Running Head: DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 1

Discourse Community Ethnography

Carolina Alvarado
UTEP










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Abstract
The purpose of the following study was for me, as a business student, to have a better
understanding of the types of writing and communication skills I will need in order to be
successful in my major. The following paper will provide information on the discourse
community, Financial Management Association, of UTEP. In order to complete this study,
observations of meetings, shadowing and interviews took place. The collection of artifacts was
also necessary in order to comprehend the essence of this discourse community. After these
events and actions took place a conclusion was made that emails, text messages, power points
and note taking are the main source of communication done through writing that provide the
members with the necessary tools to be successful in their field of study.







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Introduction
A discourse community can be seen as a community with common goals that are reached
in different manners by the members in that particular community through specific
communication done specifically through writing. For this assignment we were given the option
to observe an upper level course pertaining to our major, an association/club or a business. The
purpose of this was to understand on a greater level the type of written communication that goes
on in a discourse community which we, as students, aim to be a part of, successfully, in a couple
of years and after graduation. This goal should be achieved by increasing our knowledge on our
particular discourse community of interest and understanding it on a deeper level. Rather than
superficially knowing what may go on in the particular discourse community, we will gain
knowledge on the communication that goes on within. I came to the conclusion that it was in my
best interest to observe the discourse community, Financial Management Association, of UTEP.
My reasoning behind observing an association rather than a course on my major was that I want
to understand how a business works and not just part of a business.
Literature Review
A discourse community can be described as a group in a community, although not on the
same community, which share a common goal. According to John Swales (1990) not only does a
community have to have a common goal but they must also meet other criteria. Criteria such as:
having a deep understanding of their own language/lexis, which beginners or new members learn
over time, that someone outside of the community may have little to no knowledge about, main
forms of communication, mechanisms being meetings, emails, competitions and texting, genres
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consisting of presentations, note-taking/agendas and resumes, as well as have a form of structure
within the members that can be compared to a ladder or pyramid. The structure within the
members can be compared to a pyramid because they have a leader, which is the most
knowledgeable, the members in between that may hold positions such as assistants or trainers
and then the new members placed the bottom which will in the future fill the higher positions.
Although Swales (1990) has a strong definition of what a discourse community is, that is not the
only way to define one.
Method
In order for me to have a better understanding of the discourse community as a business
major, I decided to study close up an association a play part of, Financial Management
Association (FMA). I came to the conclusion that FMA was my best choice because up until a
year ago there really was not much activity going on in the association. FMA began emerging
slowly and has now rapidly expanded into a successful association. I began by asking the
president for permission to observe the meeting from outside of the circle as a non-member for
one of the meetings. The purpose of observing as a non-member was for me to have the
opportunity to listen to the form of communication in between the members and concentrate of
how things were done not necessarily what the meeting was about. After obtaining permission to
observe the meeting I thought it would help to shadow the president during the time he prepared
for the meetings along with the rest of the officers. In order to complete the study I also
interviewed the president, former president, and the newest member after myself. Wanting to
understand the process as to how a business works was my main motivation to go an extra step
by interviewing the former president aside from the current president. Interviewing the three
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members was important for the study because it provided me with the information I needed in
order to understand the pyramid structure within this community.
The shadowing of the officers while they prepared for the meeting was not done in
person because they communicate through a group chat online. This is where I began to take
note. I paid close attention to any abbreviations they may have used in the conversations that
were related to the language of the association. I made sure to write down any words, acronyms
and abbreviations that were brought up during the conversation to later ask the president to
clarify what each meant and how it related to the association. Following the observation of the
meeting between the officers was the meeting with the members. I prepared for the observation
of the meeting with the members by making sure to show up on time with paper and pencil on
hand. During the observation process I took note of the way the information was presented by
the president to the members, the reaction of the members to the information being presented, if
there was specific dress code that was followed and how any confusion was clarified.
For each interview I prepared a set of different questions for each interviewee. For the
former president I mainly focused on his approach to bring the association from level 0 to a level
of complete recognition which has caused members to have the opportunity to travel to
international conferences in New York City. After having those questions answered I was able to
come up with questions for the current president which mainly consist of what he is doing in
order to maintain the new level of professionalism and recognition that the association now has.
Another important part of the interview was asking the president if he is doing anything to
continue help the association have better communication within itself and the new members.
Finally with that information at hand I was able to come up with questions for the newer
member. The questions for him mainly approach the subject of what he is doing to adapt to this
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discourse community and if the older members have a way of making it easier for him to learn
the way the association works.


