This exercise is designed for a group of people so that each person can take a different focus on an aspect of the activity in the coffee shop, but you can also conduct this mini-exploration independently and focus on just a few aspects of the observed activity. The idea is to look closely to understand how people and things are tacitly cooperating in this space.
1. You can try out these tasks on your own but it works very well as a class activity where you can divide the observation tasks among several people. Meet at a coffee shop and divide up the following tasks:
• One person will observe and record the physical environment—make a map, notice signs, describe the surroundings, collect artifacts.
• One person will observe and record the people and their activities. Who is in this place? What do they look like? How do they act? What are they doing?
• One person will observe and record bits of talk. What are people saying to each other? Who says it? What seem to be routine ways of talking in this place?
• One person will observe and map movements of the people and objects across the space. What seem to be routine ways of moving or stopping throughout this place?
• One person will observe and record vocabulary, written or spoken, that is unique to this place. What words or phrases would be strange if you had never been to this community location before?
• One person will observe and record tools and artifacts unique to this place. What objects would be strange if you had never been to this location before?
• One person will observe and record images and environmental features in this location. What parts of this location would be strange if you had never been here before?
• One person will gather and record evidence of learning. What knowledge is needed to participate in this place? Who are the “regulars” or insiders? How do you know?
2. Split up, find a place, settle in and observe for 15–30 minutes.
3. Take notes the entire time. Sit apart and try not to talk to your group so that you can capture as much activity as possible.
4. Meet with your group and talk through your impressions as a whole.
5. Share what you found out about this place. Any surprises? What seems important here? What activity (doing something with objects, etc.) did you notice? What artifacts, images, signs, etc. were there?
6. Reflect individually and write a short response to make sense of what you’ve observed. Why are the things you noticed interesting? Make some guesses about the reasons behind the activities according to your past experiences in similar places. Interpret (make your best guess about) the activity or environment:
• What is discourse doing here?
• Why are the materials in this place arranged in a particular way?
• What kinds of activities “count” or matter here? What kinds do not?
• What ways of acting mark people as regulars or insiders? As outsiders?
• Why do you think that? How do you know?
• What have you done or read that supports your interpretation?
• What connections can you make to Scollon’s analysis of Starbucks? If you read Chapters One and Six of Mediated Discourse, you can compare your findings with his theorization of the social practice of “having coffee.