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Tiffany Shien

Professor Kimberly Freeman

College Writing Program 161

04 February 2019

Analysis of Discourse Communities

The definition of a discourse community, according to Swales, fulfills all six of the

following criteria: has a common purpose that all members serve, shares information with each

other through certain means of communication, involves the exchange of feedback that all

members participate in, has more than one genre to push its values forward, has its own specific

terminology / lexis that outsiders might not find as accessible, and passes knowledge from

experts to novices in the group (Swales, 471-473). There are many discourse communities in

biology, such as those in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, public health, education, research,

etc. Students studying biology or any subdivision / branch of biology can also be categorized as

various discourse communities because of the knowledge, experience, and vocabulary they

share. Other than these major discourse communities categorized by profession, there are also

minor discourse communities. For example, a study group consisting of UC Berkeley students

who take the same course can be its own discourse community.

As a UC Berkeley undergraduate student studying molecular and cell biology, I am a part

of numerous biology discourse communities, some I might not even be aware of. As a premed

student, I wish to be a part of a discourse community of medical students, or future

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physicians-in-training. If and when I start my medical career, I will be exposed to medical

language specific to this community that people of other professions will likely feel foreign to.

According to Swales’s criteria, I will be considered a novice when I first enter this group. Over

time, I will gradually gain experience and knowledge from experts in the community, until I

become an expert myself. It is extremely important for members of the discourse community to

communicate ideas and exchange feedback so they can learn from each other. Therefore, one of

the advantages of being a member is that I will never stop facing new challenges and acquiring

more knowledge.

For doctors of any medically-related discourse community, they usually produce writings

that are closely related to their patients. On the simplest level, a doctor writes in charts and

treatment proposals on a daily basis because they are part of his / her work routine. Occasionally,

he / she might have to write in preparation for a speech at a medical conference. These writings

are often directed to patients and their families, fellow physicians, the hospital board, or to the

general public. The form of delivery isn’t necessarily written but can also be typed or spoken,

sometimes accompanied by images and graphs of statistical data to support his / her statement.

Medical writings can be complicated and difficult to understand but they usually serve a

major purpose: to inform the audience of a scientific fact, opinion, or knowledge. The target

audience is usually people from the work setting of a doctor, including patients, hospital staff,

coworkers, and other authorities. For example, a doctor records his / her patient’s symptoms,

diagnosis, and treatment in a chart. This chart contains both objective observations about the

patient and subjective judgement calls made by the doctor. It is straightforward, informative, and

understandable by those who read it. Another example could be a doctor publishing his / her
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research findings in the hopes of improving the medical field. In this case, the range of target

audience broadens because every living person can potentially benefit from this.

In my opinion, all members in this discourse community serve a broad, common purpose:

to save lives. I decided to go down this path and to be a part of this community because of the

same reason. As doctors consistently communicate and learn from each other, these values are

also reflected in their work and their writings.

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Works Cited

Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Community.” ​Genre Analysis: English in Academic

​ oston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print

and Research Settings. B