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F I E L D – Q U A L I TAT I V E

RESEARCH ON
LANGUAGE STUDIES:
ETHNOGRAPHY
BY GROUP 3
1. AMINAH
2. HARRIS EFRINALDI
3 . YO Z I A N A N DA P U T R I
WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY?
‘the study of people’s behavior in naturally occurring,
ongoing settings, with a focus on the cultural
interpretation of behavior’ (Watson-Gegeo,1988).

• ‘what people do (behaviors), what they say


(language), the potential tension between what
they do and ought to do, and what they make and
use, such as artifacts’
• Angrosino (2007, p. 26 )- Research topics are necessarily fairly
broad because researchers usually choose ethnographic approaches
when ‘the social issue or behaviors are not yet clearly understood’
and they are looking for focus.
• The aim of ethnographers is to painstakingly develop an
understanding of the particular cultural worlds which people build
and live in and explain them to people outside those worlds.
WHY USE ETHNOGRAPHY IN APPLIED
LINGUISTICS?
• providing detail and profound understanding of a given culture
• fluid and flexible
• Authenticity
• the final reports have the possibility of reaching a wide audience
LINGUISTIC
LINGUISTIC ETHNOGRAPHY
ETHNOGRAPHY

• A linguistic
ethnographic
• provides an • provides linguistics with a analysis then
authoritative close reading of context attempts to
analysis of not necessarily combine close
language use not represented in some detail of local
typically available kinds of interactional
through action and
analysis (such as
participant Conversation Analysis
interaction as
observation and (CA) and systemic embedded in a
the taking of functional discourse wider social world.
fieldnotes analysis (SFDA)
Define a Formulate Design a
Gather the
research the research research
data
problem question instrument

Report the Draw Analyze the


results conclusion data
COLLECTING THE DATA - Fieldwork

Methods of collecting data

Participant Interviews and Additional


observation artifacts considerations
ORGANIZING AND INTERPRETING
YOUR DATA
• Keep your notes in well-defined groups or categories
• Always write the date, time, and place where the data were collected
• File data in chronological order
• Make and maintain a ‘contents’ list for each notebook or computer folder
• When using a computer, label files and folders with unambiguous titles
• If you use a code system, do not make it so complicated that you cannot
understand it later
• As your data expand, devise cross-referencing systems
PRESENTING YOUR FINDINGS
• an extremely long commitment of time and a vast amount of
energy.
• the representativeness (or otherwise) of the research participants
• Go native
• Recognize an inevitable influence on the research process.
• Meaning construction
the linguistic
interdisciplinarity ethnography’s
of linguistic social
ethnography constructivist and
post-modernist
the possibilities linguistic ethnography’s
ability to ‘keep up’
methodologically in a
field of study which has
seen radical changes in
its conceptualization of
limitations of its key terminology
disciplinary openness (such as ‘culture’,
‘community’ and
‘language’).
EISENHART POINTS OUT
we need to adjust our conceptual orientations and methodological priorities to take into
account changing human experiences such as migration, diaspora and the use of new
technologies

describes three ‘muddles’ of ethnography


past, present and future
concerns
ethnography’s
the enthusiasm (or responsibility to
the trouble with
not) for represent multiple
culture
ethnography and diverse
perspectives or
‘voices’
Eisenhart describes ways (2001a, 2001b) in which ethnographers can
respond:
1. Use of collaborative teams
2. Development of models stressing mutual and shared relationship
between researcher and researched
3. Experiments in writing
4. Use of research narratives
5. Use of different media
6. A movement away from focus on individual people and an emphasis
on new technologies, to understand the trans-local rather than only
the local
Eisenhart,
2001a: 218–19

• Unobtrusive recorders of activity and faithful reporters of characteristic patterns


• Being empirical without being positivistic
• Offering an objective analysis of subjective meanings
• Representing meanings of participants
• Treating researchers as active, reflective subjects
• Providing first-hand knowledge of others
• Deliberately scrutinizing one’s own view point in the light of others
• Seeing the others’ worlds as ‘reality’.
EXAMPLE OF AN ETHNOGRAPHIC
STUDY
“A LINGUISTIC ETHNOGRAPHY OF
L E A R N I N G T O T E A C H E N G L I S H AT
J A PA N E S E J U N I O R H I G H S C H O O L S “

BY

JAMES M HALL
F O R T H E D E G R E E O F D O C TO R O F
PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING
J U LY, 2 0 1 7
WHAT IS THE STUDY ABOUT?
The study examined three Japanese junior high-school English teachers’
initial years of full-time employment. It investigated the type of
pedagogical puzzles these teachers experienced, how their practice
developed over 18 months, and researcher’s role as a Teacher of
Teachers (TOT). This study took an ethnographic approach to
understanding the teachers’ social context and used techniques from
discourse analysis to consider how they interpreted their puzzles and
constructed their practice. The data were collected by interviews and
participant observation of classes. Then, it is analyzed by 2 phases are
phase 1is creating a holistic portrait of the experience and phase 2 is
determining teacher development and influencing factors.
• What was the topic or issue investigated in the study?
social context and used techniques from discourse analysis
• What cultural group was studied?
9 first-year junior high-school English teachers
• How were the participants chosen, and who were they?
by convenience sampling, which is described as “a group of participants who have been recruited
for a given study because they were readily accessible”
• What types of data were collected?
interviews and participant observation of classes
• How were they analyzed?

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