Linguistic Ethnography

Interdisciplinary Explorations

Fiona Copland, Sara Shaw, Julia Snell, Fiona Copland, Sara Shaw, Julia Snell

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781137529060, 9781137035028
• eBook ISBN: 9781137035035
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The collection demonstrates the ways in which established traditions and scholars have come together under the umbrella of linguistic ethnography to explore important questions about how language and communication are used in a range of settings and contexts, and with what effect.

1

An Introduction to Linguistic Ethnography: Interdisciplinary Explorations

Sara Shaw, Fiona Copland and Julia Snell

The term ‘linguistic ethnography’ captures a growing body of research by scholars who combine linguistic and ethnographic approaches in order to understand how social and communicative processes operate in a range of settings and contexts. To date, linguistic ethnography has been described as an umbrella term: an area of shared interests where established research traditions interact (see Tusting and Maybin 2007; Rampton 2007a; Jacobs and Slembrouck 2010; Maybin and Tusting 2011). A great deal of research has been undertaken under this umbrella (see, for instance, the work of Jan Blommaert, Angela Creese, Marilyn Martin-Jones, Ben Rampton and Celia Roberts, and Table 1.1, below), building on the foundational work of scholars such as Frederick Erickson, John Gumperz and Dell Hymes, all of whom are cited throughout the collection. However, linguistic ethnography has yet to reach a position where we can claim it to be a clearly defined approach. Linguistic ethnographic work is dispersed among many different disciplinary areas and, currently, there is no dedicated journal to bring work together and support its development. We therefore thought it timely to publish a selection of contemporary linguistic ethnography work in one collection. Our aim is to take stock of linguistic ethnography: to invite readers to examine the breadth of disciplinary and methodological currents converging in linguistic ethnography, identify intelligible threads and consider opportunities and challenges.

Whether you are an established linguistic ethnographer with an interest in how the field is developing or you are new to linguistic ethnography and wondering what it’s all about, we hope that there is something in the collection for you. We recount the historical, theoretical and methodological foundations of linguistic ethnography; present case studies of research written by experienced linguistic ethnographers; and encourage readers to engage with these case studies and our interpretation of them. Our focus is on opening up the intellectual spaces in which those who are interested in linguistic ethnography are working, to engage with the range of approaches and interpretations they employ, and to encourage debate about linguistic ethnography.

We have structured the collection in such a way as to first provide readers with a basic outline of linguistic ethnography and an overview of some of the questions and challenges that readers (and researchers) may be grappling with (Chapter 1). We then give a detailed introduction to the assumptions, values, frameworks and techniques that currently characterise linguistic ethnography (Chapter 2); and finally, present 12 research studies (Chapters 3 to 14) that engage with current topics and approaches in linguistic ethnography. The studies that have been selected focus on different disciplinary areas and draw on a range of theories and methods.

Historical foundations

The foundations of linguistic ethnography lie in the work of scholars allied to the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL). In the 1990s, BAAL provided an arena for debate among researchers interested in interactional sociolinguistics, literacy studies, critical discourse analysis, language and cognitive development, and interpretively oriented applied linguistics (Rampton, Tusting, Maybin, Barwell, Creese and Lytra 2004). In 2000, five BAAL members – David Barton, Angela Creese, Janet Maybin, Ben Rampton and Karin Tusting – established a new special interest group, the Linguistic Ethnography Forum (known then as UK LEF). The aim was to unite researchers who were interested in bringing together linguistic and ethnographic perspectives and, collectively, to engage in methodological and theoretical debate.

Linguistic ethnography has been influenced significantly by linguistic anthropology and shares many of the same theoretical underpinnings (Copland and Creese 2015). However, while linguistic anthropology has prospered in North America, this has not been the case in Europe where the idea of an ‘institutionalized linguistic anthropology’ (Rampton 2007b, p. 594) has not materialised (Flynn, Van Praet and Jacobs 2010; Jacobs and Slembrouck 2010; Copland and Creese 2015). Rather, the Linguistic Ethnography Forum has provided an intellectual and supportive home for those interested in exploring the disciplinary boundaries of linguistics and sociolinguistics. Members of the LEF have produced a position paper introducing the term (Rampton et al. 2004), a special journal edition (Rampton, Maybin and Tusting 2007), entries on linguistic ethnography to encyclopaedias and handbooks (Creese 2008; Maybin and Tusting 2010; Snell and Lefstein 2015) and a book to support researchers with doing linguistic ethnographic research (Copland and Creese 2015). All have emphasised the emergent state of the field.

