Ponce 1

Michelle Ponce
Ms. Murray
ENC 1102
November 14, 2014
The Lake Nona Outback
Introduction
A discourse community is a group of individuals who share objectives and use written
communication to achieve these goals. The Lake Nona Outback meets the criteria to be a
discourse community because it follows six essential principles: common goals, participatory
mechanisms, information exchange, community specific genres, a highly specialized
terminology and a high general level of expertise (Swales 224). The Lake Nona Outback is a
casual dining restaurant that highlights the features of Australian society that appeal to American
people and is influenced by the Australian legend, as explained in Shirleene Robinsons article
Inventing Australia For Americans. The legend is the idea that Australia is culturally
dominated by the bush (distinct landscape and wildlife in Australia) that is apparent in the dcor
of the restaurant and running advertisements of No Rules Just Right. Even the names in the
menu are playfully written to fit the theme with dishes like Mac A Roo N Cheese and
Aussie Fries. The restaurants main goals are to create a warm environment for families to dine
in and provide great customer service at maximum efficiency.
I personally have a lot of experience in this particular community because I myself am an
Outbacker (member). Working as a host in the Lake Nona Outback has been an interesting
experience and I have learned a lot about the restaurant industry. At Outback I have been able to
observe firsthand how we function as a discourse community and how important written

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communication is to the function of our restaurant. With research and personal experience I have
built an argument on how the forms of written communication are vital tools in creating the
greatest dining experience for the customers who walk through the doors of Outback.
As Outbackers we have common goals like hospitality, quality, sharing and being
spirited. Not only in this discourse community do we focus on making money for ourselves, we
like to give back to our neighbors. Outback takes pride in volunteering with local groups and
sharing food, time, and money. Every two months, we hold a blood drive in which patrons
donate blood and in doing so they receive a $10 gift certificate. Our main focus in how we do
business is how to improve ourselves for our customers and the community.
Within the restaurant, there are different forms of communication: BBI University,
seating receipts, host monitor, and menu. These mechanisms are what keep the business running
smoothly. At the host stand we have a monitor with a digital map of the restaurant that separates
tables by sections and has different colors to signify the status of a table. With this computer, I
am able to decide where a customer will sit and which server will be taking care of them. As part
of the computer system, we have buzzers to give customers when there is a wait to notify them
when their table is ready, seating receipts to tell hosts what table to seat a party at, an iPad to take
names at the door and an iPod to update the status of each table in the restaurant (Appendix A).
BBI University (Bloomin Brands Inc University) is used to take knowledge tests and
modules. Outback falls under Bloomin Brands and within this company there are specific tests
all parts of the business must take in order to ensure proper knowledge of the restaurant and
menu. About every two months, a new LTO (Limited Time Offer) comes up that all parts of the
house (restaurant) must be tested on. The tests will vary depending on whether an Outbacker
works in BOH (Back of House) or FOH (Front of House). The test is taken on a computer and is

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written in Outback terminology and the results are used to score the community on its
knowledge. BBI University is also used for training modules when an Outbacker first joins the
company or when they move up to a different position. Training modules vary from Safe Food to
Menu Knowledge tests.
Outback has its own terminology that us Outbackers use amongst each another and with
our customers. Terminology is essential in the food industry and only members of these specific
communities are able to understand terms when they are written down in work-related texts. At
the host stand to let each other know a table is dirty we say it is on deck and to say it is clean
we say clear. These terms are then inputted into the map of the restaurant. When speaking to
our customers about our menu, we use terms like Aussie-Tizers and LTO (Limited Time
Offer.) Every part of the restaurant has its own terms, which contribute to the communitys lexis.
Our terminology may be difficult for an outsider to understand at times but it helps us perform
better as whole.
The experts or old-timers in this discourse community would be the Proprietor and key
managers. The Proprietor is responsible for the entire restaurant, she owns the place and knows
how to run Outback with her hands tied behind her back. Key managers are servers who have
been working there for a while and have gained the trust of the Proprietor to be the face of the
restaurant on certain nights. Newcomers with less expertise come into the community confused
and these old-timers help lead them in the direction of becoming the best Outbackers they can
be. These newcomers learn the appropriate language and knowledge of our community with
experience.
According to John Swales, discourse communities have six characteristics-common
goals, intercommunication, participatory mechanisms, provides feedback and information,

