Running head: The American Red Cross discourse community

The American Red Cross

Carlos Leon
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
Professor Jose Luis Gomez

The American Red Cross discourse community

Introduction
According to swales, a discourse community attempts and holds its own standards to
meet six goal characteristics. (Swales, p. 220) These characteristics that they have established are
working toward an agreed set of public goals, mechanisms of intercommunication with its
members, uses mechanisms to provide feedback and information, utilize different ways to
communicate its goals and help its cause, earn some type of lexis, and has a threshold of
members that suit the position. (Swales, P. 220-222) The Red Cross is a worldwide community
that aims to bring relief to victims of natural disasters and other hazardous situations, such as
those who find themselves caught in the violence of a battle or war or find themselves in a
hurricane. The discourse community that I will be reviewing is the Red Cross and if they fit the
criteria and meet the six characteristics to be a discourse community.
The Red Cross does not solely limit its ranges of aid and services to the United States.
They also take the time to help those in other regions of the world that are in dire of their
services. The following will discuss how and why the Red Cross came to exist based on Sandoz
(1987) research. Also from the American Society of safely engineers (2012) article of ways the
Red Cross prepares to warn civilians ahead of time will be reviewed, The reason to why I picked
the Red Cross was because the Red Cross is a big part of our society and I see the Red Cross as
one of the biggest Discourse communitys in the world. After reviewing and understanding the
information in this this paper, positive future predictions of actions of the Red Cross will take
can be assumed.

Literature review

The American Red Cross discourse community

John Swales (1990) defines a discourse community in a chapter from the book Writing about
Writing. As described by John Swales (1990), criteria needed to define a group or community as
a discourse community includes the use of: a broadly agreed set of common goals, mechanisms
of intercommunication among its members, participatory mechanisms primarily to provide
information and feedback, utilization/possession of one or more genres in its goals, acquisition
and utilization of specific lexis, and a threshold level of members with suitable qualities.
Although some may confuse discourse communities to be like speech communities, they
differ in that people in discourse communities are separated depending on the assigned task,
discourse communities pursue objectives pertaining to society, and discourse communities are
not fixated on communicating only through speech, but writing as well (Swales, 1990). The first
criteria for a discourse community is having a broadly agreed set of common goals. The goals are
shared throughout the community, usually with documentation such as a member handbook or
rulebook. The next criteria includes mechanisms of intercommunication in which members will
utilize group meetings, or online meetings, with emails in which they can discuss new ideas to
act upon within the community. The third criteria is the utilization of participatory mechanisms
for information in which members can communicate among other members of the community,
like replying mechanisms in emails. Another criteria is the possession of a genre(s) or medium
to utilize and accomplish the goals, like having online forms in which the group is able to
complete a desired task. Having a specific lexis is yet another criteria in which the communitys
language is specific to its profession, such as nurses using medical terminology to better define
thoughts to each other

Discussion
The Red Cross was originally created to aid those in need due to battles or war violence.
However, it has been a misconception that the Red Cross has been involved in government
affairs and influencing these types of worldly controversial decisions. Sandoz states Thus, for

The American Red Cross discourse community

the Red Cross, working for peace does not mean participating in controversies or political
debates (Sandoz, 1987, P. 228). The primary goal that the Red Cross aims to achieve is giving
aid to others, not help make decisions as to what actions should be taken by governments, or how
the government should handle disasters when disaster strikes. The Red Cross has created a way
for members to communicate with each other. The Red Cross has created a phone app in which
stated in the American Society of Safely Engineers article is used to provide information to
those who live in areas where natural disasters are most likely to occur. The American Society of
Safely Engineers article states This Red Cross app provides important lifesaving information
and the availability to communicate with the Red Cross if disaster strikes. With this genre of
communication people can communicate with the Red Cross with one touch of a button that
sends either an Im safe message or a In need of help message with just one touch of a
button.(American Society of Safely Engineers, 2012, p.19)
The Red Cross members/volunteers must have a specific lexis or terminology when they
are in the field of a disaster. Most of the terminology used belongs to that of the medical field
such as the use of CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and AED for automatic external
defibrillator. A term more specific to the American Red Cross Association is the use of the term
Disaster Action Team or in short DAT. Again a Discourse Community characteristic is defined
through, the acquisition and utilization of specific lexis. (Swales, 1990)
The goals of the American Red Cross include feeding and helping victims of disasters,
providing half the nations blood supply, teaching life-saving skills, and supporting military
members and their families. Every day goals, as well as long-term goals, include helping
prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The American Red Cross is always open to
receiving donations from the local communities, educating the public for health and safety

The American Red Cross discourse community

services by providing CPR classes, AED classes, babysitter training, swimming in aquatic safety,
and instructor training and much more. (American Red Cross, 2016)
In the discourse community that is the Red Cross you can ask what motivates them. What
motivates the American Red Cross workers is described on the About Us page online, The
American Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency, and depends on volunteers and the
generosity of the American public form its humanitarian mission. Another motivation for the
members of the American Red Cross is to participate in the relationship with the healthcare
professional team, taking social experience, work experience, and even more specific medical
experience if the volunteer position is involved in the medical field. With the use of online
databases and constant emailing, the American Red Cross members are able to effectively
communicate to one another. Online databases are ordered to the subsections depending on the
specified section of the Red Cross, such as those working in the medical field will share
information either though an online forum or paper work that is only accessible to those
associated with the medical section of the Red Cross.

Compared to that of a hospital, the American Red Cross is much more open in that
volunteers are accepted to work in any job available that it is necessary for making the Red Cross
function like a hospital, but in that anybody can make a difference. Another difference is that the
American Red Cross is a charity and so the Volunteers who work for the Red Cross are doing it
for the community itself. All sorts of positions are available for incoming members but, if you
want to go into a position that is more than a volunteering position than you do have to go ahead
and meet more requirements and complete more prerequisites. Some open positions right now
vary upon what you or any volunteer wishes to participate in. Like basic volunteers just wanting
to do filing will help work in the office.

The American Red Cross discourse community

Conclusion
I believe that the American Red Cross is a discourse community because they are just so
widely spread and the Red Cross are constantly excepting in new members, so they do have a
hierarchy of sorts. Having answered the previous questions to define the Red Cross as a
discourse community better presents themselves to appear as a discourse community. As they
meet all of the criteria necessary to be considered a discourse community.

References
Sandoz, Y. (September, 1987). The Red Cross and Peace: Realities and Limits. Journal of
Peace Research, Vol. 24, No. 3, Special Issue on Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict, p. 287296
. American Society of Safety Engineers. (2012). Red Cross Hurricane App Brings Safety
Information to Smartphones. (2012). Professional Safety, 57(9), 19
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in
Academic