The label ‘linguistic ethnography’ does not, of course, guarantee the quality of the research: as with any emerging field there is some excellent and some mediocre work. Nevertheless, the group of researchers aligning to linguistic ethnography has grown rapidly since the Linguistic Ethnography Forum was first set up. At the time of writing, it has over 600 members from more than 30 countries, many of whom attend LEF’s biennial conference on Explorations in Ethnography, Language and Communication. A search of Google Scholar also indicates a growth in research and referencing of linguistic ethnography work, with citations growing steadily since the inception of LEF (Table 1.1).

Despite increasing interest, there remains a question about whether linguistic ethnography is a new interdisciplinary field or, whether, as Martin Hammersley has suggested, such growth reflects a wider ‘obsession with re-branding and relaunching’ (2007, p. 690) that is characteristic of the social sciences in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This collection showcases a current of work which has appropriated linguistics, ethnography and linguistic anthropology in interesting ways and which share a number of commonalities (see below). Taken together, they suggest that linguistic ethnography should be considered as more than a simple rebranding exercise.

Table 1.1 Citations of ‘linguistic ethnography’ on Google Scholar

Year	Citations
2013	171
2012	147
2011	128
2010	121
2009	104
2008	67
2007	58
2006	32
2005	28
2004	16
2003	27
2002	24
2001	7
2000	2

Editorial process

We came to linguistic ethnography in 2007 via a five-day course on Key Concepts and Methods in Ethnography, Language and Communication. The course introduced us to a range of perspectives and resources used to study language and communication ethnographically, drawn from the ethnography of communication, theories of social interaction, interactional sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, conversation analysis and social semiotics (see Chapter 2 for a detailed description). Our participation led us not only to continue our research using linguistic ethnography, but also to attempt to broaden discussions about the value, relevance and future of the field. In 2008, we established a conference on Explorations in Ethnography, Language and Communication (now the official conference for the Linguistic Ethnography Forum – see above). Impressed by the breadth and quality of contributions and also feeling that there were significant questions and issues about linguistic ethnography to be addressed, we decided on an edited collection. We sought a publisher and, together with our advisory group – Jeff Bezemer, Adam Lefstein, Janet Maybin, Ben Rampton and Celia Roberts – identified established and emerging researchers who were characterising their work as linguistic ethnography. We deliberately invited contributions from scholars working in a range of disciplines and settings. Our intention was to exhibit the breadth of research being undertaken and to invite debate about contemporary issues in linguistic ethnography. To aid this process we held a workshop for contributors in Copenhagen (at the same time as the Explorations in Ethnography, Language and Communication conference) with the intention of providing a forum for contributors to meet, explore connections and gain a sense of the aims and focus of the book. We discussed the proposed content and structure, asking contributors to provide case studies of current research (including detailed, worked analysis) and to address the following three questions:

1. In what ways did linguistic ethnography enable you to get to parts of the process you study which other approaches couldn’t reach?

2. In what ways has appropriating linguistic ethnography led to changes in your work and the methods you use?

3. How has your own discipline influenced the concepts and emphases within linguistic ethnography?

Contributors provided a wealth of material from which we were able to draw to examine (at least a small part of) linguistic ethnographic research. As is the case with a broad area like linguistic ethnography, contributors’ work varies in approach, focus and setting. There are, however, some commonalities. Our interpretation of the case studies in this collection is that they variously:

• adopt an interdisciplinary approach to research;

• use topic-oriented ethnography;

• combine linguistics with ethnography;

• bring together different sources of data; and

• aspire to improve social life.

Taken together, these commonalities may provide the basis for linguistic ethnography to be described as an emergent field. However, as we state above, linguistic ethnography cannot yet claim to be a clearly defined or established approach. We therefore adopt a questioning stance when describing commonalities and invite readers to do the same as they engage with the chapters in the collection. For us, the commonalities provide an interesting way of introducing the contributions to the collection, while pointing to the challenges facing linguistic ethnography that we are keen for readers to engage with.

