UK Linguistic Ethnography Forum
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Second research seminar
University of Wales Conference Centre, Gregynog
April 27th-28th, 2002
Institution: Department of English, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, St Helens Road, Ormskirk, L39 4QP e-mail: arthurj@edgehill.ac.uk A. Language and minority identity in the UK My most recent research activity is an ethnographic study of the Somali community in Liverpool, in which a key research site is a Somali community school. Micro-ethnographic observation of literacy lessons has been accompanied by audio- and video-recording and the analysis of bilingual classroom talk. Such community schools are important contexts for linguistic and cultural reproduction in minority communities but, with the notable exception of Li Wei’s 1993 account of Chinese community classes in Newcastle, they have received little research attention to date. Data concerning language values have also been gathered in the Liverpool Somali community using interviews and a questionnaire. The aim of the study is to build an understanding of the communicative and symbolic roles of languages and literacies in this community as part of the Somali diaspora within Britain and beyond. B. Language in post-colonial classrooms A prior and continuing strand of research interest concerns the critical analysis of bilingual discourse among teachers and learners in educational contexts where a former colonial language is the official medium of instruction. Analysis focuses on the nature of the pedagogy observed and on the social values embodied and reproduced – or contested – in the discourse. To date, few comparative studies of such contexts, such as Hornberger and Chick’s (2001) study of Peruvian and South African classrooms, have appeared. Through my writing on education in Botswana and Tanzania, and through collaboration with colleagues researching in other contexts, I hope to add to this literature. Selected publications Arthur, J. 1998 “Institutional practices and the cultural construction of primary school teachers in Botswana” Comparative Education, 34: 3, pp. 313-326. Arthur, J. 2001a “Codeswitching and collusion: classroom interaction in Botswana primary schools”. In M. Heller and M. Martin-Jones (eds.) Voices of Authority: Education and Linguistic Difference. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex, pp. 57-76. Arthur, J. 2001b “Perspectives on educational language policy and its implementation in African classrooms: a comparative study of Botswana and Tanzania” Compare, 31: 3, pp. 347-362. Arthur, J. (forthcoming) “Ban afkaaga hooyo: a case study of Somali literacy teaching in Liverpool” International Journal of Bilingualism (special issue on ‘Multilingual Classroom Ecologies’).
Institution: St Jerome Publishing and Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies, UMIST, P O Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD e-mail: MonaBaker@compuserve.com / Mona.Baker@umist.ac.uk I am involved in two main research activities at the moment. The first concerns investigating distinctive features of translated (vs. non-translated) English and the linguistic behaviour of individual literary translators. This is based on ongoing examinations of a multi-million word computerised corpus of translated English which I set up and manage at CTIS/UMIST (see http://www.umist.ac.uk/ctis). My second research interest is exploring the relevance of concepts and insights from socio-pragmatics, ethnography and linguistic anthropology to the study of translation and interpreting as social phenomena. References The Pragmatics of Cross-Cultural Contact: Issues in Translation Theory, Practice and Research (forthcoming, Routledge). ‘The Pragmatics of Cross-cultural Contact and Some False Dichotomies in Translation Studies’ (2001), in Maeve Olohan (ed) CTIS Occasional Papers (Volume 1): Machester: CTIS, UMIST, 7-20. ‘Towards a Methodology for Investigating the Linguistic Behaviour of Professional Translators’ (2000), Target 12(2): 241-266. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (1998) London: Routledge. ‘Non-Cognitive Constraints and Interpreter Strategies in Political Interviews’ (1997), in Karl Simms (ed) Translating Sensitive Text. Linguistic Aspects, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 113- 131. In Other Words (1992, reprinted six times) London: Routledge. Editor of The Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication, St. Jerome Publishing, 1995-present.
