Givens 1

Ebony Givens

Masha Fedorova

Writing 2

19 October 2018

Final Draft

UCSB’s campus holds more than one hundred clubs that function as discourse Deleted: 100
Deleted: within it
communities. These clubs follow specific criteria that make them discourse communities: “they

have a broadly agreed set of common public goals; they have mechanisms of

intercommunication among their members and use their participatory mechanisms primarily to

provide information and feedback to their members; they utilize and hence possess one or more

genres in the communicative furtherance of their aims; they have acquired some specific lexis;

and they have a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and

discoursal expertise” (Swales). One discourse community at UCSB that meets these criteria is Commented [MOU1]: Paraphrase. It’s a long quote, and
you can say all this using your own words.
the Japanese Language Cafe. As the name suggests, this club is a welcome space for those who

want to practice their Japanese language skills. Japanese isn’t a widely known language that’s in

high demand to know here in the United States compared to more popular languages like

Spanish, so it is beneficial to have a club where people learning Japanese can come and talk to

others. Since going to events in person is the only way to gain practice with language skills, the

Japanese Language Cafe is designed to make people come out and actively participate in their

club. In order to notify students about when meetings will be held, the Japanese Language Cafe

uses various genres available to them, such as e-mail and Facebook posts. Commented [MOU2]: Why does this matter?

The Japanese Language Cafe has a common public goal that can be found on its campus

organization page. In its mission statement, the Japanese Language Cafe describes itself as “an
 Givens 2

organization that brings together Japanese students and native speakers so that they can practice

their language skills through fun activities and lessons. Moreover, [this] allows students with a

common interest to meet each other and form a closer relationship within the East Asian

Department community” (Japanese Language Cafe). Since the Japanese Language Cafe is a Commented [MOU3]: Use Stedman here. Paraphrase this
quote or take only a part that is particularly relevant for
your claim.
language exchange club, the goal of this community is to help its members become better at

Japanese by practicing with others who have various amounts of fluency in the language. If

students get stuck trying to express what they are saying then their conversation partner is able to

supply them with the word they are trying to say. Similarly, if the structure of their sentences is

incorrect then students are also able to correct their mistakes by listening to others speak. Some

students might even feel more comfortable making mistakes when talking with other students of

a similar fluency compared to when conversing with professors. This communicating might also Deleted: These students
Deleted: with each other
make them become better friends and even lead to them exchanging contact information with

each other through different media.

Text messages, as well as e-mail and OrgSync, are all different ways that the Japanese

Language Cafe fosters intercommunication between its members, though it is not the method that

they primarily use. Facebook is the most common method the Japanese Language Cafe uses in Commented [MOU4]: Your topic sentence should make a
claim about FB.
order to communicate with their members and inform them of events that are happening so that

they can participate in them and also inform them of internships, studying abroad opportunities,

and job opportunities available in Japan. These Facebook posts provide information about where

events will be held and what time they start. Some of these events will ask you to “RSVP to the

event page...so [members who are putting on the event] can be sure to get enough food for

everyone” so if one is interested in actively participating, joining Facebook is a must (Yoko

Yamauchi JSA/JLC BBQ Reminder). Sometimes these posts include pictures of flyers for Commented [MOU5]: Check out the Persuasive They Say
handout (Slack) to substitute “sometimes” with more
internships and job opportunities. These flyers provide all the information needed to know how effective transitional words (connectors).
 Givens 3

to apply for these opportunities and how much experience is needed for that specific position.

Most of the time these flyers aren’t just standalone; professors will add their own opinions Commented [MOU6]: Avoid using contractions in
academic papers. Are not.
encouraging students to apply for these opportunities.

The Japanese Language Cafe’s Facebook posts are written in a way that make the club

come off as friendly and welcoming. The use of emojis in written posts and the use of colorful Commented [MOU7]: This topic sentence is very good. It
has clear, concise, and makes a claim.
pictures on posts that provide information on events put on show how the club has more of a

casual tone where people can hang out and relax. For example, in one post talking about when

and where the first fall meeting for this club is, it states that “free pizza will be provide[d]” and

after a pizza emoji (🍕) is included. Also included in this post is a picture that shows a drawing

of two people studying together, one person practicing speaking Japanese, a pizza box, and the

background shows hills of orange and yellow, signifying how it’s fall quarter (Yoko Yamauchi

JLC First Fall Meeting Details). Just like how this post contained a typo, there are other posts Commented [MOU8]: This part offers a nice description of
an FB post. Now it’s important to analyze it.
that do this all well. Most of these typos are mainly omitting one letter or misspelling a word,

such as writing “reminde” instead of “reminder” and “thier” instead of “their” (Yoko Yamauchi

JLC First Fall Meeting Details, Yoko Yamauchi JSA First General Meeting). The posts that

contain these typos are the more lax ones, with some posts being no more than a few sentences,

reinforcing the idea that the Japanese Language Cafe is more of a casual group.

With this tone of casualness there is also the tone of enthusiasm apparent in some posts,

evident by the use of exclamations. One of the professors informs those checking the Facebook Commented [MOU9]: Break up this sentence into two.
Currently, you’re incorporating evidence in your topic
sentence (claim).
book of the first general meeting by saying “📣JLC is also going to announce about our first

meeting soon! Don't miss it!!🎉👍” (Yoko Yamauchi JSA First General Meeting). Those

skimming the Japanese Language Cafe group page are drawn to reading these posts because the

emojis stand out. The confetti popper emoji is mainly used when signifying celebrations and

other special events, showing how the Japanese Language Cafe’s first meeting will be both fun
 Givens 4

and exciting. The use of multiple exclamations further backs this up as it makes the post seem

more energetic. Using only periods at the end of sentences when trying to persuade people to

come out to club events wouldn’t be effective since it would make posts seem dull, in turn

making people think that the events would be boring.