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posses genres, specific terminology, members with expertise-which clearly distinguish them as
sociorhetorical societies. The Lake Nona Outback meets this criteria and that is why it can be
considered its own discourse community.
Genre Introduction
Genre sets are the tools in which discourse communities use to communicate and reach
their goals. To make a customers visit to our restaurant memorable we must utilize various
genres within our community. Within the Lake Nona Outback, there are a few main forms of
genre that are used such as the menu, seating receipts, host monitor, handbooks, BBI University
and the server board. Without these tools the restaurant would not be able to run smoothly to
produce excellent service. Although these forms of communication help the flow of the
restaurant they wouldnt work without human action. All genres live through and depend on
social interaction (Miller).
Method
When beginning my research, I thought it would be extremely easy to find all my sources
just by searching restaurant written communication. Research was not that easy and I realized I
would have to break down my topic to be able to find sources of relevance. What kind of
industry am I working with? What other terms could I use for written communication? What
information do I need to continue my research in this community? While conducting my
investigation I was able to further my knowledge on written communication within the
workplace and extend my views on how nonverbal communication takes place.
Research and articles on restaurants are normally about customer service and reviews. I
plan on showing readers the inner workings of a restaurant and explaining how the use of written
communication influences customer service. The research I conducted for my discourse

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community was based on written communication in the workplace. My sources support the Lake
Nona Outback as its own discourse community and how nonverbal interaction plays a huge role
in the running of the restaurant.
There are some instances in which customers can witness the exchange of words through
paper. On September 3, 2014 I conducted an observation of the Lake Nona Outback. I watched
and took notes as different parts of the restaurant worked and communicated both verbally and
nonverbally. I then took all of my notes and wrote my Ethnographic Observation of Lake Nona
Outback. I observed one of the busiest times in the restaurant known as a dinner rush from a
customers point of view. When a customer first walks through the doors of Outback, the hosts
warmly welcome them. There are three different hosts that work each night: the Coordinator,
Greeter and Seater. The Coordinator is the expert at hosting and they are basically the
leader who decides where parties will sit, Greeter opens the doors for customers entering and
leaving the restaurant, and the Seater takes parties to their tables with menus and silverware.
On busy nights the Greeter is waiting at the door with an iPad in hand ready to take
down a name and the information for a party. Once the party has waited patiently the
Coordinator will use the monitor to select the party name and assign them a table. The monitor
displays a floor map of the restaurant that relays a lot of useful information like server sections,
how many tables are clean/dirty, how many tables have been sat in the last fifteen minutes and
which servers are on the floor working or not. After this information is entered a receipt prints
out on the side of the stand and the Seater looks over the seating receipt (Appendix B) to make
sure they grab enough menus and know which table they are taking the party to (Appendix A).
Another way customers can witness communication in the restaurant through paper is
with seating receipts. These receipts print out from the monitor at the host stand to communicate

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between the Coordinator and Seater information on a party. Printed on the receipt is the
name in which the party is under, number of guests, amount of kids menus or high chairs needed,
occasion, and table number. This helps out the seater who picks up the receipt and doesnt even
have to speak with the coordinator to get the details on which party is next to be sat and what
supplies they will need (Appendix B).
In the article The Effects of Nonverbal Communication Of Employees In the Family
Restaurant Upon Customers Emotional Responses And Customer Satisfaction the authors Hyo
Sun Jung and Hye Hyun Yoon conducted a study on the relationship between customer emotions
and nonverbal communication. The way the hosts handle the use of nonverbal communication
can impact the customers in either a negative or positive way. Which is why management should
pay close attention to how customers react to this method of nonverbal communication (Jung
542-550). As I stated earlier, Outbackers share a common goal of providing an inviting place for
families to eat, drink and be happy. We cherish each and every one of our customers and only
concern ourselves with ensuring they have the greatest experiences in our restaurant possible.
Nonverbal communication plays a huge role in creating this ideal atmosphere because it helps
each and every service run smoothly and organized.
Main Genre and Terminology in the Restaurant
Within Outback specialized texts and genres are used as tools to improve communication.
In Suzana Jurins article The Role Of Text Genres Offer And Authorisation/Approval In
Management Communication, the author talks about how specialized texts are used within the
community to better improve communication. Jurin states specialized texts deal with a
terminologically defined specific subject (area, fact). In order for a person to understand such a
text, he/she needs to have some knowledge about the area (Jurin 253). Seating receipts,

