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Hierarchy Of A Discourse Community Essay

1019 Words5 Pages

There has been much debate about what truly defines a discourse community, and several scholars such as John Swales, Elizabeth Wardle, and James Porter have given their two cents on the subject. The majority of scholars, such as the ones previously mentioned can agree that there is some form of hierarchy in a discourse community. If you analyze what Swales, Wardle, Porter, and other scholars have conveyed on the subject. You may notice that they have all neglected to mention how these superior members are gaining authority. In theory it, is quite possible for biases to be present during this process as scholars conveniently neglect to mention this when they describe what they believe to be a discourse community, and furthermore the biases may vary from gender, ethnicity, and other constituents pertaining to a person’s background. If biases are present when pertaining to the hierarchy of a discourse community this may shed a little light on how a novice might become an adept member of a discourse community, …show more content…

What I believe Swales is trying to convey is that there needs to be a mix of novices, and experts in a discourse community. There also should be members who hold more power when compared to other members who might be inexperienced in the community. In Swales’ article “The Concept of Discourse Community” he goes on to convey six defining characteristics a discourse community possesses, however Swales’ article is similar to other scholars as he does not breakdown what gives the more powerful members authority other than stating that they have more experience. If you explore James Porter’s article “Intertextuality and the Discourse Community” you can discern a unique example of a discourse community’s hierarchy that gives fair insight on possible

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The Concept of Discourse Community In “The Concept of Discourse Community”, John Swales tries to outline a definition of a discourse community. Swales argues that there are several differences between a “speech community” and a “discourse community”. He later sates there are six major characteristics for a group to be a discourse community. Swales then gives an outline on what does a discourse community and what parts make it up.

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As Swales (2020) suggests, one of the defining features of a discourse community is its members' possession of "a certain degree of authority or credibility" (p. 555) within the community. In the case of the NBA Analytics and Statistics community, mastery of specialized language is a key marker of this authority. Community members who can use this language effectively are seen as more knowledgeable and competent and are, therefore, more likely to be trusted and respected by other members of the community. However, this use of specialized language also can reinforce power relationships within the community. Swales (2020) notes discourse communities often have a "hierarchical social structure"(p. 554) in which some members are more authoritative than others.

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It can be difficult to understand what it means to be a discourse or what communities fall under that category, and that is why I feel like John Swales’ definition of a discourse community is the the one that makes the most sense and the one that almost anybody can apply to communities they are part of and determine if they are discourses or not. Even though Gee and Porter had good points regarding discourses and good arguments, one almost had to be a linguist to fully understand what they were saying. They did help Swales get his point across more clearly in some instances though. Thanks to Swales I now know for a fact that my English 1113 class is a discourse community and I achieved that by following the six rules Swales presented as necessary to be a discourse community. Gee, James P. “Literary, Discourse, and Linguistics.”

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Mirabelli helped me decide what discourse community I want to study. Like Mirabelli, I am going to study a discourse community that I was a part of. After reading the extensive knowledge Mirabelli had on the community, I realized it aided his ethnographic study. Without prior knowledge of the community, an ethnographic study is harder to complete. I also noticed the passion Mirabelli had for the discourse community he studied.

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