Institution: Department of English and Media Studies, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS e-mail: francesca.bargiela@ntu.ac.uk I have been involved in business discourse research since 1990, either in collaboration with colleagues from other European countries or as an organisational linguist in Britain and Italy. During my early fieldwork, I attempted to integrate sense-making and self-reflexivity with the traditional ethnographic approach to organisational communication research, i.e. semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, shadowing and field-notes. I am an enthusiastic supporter of inter-disciplinarity, which, I am convinced, will feature prominently in a future agenda of 'language in the workplace' research. I currently contribute to the debates in two of the fields which are set to benefit greatly from inter-disciplinarity: business discourse and its associated field of organizational discourse. In turn, I see inter-disciplinarity entailing a multi-method approach to the study of discourse in organisations, with ethnography featuring prominently both as an epistemology and as a set of tools. My current research interests include business and organizational discourse, intercultural pragmatics, cross-cultural psychology and management ethics. In May this year, I am convening a symposium on ‘Language in intercultural business communication’ for the European Convention of the Association of Business Communication (Aarhus Business School, Denmark, May 2002). Recent references ‘Organizational Discourse’ Special issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Guest editor: F. Bargiela, 2004. Language in intercultural business communication. Special issue of the Journal of Intercultural Studies. Guest editors: F. Bargiela and C. Nickerson, 2003. ''Business discourse: old debates, new horizons'. A Thematic Issue of the International Review of Applied Linguistics (IRAL), forthcoming. Guest editors: F. Bargiela and C. Nickerson, 2002. Language at work: meeting the challenge of inter-disciplinarity. Keynote speech delivered at the International Conference on 'Discourse, Communication and the Enterprise', Lisbon, November 2001. Partnership research: a response to Priscilla Rogers. Journal of Business Communication, 38(3): 248-251 (With C. Nickerson, 2001).
Institution: Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YT e-mail: d.barton@lancs.ac.uk My current research is concerned with the newly created National Centre for Research and Development in Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy funded by the DfES. I am responsible for the Lancaster University activities of the centre. As part of my work I am preparing a Research Resource for ethnographic studies of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. This resource will provide a focus for qualitative methodologies. We will carry out studies of adults’ lives in the home, the community, the classroom and the work-place. In addition the resource will be able to provide the setting for other research at our research sites and will provide the framework for comparable research at other sites. It will also provide support for teachers and training associated with adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. In the past I have been involved in a series of ESRC projects on literacy in adults’ lives in monolingual and multilingual communities in England, including an ethnographic study of role of reading and writing in the everyday lives of people in Lancaster, England, as reported in the book Local Literacies. References M, Hamilton & D. Barton, Broadening the study of reading. Editorial to Special Issue: Literacy, Home and Community. Journal of Research in Reading, 24(3) 217-221, 2001. D. Barton, Directions for literacy research: analysing language and social practices in a textually-mediated world. Language & Education, 15, p92-104, 2001. D. Barton & N. Hall (eds.) Letter Writing as a Social Practice. John Benjamins, 2000. D. Barton, M. Hamilton & R. Ivanic (eds) Situated Literacies. Routledge. 2000. D. Barton & M. Hamilton, Local Literacies: Reading And Writing In One Community, London and New York: Routledge, 1998.
Institution: Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol, 35 Berkeley Square Bristol, BS8 1JA e-mail: richard.barwell@bris.ac.uk My research concerns the mathematical thinking of students for whom English is an additional language (EAL). This research has entailed the development of an approach to the analysis of mathematical interaction which avoids making assumptions about what students mean by what they say. Such assumptions are problematic when investigating students from a diverse range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. My approach, which draws on discursive psychology and conversation analysis, involves examining how students think together through talk as they work on a mathematics classroom task. Thus, in analysing interaction between students with EAL engaged in the task of writing and solving mathematical word problems, I have focused on what is relevant for the students, rather than what is relevant for their teacher, or for me. A number of patterns emerge in what students attend to, including a concern with genre, narrative experience, mathematical structure, text and identity. My analysis of these patterns of attention and the interplay between them, shows how students with EAL can meaningfully relate school mathematics to their wider experience of the world. References Barwell, R. (2001) Learning from listening: talk in a multilingual mathematics classroom. NALDIC Occasional Paper 14. Watford: NALDIC Publications Group. Barwell, R. (2002) Whose words? Mathematics Teaching 178, pp. 34-36.
