Honest Warnings and Fooseball

These two readings were exceptionally enjoyable. Contrary to Alderson, I sort of enjoyed the honesty of the opening section (Framing the Reading) of "The Concept of Discourse Community". I found the ‘warnings’ to be humorous, “Be aware that Swale’s style of writing is a little dry and formal, and he may use specialized linguistic terms that you don’t understand.” Although the Swale’s writing was dry and flavorless, I got through it smoothly.

The purpose of this chapter was to discuss the differences between a discourse community and a speech community. It was explained concisely.

Discourse community : centrifugal, separates people into occupational or speciality-interest groups. Recruits members by persuasion, training or relevant qualification.

Speech community : centripetal, absorbs people into that general fabric. Inherits membership by birth, accident or adoption.

Swale discusses the 6 characteristics of discourse communities and provides an example that is sufficient and interesting. I liked the fact that the participants of the HKSC come from different backgrounds and different demographics (Lieutenant Colonel, non-native speakers of English, men and women) yet form a global discourse community.

As for Branick’s “Coaches Can Read, Too” I thought it was simple and straight-foward. Just as Swale's HKSC, Branick's example of football coaches was complementary. The conclusion was strong and I thought clever. “What was that coach thinking?!”

One discourse community I thought of was any branch of the military. They have common goals, mechanisms of intercommunication, participatory mechanisms, genres, specific lexis, and members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.