic. Genre studies in English for academic purposes/Estudios de género en Inglés para propositos academics, 9, 29.

Porter, J. E. (1986). Intertextuality and the discourse community. Rhetoric Review, 5(1), 34-47.

Swales, J. M. (1993). A discourse community and. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT) 1992: Language, Communication, and Social Meaning, 316.