Institution: Centre for English Language Teaching, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland e-mail: m.p.breen@stir.ac.uk Current research Language and literacy practices/demands in
different subjects in first year of secondary school. Previous relevant research Literacy practices in school, home and
community (area 1 under references below). References 1. Literacy practices in home and school Breen, M.P., Louden, W., Barratt-Pugh, C., Rivalland, J., Rohl, M., Rhydwen, M., Lloyd, S. and Carr, T. (1994) Literacy in its place: literacy practices in urban and rural communities, Vols 1 & 2. Canberra: Department of Employment, Education & Training. Breen, M.P. (1997) The Pilbara Case Studies and The relationship between assessment frameworks and classroom pedagogy. In Breen, M.P, C.Barratt-Pugh, B. Derewianka, H. House, C. Hudson, T. Lumley, & M.Rohl. (1997) Profiling ESL Children: How Teachers Interpret and Use National and State Assessment Frameworks, Vols 1 & 2. Canberra: Department of Employment, Education, Training & Youth Affairs. 2. Language teacher thinking and classroom practices Breen, M.P., C. Briguglio, & R. Tognini. (1996). Becoming a Language Teacher in the Primary School: Role Change Implications for School Programs and Professional Development. (pp.111). Perth: National Languages & Literacy Institute of Australia. (ISBN 0-7298-0293-0) Breen, M.P., B. Hird, M. Milton, R. Oliver, & A. Thwaite. (2001). Making sense of language teaching: From practices to principles. Revised version to be submitted to Applied Linguistics. 3. Classroom interaction Breen, M.P. (1998) Navigating the discourse: On what is learned in the language classroom. In W.A. Renandya & G.M. Jacobs. (Eds) Learners and Language Learning. Anthology Series 39. (pp115-144). Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. Breen, M.P. (2001) Overt participation and covert acquisition in the language classroom. In M.P. Breen (Ed.) Learner contributions to language learning: New directions in research. London: Longman. Institution: Faculty of Education and Management Studies, c/o Margaret King, University of Reading, Bulmershe Court, Earley, Reading, RG6 1HY e-mail: sociolingo@yahoo.com Research interests: sociolinguistics; language and education I am currently researching into language in education in sub-Saharan Africa with special emphasis on Mali for my PhD thesis. I have spent two periods of time in Mali: the first 7-week trip in 1999 setting up a pilot study and visiting schools in three areas; the second trip of 6 months October 2000 - March 2001, working in one school complex observing classes, filming, mapping the schools on the site, trying to produce an ethnography of the school community there, and building relationships. I worked together with a Malian researcher from the government department I related to, and also with my husband as research assistant/chaperone. This enabled us to triangulate observations.
Institution: Education Department, Brunel University, 300 St Margaret's Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 1PT e-mail: martin.cortazzi@brunel.ac.uk Research interests Cross-cultural and intercultural perspectives on learning, through narrative analysis and visual ethnography, in conjunction with other more established research methods. Currently looking at interaction styles in the classroom and stance in learning and literacy outside the classroom (UK, East Asia, Middle East). Current research On-going research in China, and contexts where there are Chinese learners, looking at classroom interaction (teacher-student(s); student-student), language and learning in English, Chinese, and other subject areas, in kindergarden/primary/ junior & senior middle schools. This includes the exploration of identity and mediation as relevant concepts, not only in the classroom but also between teachers. Some comparisons with elsewhere, including Malaysia and Lebanon. Also developing some work on stance and embodiment in language use and learning. In addition, analysing narrative about learning and teaching from an ethnographic perspective. Some recent publications Cortazzi, M. (2001) Narrative Analysis in Ethnography. In P. Atkinson; A. Coffey; S. Delamont; L. Lofland & J. Lofland (eds.) Handbook of Ethnography. London: Sage Publications, pp.384-394 Cortazzi, M. & Jin, L. (2001) Large classes in China: 'good' teachers and interaction. In D. Watkins & J. Biggs (eds.) Teaching the Chinese learner, psychological and pedagogical perspectives. Hong Kong: CERC/ACER, pp.115-134. Cortazzi, M. & Jin, L. (2002) Cultures of learning, the social construction of educational identities. In D.C.S. Li (ed.) Discourses in Search of Members. (In honor of Ron Scollon). New York: American University Press, pp. 45-75.
