Discourse communities to me as I have come to find by numerous websites like “SocialMettle” and from Swales is that discourse communities is a group of individuals with similar ideas that are made up of values and assumptions that are achieved through communication. According to Swales discourse communities is presented in a way throughout his text to “help you understand how people use texts and language to accomplish work together”(p.215). With this information provided it makes me think of discourse communities almost as a guide on how to communicate with each other so that you can work together efficiently. However, this also reminds me of statuses and roles as you are taught in sociology to follow the roles given by the statuses so that you can abide by the rules and “fit in”.
This closely reminds me of what a discourse community is and how it is portrayed in society. Although there are many ways to portray discourse communities, Swales definitions is that “discourse communities signify a cluster of ideas: that language use in a group is a form of social behavior, that discourse is a means of maintaining and extending the group’s knowledge and of initiating new members into the group, and that discourse is espimetic or constinutive of the groups knowledge”(p. 217). First off, I would like to state how discourse communities is all around us. It is important to understand why these communities are so important to everyone around us. Our world is filled with different backgrounds, different people, races, religions, occupations, hobbies, interests, expectations, jobs, etc.
These communities make people feel good and like they truly belong there. These similarities within these groups gives us a sense of purpose, understanding and connection to others similar to us. An example that I can give are individuals who share the same interests or beliefs of religion could be seen having these conversations and communicating through the church because the members have the same values/beliefs amongst each other that you can openly speak about them. Another good example is volunteer work, typically individuals who volunteer have a shared value or belief of helping others or doing good in society. These discourse communities are all around us, they help us distinguish where we belong and where we fit in and by knowing where discourse communities are will help you in all different social situations and even professional settings.
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In professional settings, being aware of your discourse community can be an overall benefit to you and your career because in a workplace environment everyone has the same goal: to succeed in the tasks given to them. In the workplace you are a part of their discourse community where you communicate with co workers, discuss work, learn the norms of their working community, learn your placement, and you follow the rules. You can look at it as becoming one with the company, essentially accepting their values and visions. To give a better understanding I would like to go into detail about discourse communities in the workplace. Say you just got hired to work at some fancy restaurant where you have never served or hosted in your life. You are accepted in their community the day you are hired. You are taught what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
Essentially you are taught these things because you have the same goals as everyone else who works there to succeed in what you are asked to do and by following “roles” you can succeed in these tasks. Say you are asked to host your first day, you will be supervised by a trainer. This trainer will teach you how to succeed in this “hosting” community and what is expected of you by being apart of this group. You will not be alone in this community as there will be others alongside you doing the same things and hoping for the same outcomes. Furthermore, a person can learn these norms and expectations by watching others and observing what is going on. As I stated above, you become a part of that community the day you are hired and that is the day you will learn the norms and expectations of your newly found work community. Your coworkers and boss will teach you the ways of the working community to make sure you can follow and abide the rules of the role.
However, if a person tries to join a group but does not know these norms and expectations they should ask questions as you will need to know these expectations in order to succeed in your new working community. I say this because a discourse community is a group of individuals who share similar interests and in order to fit in and belong in this discourse community you need to be able to follow and understand the norms expected of that community. Your group will show you the ropes and what you need to do to succeed in your community but you have to be willing to try and understand what is expected of you. Lastly, I would like to discuss my major of Criminal Justice and what that means to become a full member of my professional discourse community. Within my discourse community there are many standards of following laws, learning about the court systems, understanding criminal procedures and standards, codes, amendments, etc.
I learn about my discourse community when I declare my major as criminal justice. I learn how to succeed in my professional discourse community by being present at lectures, classes, taking quizzes, and being active within the learning community. I will learn these norms and expectations from my professors and teachers who have the same interests in me to learn about criminal justice and for us all to succeed. The interests we all share will keep us connected and better equipped to communicate with one another. Overall, my professors will teach me how to succeed in my major so that I can go on to accomplish my goals. Eventually I will need to intern or get a job in this type of role to learn more about real life experiences in the community.
