Discourse Community Analysis - Guide for Newcomers

Important Note

A Discourse Community Analysis provides an explanation of how a discourse community functions and provides specific, research-based recommendations for newcomers to a discourse community. We are asking you to present your Discourse Community Analysis as a short report in memo style.

For this assignment, imagine that you are a member of a particular discourse community and that you have been asked to prepare your analysis as a way to introduce newcomers to the community. Your audience, then, is not your instructor, but a newcomer into a discourse community that you already belong to. In this way, your assignment is like a guidebook for your chosen discourse community about how to communicate effectively within that community. Why am I doing this?

 

The goal of this assignment is to demonstrate awareness of communication in a vocational context, whether that be as a student or a professional. By examining the specific ways that we communicate within discourse communities, we can learn how to appropriately navigate new communities as we evolve both personally and professionally. What do I have to do?

 

Choose a discourse community related to your program of study or career pathway and write an informal report using memo format that presents a careful observation and analysis of the communication that takes place in that community. Remember, you should be writing for a specific audience: a newcomer to that community. Specific Requirements Length: 750 words (plus/minus 75 words) At least one direct quotation that is cited according to APA–can be taken from any of the readings suggested in Unit 1: Discourse Communities or your own research. Section headings: - Introduction - Background - Research and Analysis - Conclusions and Recommendations When do I have to do it?

 

First draft: due to the MS Teams folder in Week 4 Second draft: upload to the second draft D2L dropbox in Week 5 Final draft: upload to the D2L final dropbox by in Week 7 How will I be graded? Your first draft will be peer reviewed, and will be worth 2%. Your second draft will be marked by your instructor and will be worth 3% by your instructor. Your final draft is worth 15% and will be graded according to the rubric posted on D2L. How do I do it?

 

A Step-­by-­step Guide Plan: Choose a discourse community related to your program of study. This should be a community that you are already a part of (such as students in your program area) or are going to be joining (such as professionals in your chosen field). Research: Your research will be based on information gathered from secondary sources, including course readings, and from job postings, job profiles or job descriptions from organizational websites. You can also include information from primary research conducted in the form of an interview with a discourse community expert. This could be a professional in the field, an instructor in your program, or an upper-­?

 

However, please note that an interview isn’t mandatory. You are not required to complete one for this assignment, but it is an option. Suggested questions you may ask:

 

• What activities do they engage in?

 

• What means of intercommunication do they use?

 

• How do they share information and feedback?

 

• What kind of things do they say, what kind of specialized language do they use?

 

• What kind of text/documents do they create?

 

Analyze: Take the data that you have collected through research and analyze your findings using concepts learned in the course, specifically, Swales’ (1987) six characteristics of a discourse community. You should apply 3-4 of Swales’ characteristics, focusing on those that relate to communication (Swales’ characteristics 2-5). Write a report of 750 words (plus/minus 75 words). Remember, the audience for your report is a newcomer to the community. Your report must include at least one direct quotation that is cited according to APA–can be taken from any of the readings suggested in “Unit 1: Discourse Communities,” or your own research. Your report must also include the section headings listed.