Institution: School of Education, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2LF e-mail: a.creese@bham.ac.uk Broadly my research interests are in language and diversity and policy-into-practice in multilingual urban settings. Specifically, I have been interested in critical approaches to studying classroom discourse in British multi-lingual/cultural secondary schools and also in the knowledge hierarchies constructed within this discourse. Current interests are in the overlap between concepts describing ‘community’, such as speech community, ideological community and community of practice. My interest is in how these concepts are helpful in theorizing issues around language and ethnicity in learning contexts. I have worked as a researcher on several multi-disciplinary research teams: ESRC research project in learning and gender in primary schools (Harry Daniels, Valerie Hey and Diana Leonard, 2000); a DfEE research project on teacher support teams in secondary schools (Harry Daniels and Brahm Norwich, 1998) and as a consultant on DfEE project: Making the Difference: Teaching and Learning Strategies in successful Multi-ethnic schools (Blair and Bourne, 1998). Selected Publications Creese, A. (2001) Teachers talking: communication in professional partnerships. In C. Jones and C Wallace (eds) Making EMTAG Work. Trentham Books. Pp 73 – 86. Creese, A. (2001) Subject teachers’ and EAL teachers’ discursive classroom practices: teachers’ relationships and talk. NALDIC Occasional Papers, 13. Creese, A. (2000) The role of language specialists in disciplinary teaching: in search of a subject? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Vol. 21 (6) Pp 451 – 470 Daniels, H., Creese, A., Hey., Leonard, D., and Smith, M. (2001) Gender and learning: equity, equality and pedagogy. Support for Learning. 16 (3). 112-116 Hey, V. Creese, A., Daniels, H., Fielding, S. and Leonard, S. (2001) ‘Sad, bad or sexy boys’: girls’ talk in and out of the classroom. In W. Martion and B. Meyenn, (eds) What about the Boys? pp 124 - 139
Institution: Department of European Languages, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Penglais, Aberystwyth, SY23 3HE e-mail: wid@aber.ac.uk PhD project was on use of and attitudes towards linguistic varieties in a German city (Mannheim), using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Second major project was on language awareness amongst teachers in a central German dialect area, again working with questionnaires and interviews, and some classroom observation. I am now working on an AHRB-funded project on the development of the concept of ‘bad language’ in German folk linguistics. Selected publications ‘Standardisation and the school: norm awareness and norm tolerance in the educational domain’, in Linguistische Berichte 188 (2001), 393-414. ‘A critique of some common assumptions in German work on language and education’, in German Studies towards the Millennium. Edited by C. Hall and D. Rock. Bern, Frankfurt, Peter Lang, 2000, pp.207-22. 'Linguistic norms at school: a survey of secondary-school teachers and trainee teachers in a central German dialect area', in Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik 67 (2000), 129-47. 'Language awareness amongst teachers in a central German dialect area', in Language Awareness 9 (2000), 119-34. Linguistic Variation and Language Attitudes in Mannheim-Neckarau. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 1995. (Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik. Beiheft 91.)
