Alexandra Scott!

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During the decision making process re: what kind of Discourse Community to investigate,

I first thought about what interested me most. I thought about my past. I was a cheerleader, a
diver, and an International Baccalaureate student. I thought of the things I enjoyed. I have a
mermaid obsession. I enjoy cat memes. Then I thought....you cant necessarily write much about
those things. So, in a final ditch effort, I thought, Well, I'm a Nursing major. Luckily enough,
this fact seemed to avail to me an opportunity to avoid discussion of the often reviewed cliche
Discourse Communities . I chose the living learning community Nursing@Nike as my topic. This
living learning community is specifically made for Pre-nursing students. I felt I could relate to
these individuals because I lived there my freshmen year. This personal connection will only help
me to present an insightful look into the community. This prior association will give me the
advantage of having had access to details most wouldnt know just looking in. I also hope to
have the opportunity to step back and see what outsiders see. The fact that I'm currently a
sophomore, and it's been a year since living in this community, means that there is a whole new
set of residents. I think that this will allow "looking from the outside" to be easier than you may
think. I look forward to comparing the differences and similarities between the interactions of the
members from when I lived there to those living there this year. !
!

When most people think of Nursing, they think of a profession that has taken the

responsibility for the care of the sick, the injured, the disabled, and the dying. Nursing is also one
of many professions that promote the encouragement of health in individuals ,families, and
communities. This is a personal interest that I have. Both my mother and father currently work
within the healthcare field. My mother works as a Physician Assistant, while my dad works in a
lab. Both have a job that involves the care of patients. Nursing is a position in healthcare that I
am more interested in than my parents jobs. Dont get me wrong, they are both very helpful jobs,

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but lack the level of patient contact that I am interested in. My father never sees those whose
blood he is testing. While my mother does converse with the patient, it is only for a brief time to
diagnose the individual. The nurse is the primary person the patient talks to. I feel that this is
something that I would be better suited for. Because of the versatility of nursing, nurses can also
be part of healthcare research, management, policy deliberations, and patient advocacy. Those
nurses with post baccalaureate education can choose to be an autonomous primary health care
clinician or provide speciality services to individuals, families, and communities. But in order to

I felt the
need to
mention a
specific
modality
used to
further
explain my
Discourse
community

go into this skilled profession, you have to be admitted into the college of nursing first. In English
terms, this is considered gatekeeping. This is defined as the activity of controlling, and usually
limiting, general access to something. The community that I will analyze has, as one of it's goals,
the preparation of it's members for application to Nursing at the end of their sophomore year.
This community helped me to take on the mindset needed for a Nursing career. Having lived in
the community, I feel, has prepared me and others for the application process. There are many
times when I see previous residents of the community and the concept of nursing@Nike is
brought up in conversations and during class. There is even an option to select on the
application whether you were a Nursing@Nike resident. !

I needed
to explain
who
Swales is,
why he is
citied for
UCF
english
courses,
and how
his ideas
relate to
my
community
.

The criterion for a Discourse Community, explained by Swales, is perfectly exemplified by

the Nursing@Nike community. Swales is a linguist and codirector of the Michigan Corpus of
Academic Spoken English at the University of Michigan and an contributing author for the book
used in this class. His criteria are as follows: A Discourse Community has a broadly agreed set
of common public goals. A Discourse Community has mechanisms of intercommunication
among its members. A Discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to
provide information and feedback. A Discourse Community utilizes and thus possesses one or
more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. In addition to owning genres, a

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Discourse Community has acquired some specific lexis. Finally, a Discourse Community has a
threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.
This is relevant for the reader to understand the analysis of my community, because these
criteria create a structured skeleton to evaluate and to understand the interworking of the
Nursing@Nike community. !
the interworking of the community. !
!

A Discourse Community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals. The

Nursing@Nike community has the primary goal of preparing its inhabitants for the Nursing
application process. As freshmen, the community prepares and provides its applicants with a
smooth start to their college education as well. There is a required class that the residents have
to take. This class is an SLS class specifically for Nursing. This class provides guest speakers,
including the head of the College of Nursing admissions. This opportunity allows both of these
goals to be met simultaneously. Another goal for residents is to successfully pass classes. Many
students meet in the common room to study for classes. Most residents take the same classes
with the same teachers. The people in charge of the community have a goal to encourage its
residents to work with each other and get along. There are required team building events that
the members take part in which serve that purpose. Two such examples include renting out the
ropes course for the exclusive use of the members of this community and getting to know each
other games mandated for the residents.!
!

A Discourse Community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members: To

me the term intercommunication refers to a more relaxed, but still effective way of spreading
information or ideas. The community is on the first floor of the Nike building 102. Most of the
time, intercommunication happens between rooms within the hallways. Most of the residents are
encouraged to become friends and therefore are able to informally communicate through texting

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and just simple, friendly conversations. An example of a more organized mode of communication
within this Discourse Community is the Facebook group purely dedicated to the residents of
Nursing@Nike which allows questions to be answered and opportunities to converse informally
about topics distinct to the community and its residents.!
!

A Discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide

information and feedback: One of the requirements of the group-bonding activities is to fill out a
before and after survey about the community. This is one of the most obvious ways of ensuring
feedback about the community. A less formal way to provide feedback emerges through the
conversation among its participants. I.e member to member, member to teacher, member to
administrator. The community is a free community for any Pre-Nursing freshmen new to UCF.
There is, however, an application. This is a way to produce a situation similar to a subscription to
a free program. !
!

A Discourse Community utilizes and thus possesses one or more genres in the

communicative furtherance of its aims. The Nursing@Nike community uses several techniques
for intercommunication within the community as well as to communicate with those not already
part of the community. This way is more organized than just having conversations in the
hallways. An example within the Nursing@Nike community occurs each time the residents meet
for their twice a week SLS class. This is where new information about events within the
community and opportunities for future nursing benefits are discussed. Once or twice a semester
there is a housing community meeting where other events are advertised. Another genre
employed by the community is the utilization of the administration associated with the
community, who attend freshmen orientation for all semesters, and who inform incoming
freshmen of this great opportunity to get a leg-up on their nursing education, and essentially an
advantage over other future applicants. These administrators are separate from the normal pre-

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nursing info session. They have their own meeting essentially advertising the opportunity. It
obviously worked on me.!
!

In addition to possessing genres, a Discourse Community has acquired some specific

lexis. A first rate example of the lexis distinct to the Nursing@Nike community is its name. Those
who have not heard about it have no idea about it and its goals. There were many times when
students would ask me what the heck it was and what the point of it was. Most nursing@Nike
terms are the same ones that would emerge in the conversations of an average nursing or prenursing student. There are very few terms exclusive to Nursing@Nike. A topic such as the TEAS
test (An entrance exam for the college of nursing required for application) represents a stellar
example of something most pre-nursing students would know without being a part of the
community.!
!

A discourse Community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of

relevant content and discoursal expertise: The Nursing@Nike community is only open to prenursing freshmen starting their first or second semester at UCF. There is an application which
diminishes the number or members. After this first freshmen year, a new set of members joins
the community, while the old ones go on to live separate lives. Because of the utilization of an
application and an ever-changing demographic, the program ratio is always the same, with an
equal amount of people coming in as leaving. The application also ensures that the number will
never change. There is only a certain number of rooms, so there is no possible way to add
students .!
!

I appreciate Ann Johns' personal analyzation of Swales theories on Discourse

Communities. For the most part Ann John delves further into his theories. She is a well known
linguist who teaches at San Diego State University. Her explanations were easier to understand
and to relate to. The examples were more current and laid out in a better perspective for me.!

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I feel that being a member of a Discourse Community serves as a process to enable a persons
identity to be revealed for others in the community to see. Johns brings up good points about
how there are all types of communities. The way an individual will allow themselves to be
perceived depends on the type of community that they are a part of. An individual wouldnt tell a
dirty joke in the office meeting (professional community), per se, but might tell it to a joke club
(social community). In a professional community, a person would be better suited pitching a
new company policy idea instead. !
!

There are many examples of community conflicts and diversities within my chosen

Discourse Community. !
!

An example of costs associated with the Nursing@Nike living learning community is that

you are required to stay in a certain type of dorm, Nike. This may be more money than someone
would want to spend on a dorm for their child to live in. Going the other way the type of dorms
students are supposed to live in is a shared space. Some students may be able to afford to live
in a nicer space but the requirements make it so that they have to share a space with another
member of the community. As well as a bathroom with their suite mates too. This puts valuables
at risk for being stolen. The other monetary cost for living in this community is that you are
required to take an extra class. There is no such thing as a free education so you are required
to pay for this class. This class also takes the spot of a class that you may need for your
prerequisites but won't be able to take because you are taking this required class for the
community.!
!

The authority figures within this community are the teacher of the spacial class and the

program director. They are there to make sure there are no conflicts between students and that
the students are fully prepared to start the process of earning prerequisites for the nursing

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program as well as ready to apply when the time comes. This is accomplished through weekly
class teachings and advising meetings throughout the year. !
!

The rules for this community are very similar to any housing rules. No alcohol or illegal

substances within the dorm rooms. Try to be quiet and respectful of your neighbors, and keep
rooms clean for when the cleaning staff comes and cleans them. Rules that are specific to this
community include the fact that you must be Pre-nursing throughout the whole program and you
must pass and attend all special classes, meetings, and appointments. Group studying and
assistance is encouraged but not required. !
!

In any community there will be controversy. It is only prudent to provide a way for letting

these concerns be known. Including during advising meetings or through appointments to

provide your opinions and wishes to be heard. Things can range from roommate disagreements
to questions about the process of pre-nursing. Another way to provide feedback is through
questionaries passed out at the beginning of the term, the middle, and end that ask about each
students experiences within the program and what they would change. I believe the
questionaries are great for future members of the community but for personal right now
problems the meetings and appointments are the best way to handle the situations that need to
be handled quicker than later. !

The inclusion of a second Linguist further assists

in evaluation of my discourse community .

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