Linguistics 495 – Ethnography of Communication
FALL 2012
Class: Thurs 5:00 – 7:30pm
Lecturer: Dr. Anna Marie Trester
Office: Poulton Hall #229
Class Location: ICC207A
e-mail: amt23@georgetown.edu
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 12-2pm or by appt
Required Texts:
Saville-Troike, Muriel. 2003. The ethnography of communication: an introduction. Malden, Mass: Blackwell
(3rd Edition) – REFERRED TO AS: MST
Blommaert, Jan and Dong Jie. 2012. Ethnographic Fieldwork: A Beginner’s guide. Bristol: Multilingual Matters
Additional Readings as indicated on the syllabus available on Blackboard
https://campus.georgetown.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp
Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the Ethnography of Communication (EoC) an
approach to the analysis of language and communication in context. Drawn principally from Anthropology and
Linguistics, this approach suggests that “what language is cannot be separated from how and why it is used.” Thus,
the course is a blend of theory, practice, and method, with particular focus on 'participant observation.' Along with
some of the basic 'core' articles that present this perspective, students will read about ethnographic work on specific
topics and in particular geographic locations, while at the same time conducting ethnographic observations themselves
within a chosen community or site of interaction of their choosing (e.g. a gym, an office, a team working together on a
long term project, a religious organization). Class time will be a combination of lecture, workshopping of data (that
collected by students as well as data brought by the instructor drawn from her ethnographic projects), and discussion
(of course readings and students’ application of the theoretical concepts).
Course Objectives: To cultivate the skills of linguistic observation and analysis through extended participant
observation with a group, ideally one that is culturally, socially, or linguistically different from the researcher.
Students will learn to balance insider / outsider perspectives in discovering the interactional norms both of the studied
group as well as their own, based on the premise that the best way to learn about one’s own “ways of speaking” is to
contrast them with those of other communities, a process which reveals that what is assumed to be “natural” is in fact
culturally unique.
Course Goals: The goal of the course is to uncover some of the specific ways that language is intertwined with social
actions, values, beliefs, group memberships, identities and social institutions.
Evaluation:
20% Observation Activities (2)
15% Fieldwork blog entries
15% Critical Article Summary / Presentation
40% Final Project /Presentation
10% Attendance / Participation
Attendance is Required: Because much of the work done for this class occurs outside the classroom, the time that
we do have together for discussion is essential. Students will not receive full credit for the attendance portion of the
grade with more than two absences.
Assignments, Journals, Presentations are due at the beginning of the class the day that they are assigned.
LATE WORK WILL NOT RECEIVE FULL CREDIT. If you are going to be absent, you need to make arrangements
to have your work in before class time. Late work is marked down for every day it is late.
DESCRIPTION OF COURSE ELEMENTS:
Observation Activities (2) To gain experience with participant observation, and to cultivate fieldwork skills, students
will conduct two small participant observation projects during the first part of the semester. The first will focus on a
community to which (it is supposed) most members of the class have an outsider perspective, and the second a group
or activity to which the student has an insider status, so as to draw attention to the etic / emic tension in ethnography.
Critical Summary & Presentation of an Article You will each sign up to present an article that you will be using as
part of your final project. You will also prepare a written critical article summary to hand in. These presentations will
be evaluated by me and by your peers following a peer feedback rubric that I will go over in class before the
presentations begin so that you all know what to expect.
Field notes / Fieldwork blog entries As part of the final project, students will be expected to be “in the field”
conducting field observations at least once a week beginning in October once they have chosen a group for participant
observation. Field note journals are for you and field notes should be taken after each period of observation. The
blog entry is a place to note emerging patterns, research ideas as well as questions or problems, lingering concerns or
difficulties. I will give you prompts to stimulate your posts, and be responding along with your peers to provide you
feedback as the semester unfolds.
Final Project: If you hand in a paper, the length of the final write-up should be roughly 10-15 page (double spaced,
12pt font) formal summary of your project. However, the project need not be a paper. It can be a website, a portfolio,
a workshop, a media project (e.g. a film). I encourage you to draw from your personal skills and interests and to be
creative. Note that Georgetown has an excellent media facility in the library that can provide you with cameras,
editing software, web development software and training (you can actually contact them to set up a one-on-one
session to learn software), but you must start early! For a list of what Gelardin has available:
http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/gelardin/
There are many stages for developing your final project built into the syllabus:
Sept 20th
In class discussion of project ideas
Sept 27th:
Project ideas posted to blog
Oct 11th – Nov 8th
Critical Article summaries / presentations
Think of these as practice in honing the skill of writing a lit review
th
Nov 29 :
annotated bibliography of 5 sources
Dec 6th
Final presentations
Think of these as a chance to workshop data and get feedback on your ideas.
Dec 9th:
Draft: I am happy to provide feedback on a draft if you get it to me by the end of the day
Dec 14th
Final Projects Due: by noon to my inbox in the Linguistics Dept (2nd floor Poulton)
Honor System: You are all familiar with the honor system here at Georgetown University.
