The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department

El Paso Fire Department Discourse Community

Joshua Regalado

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

Professor Ruby Pappoe

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

INTRO
A discourse community can be described as a group of people who share common ideas
and processes while sharing an exclusive form of communication between each other to achieve
a set goal. Herzberg (1986) describes a discourse community as something that is not well
defined as yet, but like many imperfectly defined terms, it is suggestive, the center of a set of
ideas rather than a sign of a settled notion. Hezberg is describing how a discourse community is
centered on like ideals to achieve a set goal. John Swales indicates that for a group to be a
discourse community it must follow a specific set of guidelines, six characteristics that make a
discourse community what it is. He describes how a discourse community can communicate
through many means and more than likely have a way of communication that others outside of
the group most likely cannot understand. This communication is created to help achieve a goal
that everyone in the community is set on accomplishing on a regular basis. With having a brother
in law in the El Paso fire department, I have had the opportunity to observe and understand the
department for ten plus years. With my experiences, I can be able to say that these officers
belong to their very own discourse community.
The El Paso fire department serves one single purpose, to assist and respond to the
emergencies of the citizens of El Paso. The department as whole contains what could be
considered as sub communities, these sub communities being the individual fire stations set out
across the city. Each station works as team, communicating with each other as quickly and
efficiently as possible to respond to the emergency in their proximity. The department is made up
of many fire fighters, ranging from lieutenants and EMTs to chiefs and other high ranking
officials, all of these officers networking together to help aide and serve those in an emergency.

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

Literature Review
John Swales has described exactly what a discourse community is through an article he
wrote called, The Concept of Discourse Community. In his article he goes through what
specifics a group must have to be a discourse community, stating that for a group to be a
discourse community it must fulfill six specific values. These values being, a discourse
community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, mechanisms of
intercommunication among its members, uses participatory mechanisms primarily to provide
information and feedback, possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its
aims, has acquired some specific lexis, has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree
of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, 1990).
Swale also describes what not a discourse community is and the reasoning for why it is
not. He provides an example by relating his six criterias to a speech community, and comparing
how a speech and discourse community differ by the idea of sociolinguistic and socialrhetorical
grouping (Swales 1990). He explains how the communicative traits in a social linguistic group
are placed above the discoursal values that are required to create a discourse community. This
being compared to a social rhetorical group, where communication is created not only for social
needs but created more intently to satisfy the requirements needed to achieve the groups goal.
He also brings to point how the medium of a speech community differs from that of a discourse
community. Literacy takes away locality and parochiality, for members are more likely to
communicate with other members in distant places, and are more likely to react and respond to
writings rather than a speech from the past (Swales, 1990, pg. 24). Swales explains that sheer
speech and literacy will not be efficient enough to support a discourse community, and even

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

takes away from the communities sought out objective by adding distance and lack of reactivity
between the individuals involved.
A medium is a go-between: a way for information to be conveyed from one person to
another (The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, Fourth Edition). There are many
types of mediums people use to communicate with each other on a regular basis, whether it is
through verbal instances using the tone of our voices, non-verbal instances where we use our
bodies and gestures to convey a message, or even electronically by cellphone, computer, or radio.
According to an article written by By Elizabeth Thoman and Tessa Jolls called Media Literacy:
A National Priority for a Changing World , No longer is it enough to be able to read the printed
word; children, youth, and adults, too, need the ability to critically interpret the powerful images
of a multimedia culture.(Thoman, Tolls, pg. 1). Here both authors are describing the fact that a
medium can be difficult to understand if it is not relatable to the audience. As an author one must
be diligent when choosing a medium to communicate to his or her audience. The medium should
relate to the discourse community at hand in order to get the authors thesis across.
DISCUSSION
With regards to the El Paso fire department that was mentioned earlier, I have been able
to view the way the department networks together to bring aide the everyday emergencies that
occur on a recent visit to Pumper 6. I viewed how each member of the station showed great
attention to communication, and analyzed the groups tendencies as whole that would deem to
classify them under a discourse community.
The El Paso fire department all shares the same common public goal, this being the first
value required to define a group as a discourse community. The goals of the fire department are

