Magdalena Mclaughlin

English Handout to Accompany The Concept of Discourse Community

As a group, go over these questions and answer them on a separate sheet of paper to prepare for

our class discussion. Your group will be called on to present some of your answers, so take your

time in fully addressing each one.

1. What, according to your understanding of Swales, is a discourse community?

Discourse community in swales understanding is a group of people who share basic values and goals and

use communication to achieve these goals and purposes.

2. In the Framing the Reading section, significant focus is given to the term genre.

Define genre.

It gives the term genre because swales refers back to his other books that he has written so therefore it call

genre analysis because he goes back to his other genres of books.

3. List two terms Swales used that you are unfamiliar with from the article (other than

discourse community, genre, and speech community).

Sociolinguistic grouping, enthographer

4. What are the differences between a speech community and a discourse community?

Discourse is when they come up with goals and purposes and speech community is they go out and voice

their goals and purposes.

5. Pick one of the six characteristics Swales gives to describe a discourse community and

explain that characteristic.

One of the six characteristics would be agreeing on common goals

6. Pick an interesting, thought provoking, or confusing quote from the article as a group and

explain its meaning.

cluster of ideas