Commonalities across the studies in this collection

Adopt an interdisciplinary approach

Over the past 20 years, there has been a gradual shift away from the organisation of academic knowledge in terms of disciplines to one that is based on interdisciplinarity (Gibbons et al. 1994; Rampton 2007b). Linguistic ethnography has embraced this shift, bringing together a community of scholars who are interested in joining debates about language and ethnography that cut across disciplines.

Scholars within a discipline tend to be socialised into a shared set of assumptions about the concepts and theories that underpin research in that area. However, disciplinary assumptions can become so ingrained as to be taken for granted (Bridges 2006). Authors in this collection are allied to diverse disciplines and professional contexts, including (but not limited to) medicine (Swinglehurst), sociology and social policy (Shaw and Russell), education (Lefstein and Israeli; Collins; Creese, Takhi and Blackledge), literacy studies (Tusting), social semiotics (Bezemer) and a range of sub-fields from within linguistics, including applied socio- and forensic linguistics, journalism studies and new media (Copland; Madsen and Karrebæk; Snell; Rock, Van Hout). Many have felt constrained by the paradigms in which they are working and describe how they have tried to extend disciplinary boundaries and bring in theories and methods that allow them to better answer their research questions. For example, Shaw and Russell’s study (Chapter 7) of the role of think tanks in shaping health policy challenges traditional approaches to researching this area. They describe a shift in the way they work from their initial research training in medical schools where they were taught to look for ‘themes’ in interview data and to treat language as a ‘transparent medium’, to their finding and applying interpretative approaches.

Our contributors write eloquently about the value of interdisciplinarity to their own work. But such interdisciplinary working carries institutional risks. As Cerwonka and Malkii suggest, ‘the promiscuousness of interdisciplinary scholars [might be] perceived to be unwise and, for some, dangerous to the academy because their work challenges the established divisions of authority and expertise that disciplinary borders conventionally reflect.’ (2007, p. 9) Questions remain, then, as to how linguistic ethnographers should position their work within the academy: How can a scholar successfully defend linguistic ethnography in a viva examination or a bid for funding?

Each contributor to this collection draws on a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives to enable close, systematic analysis of language across social settings. For instance, Van Hout’s analysis of business journalism (Chapter 4) extends linguistic analyses of news discourse by moving ‘bey...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on Contributors
• 1 An Introduction to Linguistic Ethnography: Interdisciplinary Explorations: Sara Shaw, Fiona Copland and Julia Snell
• 2 Theory and Method in Linguistic Ethnography: Ben Rampton, Janet Maybin and Celia Roberts
• 3 Workplace Literacies and Audit Society : Karin Tusting
• 4 Between Text and Social Practice: Balancing Linguistics and Ethnography in Journalism Studies: Tom Van Hout
• 5 How Linguistic Ethnography May Enhance Our Understanding of Electronic Patient Records in Health Care Settings: Deborah Swinglehurst
• 6 Examining Talk in Post-observation Feedback Conferences: Learning to Do Linguistic Ethnography: Fiona Copland
• 7 Researching Health Policy and Planning: The Influence of Linguistic Ethnography: Sara Shaw and Jill Russell
• 8 Bursting the Bonds: Policing Linguistic Ethnography: Frances Rock
• 9 The Geography of Communication and the Expression of Patients’ Concerns: Sarah Collins
• 10 Applying Linguistic Ethnography to Educational Practice: Notes on the Interaction of Academic Research and Professional Sensibilities: Adam Lefstein and Mirit Israeli
• 11 Partnerships in Research: Doing Linguistic Ethnography with and for Practitioners: Jeff Bezemer
• 12 Linguistic Ethnographic Perspectives on Working-class Children’s Speech: Challenging Discourses of Deficit: Julia Snell
• 13 Hip Hop, Education and Polycentricity: Lian Malai Madsen and Martha Sif Karrebæk
• 14 Metacommentary in Linguistic Ethnography: Angela Creese, Jaspreet Kaur Takhi and Adrian Blackledge
• Author Index
• Subject Index