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John Swales says that the definitions of the term, discourse communities, have been
vague and “circular” (Swales 218). Swales defines a discourse community as having “a broadly
agreed set of common public goals,” (Swales 220) which is one of the six defining factors that I
believe has the biggest impact on the Keydets without Borders discourse community. Keydets
without Borders, formally known as Engineers without Borders, is a service organization at the
Virginia Military Institute that helps give impoverished communities in South America amenities
that can help make their lives more enjoyable.
The common goal of this community is fairly obvious. What the members of this
community want to accomplish is to make living conditions better for all areas around the world.
They do this in a few ways. First of all, in everything they do, they work as a team. By working
as a team, they show the local community that anything is possible. The Keydets increase the
morale of everyone around by being polite, kind, and having a smile on their faces no matter
what they are doing. Just being kind to the native population really helps, because the natives
tend to be more grateful for the help they are receiving, and therefore will pay the Keydets back
with their own manual labor. In the summer of 2015, the Keydets went to Bolivia and laid two
thousand feet of pipe underground. Many of the older locals came out and helped dig using only
their bare hands. Because of this, the project was completed in two days (Abry). All of the
solutions that have been implemented have been designed by VMI engineering students and have
been put into action with the help of humanitarians. This discourse community allows students to
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use what they have learned in real life scenarios, in high stress situations. Because of the training
that VMI has given them, they succeed more often than not.
One of the projects that they did was installing solar powered latrine and shower
combination buildings (Moore). They were designed, in full, by students in the civil engineering
department at VMI. The students did some research about which materials would be easily
accessible where they were going and found out that there was an abundance of soda bottles. The
locals drank soda because the water they had to drink was contaminated by mines up the river.
The engineers took that into consideration and made a device, made from pipe and soda bottles,
that would heat the water using solar power (Price).
Keydets without Borders uses a few methods of communicating to the audience they
want to reach. The group has club meetings for anyone to attend from both VMI and Washington
and Lee, which is the neighboring school within walking distance of the home of the Keydets.
The meetings usually have a suitable turnout, with as many as 25 to 30 cadets and 10 to 15 W&L
students. They also have a Facebook page, which helps get information out to a large number of
people. Anyone can join the club and contribute to its voluminous efforts.
Information about Keydets without Borders is spread around through a number of
different mediums. Facebook is the primary one, because anyone can go on the website and look
at the club’s general purpose and any projects it is currently undertaking. One can also see cadets
walking around and talking about past experiences which will draw others in. In my own
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experience, when I came for my open house, my parents and I went into the mechanical
engineering meeting, and the man started talking about this particular program and informed us
that cadets could go out of the country and put their skills, talents, and knowledge to work in the
interest of a common good. I was immediately interested, and I am sure that I was not the only
one. Word of mouth is in the habit of having a powerful effect on people.
Each discourse community has its own set of specialized words and phrases that make up
its “language.” People that cooperate in any particular community need to be fluent in that
community’s language. Not everyone needs to be fluent in Spanish, but everyone needs to be
able to understand what their peers are saying when they ask for something. Students in Keydets
without Borders will need to know the difference between many different types of tools, such as
a hammer, wrench, drill, screw driver, etc. They also need to be familiar with the parts they will
be working with. The group cannot have someone working with the team that cannot tell a
difference between two parts of a project. This will inhibit the overall productivity of the group.
A certain level of expertise will go a long way in this community. Those participating in
the club’s activities need to know how use tools. If one person cannot use a tool, every project
goes slower, and the group may not be able to get done what needs to be done. In addition to
knowledge about certain tools, cultural knowledgeability can be highly beneficial in this
community. Culture shock is a major thing for which a person needs to be prepares. If one goes
into another country and does not know anything about what the locals look like, eat, drink, or
do, it may be very frightening and temporarily disable that person mentally. In any frame of
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mind, a group member should always push himself or herself to his or her limit, but never past
that limit. Any injuries that occur could end up being fatal due to the potential lack of medical
resources in an indigent community. For this reason, one needs to be familiar with his or her
own limits. It is also imperative that anyone participating in the various excursions of Keydets
without Borders know how to measure. Measuring is a key factor in engineering because of all
of the construction that the group has to do. Everyone in the discourse community needs to have
at least these areas of expertise, though it is always better if you have more.
The main reason I felt compelled to explain why this particular group is a discourse
community is because it piqued my personal interest. I have always felt a need to give back and
everyone in this group has that same goal in mind, which is to help people who cannot help
themselves. Doing kind works for a community does not only make oneself feel good, but it also
makes the group that one is helping feel good. It lets the community know that it is not alone and
that people care. In addition, Keydets without Borders is not only for engineers; many people
think it is, but it is not. “Engineers without borders is a misnomer; its biologists, chemists,
business majors, anybody coming together to do one thing, which is help people,” (Abry).
Anyone who is interested can join which makes the group of people helping bigger and, in this
way, the group can achieve more in a shorter amount of time.
All of the information I found on this particular discourse community was found online. I
found a link to the official Keydets without Borders website and found some links to other
informational websites as well. I also used the book Writing About Writing to find the quotes
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about Swales’ ideas about discourse communities. I also used the club’s Facebook page for
information about meetings and what has been happening recently. The online article regarding
the cadets who invented the solar latrine/shower combo buildings was important in that it
allowed me to gain an improved understanding of how the club operates and how it solves the
problems it faces.
In my findings, I found that Keydets without Borders is connected to the Rotary Club,
businesses in and around Lexington, and the VMI alumni community (Abry). These
organizations are happy to help because they know they are supporting a good cause. I also
learned what exactly the members of this community do to help the people in need and that it is a
great discourse community for anyone who wants to do humanitarian work, not just for
engineers.
Through all of the research that I have done, I have found that Keydets without Borders is
in fact a discourse community because it meets the standards of Swales’ definition. Swales says
on page 224, “The discourse community I have discussed meets all six of the proposed defining
criteria: there are common goals, participatory mechanisms, information exchange, community
specific genres, a highly specialized terminology and a high general level of expertise,” (Swales
224). Keydets without Borders fits this definition very well as it has a common goal of helping
global communities, allows members to provide information and feedback through social media
and word of mouth, caters to a specific group’s interests, utilizes a characteristic vocabulary, and
requires a certain level of experience and knowledge from each of its members. I feel as though
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this is a very important discourse community at the Virginia Military Institute because it gives
students an opportunity to help and express themselves while also learning and creating bonds
with their peers and people around the world.
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Works Cited
Abry, George. “Club Project Brings Water to Bolivian Village.” Virginia Military Institute.
VMI, n.d. Web. 18 July 2015.
“Keydets Without Borders.” Virginia Military Institute. VMI, n.d. Web. 18 July 2015.
Moore, Tim Major. Solar Latrines. 28 October, 2014. Facebook posting.
Price, Mary. “The Power of Engineering.” Institute Report December 2014. N.p., 2014. Web. 18
July 2015
Swales, John. “The Concepts of Discourse Community.” Writing About Writing. Ed. Elizabelth
Wardle, Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2014. Print.
Keydets without Borders
ERH 101, Section 1
Date Due: 18 July 2015
Date Sub: 18 July 2015
Paper No. 3
Help Received:
Peer Response
Conference
Cole Smiley