Chapter 9, Ethnographic Approaches: Online material
For Students
1.
Summary
This chapter returns to the idea of communicative competence which was introduced in chapter 1 and links it to
ethnographic approaches to sociolinguistic research, with a particular focus on ethnography of communication.
This framework is designed to identify how participants in particular cultural events themselves structure
communicative practices, and what underlying assumptions are at work. We also look at ethnomethodology,
which is used in conversation analysis, which will be covered in more detail in chapter 11; this methodology
focuses on patterns in everyday interactions. Finally, we introduce linguistic ethnography, which is a relatively
new approach in sociolinguistics, which integrates the study of linguistic practices in a particular setting with
ethnographically gained knowledge about societal norms and ideologies.
2.
Review
2.1. Compare and contrast the following pairs of terms/concepts:
ethnography of communication/ethnomethodology
ethnography of communication/linguistic ethnography
ethnomethodology/linguistic ethnography
commonsense knowledge/practical reasoning
norms of interaction and interpretation/normative ideologies
indexicality/reflexivity
2.2. Review questions
2.2.1. What do the letters in the SPEAKING acronym stand for?
2.2.2. What types of data are relevant for ethnomethodological studies in sociolinguistics? What is not
relevant?
2.2.3. What is meant by the word ‘local’ in ethnomethodology and linguistic ethnography when it is said
that researchers are looking at ‘local’ actions or interactions?
2.2.4. What is meant by the word ‘critical’ in linguistic ethnography (and other approaches to discourse
analysis which will be discussed in the next chapter)?
3.
Terms to know from this chapter
ethnography
participant observation
qualitative
language socialization
setting and scene
participants
ends
act sequence
key
instrumentality
norms of interaction and interpretation
genre
ethnomethodology
indexicality
membership categorization devices
reflexivity
commonsense knowledge
practical reasoning
linguistic ethnography
hegemonic ideologies
flagged code-switching
4.
Links
Here is a link to a short video which explains the SPEAKING acronym.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cniJ6TIjygY
This site from the Boundless teaching platform offers an interactive overview of ethnomethodology.
https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-social-interaction/understanding-socialinteraction/ethnomethodology/
The website for the Linguistic Ethnography Forum is put together by a group of researchers based in the United
Kingdom, but aims to work internationally with scholars working within this paradigm. This site provides
references, information about conferences, talks, and events, and the opportunity for contact with other scholars.
http://www.lingethnog.org/