Discourse community characteristics
Communities share interests, believes, ideologies, and a spoken and written language. But not any community having the same speech on a particular subject can be considered a discourse community. There are basic requirements for a discourse community to be considered one. For Swales (1990) a discourse community should meet six requisites. Thus, having common goals, participatory mechanisms, information exchange, community-specific genres, highly specialized terminology and a high general level of expertise prove to be essential elements of this type of community.
There is evidence to prove that the members of a discourse community share their goals. As stated by Kutz (1997), when pointing a community college as a discourse one, "its members have, over time, developed a common discourse that involves shared knowledge, common purposes … and a flow of discourse that has a particular structure" (as cited in Kelly-Kleese, 2001, para. 4).Thus, the use of highly specialized terminologies becomes vital within the community. Wenzlaff and Wieseman (2004), make use of acronyms when describing a survey, made to a group of teachers, aimed to draw conclusions on learning processes: "…absolutely true (AT) to mostly true (MT) …" (para. 20)
Kelly-Kleese (2004) focuses on teachers' learning needs and points out that there is a need to share with other teachers in order to improve and grow as professionals. Consequently, there is a demand of a high level of expertise, information exchange and participatory mechanism. As embodied through an excerpt taken from a case study:
I do individual research …I'm adding to the discipline… (I share) at conferences and through articles and essays I've written. I'll also take that information and apply it to the classroom, with the students. So, I'm not just sharing it with the ivory tower individuals, but I'm also using that information to enhance what I teach in the classroom. (para. 35)
Community specific genres are also indispensable for a discourse community to be valued as such. Therefore Blanton, Simmons, and Warner (2001) maintain that "journals or virtual systems of communication can be used to mediate teacher learning so they can recall, share and respond to one another's experiences" (as cited by Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Lopez Torres, 2003, para. 20). Also, in Kelly-Kleese (2004) there is confirmation that a community college membership shares academic standards:
The key to the legitimization of community college scholarship is in its assessment. In order to have their work deemed worthy, community college faculty and administrators must understand the convention of writing and the standards by which their work will be judge. (para.31)
All things considered, as stated by Swales (1990), and supported by the authors cited, not any association can be rated as a discourse community. Since such communities should have common objectives, participatory mechanisms, information exchange and community-specific genres. Moreover, the terminology used by its scholars is specialized as a consequence of their high level of expertise. These vital requisites confirm that an association works as a discourse community.
References
Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J. & Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/ is_3_42/ai_108442653
Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor's Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463
Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review:community college scholarship and discourse. Community college Review. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541
Pintos, V., & Crimi Y. (2010). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective researchers.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Retrieved August 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=6856
Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers Need Teachers To Grow. Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405
