But what is a discourse community? A discourse community is a group of individuals who cluster together based on a common interest, passion, or ideology. John set forth a model diagram in The Concept of Discourse Community that outlined six characteriscs required of a discourse community. The six characters are: there must be a set of common goals, use mechanisms for intercommunication among members, have information and feedback engagement, utilize different genres of communication, specific jargon unique to the community, and there must be a flow of new members with relevant expertise into the community (472-473). The first characteristic is essentially the purpose of the group. Since a band of individuals are coming together, they must have common interests and a sort of goal they all work towards. This does not mean that they have to work on it the same way or together, but they share the same end goal. The second and fourth points are intertwined, since communication among members of a group paves the way for genres to form. A genre is a method of communication within a discourse community. The third point is essential for keeping the group updated and performing at its best. When there is communication, the clashing of opinions is inevitable, and this is encouraged in discourse communities as feedback engagement. Moreover, the jargon unique to the community make up the shared language that is indecipherable outsiders, which require new members to possess background knowledge of the field. Lastly, the flow of new members must surpass a certain threshold that is needed to keep the group active. This is the case for families, clubs, and classrooms; all circles that people encounter in their lifetime. A career is arguably one of the biggest and most important discourse communities. On average, people in America spend over half their life working. With jobs taking up such a huge portion of everyones lives, it is important to diagnose and reflect on a career choice.
My discourse community is a subcategory within the business and corporate field; my personal role within this community is being a financial analyst. This specific community has many overlapping qualities with the business and professional industry. Specifically, my focus specializes with analyze large sums of data and provide suggestions for businesses or individuals. This field is accurately depictive of a discours
e community because it meets the six characteristics. Like all discourse communities, this community has a set of common goals and aims, the main one being to. Analysts have one job to do: organize and assess data. Whether they work at a bank or for a large corporate office, analysts will be working with numbers on finance. My discourse community inter communicates with each other and other larger communities to effectively do their job through email, presentations, legal documents, telephone calls, and meetings. Communication is critical to for keeping an organization running. Mistakes can cause catastrophic effects, ranging from loss of large sums of potential money to bankruptcy. It is essential to be able to communicate effectively so businesses or individuals can take in more opportunities. Through the many genres, the analysts receive information on the status of the business, which then is processed and evaluated in terms of advantages and disadvantages. Analysts also communicate with one another, exchanging ideas on the optimal method of approaching situations. Further, they give and receive constructive feedback to one another through constructive criticism and professional advice. It may come off as rude, but its simply because people in this industry are more blunt. As the business field is always fast-paced and cutthroat, it is crucial for analysts to stay up to date on data by researching and sorting through papers. Communication is filled with jargons that are widely known to the public. Such lexis include equity, balance, debt, interest, credit, loans, investments, and more. the professionals in the business field are the ones who truly understand the concepts and apply them the most effectively. Lastly, the business field includes experienced analysts, with much higher ranking positions, along with newer members in training such as interns. Since it is usually based off hierarchical structure, the older someone is they will usually be a lot more experienced; thus, they will be up higher on the chain. The business field is often structured so with time, people from lower ranks climb the ladder and gain a better position in the corporate world. This mixture of new and experienced members helps the business community keep a constant flow of progressing generations. This community appealed to me in many ways that can be explained through a series of events in my life.