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Brandon Gaviola 2/29/16English Composition 2Discourse Community Starbucks Society Have you been asked for an iced grande extra dry upside down caramel macchiato triple shot lite ice in a venti cup with half pumps of vanilla and two pumps butterscotch? If those words in that order sounded like a bunch of gibberish than fortunately for you, you aren’t a Starbucks employee. This would remove you from being part of the Starbucks employee discourse community. A discourse community can only be present if it follows six criteria that describe a community. Interestingly enough the group of Starbucks employees here at Rutgers Camden follow all six of the criteria to be a discourse community agreeably some of the criteria may be stronger than others. However just as you read some of the lexis used in this discourse community can only be deciphered by those talented enough to be part of the community.When you enter a Starbucks you can often immediately see the public goal of all the employees, the public goal being able to get a customer quickly and efficiently out of the store as well as be satisfied as fast as possible. However this is not the main focus for many of the employees instead the group usually has a private goal that keeps each one of us practically sane. Which alongside getting customers out of our hair, but also to have a good time and enjoy each moment as we go along. If the only priority for each of the worker was to break a giant line that’s out the door down as quick as possible, you’d practically go insane. Often you will see someone joke around with another employee while making your drink or taking a moment just to say something witty, this is because we constantly insult one another in a joking manner. Though there is also at times an element of competition that’s involved in the private goal, such as making the lightest cappuccino and quickest latte pour this also is a way to keep the job fun. To verify that many of the time this can be a private goal I asked the open ended question of “do you think that Starbucks employees have a private goal?” Which to most people was definitely to stay sane during lunch rushes. The data was skewed with the answers of managers which were obviously more formal, however to most of the normal workers it was to have some fun while working. The Starbucks employee discourse community also uses a specific way in order to receive feedback and another equally important mechanism to provide information. The manner in which we receive feedback is usually through the Starbucks customers, usually if someone enjoys the drinks you make they may only order form you in specific. The customers will usually ask if someone in specific make their drink especially when the store is slow. The process in which we exchange information is through a special Starbucks magazine, this magazine is given monthly keeping us informed of new drinks that will be appearing. This magazine also glorifies any baristas that preform great tasks. A major necessity for each worker to understand from the magazine branches into lexis and genre. The new lingo and markings that are going to be used on the new drinks are learned through this magazine as well as any kind of new method of making drinks. In my survey a question I ask is what method we use to stay informed with Starbucks policy, and only employees who have been around for at least a month understand the magazine. This shows that this genre is only specific for Starbucks employees and is more private information kept out of public eye. This mechanism keeps the information that each of the employees has up to date and is sent to uniform all of the employees in every Starbucks.The Genre of Starbucks employee is presented in words that every barista hates to be reminded of. The repeatable steaming method, this method is what is drilled into each barista in how you must make drinks. This method is used in order to keep the employee constantly working on two drinks at a single time. It utilizes all of the down time of the barista in making drinks. There are also a number of things such as knowing how long the expresso should be poured for, the cycle in which we brew coffee and the dates that everything needs are prime examples of genre specific to Starbucks employees. When asked multiple choice questions about these genres only Starbucks employees really understood what the answer was and the process in which things were ran the store it shows that again only employees truly understand this. The membership for a workplace is relatively the same; it correlates to hiring and firing of people. In order to be initiated into the discourse community one has to be hired and trained properly, however there is also some private initiations that permit as well. The person should also be able to talkative and able to commit to the private goal of the rest of the group. You are also removed from the discourse community when fired or when quitting due to the fact that you no longer strive to achieve the goals of the community both in a public and private view point. The membership policy does vary on understanding however, because there can be times that you may not understand quite what to do in a situation it can leave you stuck. People who have just been initiated into the community usually distinguish them selves through actions when under high pressure situations. It’s more likely they will need help but in time they learn to be more independent in different situations. I left this out of my survey just so I didn’t offend any new people, however based on answers they did miss more questions. The most defining aspect for the Starbucks discourse community is the manner we intercommunicate as well as the lexis that we use. It is quite often that customers come that come into the store and ask for a medium which the employee will usually relay to be a grande, only to have the customer attempt to correct the employee by saying “No I wanted a medium”. This occurs because of the lack of understanding of the lexis used within the discourse community. The intercommunication factor of the discourse community comes from the cups. If you have ever ordered from Starbucks and looked into the cup you’ll see many different symbols displayed on the cups. These symbols that are the method used for the cashier to intercommunicate with the barista, if you saw a SBL with xsb on a cup without the knowledge of the intercommunication you wouldn’t know that it means an extra sweetened smoked butterscotch latte. The intercommunication is learned during training of new members. When I included this into my survey however people were able to interestingly enough know the lexis used for their own drink but did not understand the lexis of the rest of the store. The employees at each level understood the lexis we used completely. This shows that it takes some skill in order to understand the intercommunication in my discourse community and is not openly known to the public however people do learn to decipher different segments and parts. Starbucks has a public and private goal and follows all of the six criteria needed to be a discourse community. It’s most striking criteria however being our intercommunication as well as our ability to have our own specific lexis. This lexis in our group is our way we talk and describe a person’s drink which can be complex and confusing. Must like our discourse community in general. However this article should interest more of the Starbucks lover, in hopes to better understand that the process in which the drinks are made. It is also for the usual coffee drinker to know that they are getting exactly what they asked for, such as extra syrup of flavor or and kind of specifics. How to Starbucks What would you say would be the public and private goal of the employees at Starbucks?(This is not your own personal goal but the group’s)What is the method in which we exchange information and feedback to one another?A: Through end of the week evaluationsB: Through a groupchatC: Through a magazine D: Through word of mouth E: Through carrier pigeon(Only Starbucks employees of at least 1 month understood)Name 3 Steps of the Repeatable Steaming Method.---On what time interval is new coffee brewed?A: 30 minsB: 60 minsC: 20 minsD: 15 minsHow much time should espresso shots be pouring on average?A: 10-20 seconds B: 18-25 seconds C: 5- 14 seconds D: Less than 15 seconds What does GRTF stand for?Green Tea FrappuccinoWhat is an iced CM?A: Iced Coffee with MilkB: Iced Cappuccino Mocha C: Iced Carmel Macchiato D: Iced Café Misto Sample Size Manager Assistant Manager Shift ManagerStarbucks Employee (6 months) Starbucks Employee (13 months)Starbucks Employee (2 months)Starbucks Employee (Less than 1)Starbucks Employee (Less than 1)Daily Customer Rare Customer Daily Customer Peer (hates Starbucks)Peer (loves Starbucks) ................
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