Sample Essay On Reading Response 3: Language Conventions Of A Community

In the past months, there was a specific environmental community in the university, from where a number of student clubs were formed. It is a formal organization, which carries the objective of implementing rules and statutes that would enrich the environment within the State, more specifically the trees and plants, including the minerals found in the mountains. In this environmental community (which I joined), there are proofs of the community’s language conventions, which were usually seen and heard, even in informal conversations. These language conventions are codes that interpret the community’s history, culture and norms, as it is used in the daily communication of people as an expression of themselves.

Main Body

Language is a code that interprets the distinction between people within a given community or area. These so-called “textual rituals” are inscribed within the mode of language, carrying signs and symbols that construct and demonstrate meaning. It reflects the social practices of people in the community, giving distinctive variation between age, race, religion, cultures, and societal groups. Thus, there are a number of language conventions that are usually seen and heard from the languages of people within the community. These conventions differ in terms of topics, the actors who are involved, the age of the actors and their racial and cultural characteristics. For example, in the school where I have my classes, there are so many group communities—both formal and informal—that are scattered along the school avenue, within the benches and the yards, where students usually occupy themselves with their work. There is the trend of how they interact, express, and transfer their language, depending on the culture being portrayed by their members.
In the particular environmental community found in the university, there is the trend of speaking in a subdued, formal manner, which is very much different from the manner in which other informal communities were found to have. The trend was to communicate effectively—not by making use of street languages and modes—but by using the language mode of those in the higher societies, where statements were spoken properly and fluently. Members were usually friendly and more positive in nature, and they usually portray the actions and languages of those who are smart and knowledgeable. There was also the trend of discussing more the environment or things that were found in the physical world, such as the prevailing news and norms, and the foremost activities within the university. The main issues were usually centered on reflecting over things that made the environment and the earth more pleasant to look at or to live by. There may had been the tendency to reflect over personal issues, but there was still the convention of focusing more on things that were positive and motivating, instead of those that were discouraging or disheartening. It is for this reason that I found them to be so stimulating, and I was inspired to join them, mainly because of their positive language convention that was one of a kind.

Conclusion

The language conventions in the environmental community that was mentioned, were developed in a natural, ordinary manner, in which the language mode of the leaders and speakers were being identified, until it was passed on to the other members. It is almost the same way as the other language conventions found in other cultures, wherein the distinctive modes and conventions were seen from those who were already members of the community. Lately, it would be passed on from those in the higher ranks to those in the lower ranks, until all the members have learned that convention, as specified in the language of all constituents. Members learn by looking and listening to those who were knowledgeable, in such a way that the language culture was transferred between the members of the community. It is through the examples of others that community members become more attuned to emulating the language mode of the culture that, in all ways, separate them from the others.