Violations of the honor system may include any of the following: cheating on exams and other assignments,
committing plagiarism, using false citations, submitting work for multiple purposes, submitting false data, falsifying
academic documentation, abuse of library privileges, and abuse of shared electronic media. I have tried my best to
explain my expectations for this course; I take the honor system very seriously. If you should have any questions
about my expectations or the honor system in relation to your work, please contact me immediately.
Blackboard/ Blog: I have activated the class Blackboard site and will primarily use this for the purposes of mass
communication and dissemination of readings, and will be using our class blog for sharing resources and discussions.
The class blog may be found at this address: https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/ling-495-fall2012/
Grades are EARNED – they are not subject to negotiation. Grades are a measure of your mastery of the ideas, your
degree of rigorous engagement with key analytical concepts. They are about maintaining the credibility of this
institution, and about whether you can be put out to the world to perform at the level that we owe to you as a student,
to your classmates, alum, and other members of the faculty. They are not a measure of “did I complete X, Y, & Z?”
Course Schedule: (subject to change)
Please complete all reading assignments prior to class
Week
1
Thursday
Aug 30th
Week
2
Thursday
Sept 6th
Week
3
Thursday
Sept 13th
Week
4
Thursday
Sept 20th
Week
5
Thursday
Sept 27th
Week
6
Thursday
Oct 4th
Week
7
Thursday
Oct 11th
Week
8
Thursday
Oct 18th
Week
9
Thursday
Oct 25th
Week
10
Thursday
Nov 1st
Week
11
Thursday
Nov 8th
Week
12
Thursday
Nov 15th
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Thursday
Nov 22nd
Thursday,
Nov 29th
Thursday,
Dec 6th
Introduction: What is the ethnography of communication?
Expectations (yours of the course, mine of you), accountable talk
Discussion: dialoguing abt. diversity / Participant Observation simulation
Eliciting Underlying Assumptions - In class List Activity
Readings: MST, Chs. 1 & 2;
Goffman: On Fieldwork, Johnstone: Looking (on Bb)
Topic: Participant Observation
Readings: MST Ch. 3, Ethnographic Fieldwork Chs. 1-3
What is coffee? Coffee shop observations
Topic: Ethnographies in DC
Readings: Modan & Lou (on Bb)
Discussion: choosing a research community
Data workshop – Quaker & Improv ethnographies
Topic: DC / Deaf Culture in DC
Discussion of field activity @ Gallaudet University
Begin reading Deaf in DC, Shaw & Delaporte article
Topic: Entering the Community
Ethnographic Fieldwork: Ch 4, MST Ch. 4
Choose your own activity: D.I.E. Practice / film: Sound and Fury
6:30 Guest Speaker: Asli Akkan (Facebook, online ethnography)
Reading: as much as possible of Deaf in DC
Guest Speaker: Madan Vasishta
Article Presentations
Topic: Field Notes
Readings: Field Notes (on Bb)
Article Presentations
MSEV – CNDLS (5:00 – 5:35 or 6:50 – 7:30 TBD)
Discussion: Final Project Developments
To read: Shirley Brice-Heath article (on Bb)
Article Presentations
Topic: Patterns of Communication / Attitudes Toward Performance
Reading: MST, Chs. 5 & 6
Article Presentations
Shirley-Brice Heath lecture 7-9pm (Lohrfink)
Topic: Interviews / Acquisition of Communicative Competence
Readings: MST Ch. 7
Briggs – Learning How to Ask (Introduction, Chs. 5 & 6)
Article Presentations
Anna at AAA Conference
Research Presentation – Lauinger Library (Ding Ye)
Due in Class
Bring a list
to class
Observation
Activity #1
Blog post:
project ideas
Blog post:
SPEAKING
grid
Observation
Activity #2
Blog post:
entering the
community
Blog post:
“noisy nots”
Blog post:
counting
something
Blog post:
“ah-ha
moments”
Blog post:
the interview
NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Break
Topic: Politeness, Power and Politics
Reading: MST, Ch. 8
Final Project Presentations (Pecha Kucha)
Final Papers / Projects Due by noon on Friday, December 14th
Annotated
bibliography
Turn projects in to my mailbox in the Linguistics Dept (2nd floor Poulton)
Linguistic Learning Goals
1
2
3
Students will gain knowledge of:
Seminal readings and approaches
related to the analysis of language.
The complexity and underlying
systematicity of language.
The relationships between language
and a variety of social contexts.
Students will be assessed by:
Participation in class discussions and
demonstrated knowledge on
assignments.
Insights in observation assignments and
field notes
Participation in class discussions
demonstrated knowledge on
assignments, field observations
4
How languages are structured and
Participation in class discussions
how they convey referential and social demonstrated knowledge on
meaning.
assignments
5
Analyze, critically evaluate, and
Critical Article Summary, final project
integrate classic and current research
in linguistics connected to
contemporary theoretical and
practical issues.
Analyze linguistic data at various levels Participation in class discussions
of structure and use.
demonstrated knowledge on
assignments , final project
6
7
8
9
Craft clear and coherent linguistic This is a developing skill.
analytic arguments.
Design, carry out, and report an Completion of final project.
original research project.
Relate linguistic constructs to other Completion of final project.
academic fields.