Academic Discourse A discourse community basically speaks for itself and the people involved in that community. It is the way that people within a specific group communicate about common topics of interest. In this paper I will compare the numerous differences between two types of discourse communities. There is an academic discourse that involves more detailed terminology and ideas, and deals with a more specific detailed body of knowledge. Academic discourse is more for the interest of people that are experts or studying a certain field or profession. Then on the other hand, there is popular discourse that deals with more everyday i