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discourse community 2
ALPFA Discourse Community
There is a list of things that make a group unique, for not any type of group becomes a
discourse community. In my studies of class, I found out that the simple type of communication
with others could change on whether a program or a sport is a discourse community or just a
general type of group. A discourse community must have members with the same goals as others
within the group and that is why I started to look for some of these organizations. There is one I
would like to join and it is called Association of Latino Professionals for America or ALPFA. It
is a program for those who are studying business. This program could be considered a discourse
community based on the six characteristics that define it.
Literature Review
In the article The Concept of Discourse Community the author John Swalles explains the
six characteristics that make up a discourse community. The first one is that everyone in the
group should have the same goals for example the program I was in called Upward Bound.
Every student that joined had similar goals for they wanted to go to college and better
themselves. Only low income students could join and students that needed to be guided to
college just like the rule of a discourse community, must meet the requirements. Every member
in a discourse community must communicate with each other with terms that only they can
understand. In Upward Bound we used terms such as UB, ACE, which for us was Anthony,
Canutillo, and El Paso districts. There are specific guidelines a discourse community needs to
follow according to Swalles when stating, A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses
one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. (p.472). In Upward Bound
that means that students need to follow certain guidelines to join, for example attending an
orientation where they explain every guideline that is required like turning in report cards so the
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staff can see how a student is improving making sure that the help in the program is working.
There is not a specific definition that would clearly describe a discourse community but the six
characteristics listed in the article by Swalles.
Methods
When looking for a discourse community in the area I want to study, I had to attend a
career fair. They had all kinds of organizations in within the business area, which is what I want
to study. Accounting is what I want to focus on and that is why I am looking forward to joining
either ALPFA or Accounting Society. I found these at the fair where they displayed decorated
card boards with all the information about these programs. There were people encouraging
freshmen and other students to join their community. They were members of the College of
Business Administration and a part of the business programs as well. Using prices and their great
speeches I was able to find accounting programs. The reason I attended the organization fair was
for the mandatory Business Lab I have to take in order to graduate. The instructor demanded us
students to go to the organization, pick one, and join one. Before getting involve in a program I
have never heard of before I did some research and talked to people that know about it. The
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Alumni Association created an event to connect with
others and network last summer break in July. There I spent time talking to UTEP graduates who
developed professional and successful careers. They showed the quality of education UTEP
provides and encouraged me to join organizations to help me prepare for the career I would like
to pursue. Overall the discourse community hunt was a great experience for I learned a little bit
of everything. In the organization fair I looked for a program with a major concentration in
accounting and signed up to be invited to their meetings. I went to a meeting for ALPFA and
gathered as much information possible. There I asked questions about their organization not only
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to the president of the program but also to the students around me that have experience working
with them.
Discussion
The organization I consider to be a discourse community is called Association of Latino
Professionals for America (ALPFA). Anybody studying in the field of business could be a
member of the organization. The majority of the students that get involved in the program should
be Accounting and Finance majors or at least in the business field for it is a discourse community
and not anybody can join. The main goal that every member share in the business program is to
better prepare for the real world situations. When one participates in the ALPHA program you
get involved in community service projects to give back to the community and to gain more
experience. They give you opportunities to fill out the resume with all the community service
and services provided to help a student check the resumes. It is important that every member in
the discourse community values education for those who are in the program should benefit from
all the things the learn to prepare for their future career. Every member should be sure that they
want to major in the field the program belongs to, in this case business.
Conclusion
Every community have its own type of groups whether they are a team of a sport, choir,
band, and organizations. They can all be considered a discourse community for they all have
their own type of language to follow. If a group does not have their own methods, language,
communication, and does not belong to a small community, then they are not supposed to be
considered as a discourse community. ALPFA is discourse community that helps students in
many ways to someday succeed in a future job.
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References
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, Pages From - To.
Swales, J. (1990). The concept of discourse community. In Downs and Wardle (Eds.), Writing
about writing (p. 215-229). Boston, MA: Bedford-St. Martins.