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

to ensure responsive help to those in need around the city. According to thirteen year firefighter
and EMT Isaac Licerio, the main goal of the fire department is not only to respond to
emergencies but respond as quickly and efficiently as possible. When a call was issued it was
very obvious that these firefighters understood each other even without having to say much at all.
A simple yell of a name and that firefighter would respond with collecting what was needed for
the call at hand. All of these firefighters were connected and more importantly driven to perform
their job by the fact that they all had the same goal in mind.
Of course, to achieve this goal, communication was highly required. Communication for
a call will always, when possible, be on a face to face basis (Isaac Licerio, personal
communication, September 13, 2016). With this type communication it makes sure that each
firefighter acknowledges and understands the situation at hand. As well as face to face
communication, each station networked between each other through radio using a specific lexis,
call signs. Lexis, the specific vocabulary learned by professionals within the discourse
community. For example, if fire station nineteen wanted to speak to the officer sent with pumper
twenty one on a response to a fire, they would radio in for call sign A and have a verbal
conversation through radio with that officer. Call sign A being officer, B being the driver, C
and D both being the firefighters behind the fire truck. As you go through school to become an El
Paso firefighter, this type of communication is taught to you so you understand any situation that
comes across you when thrown into the force (Alejandro Licerio, first year fire fighter, personal
communication, September 13, 2016). I also got to observe the communication in the station
when they were not on call. They spoke informally and verbally like you would at home. It was
quite intriguing to view the differences in communication and language from one second to
another when a call would be issued randomly.

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

In addition, when an individual officer needed to take a leave of absence he would have
to communicate to a fire chief through a chain of command. He would request whatever he
required through a written statement that would get passed up from officer to officer. At each
level it would have to get approved until it finally reached the chief.
Not only was there communication between individual stations but there was also sources
of communication between the El Paso communities. If El Paso weather stations had indications
of an approaching storm that could cause flash flooding in certain areas, every single officer in
the department would be notified with information of the situation that could present itself in the
near future. In cases where a city wide emergency presents itself without any for warning, city
officials can use what is called the fire phone to reach out to every station in the city, providing
them the information of the situation at hand.
As mentioned before, a discourse community also requires the use of a specific medium
as well as genre. Genre, how things get done, when language is used to accomplish them
(Martin, 1985, pg.250). These genres satisfy the needs of the situation at hand. Some genres do
not necessarily relate to specific writing, as seen through the El Paso fire department. When a
call for a fire is issued, the fire fighters responsible for responding to the call are immediately
required to suit up with the proper fire retardant gear. This is must to ensure proper safety for the
officers dealing with the fire.
The final trait that makes a group a discourse community is the various positions of the
individual professionals within the community. In the fire department there are various levels of
positons that require specific duties and roles that help achieve the overall goal of the
community. Some officers find their way into the fire department by taking courses to acquire

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

their fire fighter certification, this making their chance of entry into the fire department much
higher. Others enter the academy and pass certain levels of testing to make their way into the
department. As you enter the fire department you are categorized as a deputy and with further
experience you can apply for higher positions in the department. Lieutenants, chief assistants and
fire chiefs all must have ten plus years of experience on the force to able to be eligible for their
positons. There are also those firefighters who are certified as medical EMTs, this certification
can require anywhere from six months to two years. This certification is attractive to the
department as they are looking to hire those with more medical education.
CONCLUSION
With my analysis of the El Paso fire department, it could easily be considered a discourse
community as it falls under the requirements to be one. The communication of each individual as
well as whole, the specific lexis used to communicate within each other as well as the genres
used to communication into action, different levels of positions within the department, all come
together as whole to help achieve the goal of the department. This career choice has always
interested me because of the fact that the professionals within the community all work together
to achieve the set goal of helping those in need.

REFERENCES

The Community that is The El Paso Fire Department.

Thoman, Elizabeth, and Tessa Jolls. "Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World."
Center for Media Literacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.

Bullock, Richard H., and Maureen Dally G. The Norton Field Guide to Writing. New York: W.W.
Norton, 2006. Print.

Swales, John M. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 1990. PDF.