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handbooks and the server board in the kitchen would be considered specialized text. Only an
Outbacker would be able to understand what the managers mean on the board when they write
Disney tours every 30 minutes or Leave no tables on deck. The restaurant is not offering free
Disney tours or free boat rides with every meal purchased. The phrase Disney tours means a
server or host needs to go around with a broom and dust pant to tidy up the different dining
spaces within the restaurant. On deck means that a table needs to be bussed and wiped.
Terminology is essential in the food industry and only members of these specific communities
are able to understand terms when they are written down in work-related texts. In Deborah Jones
and Maria Stubbes article, Communication And The Reflective Practioner, the authors discuss
the research that was conducted on sociolinguistics and organizational skills that assists
communication in New Zealand workplaces (Jones and Stubbe.) This source relates to the Lake
Nona Outback and their forms of communication because it shows how language and society
coincide. Also I found that it proves receiving written information over spoken is better to retain
and that is how the server board, seating receipts and handbooks are vital to success in the
restaurant.
The main genre, the heart of the community, is the menu. Tony Mirabelli discusses the
importance of menus in restaurants in his article Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy
of Food Service Workers. At the Lake Nona Outback menus are texts that are catalysts for
interaction between staff and customers, and their meaning is firmly embedded in this
interaction (Mirabelli 159). Swales explains that information exchange, specialized terminology
and community specific genre are part of the six characteristics for a discourse community.
These three of the six characteristics of a community support why the menu in Outback is so
essential. In the community menus encompass their own specific literacy that the Outbackers try

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hard to familiarize themselves with. To ensure servers meet all of a customers needs they are
required to memorize the main menu, gluten free menu, kids menu and the LTO sleeve.
Mirabelli states, The restaurant menu is a genre unto itself. There is regularity and
predictability in the conventions used such as the listing, categorizing, and pricing of individual,
ready-made food items (Mirabelli 149). Servers knowing and understanding the terminology in
the menus indicates knowing the process of food preparation in the restaurant. If a customer were
to ask an Outbacker what Aussie-tizers, Walkabout soup or Barbie are, the descriptions
on the menu are better expressed by the questions and the Outbackers understanding of the menu
than by any other definition.
Conclusion
The texts used within the community are all different but serve the same purpose which is
to ensure customer satisfaction. There are three levels of written communication customers
experience throughout their visit that help run the restaurant smoothly. The first level of written
communication a customer experiences is when they walk through the doors of Outback and are
warmly greeted by the hosts. Customers witness the Coordinator (the host in charge of seating)
selecting a table on the monitor and input their party information for the servers to see. The
Seater takes them to their table, customers are handed menus to look over and decide what
they will be ordering for their meal. While they look over their menus a server shows up to
answer any questions before taking the orders for the table. After the orders have been taken and
inputted into the system, the final level of written communication begins. In the kitchen orders
pop-up throughout the various stations letting the cooks know what they need to start working
on. Once orders have been expedited the kitchen staff deletes them from their screens and begin
working on the next orders. The cycle repeats itself with each and every party we invite into our

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restaurant. These levels of communication help the restaurant run smoothly and make the
customers experience valuable.
The data I collected shows how the tools for communication in my community are used
to meet Swales six points. The genres and process of genre use described previously help further
the goals of The Lake Nona Outback. Without the host stand and menus the restaurant would fall
apart. Genres are the tools for communication within a discourse community. Personal
interaction with customers helps mold how the menus are interpreted to fit the needs of a
customer and enhance their experience.

