The sport of gymnastics is in fact a discourse community. Gymnastics follows every characteristic under John Swale’s list of six characteristics of a discourse community. From the community’s goals to its expertise, gymnastics fits.
First of all, gymnastics fits the first characteristic because everyone in the sport shares the same common goal: perfection. Gymnasts want to do the skills the best they can and aim for no flaws. Ultimately, perfection is every gymnast’s goal, whether they are a young gymnast, an elite gymnast, or a coach. Secondly, gymnastics does have a mechanism of intercommunication among members. These mechanisms range from talking, to videos, to blogs, and even magazines. Additionally, gymnastics does use mechanisms for feedback, but these mechanisms are not everyday styles of communication. Most of the time it will be the coach talking and communicating to their gymnast, or in the competitive side, it is the judge writing down the score from a gymnast’s routine.
Gymnastics fits the fourth characteristic because it is a community that has its own genre. One example is a text called the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) Code of Points. This text has diagrams, names, explanations, and symbols to show what skills are possible, what skills are allowed, and what the value and difficulty of each skill is. In addition to having its own genre of text, gymnasts also have their own jargon and terms that one would only find in the gymnastics world. For example, when a gymnast lands a dismount, the phrase, “Stick it” is used to tell the gymnast not to move their feet when they land. That term is rarely seen outside of the gymnastics community. Lastly, the community of gymnastics has a, “Suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise” (UCF). From little kids, to elite gymnasts, to the older coaches, in the sport of gymnastics, the level of ability and knowledge has a wide range.
Ultimately, gymnastics does have all the characteristics of a discourse community, but one might ask, “Why is this important?” The gymnastics discourse community is important for three main reasons. The community is international, so it includes people from different countries and different cultures. While the people might look and talk differently, they still bring diversity and their skills to the gymnastics community and they all work towards the common goal. Secondly, gymnastics has a long history that dates back to the Greeks. This history is the foundation of the sport and it is something everyone, whether they are a student or a teacher, can learn. Finally, the text can teach people how to stay healthy by doing certain movements, or it can help gymnasts become better for a competition. Gymnastics is not only a discourse community, but it can teach people outside of the community the values of culture, history, and daily health.