Institution: Department of European Languages, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Penglais, Aberystwyth, SY23 3HE e-mail: gif@aber.ac.uk I am currently carrying out an M.Phil/Ph.D. project at the University of Wales Aberystwyth with the following title: “Doing Italian at University level in Britain: a case study of language learning and identity”. This is a qualitative research project, which combines linguistic and ethnographic approaches to the processes of language teaching and learning. The focus is on: (1) the everyday practices of teaching and learning in university-level Italian classes; (2) the views of Italy and the Italian identities on offer in these university classes; (3) the background and experiences of the students and their motivations for language study. The project is based in two modern language departments in Britain where Italian has been offered to degree level for a considerable amount of time: one in Wales and one in England. Institution: Research and Graduate School of Education, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ e-mail: rsf@soton.ac.uk The importance of learning language and of using language to learn is emphasised in the Foundation Stage Curriculum (DfEE, 2000), but to what extent do young children use talk to communicate when they join preschool? My PhD research uses data collected in longitudinal video case studies of 3 year old children’s uses of talk at home and in a rural playgroup to explore the relevance of layers of contexts, socio-cultural, institutional, interpersonal, linguistic and non-linguistic, for young children’s opportunities to talk and for their uses of talk. In line with research in the field of social semiotics (Kress et al, 2001; Pahl, 1999), this study explores how young children use a range of strategies to communicate with others, including body movement, gesture, gaze and talk. The research findings illustrate what young children appear to be learning about uses of talk in the environment of playgroup and give some insights into the genesis of pupil identity. Current Ph.D. Research Flewitt, R.S. Longitudinal case
studies of 3-year-old children’s communicative strategies at home and in a
pre-school playgroup.
University of Southampton.
Institution: University of Southampton e-mail: jane@freelanj.demon.co.uk Current research activitity Language-in-education policy, politics and linguistic rights issues in the plurilingual, interethnic Caribbean Coast region of Nicaragua. This is a plurilingual, interethnic region where three indigenous and two Afro-Caribbean minorities interact in common or overlapping territories, in ways which often entail the development of multilingual repertoires and dynamic, multi-faceted identities. I have published papers on the different ways in which these ethnic and indigenous groups construct multilingualism and education, their historical origins in group ethnogenesis, and how these constructs relate to the ideology behind Nicaraguan national policy. My current focus is on the appropriacy for this kind of region of dominant discourses on language rights and the ‘standard’ Latin American model of intercultural-bilingual education to which they give rise, which tend to assume ethnic identities based in a single ‘mother tongue’, and to move language revitalisation efforts in the direction of formal purism. Since I began this research during the period of the Sandinista government and the early development of linguistic rights in Nicaragua, its practical and political implications and potential impact, always an issue in ethnographic work, have been particularly salient. I recently co-organised (with Dr Donna Patrick, Brock University, Canada) a colloquium on ‘Linguistic rights and wrongs’ for Sociolinguistics Symposium 14 in Ghent, and will be co-editing with her a book based on the colloquium, to be published by the Encounters series (eds. Jan Blommaert and Chris Bulcaen, St. Jerome Press, University of Manchester). Ethnographic research experience 1. In 1994 I carried out a consultancy for the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (URACCAN) to determine the role of its Language Department in answering the linguistic needs of the region. Research involved classroom observation and interviews with teachers and teacher trainers, and focused on whether and how access to secondary and higher education of the Coast’s multilingualism was affected by the Coast’s complex multilingualism and the state of its current bilingual-intercultural education programmes. 2. I have recently taught courses on ‘Sociolinguistics’ and ‘Language Politics and Planning’ to students on the Licenciatura (BA) in Intercultural Bilingual Education at the URACCAN. I regard this teaching as a form of ethnographic research, particularly into discourses on language, and because it encourages students to frame and carry out their own research projects. Relevant publications 1994b with Guillermo McLean Herrera: Informe Final sobre las Necesidades Lingüísticas de la Costa Caribe de Nicaragua, para la Elaboración de un Currículum de Idiomas / Final Report on Linguistic Needs of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, for the Development of a Languages Curriculum. Managua, URACCAN 1995a "Why go to school to learn Miskitu?": Changing constructs of bilingualism, education and literacy among the Miskitu of Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast, International Journal of Education and Development, 15(2), July 1955, pp. 245-261. 1998 "An interesting absence: The gendered study of language and linguistic diversity in Latin America, International Journal of Educational Development, 18(3), pp. 161-179. 1999 Can the grassroots speak? The literacy campaign in English on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Vol 2:3, pp. 214-232. 2002 forthcoming Intercultural-bilingual education for interethnic-plurilingual people: conflicting ideologies of language and identity in the Caribbean Coast region of Nicaragua, In: S. May and S. Aikman (Eds) Special Issue on Indigenous Education, Comparative Education. Institution: Department of Education, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Old College, King Street, Aberystwyth, SY23 2AX e-mail: Buddug.Griffith@btinternet.com I am currently undertaking a research degree at the Department of Education at University of Wales Aberystwyth. My research interests are concerned with aspects of teaching and learning Welsh in secondary schools and tertiary colleges in Wales. I am particularly interested in Welsh as a curriculum area in terms of features and development of programmes of study; teaching methods employed for teaching Welsh and the relationship between Welsh first and second language programmes of study.