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Works Cited
Jones, Deborah, and Maria Stubbe. "Communication And The Reflective Practitioner: A Shared
Perspective From Sociolinguistics And Organisational Communication." International
Journal Of Applied Linguistics 14.2 (2004): 185-211. Communication & Mass Media
Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Jung, Hyo Sun, and Hye Hyun Yoon. "The Effects Of Nonverbal Communication Of Employees
In The Family Restaurant Upon Customers Emotional Responses And Customer
Satisfaction." International Journal Of Hospitality Management 30.3 (2011): 542-550.
PsycINFO. Web. 14 Nov. 2014
Jurin, Suzana. "The Role Of Text Genres Offer And Authorisation/Approval In Management
Communication." Tourism & Hospitality Management 17.2 (2011): 251-265. Hospitality
& Tourism Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2014
Miller, Carolyn. Genre As Social Action Quarterly Journal of Speech 70 (1984): 151-167.
Print
Mirabelli, Tony. Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers
What They Dont Learn in School (2004): 143-162. Print
Outback Steakhouse. Seating Receipts. Lake Nona Outback Steakhouse: 2014. Print
Ponce, Michelle. Ethnographic Observation of Lake Nona Outback. Lake Nona Outback. 2014
Robinson, Shirleene. "Inventing Australia For Americans: The Rise Of The Outback Steakhouse
Restaurant Chain In The USA." Journal Of Popular Culture 44.3 (2011): 545-562. MLA
International Bibliography. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic
and Research Settings. Boston:Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.

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Appendix
Appendix A:
Ethnographic Observation of Lake Nona Outback
I am a host at the Lake Nona Outback and I know how the restaurant works from an
insiders view but I was curious to see how customers perceive our work. I sat down in our
waiting area with my eyes and ears open so I could watch how the hosts, servers and managers
interacted with customers.
The night I sat in and watched was Wednesday September 3, 2014. On Wednesdays the
restaurant offers a deal called No Worries Wednesday which the customers get to choose
between a selection of entrees, sides, and desserts for $15.99. These days are either hit or miss on
the volume of customers we get in the restaurant. Luckily the night I observed the restaurant
there was a steady flow of customers piling in so I could see how hosts dealt with busy
situations.
There are four hosts and each has a specific job. One is the Coordinator and they use the
monitor and assign parties to tables, deliberate tasks to the other hosts, and communicate with
servers and managers what is going on throughout the night. Second there is the Seater whose
main job is to take families to the tables the Coordinator assigns them with menus and
silverware in hand. Thirdly there is the Greeter whos job is to open the door for customers
entering and leaving the restaurant and greet them accordingly. Lastly, theres Support this
hosts isnt really seen up at the stand all night. They have multiple jobs that keep them busy
throughout the night: roll silverware, clean tables and update their status in the system using an
iPod and do food share.
On this specific night things got a little hectic and tables filled up quickly. I got the
chance to see how hosts utilize the technology were given from an outsiders point of view. The
Greeter stood at the door with iPad in hand and a stack of buzzers besides them. They took
names on the iPad, handed buzzers to customers and told them theyd be sat in a timely fashion.
The Seater was standing next to the Coordinator waiting for a receipt to pop out of the
monitor. As soon as the first receipt printed out the Seater paged the party, grabbed the amount
of menus indicated on the receipt and took the party to their table. This went on for a good hour
until the restaurant started to clear up and they were able to seat parties as soon as they entered
the doors.
Along with observing the host stand I stood in a corner of the kitchen and watched how
the servers and kitchen staff interacted. Of course there was a lot of verbal communication but
there was some obvious written communication that I saw. On a wall in the kitchen there is a
board that the managers write the goals, jobs and offers of the day. This board is vital for the
servers and their performance of the night- its their source of information. There are also
monitors at each station in the kitchen that notify the cooks what they should cook and if there
are any specific requests. There are also monitors for the servers to delete plates off of after they

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have been expedited to their appropriate tables. For example, An order popped up in salads; the
guy working salads made the salad, then put the bowl out on a shelf, and deleted the order off of
his screen. Lastly the server would pick it up to be expedited and would delete the order off of
their screen.
All in all observing my workplace and seeing how the restaurant works from a different
set of eyes really helped my understanding of how written communication is vital. As an
Outbacker I never realized just how many forms of written communication are used nightly to
help service run smoothly. As a customer and observer I truly appreciated the organization
showcased to make my experience great.
Appendix B:
Seating Receipt