Oscar E. Acuña
Discourse Communities
A discourse community is a social group that communicates, in part, using
written texts, but also shares common goals, values, writing standards,
specialized vocabulary, and specialized genres. I am part of many discourse
communities, but will talk about three very important ones in my life. Family,
church, and school are part of my variety of discourse communities which I am
part of.
My family discourse community has a series of conventions that form it.
An example is the respect for the older members of the discourse community. It
is necessary to respect the older members, but a little playing around is always
permitted without the loss of such respect. We mostly talk about what goes on in
our daily lives and what our future plans are, but there also has to be those
words of support and advices. The way to communicate with each other is mainly
by letters or text messaging. Sometimes we write notes to each other or
reminders. The primary language is Spanish, but some English is always included.
Since my family discourse community is Mexican and live on the US, the older
ones are always trying to learn some English. The younger ones mostly understand
both therefore English and Spanish is used. Joining this discourse community
requires to be born into it or getting married with someone who is already part
of it.
Church discourse community also has its conventions which are the
respect, love, happiness, and thankfulness for others and towards others.
Anyone who is in need of God, which is
everyone, can become part of this discourse community. All of the topics revolve
around God and what he has done, is doing, and will do for us. The bible is the
main text, but some pamphlets are always handy. The discourse community mainly
speaks Spanish due to the fact that most members are Spanish peaking, but
English is also included once in a while.
School is a discourse community which requires a high school diploma or a
GED diploma in order to join. Speaking with respect to professors has always
been required, but with friends it is not always necessary unless you are in
class. Basic studies are the topics undergraduates start with, but their major
is the topic that follows after completing the basic studies. The texts that are
included in this discourse community are text books, e-mails, letters,
worksheets, and some internet blogs. The language spoken in this discourse
community has no limits; it can be any language in which members are able to
communicate with each other.