Institution: University of Wales, Cardiff e-mail: Rachel.Heath@nao.gsi.gov.uk Recent Research Activities ‘Language, Culture and Markets in Further Education’ is an ESRC-sponsored doctoral project that investigates student post-compulsory education and training choices in Wales. In particular, the study focuses on the role of language and culture within post-16 choice. In other words, the research asks whether students considered language and culture when making their course and destination choices at 16 i.e. what and where to study. Research questions also addressed the ‘Welsh Bleed’: the reasons why students decide to study through Welsh or English medium post-16. Furthermore, the research explores whether language and culture are shaping factors that influence choices and destinations in similar ways to variables that are well established in the literature, such as social class and gender. Research on school choice and post-16 choice have uncovered the shaping role played by many biographical determinants such as social class, gender, region of residency, and parents’ occupation. Other academic work has highlighted the influential impact of GCSE attainment, school value systems, participation at extra-curricular activities, and teacher labelling. My research has uncovered interesting patterns between post-16 choices and language background and language competence. Moreover, analysis shows the complex interweaving of language background and language competence with social class and GCSE attainment. Further to this, the study shows possible connections between self-identity, learner identity, school sub-cultures, and teacher labelling with language backgrounds and language choices post-16. Indeed, the study findings uncover the complexity of post-16 choices and destinations. The study is valuable first and foremost, because it addresses hitherto under-researched areas of post-16 choice: language medium choice, and choices in Wales. It is also an important piece of work because it offers an insight into the reasons why students remain or exit Welsh medium education post-16. This is especially important because fewer students opt to study through the medium of Welsh as they progress through the education and training system, especially post-14, 16 and 18. Numerous policy implications stem from this empirical work. Bilingual Qualitative Research Activities All 101 sampled students were previously or currently from Welsh-speaking schools. Therefore, all informants were invited to participate in either Welsh or English, their preferred language. This led to a bilingual research project. From interview instruments, focus group stimuli, to analysis and writing up, the research project was bilingual in nature. The implications of this were quite enormous, and the experience led to a heightened ethnographic awareness. I wrote a paper on this experience in 2000, called ‘Double the Work’, to capture the ‘trials and tribulations of bilingual researching’. Take analysis for instance. Whilst searching for key text and themes in NUD*IST, this researcher had to consider the equivalent words in both languages and search for both. Indeed, searches often involved finding related or opposite words, and considering the appropriate alternatives in both languages. Whereas a researcher finds connections between words, the bilingual researcher needs to find connections between languages. During bilingual analysis a heightened linguistic awareness and dexterity is required. There were also issues of rapport, understanding and polite conversation to consider: all of which are discussed in my working papers. Very close relationships and rapport was established because informants participated through their preferred language. However, for various reasons, there were also occasions when the communication was strained. For example, students sometimes struggled to speak ‘proper Welsh’, others looked to me to correct them or prompt them with words, when they perceived me as ‘teacher’. There were also issues around dialect and syntax that made the discussion difficult on times, and made the transcription challenging, if not almost impossible. References Heath, R. (1997) ‘The Welsh Bleed’: An exploratory case study of student choice at post-16 in a Welsh LEA’ Unpublished Postgraduate