Tan, 1 Timothy Tan Mrs. Park ENGL 106 11 March 2014.

Purdue University Malaysian Student Association (PUMSA) A discourse community or speech community Introduction. To provide a home away from home was the Purdue University Malaysian Student Associations (PUMSA) goal, as according to the website. That being said, PUMSA, as its name implies, is a club dedicated to all Malaysian students, and starting from this year, to any and all non-Malaysians that are in Purdue University, West Lafayette campus. Since West Lafayette is approximately 9000miles or 14400km away from home and the fact that we are of very different cultures, traditions and mindsets, the president, Ashwin Malik, decided to add this as one the goals and mission of PUMSA as a club. Not only does PUMSA promote that goal into all its members, but is also promotes the cultural and more often than not, geographical awareness to the people here in Purdue University let it be American, Russian or even Indian through events such as and not limited to Malaysian Night, Chinese New Year celebrations, and International Food Bazaars. Methods. In order to write this research essay concerning this club and whether it is a discourse community or it is a speech community, I have conducted 3 different types of primary research to affirm my points. The three include an interview with the above mentioned President of the club, Ashwin Malik, personal observations during committee meetings of the club as I am the Outreach Officer under External Relations, and an online research based off information obtained from the PUMSA main webpage. Additionally, I have read the article on The Concept of Discourse Community by John Swales that describes

Tan, 2 the main characteristics of a Discourse Community and the difference with a Speech Community. Discourse Community vs Speech Community. According to Swales, there are 6 specific characteristics of a Discourse Community as compared to Speech Communities that only have 2 main rules. The six include intercommunication styles, genres used, feedback or information mechanism, having public goals, specific lexis used and varying levels of expertise in the community. As compared to a speech community that has only 2 main rules that must be followed as mentioned earlier. These two rules are that the community share knowledge of rules for the conduct and interpretation of speech and the knowledge of at least one form of speech and the patterns used for it. These characteristics and rules are the backbone that constitutes the different communities. Not only do they make up the different communities, they also distinguish one characteristic from another. Now the question here is whether PUMSA is a Discourse Community or a Speech Community? Thus, I shall answer that question in terms of my research of PUMSA and her activities.

Tan, 3 Interview. Me Ashwin Me : Hello Ashwin. : Hello Tim. : Im here to ask you a few questions about PUMSA. Do you mind answering

these questions? Ashwin Me Ashwin : Sure, go ahead. : Alright, what means does this club use in communicating with the members? : We use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We also use

our wordpress website, Youtube, emails, telephone and verbal communication. Me club? Ashwin : Oh there are plenty, you yourself should know this as a Malaysian; we have : Secondly, are there any examples of special lexis or jargon we use in this

many mix terms from Mandarin, Malay and Tamil words into our speech, and also random Malaysian slang words such as lah or aiya. Me Ashwin : I see. Does this club have any public goals? : The goal right now is to create a home away from home, meaning we

connect Malaysians with each other and have events and activities to bring them closer together and yet participate in the Purdue community as well. Me use? Ashwin text messages. Me mechanism? : From these genres does PUMSA have a type of feedback or information : As mentioned before, we have emails, blog posts, tweets via twitter and even : Interesting. Regarding communication again, what types of genres do you

Tan, 4 Ashwin : From time to time, we distribute feedback forms through physical and online

surveys. Theres also a Contact Us section on the website. Otherwise, people will normally approach a committee to verbally give their feedback. Me : Right and speaking of committee members, what do you think are the levels

or variants of expertise in the club? Ashwin : Everyone has a different level of expertise. Since we consist of members

from freshmen to seniors and even graduate schools, with different majors such as finance, actuarial science, engineering, etc. we naturally have a difference in level of expertise. Me Ashwin : Thank you Ashwin for your time. : Youre welcome!

Tan, 5 Works Cited Malik, Ashwin. Personal Interview. 10th March 2014. Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print. n.p. About. Purdue University Malaysian Student Association. n.d. Web. 11 March 2014.