Academic Discourse and Community

Academic Discourse and Community

Academic discourse can either facilitate or hinder com

munication among individuals. Audience and discourse

are inextricably linked, and through the employment of

certain discourse tropes and conventions, a researcher

can either broaden the audience of a text or narrow that

audience to a specific academic or general population.

In doing so, the researcher is participating in what is

munities in which he or she regularly participates and

contributes to the discourse. However, many research

ers, in seeking partnerships outside their specialty, will

cross lines of discourse and enter into other discourse

communities. The flexibility within discourse enables

this collaboration. Granted, a researcher who does not

regularly participate in a particular discourse commu

nity may not be able to fully engage with the entire

range of knowledge within that field, but that does not

preclude that researcher from contributing to the dis