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S1 Sociolinguistics Finals (L7-12)
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L7 – Ethnographic Approaches in SociolinguisticsQuantitative vs. qualitative approaches (Two main approaches to analyzing the social phenomena)
Quantitative (L6) Qualitative
- Aim to establish general laws across - Aim to understand the social reality of individuals,
different settings/contexts groups and cultures
- Methods: data with measurements that - Method: participants studied in their natural
can be analysed statistically (experiments, setting, data consist of respondents’ own words
questionnaires) (interviews, participant observation,
- Data is categorised to find patterns; the ethnography)
phenomenon is accounted for based on the - Data is focused on respondents’ own
observed patterns interpretations of what is going on and how they
- Good for testing a hypothesis based on an categorise them; each context/situation is
existing theory and confirming or assumed to be unique and worthy of detailed
disconfirming it study
- Good for hypothesis generation (exploratory
Variationist sociolinguistic (L6): investigates research) and understanding a particular
whether there are relationships between phenomenon in great detail
independent social variables and dependent
linguistic variables: Ethnographic research: a systematic study of people
- quantitative approach and cultures based on fieldwork; a research process
- studies are correlational used to provide an in-depth description of the
- aims for valid and reliable results: everyday life, beliefs, and cultural practices of a group
o Validity: the extent to which the data from an insider's point of view
collected address the research - used to understand the rules, cultural norms, and
question appropriately values connected to language use
o Reliability: the extent to which the - Descriptive and other research methods
means of assessment of the variables - entails long-term engagement
produce stable and consistent results - based on participant observation
Complications: associated with the variationist Participant Observation: active participation in the
approach in sociolinguistics daily life of a community that allows knowledge and
- Correlation is not causation: investigate insight about their language and cultural practices
whether there is a relationship between - first-hand observations of behaviour (taking
variables, but cannot determine the notes, asking questions, and participating in
directionality of the influence or even group activities)
whether there is a direct relationship - analyzed group knows their being analyzed but
between the variables under investigation the analyzer is integrated to the community
- Assessment of independent variables: e.g., enough to the point that the group feels free to
how to determine social class, gender, talk
ethnicity - reduces the power asymmetry between observer
- Presence of individual differences among (researcher) and observed (participant), the
speakers: averages are not necessarily researcher tries to blend in the community and is
informative both a participant and an observer
- The role of the researcher cannot be ignored as
they bring in their own biases, and their presence
, can impact the language practices under study
Ethnographic Research Ethnographic approaches: help us understand
- So: variationist sociolinguistics gives us linguistic norms and practices as well as cultural
insights into language variation by looking norms and values connected to language use in
at how predefined social factors and different communities
linguistic variables relate to each other
Helps us generate a hypothesis Three approaches introduced in this chapter are:
- But other approaches that allow for - Ethnography of communication: used to analyse
gradation within social categories and a particular communicative event or part of an
focus on individual motivations for event within a specific time frame
variation can add to that - Ethnomethodology: used to find out what’s
We also need a qualitative approach ‘normal’ for people at a specific time and place; it
to sociolinguistics to gain a well- focuses on how people make sense of the world
rounded understanding of the o Also used to understand things that don’t
relationship between language and involve language
society - Linguistic ethnography: conducts detailed
analyses of language use to understand
ideologies, norms and specific language practices
Ethnography of communication: systematic study of people and cultures based on fieldwork; a
research process used to provide an in-depth description of everyday life, beliefs, and cultural practices
of a group of people from an insider's point of view.
- a framework that considers the factors involved in speaking and in how a particular communicative
event achieves its objectives (formerly known as ethnography of SPEAKING).
- provides a complete description of all the relevant factors involved in speaking and in how a
particular communicative event achieves its objectives
- It can help give us a holistic representation of a ‘speech event’
- examines human communication by considering the factors involved in speaking and in how
communicative events achieve their objectives.
o S – Setting: (Physical time and place) and scene (abstract psychological setting or cultural
description) of speech
o P – Participants: socially specified roles
o E – Ends or expected outcomes of an exchange and the personal goals participants seek to
accomplish
o A – Act sequence the precise words used, how they’re used, and the relationship of what is said
to the topic at hand
o K – Key: tone, manner, or spirit in which a message is conveyed (light-hearted, serious, mocking
etc.)
o I – Instrumentalities: whether the speech is oral, written, signed, telegraphic etc. and the
specific code(s) or register used
o N - Norms of interaction and interpretation: verbal (e.g., loudness) and nonverbal (e.g.,
touching, physical distance, eye contact) behaviors considered appropriate during speaking
o G – Genre: poems, proverbs, sermons, lectures, editorials, etc.
Example: Puerto Rican Center (PRC) Board Meeting (Milburn (1998)
,- Setting: 3rd floor of old Victorian-style building, first Thursday of the month, early in the morning
- Participants: 13 board members, staff, consultants, invited guests and public
- Ends: to conduct the business of the PRC and to be part of the community
- Act: taking a vote, discussion, small talk, joking while waiting for quorum (8/13 members present)
- Key: conversation in business key (official) and more light-hearted joking
- Instrumentalities: face-to-face meeting + agenda, notes taken by recording secretary
- Norms: norms regarding address terms, competing norms regarding time (being on time versus
‘Puerto Rican’ time)
- Genre: relajo - a form of joking that plays with idea of respect (e.g. calling the President of the Board
“your highness” or “oh great one”)
- This analysis reveals how to communicate appropriately in this cross-cultural situation (what’s
acceptable and what isn’t)
o Tardiness is acceptable since they are operating on “Puerto Rican time”
o The use of titles (e.g. Mr. President) is expected depending on the person’s role; calling certain
people by their first name is disrespectful
Conversation management and Language-related misunderstandings
- Backchanneling/minimal responses – linguistic strategies used by a listener to indicate that a
speaker may continue with an extended conversational turn (e.g. mmhmm, yeah, right).
- Miscommunication implies neutrality when in fact not all speakers are equally affected by it. Power
plays an important role in who is seen as incompetent or who is negatively evaluated when
miscommunications arise (Mesthrie et al. 212).
Ethnomethodology: the study of how people organize and make sense of the social world around
them, focusing on everyday activities
- Examines how people interact, solve problems, maintain social contacts, perform routine activities,
and show that they know what is going on around them and how they communicate that knowledge
to others
- Not specific to language, but it plays a key role in the social world
- Aims to study the ‘invisibility of everyday life’: making the familiar strange
o Membership categorization devices – aspects of language which allow us to assign people and
things into specific social categories.
o Reflexivity - the notion that while interactions are shaped by the context in which they occur,
the context is redefined by the ongoing interactions.
o Commonsense knowledge – understanding of everyday life that allows people to function in
and understand the world around them.
o Practical reasoning – the way people make use of commonsense knowledge and use it in
everyday life.
o Indexicality – the association of a code or linguistic form with a particular social meaning.
Language socialization
- All this knowledge must be acquired/learnt in order to be considered a communicatively competent
member of the group
- Language socialization: learning to communicate in ways appropriate to a particular group; the
process of acquiring communicative competence
, - Learning how to ask and answer questions, address people, recognize sarcasm, joke around, thank
people, etc.
Conversation Management
- Cultures have different norms about loudness, silence, gaze return, distance between speakers, and
other nonverbal forms of communication
- Silence is not just the absence of speech, it also communicates meaning
o In the South Athapaskan (Apache) settlement of Cibecue in Arizona, Basso (1972) found that
people were silent with one another when meeting strangers, when meeting children who had
returned from boarding school, and when beginning courting
o Common feature: ambiguity/uncertainty of relationships
- Aboriginal English speakers: silence is an important and positively valued part of many Aboriginal
conversations
o Silence often indicates a desire to think, or to enjoy the presence of others in a non-verbal way
o Basis for misunderstanding: in western societies silence is often negatively evaluated, especially
between people who are not close (an indication of a communication breakdown
o Aboriginal silence in courtroom settings can easily be interpreted as evasion, ignorance,
confusion, insolence, or even guilt (Eades 2008)
And the misunderstanding…
- Miscommunication: seems a neutral term but not all speakers are equally affected
- Power affects who is seen as incompetent or who is negatively evaluated in miscommunication
o Use of silence by Athapaskans (Apaches) in Arizona being viewed by outsiders as a lack of
personal warmth
o Aboriginals’ silence is interpreted by white Australians as unwillingness to answer, lack of
relevant knowledge, or agreement with a proposition
- Negative evaluations of speakers who differ from the dominant or mainstream speaking behavior
Linguistic ethnography: an approach in which ethnography is used to complement an analysis of
specific linguistic practices, incorporating microanalyses of conversations with the study of cultural
norms and ideologies.
- an interpretive approach which studies the local and immediate actions of actors from their point of
view and considers how these interactions are embedded in wider social contexts
- It uses detailed descriptions of the wider sociocultural context to complement an analysis of specific
linguistic practices, integrating microanalyses of conversations with the study of cultural norms and
ideologies
- Ex: investigating how a conversation is closed
Ethnographic sociolinguistics: Insights into language use from an
insider’s perspective
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