Use your own words to describe each of the six characteristics of a discourse community according to Swales. Can you find examples of each from you own experience?

1. A discourse community is goal-oriented. This means that the group as a whole, or fragments within the group, are striving to achieve something together. Members of the group may be personal motives to be in that group, but as a whole, they have a stated reason for doing what they do. My high school lacrosse team stating that we wanted to go to state level competition could be an example of this.
2. Discourse communities have a means of communicating between each other. Groups of people of the same profession that all do the exact same work, and likely share the same values and training may not be a discourse community because they do not converse, argue, or share with one another. Sending emails and text and also meeting with friends to plan beach week could be an example of this.
3. Discourse communities use participation to provide feedback. Members of a discourse community need to argue with and advise other members of their community in order to further their common stated goals. Team mates arguing with the coach on my Cross Country team to decide on workouts that would best prepare us for a race could be an example of this.
4. Discourse communities contain multiple genres. They use these different genres and adapt them to form their means of communication and develop the way that they create knowledge through text. Different methods for starting fires in boy scouts could be an example of this? Kind of a stretch.
5. Discourse communities have their own lexis in some way. The easiest way to identify this lexis is through the identification of acronyms, or highly technical terms that may be confusing to those outside of the discourse community. This allows members of the community who are experts in their field to communicate more efficiently. Military members using terms such as “AIT” and “MERPS” could be an example of this. I haven’t actually been in the military, but I have noticed this before.
6. Discourse communities contain both novices and experts. This contributes to the survival of the community, because as older members leave, they can be replaced and furthered by the former novices who may replace them. Apprentice carpenters being trained by masters, then learning new things to pass on to their apprentices through experience could be an example of this.

Write a one-page letter to an incoming student in which you explain what discourse communities are and how knowing about them will be helpful to that student in college.

Dear Incoming Student,

Before you start at VMI, it is important that you have at least a basic understanding of what discourse communities are. Discourse communities are essentially large teams of people that work together to achieve a stated goal.