Compared to the above referenced posts, the more serious posts are both lengthier and

more formal. They also contain neither emojis or any exclamations. For example, one of these

posts is for an English teaching internship in Japan. This post includes a short summary about

what they are looking for in someone who is thinking of applying, links for more information

about the internship, a time frame for when the internship starts and ends, and also includes a

flyer that provides some of this information and that also provides photos of people who have

done this previously. The post is so lengthy that one must click the expand button in order to

view all that it says. This post also includes elevated jargon that one would not use in everyday

conversation; words such as “testimonials” and “irrespective” being examples of this (Yoko

Yamauchi English Teaching Internship). Due to the use of these words, these words give off a

more mature vibe. Commented [MOU10]: analysis

The Japanese Language Cafe has acquired its own specific lexis that it uses for its

Facebook group. The Japanese Language Cafe mainly refers to itself as “JLC” on their Facebook

posts. Due to JLC being a school organization, they use acronyms that UCSB staff and students

would be familiar with, an example being when they state that events will be held in the “Asian

Resource Center in the SRB” (Yoko Yamauchi JLC First General Meeting). Those who attend

UCSB would know that “SRB” stands for “Student Resource Building” while those who do not

attend would be confused. JLC’s posts also incorporate the use of Japanese language for people

fluent in it and also for others who want to practice how good they are at reading Japanese. In the

Facebook posts there is a mix of both English and Japanese (mainly kanji and hiragana). In the
 Givens 5

beginning of some posts there is English and then on the bottom the words are translated into

Japanese. This is good because people with no experience in learning Japanese are able to

understand what the post is saying due to it being in English while those with some experience in

Japanese can practice reading the Japanese characters. If there are transfer students from Japan

who aren’t fluent in English, then they are also able to read the post in Japanese while also being

able to practice their English. For those who are barely beginning to learn Japanese or don’t

know any Japanese characters, sometimes parts of the post are written in “romaji,” which uses

the Latin alphabet to write how words would be pronounced in Japanese. For example, “hello” in

Japanese would be written as こんにちは but sometimes the posts will use “konnichiwa”

instead (Yoko Yamauchi JSA First General Meeting). How they incorporate all of these various

styles of writing makes JLC a very inclusive group; it doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or an

expert at Japanese, their posts are written to reach a wide variety of people.

Anyone who has an appreciation for Japanese culture or an interest in the Japanese

language is welcome to join JLC. You don’t necessarily have to know any Japanese to join

either. This means that members can range from just barely learning Japanese to being fluent in

the language. Since JLC is a club at UCSB, the members are primarily students who either are

taking Japanese classes on campus or those who have an interest in Japanese culture. Those who

usually post on the group’s Facebook page are the members in charge of the group, ones who

have been part of it for a while or are the Japanese language professors who take part in the club

and put together and attend meetings. Two of the most active people on JLC’s Facebook group

are Yume Kanno, the president of JLC this year, and Yoko Yamauchi, one of three Japanese

language professors currently teaching at UCSB. Those who read the Facebook posts are ones

who are interested in coming out and actively participating in the events; by doing so they are
 Givens 6

assimilating themselves into this discourse community. All in all, JLC is a very inclusive group

and doesn’t really have any rules that would prevent anyone from joining.

The use of Facebook posts is a convenient way to get information on events being put on

for those who want to practice their Japanese and also for opportunities to be able to go to Japan.

It’s also a great way to make connections with people who share a similar interest and

communicate with them. You have to have a Facebook in order to comment on Facebook posts,

RSVP to events, or message the JLC group with any questions you have (unless you use their

email to contact them), though. Everyone who becomes part of this discourse community gets

benefits in the end: members are able to practice speaking Japanese to become more fluent in the

language and are also able to talk with the Japanese language professors, who in the future can

become someone they can go to for a letter of recommendation and who can also help members

expand their social networks by introducing them to other professors.

 Givens 7

Works Cited

Japanese Language Cafe. orgsync.com/99281/chapter. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Community.” Genre Analysis-Setting the Scene, 1990,

gauchospace.ucsb.edu/courses/pluginfile.php/2350644/mod_resource/content/1/Swales%

20Discourse%20Community.pdf.

Yoko Yamauchi. English Teaching Internship. Facebook, 1 Oct. 2018, 10:47 a.m.,

www.facebook.com/groups/241576699332847/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

Yoko Yamauchi. JLC First Fall Meeting Details. Facebook, 8 Oct. 2018, 8:34 a.m.,

www.facebook.com/groups/241576699332847/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

Yoko Yamauchi. JLC First General Meeting. Facebook, 5 Oct. 2018, 4:30 p.m.,

www.facebook.com/groups/241576699332847/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

Yoko Yamauchi. JSA First General Meeting. Facebook, 1 Oct. 2018, 7:31 p.m.,

www.facebook.com/groups/241576699332847/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

Yoko Yamauchi. JSA/JLC BBQ Reminder. Facebook, 12 Oct. 2018, 10:07 a.m.,

www.facebook.com/groups/241576699332847/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.