Discourse communities share common goals, communication mechanisms, information exchange, genres, terminology, and expertise. Speech communities interact using shared languages and varieties, recognizing appropriate language contexts. Membership in discourse and speech communities is defined by language, social factors like class, networks, geography, culture, politics, ethnicity, age, race, and gender. Language choice depends on domains, social contexts, topics, formality, and audience. Social class, networks, and identities are constructed through language use and negotiation across interactions and situations. Online identities are crafted through symbolic interaction. Academic writing identities are challenging for second language learners. Ideology is often hidden in framing, emphasis, presupposition.

1. DISCOURSE & SOCIETY

2. DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES AND SPEECH COMMUNITIES
A group of people who
share some kind of
activity.
People usually are members of more
than one discourse community.
Discourse community must have:
● shared common goals.
● mechanisms for communication.
● ways of providing the exchange of information amongst its members.
● its own particular genres.
● its own set of specialized terminology and vocabulary.
● high level of expertise in a particular area.
Example:
● members of a club
● group of university students
● members of a church group

3. SPEECH COMMUNITIES AND SPOKEN AND WRITTEN DISCOURSE
People who not only use the same language, repertoire
or varieties of a language, but who also have the
opportunity to interact with each other.
Discourse community
+
repertoire of languages
Members will recognize the conditions under which other
members of the community believe it is appropriate to use each
language or language variety.
The notion is important for the effective use of spoken and written
discourse. Communication may only succeed when speakers
recognize that they are part of the same speech community

4. DEFINING A SPEECH COMMUNITY
A person may be member of
more than one speech
community
A person may not always be
full member of a particular
speech community
Factors which help to define a speech community:
● Language.
● Social factors.
● Geographical factors.
● Cultural factors.
● Political factors.
● Ethnic factors.
● Age.
● Race.
● Gender.

5. DISCOURSE AND LANGUAGE CHOICE
LINGUISTIC
REPERTOIRE
speakers may have a number of languages or language varieties
they use to interact in their particular communities
Language choice may be determined by:
★ The domain the language is being used in
★ Social factors
➔ social context.
➔ the topic.
➔ social distance between speakers.
➔ the formality.
➔ who we are speaking to.
A speaker or writer may also be
the speaker of a particular
language variety but using that
variety to communicate with a
wider speech community than just
their own.

6. DISCOURSE, SOCIAL CLASS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS
SOCIAL CLASS SOCIAL NETWORKS
may be defined by
occupation
education
income
housing
housing location
kinship ties
religious affiliations
neighborhood
employee relations
leisure time activities
Hierarchical structure of society
Dimension of solidarity at the
level of the individual
Each of these has an impact on how speakers represent themselves to each other in their use of spoken and written discourse.

7. DISCOURSE AND GENDER
Gender is part of the routine,
ongoing work of everyday, social
interaction
Product of social practice
Gender (and other identities) is not a result of who people already
are but a result of, among other things, the way they talk and what
they do.
Gender is a complex construction involves
➔ all levels of language and discourse
➔ aspects of nonverbal behavior
➔ social class
➔ ethnicity
➔ context

8. DISCOURSE AND SEXUALITY
● it has an unconscious basis, based in the notion of desire
● people may perform a certain identity in their
conversation regarding this topic

9. DISCOURSE AND IDENTITY
They way they display identities = The
use of language
VARIATIONIST perspective: (earliest studies) Social classes - use of linguistics
POSTSTRUCTURAL perspective: (recent studies) through language/discourse, identity is
forged.
INFO
Context, occasion, purpose of the discourse.
Space and place of the interaction

10. ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
Particular place and space
interaction with words, symbols (emoticons, avatars) to established online identities
knowing words and how to use and manipulate them
fantasies and desires in this particular setting
safe and private place
different from the offline identity

11. IDENTITY AND CASUAL CONVERSATION
Use of discourse to create, express and establish social identities
use of the genre casual conversation
influenced by the relationship - the frequency of contact - the degree of
involvement
IDENTITY IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF USING LANGUAGE, IT IS RATHER A
SOCIALLY-CONSTRUCTED SELF THAT PEOPLE CO-CONSTRUCT AND
RECONSTRUCT IN THEIR INTERACTION WITH EACH OTHER = DIFFERENT WAYS
OF DOING IDENTITY WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
NEGOTIATED EXPERIENCE = WHO WE ARE BY THE WAY WE EXPERIENCE OURSELVES

12. IDENTITY AND WRITTEN ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
Academic writing is faceless and impersonal discourse
everything we write says something about us and the relationship we want to set up
with our readers
Establishing writer identity is difficult for second language writers
TEACHERS = IMPORTANT ROLE = HELP THEM TO DEAL WITH IDENTITY IN
2nd LG WRITING

13. DISCOURSE AND IDEOLOGY
the values and ideologies which underline texts are often tend to be hidden rather
than overtly stated → NEVER IDEOLOGY-FREE NOR OBJECTIVE
Framing: How the content of the text is presented.
Foregrounding:
What concepts and issues are emphasized and which of them a
played down
Presupposition: What attitudes, point of view and values the text
presupposes

14. Conclusion
Discourse analysis
from a number
of social and
other perspectives
Several important
notions for
discussions of
language from a
discourse perspective
HOW THEY CHANGED
THE USE IN SPOKEN AND WRITTEN
DISCOURSE