Dissecting a Discourse
The Social Identity of a Big Y Cashier
By: Laura Netti
Everyone acts differently depending on who is watching, the people they are with, and the places they are at. At home one might speak comfortably without a worry that someone is there to judge them. At work one might act professional and uptight, while at church one might sit tall and maybe not speak at all. Gee defines Discourses as
“ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes” (7).
In James Gee’s journal “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics Introduction”, Gee breaks down Discourses in order to portray the idea that Discourses are ways of fitting into the different social aspects of life.
As a Big Y cashier I work with my community by helping them throughout the grocery store and providing them with an enjoyable and personal shopping experience. There are many days of training involved in order to be fit for this job. The Big Y Cashier community teaches a variety of languages, techniques, skills, values, and beliefs. Though, these can be easily transferable between cashier jobs, it also contains qualities that can transferred to other working Discourses. This transfer can be a confusing yet, an interesting experience.
The article “Primary Discourse and Expressive Oral Language in a Kindergarten Student” by Darcy A. Fiano breaks down what Gee says and uses his statements to analyze and provide evidence of the concept of Discourses using Gee’s seven building tasks. This article uses Fiano’s analysis process to break down, analyze, and reveal a deeper meaning of the Big Y Cashier Discourse.
The variety of Discourses that must be obtained throughout life shapes one’s character. One of the largest and most important Discourses that molds your identity is your job.
Many of these characteristics can be universal and carried throughout the work field. Ultimately, they can be built onto, and as a result, form qualities that can be used in many different aspects of life.
Discourses Force Change
My job as a Big Y cashier has forced me to alter my actions, ways of speaking and ways dressing in order to fit it with my coworkers. According to Gee, Discourses are
“saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations” (6).
As a cashier I possess all the of the different combinations specific to the Big Y Cashier Discourse. There are specific words and actions that must be demonstrated. In order to become a cashier, one must be polite and helpful with customers. It is also very important to speak and act professionally. As a cashier my job is to provide great customer service, check customers out in a timely manner, and process all items into the cash register correctly. Big Y stresses to cashiers that they must always have a happy attitude, appropriate attire, and value each and every customer. As a Big Y cashier one must value and believe in the Big Y rules and goals. It not only benefits the company but it also benefits oneself.
These are what create the saying-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations that relate to the Big Y Cashier Discourse. They all connect to one another. Therefore, if one speaks like a cashier and acts like a cashier they will eventually think, and believe like a cashier, showing that they are part of the Big Y Cashier Discourse. Not only does being part of this Discourse allow one to obtain all these combinations but it also gives one a job, and with a job comes money. According to Gee, Dominant Secondary Discourses are,
“Secondary Discourses the mastery of which, at a particular place and time, brings with it the (potential) acquisition of social ‘goods’ (money, prestige, status, etc.)” (8).
The Big Y Cashier Discourse is considered a Dominant Secondary Discourse because being part of the Discourse provides money, and potential hierarchy. However, in order to receive a paycheck each week, one must be able to speak and communicate with cashiers, customers, and the cash register.
The Language of PLUs
Languages and communication are an important part of being in the Big Y Cashier Discourse. A key language used to communicate are PLUs, also known as Price Lookups. These PLUs are used for items such as fruits and vegetables that do not have a barcode or must be processed by weight. Fiano describes a building task known as sign systems as:
“forms of knowledge (ways of knowing) that are relevant in a context and how they are used and privileged or disprivileged” (67).
The PLU list reveals a sign system specific to the Big Y cashier Discourse. PLUs are forms of knowledge that are essential when checking out customers. They are used to communicate to the cash register which produce items are being bought by customers. They are not only relevant to Big Y but they are universal to all grocery stores. This allows for communication among different grocery stores. Connections are also made between PLU codes and their corresponding item.
For example, a banana is connected to 4011.
By entering the code, and weighing or entering the quantity of the item will allow the register to communicate a price, therefore, allowing cashiers to relate codes to items, and then items to prices. These connections and relationships between the languages are crucial in being part of the Big Y Cashier Discourse. A cashier is seen as a translator or bridge between the items and the customers buying the items.
Cashiers interpret the language of number codes, process them into the computer and then communicate a price to the customer. Without this bridge customers would have a very hard time purchasing their desired items. This piece of language allows others to purchase items needed to live their everyday lives. Without being part of this Discourse could result in overcharging or undercharging the customer which eventually could result in being fired. Languages are an extremely important part of a Discourse. Without them there would be no form of communication.
Apprenticeship
Not only does the language of PLUs create sign systems but it also creates the idea of apprenticeship. According to Gee,
“Discourses are not mastered by overt instruction (even less so than languages, and hardly anyone ever fluently acquired a second language sitting in a classroom), but by enculturation (“apprenticeship”) into social practices through scaffolded and supported interaction with people who have already mastered the Discourse” (7).
In relation to the Big Y Cashier Discourse, in order for one to learn the language of PLUs they must be forced into learning them. Over time, and through the process of:
- asking other cashiers
- looking them up on the list
- asking the customer what item they are buying
This will allow the cashier to learn the language of PLUs. It will also allow them to learn how to use them to communicate to the register what is being bought by the customer. Typing the codes into the register until they are memorized and known without having to ask another cashier or look them up, will result in fluency of the language.
This process does not just allow the cashier to become fluent in the language of PLUs but it simultaneously allows one to learn other parts of the cashier Discourse, such as interacting and communicating with customers and becoming familiar with the layout of the store. Therefore, one must practice and be forced into the Discourse in an environment with others who has already mastered the Discourse in order to complete their apprenticeship and become part of the Big Y Cashier Discourse.
