Running head: MINER VILLAGE AS A DISCOURSE COMMUNITY 1

Miner Village as a Discourse Community

Sebastian Miki-Silva

University of Texas at El Paso

 Running head: MINER VILLAGE AS A DISCOURSE COMMUNITY 2

Miner Village as a Discourse Community

Miner Village is a housing complex situated inside the UTEP Campus. Because of its

location, it offers its residents an easy way to communicate with the rest of the UTEP, but also

because of the way it is constructed and organized, it allows them to easily interact on a daily

basis with each other, plus offering weekly meetings and activities, such as Karaoke Nights,

volleyball games, or informational meetings (Apartments, n.d.). At first sight, we can observe

that there is some kind of communication between its members, but can it really be defined as a

Discourse Community?

As defined by John Swales in The Concept of Discourse Community, a discourse

community can only be defined as one if it has common public goals, mechanisms of

intercommunication, participatory mechanisms to offer feedback, different genres of

communication, specialized lexis used within its members, and a group of members with

specialized knowledge relevant to the community (Wardle, 2017, p. 466-473). If Miner Village

is really a discourse community, it will fit the criteria defined by Swales.

The first point to examine is public goals. As any other housing complex, the common

goal of its personnel is to ensure that the residents enjoy a safe and happy stay at the complex,

meanwhile, the resident's duty is to act responsibly and make sure to follow the rules established.

Inside Miner Village, there is a number of security items placed around the complex such as

video cameras, alarm systems in and out the rooms, and access cards. The Miner Village people

ensure that the systems work properly day and night. There is also routine room and health

checks to make sure the residents are following policies. Also, the residents most of the time

show a respectful attitude towards other residents, staff, and the complex. Overall, we can
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conclude that Miner Villages community does have a common set goal, which is to create and

maintain a healthy lifestyle inside the complex.

The second point is the mechanisms of intercommunication. In Miner Village, there is a

system of hierarchy in which residents can give feedback to the higher levels in an efficient

manner. The residents need any kind of help, they would first talk to the resident assistant,

student residents that work at the residence life department (RA, n.d.). One can directly call or e-

mail them, and if the problem is relatively easy to fix, they can fix it at the moment. If not, the

resident assistant can talk to the proper person at the front office, where the best follow-up

procedure would be determined depending on the situation.

The third point is participatory mechanisms to provide feedback and information. Miner

Village allows its residents to provide feedback in several ways. One example is a work order, in

which the resident fills a form online, describing a problem with the dormitory (Current

Residents, n.d.). There is also the possibility to call the resident assistant so he/she can determine

what to do. If the message does not require a work order, one can simply e-mail or call the front

office, in which case the people in charge would determine how to fix the problem. On the other

side, Miner Village offers different types of activities or meetings in which its residents can learn

about the rules inside Miner Village, emergency procedures, UTEP policies regarding certain

topics, etc. There is also the possibility that a resident may provide feedback during the meeting,

and the hosts would answer accordingly. If a formal request is not necessary, the Miner Village

executives can e-mail the residents about announcements and other important information, which

makes the process simpler and more efficient. There is constant information flowing up and

down the hierarchy level, which is essential in a community like this to work properly.
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The fourth point is different genres of communication. Inside Miner Village, there are

many different types of communication between its members. Some examples are e-mails, phone

calls, counselor appointments, walk-ins, work orders, request orders, meetings in form of forums

and community activities such as volleyball games on Wednesday, etc. All these different types

of communication accommodate to their specific function ensuring an efficient flow of

communication.

The fifth point is a specialized lexis between its members. Although there is not a strict

specific lexis between the members, sometimes there are some topics that include terms that only

a Miner Village resident or staff member would fully understand. An example is Volleyball

Wednesday, which, although it is a relatively simple term, a person outside Miner Village would

not know at what time it happens, with which people it is played, what are the common rules of

the game, etc. Other examples include the meetings Nailed It and Friday Cookout. These

terms separate the Miner Village residents from the other groups in UTEP, like Miner Canyon or

Miner Heights.

The sixth and final point is a group of people with specialized knowledge. As any other

housing complex, there is a group people at a front office organizing and making sure everything

works smoothly. These people are the ones in charge of the security, maintenance, meetings, and

other topics. If they did not have the skills they possess, the Miner Village community would

simply not be able to function properly as it does today.

Overall, it can be observed that the community of Miner Village has common goals

among its members, mechanisms of intercommunication that are efficient, allows its members to

participate and send feedback to the higher levels of the hierarchy and vice versa, uses different

genres of communication, including e-mails, work orders, etc., includes a special kind of lexis
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among its members that separates them from other groups, and it has a group of people with

specialized knowledge. In conclusion, Miner Village falls into Swales definition of a Discourse

Community.
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References

The University of Texas at El Paso. (n.d.) Residence Life. Apartments. Retrieved from

http://sa.utep.edu/housing/apartments/

The University of Texas at El Paso. (n.d.). Residence Life. Current Residents. Retrieved from

http://sa.utep.edu/housing/currentresidents/

The University of Texas at El Paso. (n.d.). Residence Life. RAs. Retrieved from

http://sa.utep.edu/housing/ras/

Wardle, E. (2017). Writing about writing: a college reader. Boston, MA: Bedford Bks St

MartinS.