Discussion
After studying FMA from on outside point of view rather than a member I was able to
realize that it is a discourse community according to John Swales (1990) definition, specifically
because of their form of communication through the mechanisms of meetings, emails, and
competitions as well as the genres of presentations, note-taking and resumes. It was very
interesting to see that although the title Financial Management Association may lead one to
assume that learning to manage finances is their common goal, it is not. I saw it as a tiny
discourse community which their common goal is to prepare the members for a bigger discourse
community, the business world. The preparation that is emphasized is done through competitions
and having guest speakers come in and talk about their experiences in their jobs and provide the
members with advice on how to succeed in their field of study. This preparation is necessary for
the members of FMA because the goal of the association is to help them become professional
business people.
I learned through the interviews that the older members are the ones that teach the newest
members how to prepare for interviews, teach them on how to keep informed about current
events (in business and government) because that is what is going to help them be successful and
be chosen for competitions. It all seems to be a cycle because the competitions help the older
members think strategically and in the moments, which is what most of them will be doing in
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their future jobs. The competitions are within the members themselves in order to compare and
contrast within each other what way may be the best to approach business problems. After a
discussion has been made within the entire society, together they come to a conclusion on who
had the best approach or conclusion and why. From there on the winner or top three to four
members are rewarded by having the opportunity to travel and attend conferences. The purpose
of them attending the conferences are so that they further their knowledge of the business world
and become associated with future partners/coworkers and bosses. After speaking with the
president as to why they chose to pick a winner as an association rather than having judges or
only the officers choose, I learned that they do this in order to benefit each member. The
president explained that through discussion and analyzing, each member gains comprehension as
to why one approach may be better than the other and they can then use that information for
future competitions.
One of the main ways that the older members provide the help to the newer members are
by constantly having them update their resumes with new information. I was able to learn
through the interviews that having an updated resume is a priority in FMA. When I asked why
resumes are taken so seriously I was told that a resume can always make you or break you
although that is not the only important thing. This is where helping the new members stay
informed about current events and preparing them for competition comes into place. I was
explained through the interviews that although I resume can open up the doors for the members,
it is their job to keep that door open by being professionals and showing that there is much more
to that person than what is stated in a piece of paper.
The main form in which all this information goes from one member through the other is
through presentation slides. The officers are the ones that prepare and deliver the information on
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the power points. From the interview with the president, I learned that the information that is
most commonly provided is specifically about competitions, keeping in the members up to date
on current events that they need to involve themselves in, and information about presenters. The
officers decide what information to provide the members during the meetings and when by
having an officer meeting themselves previous to the member meeting. This meeting is done
through Facebook Chat online and is monitored by the president. The president is the one that
monitors the conversation to assure that it is only on the subject of FMA and does not steer off
topic. The president explained that the reason they have this meeting online rather than face to
face is because it is easier for all the officers to participate. This decision is influenced because
members live in different sides of the city and also have jobs that may interfere with scheduling a
meeting face to face.
While I was observing the meeting it was also brought to my attention that all of the
members take notes throughout the entire meeting. By asking some of the members I was able to
conclude that the only way to be successful in FMA is by constantly taking notes of all the
information that is being provided. This is important because it is part of the preparation
(previously mentioned) that determines whether someone is successful in the business world or
not. I was also granted permission to review some of the notes that members take throughout the
meeting. By doing so I was able to see that most abbreviations are related to the topic about the
meeting. One example would be the Investors Club, which the officers teach any member that is
interested how to invest. The abbreviation that the members used for this was INVC. Other
common abbreviations were SEO-U which stands for sponsors for educational opportunity for
undergraduates, SEO which stands for sponsors for educational opportunity, and BB
INVCon which stands for the Berkshire Hathaway/Warren Buffett Investors Conference.
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As on overall view of what I learned through this discourse community is that it is a
replica of what the business world is in general and does not concentrate specifically on finances
or economics or marketing. The concentration of FMA is to teach the members on a professional
level how to be successful in business regardless what branch they may be going into. In a
general form, FMA teaches its members the level of professionalism that is needed for different
events, how to approach difficulties in their field, and how to interact with people that may
usually be intimidating due to their power and success in business.





References

Swales, J.M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. The concept of
discourse community Cambridge: Cambridge UP.