Alessandra Valenzuela

RWS 1301
September 14, 2017

Discourse
Communities
Alessandra Valenzuela
RWS 1301
September 14, 2017
 Alessandra Valenzuela
RWS 1301
September 14, 2017

There are different communities that individuals are involved in to achieve goals, advance
in knowledge, and gain experiences. These communities are called Discourse Communities.
They could be a club, a group, a team, anything that has the six characteristics that make up a
discourse community. The characteristics consist of values, genres, specialized vocabulary,
membership requirements, audience members, and purpose. After reading the Swales article I
was able to get a better understanding of what a discourse community really is. Thinking to
myself, I realized that I am a part of a few communities. For example, Im involved in the
church, my family, and the nursing program at The University of Texas at El Paso.
My church, Queen of Peace, is a community that many other individuals and I are a part of
to strengthen our relationship with God and evangelize the non-believers. Having purposes and
reasonings to be involved in a community is just the first step of being a member, if you have a
reason to be in a group you realize that you have to strive to remain in that group. Ever since I
was little going to church was a requirement in my family and now its just a lifestyle. According
to Swales, Discourse communities have changing memberships; individuals enter as
apprentices... How- ever, survival of the community depends on a reasonable ratio between
novices and experts., which this situation interprets into that in order to remain a member you
have to show your presence in mass to be a part of a group that has the same values, and
purposes to express belief for God. There are different audience members of the church, those
that are trying to gain knowledge from the Bible, and the priests that are there to preach what
they know and learn to the community. We all unify as one, experiencing the many lectures and
learning the specialized vocabulary for example prayers, Eucharist, the sign of the cross, and
faith. Prayers are what we say in time of need and the Eucharist embodies faith and spirituality.
The sign of the cross is something you learn to do and its a way of dialect in the church. Like I
appointed in my map, there are different genres to view or practice the church for instance,
reading the bible, going to mass, hearing preaches on the radio. Inside the church they offer
other smaller groups to join so focus on one particular matter. Overall, I feel great about myself
and wanted when Im able to share my experiences to outsiders that arent a part of what I am
in because they get to understand how much this means to me just like how much their
personal commitments mean to them.
Before college I was a typical clueless fresh out of high school graduate. College was
completely new to me and my peers around me that are the same age. It is a new community
youre getting yourself into. Within the college community they have smaller communities. For
example, majors, teams, and clubs. Choosing my major was tough just like anyone else has to
say, I hear that students change their majors plenty of times because they dont want to be
somewhere that is going to waste their time if it doesnt meet their needs. I attended the
nursing major orientation and fell in love and knew that was what I wanted to do. I was ecstatic
and had heard great things about it and decided that the community I wanted to be in at UTEP
was the nursing program. Its a little different from my church community in a way that my
purpose for being in the nursing program is to further my future by getting the education I need
to find an occupation that meets my needs. Church values and nursing values are similar in the
sense that you gain integrity, altruism, social justice. Reference from Swales, In a discourse
 Alessandra Valenzuela
RWS 1301
September 14, 2017

community, the com- municative needs of the goals tend to predominate in the development
and
maintenance of its discoursal characteristics. You work with people and patients constantly
and it teaches you how to communicate and have better social skills. You have to be extremely
dedicated to be involved in such communities because you have an audience that youre trying
to prove to. To show that youre worthy enough to learn and also to teach. No one can become
a nurse just right off the bat, theres a process you have to go through to get to where you want
to be. I am still unsure what type of nurse Im striving for but there are requirements, I have to
dedicate my time to getting a bachelor of science. You need a degree to be any type of nurse
that will teach you the specialized vocabulary and the different genres for example, dealing
with antibiotics, appointments, research papers, and case studies. Its stressful to think about
but its beneficial for your future. My family is my biggest fan and support me through
everything and believe that I can pursue my dream if I try hard in everything I do, theyre my
audience.
As said in the paragraph above, my family is my life and theyre my last discourse
community Im in. Yes, family is a community, that youre born into. There are different values
you learn from being a part of such a caring family. You learn to keep a good relationship with
each other, even close friends. You realize what it means to honor and support one another
and that is such a great quality to have, to be able to trust people so much because they are
always there for you. In return, to be a member of this type of community you have to be
trustworthy, dependable, and helpful. Those requirements allow my family and I to
communicate in a respectable manner, theyre able to ask for my help and know they will
receive it in the best possible way. There are different ways to talk to my family. For instance, in
a non-formal way, we text or call. In a formal way, we have conversations face-to-face. That
makes me comfortable that Im able to choose between any one of those genres to talk to
them because some individuals dont get that opportunity. In my intermediate family, we use
the nicknames or the words Mom, and Dad to communicate with one another. We have our
own vocabulary that may be different from other discourse communities, for example my
nursing community. I wouldnt use the specialized vocabulary I have for this community in my
nursing community. Thats what makes discourse communities so different, they have different
points within the characteristics. My purpose of being in this community is to help one another,
love with compassion, and be involved with each others lives. The audience members of this
community are my family, God, and even close friends. Im involved in each of those members
lives to show them that they have someone to call for help and that theyre always thought
about.
After talking about the communities Im in I feel wanted. I never knew what a discourse
community was until explaining all my communities in two pages. Writing this paper taught me
how much it takes to be involved in such communities. This was very beneficial because I can
use the tools from the characteristics to communicate more wisely.
 Alessandra Valenzuela
RWS 1301
September 14, 2017

Reference Page

- Swales, John (1990) ''The Concept of Discourse Community." Genre Analysis: English in
Academic and Research Settings.

https://blackboardlearn.utep.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1720607-dt-content-rid-
16569825_1/courses/RWS_1301_14721.201810/swales%20-
%20the%20concept%20of%20a%20discourse%20community.pdf