Training
According to the Cashier Training Agenda performing a variety of different tasks is very important. There are many tasks that must be completed in order to enter this Discourse. According to Fiano practices are
“The practice (activity) or practices (activities) that are relevant in a context and how they are being enacted” (67).
This agenda consists of many practices. The practices required as a Big Y cashier include cash register review, product review, safety and security, no customer receipt, making a mistake, voids, tax free transactions, scanning products, coupons, taking cash, check information, charges, returns, gift card procedures, and bagging (Cashier Training). Everything on this list must be completed by the cashier in order for them to work without supervision. When a cashier is able to do this without help they have entered the Discourse. Gee states,
“Being ‘trained’ as a linguist meant that I learned to speak, think, and act like a linguist, and to recognize others when they do so” (7).
Therefore, being trained as a cashier means one must speak like a cashier, think like a cashier, and act like a cashier. One will then no longer be seen as an outsider to those already in the Discourse. This creates identity-kit specific to the Big Y Cashier Discourse. Gee states,
“A Discourse is a sort of ‘identity kit’ which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that others recognize.”
I have witnessed this in my own experience as being part of the Big Y Cashier Discourse. When I was an outsider entering the Discourse I would constantly ask the cashiers around me what to do. Overtime, with practice, and being forced to perform the tasks needed I eventually was able to do everything on my own. Now, when I see new cashiers learning and always asking me questions I think ‘wow, that was once me, except I’m the expert this time’. This shows that I am part of the Big Y Cashier Discourse, which allows me to recognize who is and is not part of the Discourse.
Beliefs and Values
Beliefs and values are what makes one truly part of the Big Y Discourse. Big Y has a set of beliefs, values, and goals known as the Firm Foundations. The Firm Foundations are composed of “a culture of caring” category and “the pursuit of excellence” category. Each category is then divided into two subcategories.
A culture of caring consists of:
- character
- collaboration
The pursuit of excellence consists of:
- personal development
- actions and results (Mission).
Altogether they create the support and structure that keeps Big Y a strong and productive company. One must value each and every aspect of the Firm Foundations in order to be part of the Big Y community.
According to the Firm Foundations, one’s character must consist of integrity, respect, trustworthiness, self-control and courage. A cashier must possess all of these qualities in order to be a part of the Big Y community. The Firm Foundations also focuses on collaboration and personal development which consists of building relationships, trust, interdependence, career planning, lifelong learning, balance, continuous improvement, and ideas and innovations (Mission). These qualities play a key role in what Big Y looks for in their employees and company as a whole. The vision statement says,
“As knowledgeable and caring fellow Big Y employees, we work together with our customers, our colleagues, and our communities to provide exceptional value and a personal shopping experience that makes daily life easier, more healthful and enjoyable” (Mission).
Without these values and beliefs one would not be part of the Big Y Cashier Discourse. However, are these qualities only oriented for Big Y cashiers?
These qualities are essential to almost any working Discourse and can be carried and used at many other jobs. Having these qualities opens doors to many more future job opportunities. One’s job plays an important part in sculpting one’s identity. But how and when are these qualities transferred?
The Interview
An interview with a current Big Y cashier reveals the uncertainty of how and when the qualities of one’s identity can be transferred. One of the questions asked in the interview was “Do you think that being a cashier changes who you are at home? Your personal values, beliefs, actions, etc.?”. The cashier then responded with
“No, it is work. I don’t take work home with me, and therefore it has no impact” (Butler).
Although this shows that there seems to be no effect on the cashier’s identity and transfer does not seem to take place, the cashier is unaware of impact Big Y has on his character.
This is because the change of one’s identity is almost invisible. The change is so subtle and hard to recognize that the cashier believes there is no transfer or impact on his other Discourses. However, if the cashier were to take the time and think what he has learned at Big Y he may not only say “I wouldn’t need to know a PLU anywhere else” (Butler), but he would realize that Big Y has constructed him to become:
- responsible
- helpful
- trustworthy
- much more.
However, the cashier does not see this because the transfer of Discourses is unrecognizable.
Therefore, creating the difficulty in how and when a Discourse is transferred. One can prove qualities of different Discourses can be transferred but it is very difficult to pinpoint when and how it occurs. This is because there is not an exact time transfer occurs and the process of transfer happens differently for everyone.
Discourses are not transferred directly, but indirectly, in a way that creates a gray area. Not every quality is guaranteed to transfer, and the transfer process does not occur automatically. The transfer process occurs over time, and in a way that builds onto and constructs one’s identity in an unrecognizable way.
Transfer is Needed
Discourses are essential to different social aspects of life. Within these Discourses there are different types of languages and sign systems that allow for communication, such as PLUs. Apprenticeship plays a big role in entering a Discourse. It allows outsiders to no longer be seen as outsiders but recognized as part of a specific Discourse. Practices also play an important role in being part of a Discourse. By completing all the practices required, one is able to become part of the Big Y Discourse. The values and beliefs of the Big Y Discourse also allow cashiers to gain knowledge and qualities that can be transferred between working Discourses.
Altogether languages, sign systems, apprenticeships, practices, values and beliefs construct an identity-kit. This identity-kit can be built onto and altered in many different ways. Ultimately, it consists of qualities that can be transferred between not only cashier Discourses but many other working Discourses. Subsequently, a transfer process must occur between Discourses.
However, this process is not an automatic transition. It happens overtime, and in many different ways depending on the person and the Discourses one is transferring between. Certain transfers may be more difficult than others. Thus, there is an uncertainty to when and how Discourses are transferred because there is no exact answer. Nonetheless, working Discourses are essential in the formation of one’s identity.
