Eng229K&G

Killingsworth's and Gilbertson's Pragmatic Taxonomy
of Discourse Communities

Discourse Community	Preferred Field of Action	Expected Outcome of Discourse	Characteristic Styles and Text Designs	*Types of Facts Considered Important*	*Economic, Social and Political Considerations*	*Values and Attitudes*
Humanities	university and bookish world	more discourse	unbroken blocks of text, sentences varying in length and complexity, words varying from familiar to technical abstract to specific. Preferred genre: the essay.
Basic Science	university, laboratory, the field	more discourse (theory), scientific actions (experiment)	blocks of broken text by single- and double-order headings, varied sentence structure; high-density tables, charts, graphs; language predominantly technical, varying from abstract to specific. Preferred genre: the scientific paper, research report with theory-based problems and conclusions, closed arguments.
Applied Science	university, lab, field, industry, government	more discourse (theory), scientific actions (experiment), technological actions	similar to basic science but with more emphasis on results; framed by practical rather than theoretical problems; open arguments
Engineering	university, lab, field, industry, government, marketplace	more discourse (theory), scientific and technological actions	medium-length blocks of text broken by multiple orders of headings, graphic varying from technical to familiar, concrete to specific; sentences tending toward simple. Preferred genres: reports, proposals, manuals; framed by practical problems and concluding with recommendations for action.
Human Services (Business, Health, Applied Arts, etc.)	university, government, industry, marketplace	various human actions	short blocks of text with multiple headings and low-density graphics; short sentences and simple, familiar language preferred. Preferred genres: correspondence, brochures, reports, proposals, manuals, sales literature; framed by practical problem with recommendations for action prominently featured.
Art	university, marketplace	entertainment, enrichment	layout varies; familiar, specific language; sentences vary in length and complexity; length and form varies: graphics and language chosen for high impact. Preferred genres: poetry, fiction, drama, essay.
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Adapted from M. Jimmie Killingsworth and Michael K. Gilbertson, Signs, Genres and Communities in Technical Communication (Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc, 1992), 172-173.