Running Head: DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 1

Discourse Community Ethnography

Yuanrong Pu

University of Texas at El Paso

DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 2

Abstract

According to John Swales a discourse community must have most of the six basic characteristic from his

concept of a discourse community.(Swales,1990) First, a discourse community has have a common goals that

everyone agree on. Second a discourse community must have ways to share thoughts and idea with other member of

the community.Third the community must have ways to provide information and feedback. The last three

characteristic of a discourse community are a community that has hierarchy , profession vocabulary and it posses

more than one genres. In my research i found out that the HVAC community has a rank structure that use multiple

genres and lexis to achieve a common goal. Thus the HVAC community is a discourse community.

Introduction

Countless spices of animals have lived on earth, shockingly the fragile mankind is the victor in the

evolution process. Compare to other animals we are not the strongest nor the smartest, but we have two unique

secret weapons, adaptation and community. The word community is derived from the Latin word communitas which

refers the member of a group have equal rights to voice their opinion. In the Article the concept of Discourse

community by John Swales He argues that specific interest group is the archetype of discourse community
DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 3

an archetype discourse community tend to be a specific interest group. (swales,1990,p.220) I belong to several

discourse communities like Army, League of Legend and HVAC. Given this opportunity, i decided to do a detailed

research on my future Job, the HVAC discourse community

Literature Review

In Concept of a discourse community by John Swales (Swales, 1990), he points out few major

difference between the speech community and discourse community. A significant reason to distinguished the two

concepts is to understand the difference between sociolinguistic and sociorhetorical. The Speech community

represents the sociolinguistic group, they tend to focus on Shared linguistic forms, shared regulative rules and

shared cultural concepts.(Swales,1990) While on the other hand a socirheotical group is represented by discourse

community, which is a group of processional formed to achieve a common goal.

Intertextuality is modern, literary idea that all form of writings uses some parts of other writing thus it has

relation to one another.(Porter,1986) Literary work has some of the great examples of intertextuality, for instance,

the popular novel the Lord of the Flies by William Golding. As we look closer to the Lord of Files, we notice some

similarity between it and the Treasure Island. Throughout the entire story, both novels develop its story around the

young teenager.

Communication is the foundation of a discourse community, Often Members of a discourse community

publish article to communicate with each other. For the article to be approved by the communication platform of the

discourse community, it has to follow guideline and use of specific lexis.(Porter,1986) As a consequence, some

people often confuses intertextuality with plagiarism. Nevertheless, with each published text it alters the discourse

community by widen it's potential.

According to John Swales a discourse community must have most of the six basic characteristic from his

concept of a discourse community.(Swales,1990) First, a discourse community has have a common goals that

everyone agree on. Second a discourse community must have ways to share thoughts and idea with other member of

the community.Third the community must have ways to provide information and feedback. The last three

characteristic of a discourse community are a community that has hierarchy, profession vocabulary and it posses

more than one genres.

Methods
DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 4

On average, there are 297 sunny days per year in El Paso, thus the city's nickname is Sun City. In the

summer time, the temperature will always sit around 100 degrees. As a result, there is an abundance of HVAC

technicians that i could work with for my project. My primary source is a local HVAC company called Total Air, and

the secondary source is penguin HVAC located in Houston, Texas. The Total Air HVAC company offers finance

from the highest performance system to the more affordable ones. Total Air is a licensed and insured HVAC

company that has 30 years of experience in heating and air conditioning. I spend this Saturday working with them

and talk to them about the industry I found all the attributes that make HVAC a discourse comm

Discussion

The air conditioner is an essential in the American home, however, once it was considered a luxury and

status symbol for the wealthy. Now air conditioner is seen at homes, school, businesses, hospitals and other

buildings that we occupy. According to the Department of Energy cooling and heating is a significant energy

consumer.

A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals(Swales,1990,p.220).The

HVAC technicians are a group of individuals dedicated to bringing the thermal comfort to every American. This

done by fixing or installing air conditioning on commercial and residential building. The air conditioning system is

a process of replaces hot indoor air with high-quality cold air from the condenser. In the Sun City, the summer sun

can be a dangerous weapon, the average temperature is around 100 degrees. Mr.Brooks, the president of the Total

Air, told me that summer is his nightmare. This because refrigeration system usually breaks down in the summer

time and it needs to be repaired urgently. Furthermore Mr.Brooks told me that most the refrigeration systems are in

the attic, where the temperature can get up to 130 degrees.Then he showed me his extra shirt and said:"you have to

bring extra shirt because the attic is like the sauna and you are in it hours at a time." HVAC contractors like

Mr.Brooks are risking their life to bring thermal comfort to the general public.

A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its

members(Swales,1990,p.221).Members of the HVAC uses the professional website such as Air Conditioning

Contractors of American Association to communicate with each other. In the general forum area, HVAC contractors

talk inventions idea, experience and some have posted job offering to attract another contractor. What interests to me

was there is a section on the bottom of the form dedicated to problem-solving, in this section contractor can post

their problem about a project on here and the member can reply with ideas to help out.
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A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and

feedback(Swales,1990,p.221).In Houston, Texas my friend Mr.David from Penguin Air Conditioning told me that

there is a State wide HVAC contractor convention in the Houston Community College twice a year. This convention

provides lawmaker with first-hand experience about new regulations, in return the contractors can propose idea to

the lawmaker that will benefit the industry. Fourth A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one more

genre in the communicative furtherance of its aims(Swales,1990,p.222). Mr.Brooks told me EL Paso HVAC

community also has a community meeting every quarter year to provide pamphlets and videos about the new

changes. The HVAC community sometimes provides workshop on the new system for the contractor. As technology

advances, the community member uses email to communicate with each other to collaborate on a project.

In addition to owning genres, a discourse community had acquired some specific

lexis(Swales,1990,p.222).The HVAC has an abundance of specific lexis. For example, the word HVAC that I use

throughout the text is an abbreviation for Heat, Air Ventilation, and Cooling. Checking the charge is a common lexis

that all technician knows, this means a process of determining how much refrigerant is left in the system and is't the

right amount. In air conditioning world, the word condenser means the outside unit in the air condition system. Now,

if a HVAC technician told you your condenser is broken you know what is wrong. A discourse community has

threshold level of members with suitable degree of relevant content and discourse expertise( Swales,1990) At the

bottom of the food chain a HVAC assistance is your baby ant. With more experience and a certificate, the

general contractor is the worker ant. Mr.Brooks said, I am the soldier ant, represent the HVAC technician in the El

Paso area. Hopefully one day I can be the soldier ant that represents the Houston area at the national level.

Conclusion

Through this research, i understood more about HVAC than before, and I am thankful that MR.Brooks

allow me to work and interview him, Now am sure this will be my cup of tea. In Conclusion, the HVAC community

has a rank structure that use multiple genres and lexis to achieve a common goal. Thus, the HVAC community is a

discourse community, because it has all six characteristic of a discourse community.

DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 6

References

Swales, J. (1990). The concept of discourse community. In E. Wardle and D. Downs (Eds.),

Writing About Writing, (2 nd Edition), (215-229). Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins.

Porter, J. E. (1986). Intertexuality and the discourse community. In E. Wardle and D. Downs

(Eds.), Writing About Writing, (2 nd Edition), (395-409). Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins.