Scholarly record
THE ROLE OF ETHNOGRAPHY IN THE LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS
Abstract
The article deals with the study of ethnography in the scope of the linguistic landscape analysis. In the modern world of superdiversity and globalization people are surrounded by multiple linguistic tokens which are usually encoded. Any single sign in the public area becomes substantial research material that we can analyse in order to observe the interaction between linguistic and societal processes. According to Landry and Bourhis (1997), language use in the public sphere can show how various factors of ethnic, political, ideological, commercial, or economic nature coexist in a specific societal context. A variety of scholars such as Huebner (1966), Backhaus (2009), Ben-Rafael (2004; 2006), Monnier (1989) recently started to analyse linguistic tokens depicted in the public space, which draws our attention to the notion of the linguistic landscape. Ethnography plays a crucial role in collecting linguistic data for the study of the linguistic landscape. It is usually used as a method of gathering linguistic tokens in the specific context. However, many linguists believe that ethnography has many pitfalls. The following study examines fundamental elements of ethnography, reveals basic tools used by ethnographers. This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the ethnographic method in general and shows its application to the analysis of the linguistic landscape in particular. In terms of practical implementation, the results of the paper and its conclusions may be applied for further study of the linguistic landscape.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References15
Ben-Rafael, E., Shohamy, E., Amara, M., & Trumper-Hecht, N. (2006). Linguistic landscape as symbolic construction of the public space: The case of Israel. In D. Gorter (Ed.), Linguistic Landscape: A New Approach to Multiligualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd., pp. 7-30.
Blommaert, J. (2006). Ethnography as counter-hegemony: Remarks on epistemology and method. Working papers in urban language and literacies (Paper 34), London: Institute of Education.
Bloomaert, J. (2009). Ethnography and democracy: Hymes’s political theory of lan-guage. TEXT & TALK, 29(3), pp. 257-276.
De Laine, M. (1997) Ethnography: Theory and applications in health research. Sydney, Australia: MacLennan & Petty.
Fabian, J., de Rooij, V. (2008). Ethnography. In Bennett, T., Frow, J. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of cultural analysis, pp. 613-63.
Fabian, J. (1983). Time and the other. How anthropology makes its object. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hegellund, A. (2005). Objectivity and Subjectivity in the Ethnographic Method. Qualitative Health Research, 15(5), pp. 647-668.
Huebner, T. (2009). A Framework for the Linguistic Analysis of Linguistic Landscapes. In E. Shohamy, & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the Scenery. New York: Routledge, pp.70-87.
Hymes, D. (1980). What is ethnography. In D. Hymes, Language in education: ethnolinguistic essays. Washinton DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, pp. 88-103.
Hymes, D. (1972). Models of the interaction of language and social life. In J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (eds) Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 35-71.
Gorter, D. (2006). Introduction: The Study of the Linguistic Landscape as a New Approach to Multilingualism. In D. Gorter (Ed.), Linguistic Landscape: A New Approach to Multilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd., pp. 1-6.
Landry, R. and Bourhis, R. (1997). Linguistic Landscape and Ethnolinguistic Vitality: An Empirical Study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology.
Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. (1995). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Scollon, R. (1998). Mediated Discourse as Social Interaction: A Study of News Discourse. London: Longman, pp. 255-29.
Scollon, R., Scollon S. (2003). Discourses in Place: Language in the Material World. London: Routledge.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.