Reflective Blog Page

Throughout the UWP001 English writing class this quarter, I have learned a great deal about the concept of discourse communities. I got to know that the discourse community is collection of people or groups that work towards a common goal through communication. This group develops a process for communication, a unique vocabulary of jargon, and a power structure tied to the source of their community. Moreover, I learned that reading and writing are not just individual activities, but rather social processes that involve engagement with different discourse communities. I learned this through the different assignments and activities we did in class, including analyzing different texts and genres, participating in peer review and feedback, and researching a specific discourse community.

My chosen topic of Chinese Food Culture discourse community has allowed me to explore this concept in a practical and engaging way, and I feel that I have gained valuable insights into both the Chinese culture and the way that communities are formed and maintained. One of the most interesting things I learned about the Chinese food culture discourse community is that it is based on a set of shared beliefs, practices, and values that have been passed down through generations. These include the importance of using fresh ingredients, the art of balancing flavors, and the significance of food in bringing people together. I was fascinated by the way that food plays such a central role in Chinese culture and how it is used to express identity, social status, and hospitality. 

In order to write about the Chinese food culture discourse community, I had to conduct extensive research and engage with a variety of sources. This allowed me to deepen my understanding of the community and the cultural context in which it exists. I read articles and books, searched related information on the internet and websites, and even interviewed members of the Chinese Food community in Reddit to gain a more nuanced understanding of my topic. This process helped me to appreciate the complexity and richness of the Chinese culture, and it also allowed me to develop my own critical thinking and research skills. 

One of the assignments that really stuck out to me was the research paper on the Chinese food culture discourse community. For instance, before the class, I never know about what is the discourse community. And in the beginning, it is hard for me to decide my topic. For example, I used to think of two topics in Chinese cultures, they were Chinese characters and food respectively. However, after the feedback provided by professor, I got to know it was better to focus in only one specific point. The pictures showed the change I made after seeing the feedback. Even during the writing process, I still changed the topic a little bit. This assignment made me realize the importance of conducting thorough research and engaging with primary and secondary sources to better understand and analyze a specific discourse community. And this is my first time to write such a long essay by APA format. To learn about how to use proper citation can help me write academic paper in the future. Especially for the analysis part, I used not to know how to combine the primary research results well with the secondary research resources and related to my topic. But finally I overcome all the difficulties.

As a writer, I think I made progress in English writing skills. Since my first language is not English, I am very weak in writing long English essay. But after practising writing so much times in this quarter and completing a specific topic research paper, I am better in writing in a formal structure and organization. As a reader, Through peer review and feedback, I have learned the value of revising and editing my work to improve its clarity and coherence. For example, in peer review, Da Hao and Abdullah Alfayez helped me to see my weakness in my research paper draft. And I revised my draft based on suggestions from them. The pictures below are suggestions from peer review. In addition, reading is also used in researching information in primary research and secondary research.

In terms of how this will be helpful for my future as a student and person, I believe that the skills I have developed in this class will be invaluable in my other classes that need me to write papers. For other academic writing, I also need the ability to do primary and secondary research and combine what I find in both researches with my topic. And furthermore, I will be able to communicate and work with others more effectively if I can study and participate in various discourse communities, and I will continue to develop as a reader and writer if I can critically examine my writing processes.

My capacity to examine and engage with a particular topic, as well as my knowledge of important rhetorical principles and procedures, are by far my greatest strength as a result of this class. I am aware that there is always space for development, though, and I intend to work on my writing's structure and organization as well as my capacity to use primary sources in the future.

The significance of participating in various discourse groups, the need of revision and editing, and the need for self-reflection and writing process improvement are some key points I will take away from this session. In discussions of commenting, I read blogs from Haolin He and made comments about the blogs, her discourse community is different from mine. But from taking part in different discourse groups and know more about other topics will help me enrich my knowledge. In addition to helping me in my other classes, these abilities will also be useful to me in my personal and professional life as I continue to interact with other cultures and communicate successfully with others. Moreover, the ability to write a clear structure of a paper by analyzing primary research results with statements from secondary research and use proper citation can also be helpful and useful in my other classes. 

In conclusion, this quarter's UWP001 English writing class has been a huge help in honing my reading and writing abilities, especially in terms of understanding and interacting with the discourse community. I have learned more about rhetorical concepts and techniques in this class, and I have also been more aware of my personal reading and writing strengths and flaws. In addition to continuing to develop as a writer, I am eager to put these talents to use in future academic and professional settings.