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Stephanie Costa
Professor Wolcott
ENC 1101
18 November 2014
Discourse Community
According to James E. Porter, a professor of English at Miami University, a discourse
community is a group of individuals bound by a common interest who communicate through
approved channels and whose discourse is regulated (Porter 400). All individuals are a part of at
least one discourse community, if not multiple discourse communities. As a student in the course
ENC 1101 at the University of Central Florida, I believe the textbook we are using, Writing
About Writing: A College Reader, by Elizabeth Wardle attempts to inculturate us into the
discourse community of people who study writing. In attempting to inculturate us into its own
discourse community, our textbook provides us with important resources that will aid in our
future endeavors such as upcoming courses for our major, graduate school and even our
profession of choice.
The Writing About Writing: A College Reader textbook incorporates numerous articles
written by professionals who study writing. As professionals, their articles follow a particular
format of writing that most professionals of writing use, to convey their message. Not only does
the textbook include writings from professionals using this method, but it also teaches us how to
use the method, to help us write like professionals. John Swales, in his article, Create a
Research Space (CARS) Model of Research Introductions, where we were first exposed to the
CARS method, specifically states, When you write your own papers, making the same moves
yourself will help you present your own arguments clearly and convincingly (Swales CARS

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12). This statement shows the desire of Swales to have his readers incorporate the CARS
method in their own writing. The CARS method of writing, which is described by Swales and
later incorporated into articles throughout the textbook, is a perfect exemplification of the genre
used in our textbook. In John Swales article, The Concept of Discourse Community, he notes,
A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative
furtherance of its aims (Swales Concept 221). Our textbook follows this guideline, set by
Swales, of being part of its own discourse community. In addition to the textbook used in this
course, genre also plays a role at my current jobs. One of my currents jobs consists of working as
a waitress at Macaroni Grill in Waterford Lakes. I do plan on keeping a server job, throughout
my entire educational career, in order to keep me financially stable. As a waitress at Macaroni
Grill, I would say our menu is one of the most important aspects of our restaurant. Tony
Mirabelli, author of Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers,
further describes the menu of a restaurant as the most important printed text used by waiters and
waitresses, and not knowing it can dramatically affect how they are able to do their work
(Mirabelli 96). Our menu, at Macaroni Grill, would be considered the genre of our restaurant
because it provides the guidelines by which the customers can choose their meals and the server
can describe the dishes provided at our restaurant.
In addition to the genre of a discourse community, John Swales also mentions that, A
discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and
feedback (Swales Concept 221). The most prominent way in which I noticed feedback being
incorporated throughout our textbook was in the discussion questions listed, following each
article. The discussion questions serve as a way for the readers to engage and elaborate on what
was read in the articles. By listing these discussion questions at the end of each article, the writer

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is proposing feedback from his or her readers and trying to connect with their audience. As
students, we used these discussion questions as a guideline to complete our weekly discussion
posts. Through our class discussion posts, my classmates and I engaged in the articles we read by
communicating with each other and providing feedback. Feedback is another component of
discourse community that is very important in my current jobs and will play an important role in
my future career, as an Optometrist. Currently, I also work under Ophthalmologists at Magruder
Eye Institute. I am an Ophthalmologist assistant and work directly with the physicians and their
patients. As an undergraduate student, my education level is, obviously, much lower than that of
the Doctors. Since I have been working at Magruder Eye Institute for about a year now, I am
familiar with the majority of the Doctors procedures. At times, I may notice something from the
patients chart that the Doctor did not take note of before his examination. Since the Doctor is of
higher educational standing, I am careful to address something I notice to him in a manner that is
respectful and not questioning his role as physician. I would consider this a form of feedback,
used at my work setting, between the provider and I.
In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis
(Swales Concept 222). The lexis of the textbook is, to me, one of the most pronounced
components of its discourse community. Each article had many terms that were difficult to
understand as undergraduate students. It would take multiple readings or dictionary searches to
understand the point that the writer was trying to convey in their article. For example, in James
P. Gees article, Literacy, Discourse and Linguistics: Introduction, the term mushfake was
incorporated into the text as a term never heard before at my educational level. Mushfake, as
defined later in class, is a term used to describe someone or something that tries to fit into a
discourse community that they do not really belong to. However, upon reading the article and

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engaging in my discussion post, I had a significant amount of difficulty mushfaking my way
into acting like I understood what the article stated. As a student who plans on attending
Optometry School and is currently a Health Sciences major, lexis is undoubtedly a part of the
discourse community. The courses for my major, now at the senior level, incorporate terms that
are expected to be known as a senior from pre-requisite courses such as medical terminology,
anatomy and physiology. This is to better prepare me, as potential graduate student, for the
discourse community of graduate school and the lexis of that level. As a future Optometrist,
there will be medical terms used in patient charts and in communication with colleagues that
individuals who are not a part of the discourse community of Optometry, will not understand.
It is true that our textbook, Writing About Writing: A College Reader, tries to invite us,
as the audience, into its own discourse community. Though some students may beg to differ, I
believe that we have all been somewhat inculturated into the discourse community of the
textbook because of the depths that we have studied each writer and their study of writing. The
resources provided to us, as undergraduate students, will benefit us in our other courses before
graduation from UCF, our graduate programs and future professions.

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Works Cited
Gee, James P. Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction. Journal of
Education 171.1 (1989): 5-17. Print.
Mirabelli, Tony. Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers.
Writing About Writing: A College Reader. Ed. John E. Sullivan III. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2014. 143-162. Print.
Porter, James E. "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community. Writing About
Writing: A College Reader. Ed. John E. Sullivan III. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2014. 395-409. Print.
Swales, John. "Create a Research Space (CARS) Model of Research
Introductions. Writing About Writing: A College Reader. Ed. John
E. Sullivan III. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 12-15. Print.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing About Writing: A
College Reader. Ed. John E. Sullivan III. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's,
2014. 215-229. Print.