Discourse Community Communication

Discourse Community Communication

A discourse community is a group of people who share fundamental values and means of communication about their objectives. The group may have similar goals or purposes, and they need to speak to each other or pass signals to achieve them. There are several characteristics of a discourse community. To begin with, the community has to have a means of communication between them. It is the only means that they can pass ideas and means of accomplishing their primary goals.  The creation of language also requires that to have lexis. It is a set of all the possible words in a language. The community also has to have a sizable number of people who understand the language to a particular reasonable degree. In most cases, the discourse communities also share a goal or opinion. It is the driving force that leads to the formation of a discourse community.  This paper is ana analysis of the means that a discourse community communicates by writing.

As seen earlier, the group of people has to communicate to reach the set objectives. One of the means that the community can communicate is through the use of writing. Writing can be of many types, but there are two major categories; formal and informal writing. Formal writing is the one whereby the writer iss supposed to follow a specific format of writing. There are rules of the language that they should use, the arrangement of words, the type of words to use, and the type of vocabulary to use. In this case, a person is limited to a certain acceptable way. An excellent illustration is when people write official letters. The letters are supposed to be formatted such that the address of the writer and that of the recipient have specific places that they should be placed in. There is also a consideration that the person should include a salutation and a heading for the letter. The rules that are applied are therefore based on the community where one is in.

Besides, a person is supposed to avoid shortening the words or statements. Acronyms are avoided in this case, and a person has to follow grammar rules to the latter.  It is more complex and backed up by examples and illustrations that are on point. The method of writing is seen in places such as newspapers, official letters, official magazine publication, and memos. The main points are also stated clearly from the beginning of the work. In example, as one given above of an official letter, one is supposed to state the purpose of writing the letter from the beginning of the paper. It makes it possible to scan through the work in minimum time. The other characteristic of formal writing is that t is mostly written in the third person. One is supposed to avoid showing any first-person point of view in describing situations and making conclusions. It also avoids the mentioning of individuals’ names and makes it hard to give credit to one person in the paper. In case when the information is taken from an external source, one is expected to recognize the source.

Moreover, the style does not allow for the person to show emotion and attachment to the topic. The issue is almost similar to the avoidance of the first-person view unless one os taking the ideas from another source. In that case, te [erson is allowed to place the words in apostrophes or differently indented paragraphs, then citing them. The group of people that has a common objective has to follow the official method of writing based on the set rules. In conclusion, formal writing is one of the main means of communication via writing. The members of the discourse community have to follow the set trends of writing if they are to achieve formal communication.

The second means of communication is through the use of informal writing. It is the type of writing whereby the rules of completion are lenient on the writer’s wishes, as will be described below. To begin with, it is simple. The sentences are short, and one does not have to organize the work in a specified manner to deliver a point. In informal writing, one is also allowed to set different sizes of paragraphs and format the paper as the wish. Unlike an example given earlier, whereby the community has a specified manner in which the paper should be organized, the informal writing opens up the formatting. It allows the writer to use any format to express the idea. In a similar case of letter writing, an informal letter allows the person to include poems, diagrams, sticky notes, and many are formats as long as the reader understands the point that the writer wanted to express.  The lack of limitations makes it possible for people who do not have the skills to communicate and pass ideas.

Another characteristic of informal writing is that one is allowed to use shortened words, slang, and acronyms to express the ideas in mind. If a community has a common shared term that is not part of the general vocabulary of the language, they are allowed to use it in this type of writing. An excellent illustration is the use of words such as frequent flyers in medicine. In the normal or official English language,  the two words have different meanings compared to the ones that the nurses intend to express. In medical language, frequent flyer means a person who checks their health condition at the slightest provocation. In formal language, it would mean a person who flies regularly. The use of such slang terms is allowed in informal writing as long as the medical community understands the idea.

Apart from that, the informal means of writing allows for one to express emotions. It means that they can use abbreviations, direct quotes, smileys, and emojis to express how they feel in the paper. Some of the common feelings that are expressed in writing include empathy. It is showing concern for the reader by explaining some of the terms that seem complex f for them. The writer acknowledges such terms and the level of understanding that the reader may get.  Finally, one is allowed to use incomplete statements as long as the idea is understandable. The use of ellipsis allows the above concept. Its main aim is to allow the reader to make inferences depending on the ideas that have been expressed earlier.

In conclusion, a discourse community is a group of people who share basic values and means of communication about their objectives. There are several characteristics of a discourse community, namely, a means of communication between them. The community also has to have a sizable number of people who understand the language to a particular reasonable degree. The discourse communities also share a goal or opinion. One of the means that the community can communicate is through the use of writing. Formal writing is the one whereby the writer iss supposed to follow a specific format of writing. There are rules of the language that they should use, the arrangement of words, the type of words to use, and the type of vocabulary to use. Besides, a person is supposed to avoid shortening the words or statements. Acronyms are avoided in this case, and a person has to follow grammar rules to the latter.  The other characteristic of formal writing is that t is mostly written in the third person. One is supposed to avoid showing any first-person point of view in describing situations and making conclusions. Moreover, the style does not allow for the person to show emotion and attachment to the topic. The issue is almost similar to the avoidance of the first-person view unless one os taking the ideas from another source. The second means of communication is through the use of informal writing. It is the type of writing whereby the rules of completion are lenient on the writer’s wishes, as will be described below. One does not have to organize the work in a specified manner to deliver a point. Another characteristic of informal writing is that one is allowed to use shortened words, slang, and acronyms to express the ideas in mind. Apart from that, the informal means of writing allows for one to express emotions. It means that they can use abbreviations, direct quotes, smileys, and emojis to express how they feel in the paper.