Fazal Mirza

Professor Christopher Justice

ENGL 393 Tues-Thurs 4:00

Discourse Community

A community that I am actively involved in is my mosque community that is called Idara-e-

Jaferia. This is a Muslim community that is predominately Southern Asian (Pakistan and Indian origin.)

I have been apart of this community every since I was born. My moms family used to be active

members and have been part of the mosque community ever since it first started off when the mosque

wasn’t even built. In the mosque, they have many different programs; such as prayers, fundraising

events, Sunday school, lectures, interfaiths, and much more. This community is located in Burtonsville,

Maryland which is roughly 30 minutes away from University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Although English is spoken in the mosque, people also speak in Urdu. Since many of the

community members are first generation their language is Urdu and because of this, the mosque host

events that are only in Urdu. This is an example of a discourse community because it is for the public

good. Since some people in this community do not really understand English, the Urdu programs allow

for others to connect with their religion much more easier and more comfortably. Personally, I do not

really understand Urdu and when I was growing up, all the programs they had were in Urdu. The

introduction to English programs were extremely helpful to me and the many other youth that were

apart of this community. The English programs helped us better understand the religion and it if wasn’t

for the English programs, I would not be as active in the community.

What makes a community “discourse” is when the study of how cultural beliefs, values, and

ideologies, directly shape language usage. This represents my Mosque community because the majority

of the members are from the same cultural beliefs as well has have the same values and ideologies.

When using the Urdu example, this definitely shapes the language usage in this community. You will

not see anyone talking in another language that is not Urdu or English.