Dissertation, School of Education, University of Wales, Cardiff. Heath, R. (1998) ‘Economic and Cultural Justifications for Post-16 Choices: A polarisation of language and markets’ Project Allweddiaith/ Welsh Language Board Dissemination Conference for Welsh medium practitioners. Heath, R. (2000a) ‘Cynhyrchu Cymru’/ Formation of the Nation: The role of ECA in Welsh medium schools’ Culture, Nationality and Identity Conference, 25 March 2000, University of Wales Cardiff, Graduate Centre. Heath, R. (2000b) ‘Grisiau Addysg: Llwybrau Mynediad ac Ymadawiad’/ ‘The Journey of Schooling: Entry and Exit Routes’ Working paper and presentation, Welsh Language Board Conference 5 April 2000. Heath, R. (2000c) ‘Language, Culture and Markets in Further Education: Emerging findings’ SOCSI Research Day, University of Wales Cardiff, May 3, 2000. Heath, R. (2000d) ‘Dewis Cyfrwng: Iaith, Diwylliant a Marchnadoedd yn Addysg Bellach’/ ‘Choosing a Medium: Language, Culture and Markets in Further Education’ Allweddiaith / Welsh Language Board Conference 5-6 July 2000, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Heath, R. (2000e) ‘A Right, A Duty, or an Economic Advantage: Reasons for choosing Welsh medium post-16 education’ British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Wales Cardiff, September 2000. Heath, R. (2000f) ‘The Problems, Pitfalls and ‘Gains’ of Bilingual Fieldwork’ British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Wales Cardiff, September 2000. Heath, R. (2000g) “Double the work: the unanticipated labours of bilingual research”. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association conference, University of Wales Cardiff, September 2000. Heath, R. (2001a) ‘Language, Culture and Markets in Further Education’ Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Wales Cardiff. Heath, R. (2001b) ‘Choosing a Language Medium in Further Education in Wales’ Presentation at University of Wales Aberystwyth. Heath, R. (2001c) ‘Deud a Gneud: Categoreiddio addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg a dwyieithog’/ ‘Saying and Doing: Categorising learning through the Welsh medium and bilingually’ Institution: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7WW e-mail: rosy1@liv.ac.uk My current research focuses on ideologies of language in multilingual areas of the Andes of South America (Quechua, Aymara and Spanish speaking). I am writing a comparative study of language planning policies and grassroots language practices and attitudes (and the tensions between these) with relation to bilingual intercultural educational development in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The study is based on 8 months’ fieldwork in which I used a combination of ethnographic interview and participation-observation techniques in towns and rural communities and among a broad range of actors. In particular, I am seeking to develop methods of discourse analysis that might help to identify and characterise apparent contradictions between discourse and practice, in relation to issues of language, culture and identity. Van Dijk’s concept of ‘socio-cognitive interface’ as the space where ideologies operate in discourse, is one theoretical tool being tested. Publications with an ethnographic focus 1998 “‘Grasping awareness’. Mother-tongue literacy for Quechua-speaking women in highland Bolivia”, International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 18 no. 3, pp. 181-196 1997 Creating Context in Andean Cultures. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 255 pages 1995 “‘Pachamama is a Spanish word’: linguistic tension between Aymara, Quechua and Spanish in Northern Potosí (Bolivia)”, Anthropological Linguistics, Volume 37, no. 2, Summer 1995, pp. 141-168. 1995 (with Andrew Canessa) “The school in the Quechua and Aymara communities of highland Bolivia”, International Journal of Educational Development, Volume 15, no. 3, pp. 231-243. 1990 The Speaking of History. “Willapaakushayki” or Quechua Ways of Telling the Past, University of London Institute of Latin American Studies, Research Papers No. 21, 101 pages. 1989 “Storytelling strategies in Quechua narrative performance”, in Journal of Latin American Lore, Vol.15, no.2, pp. 3-71, University of California Los Angeles.
Institution: Research and Graduate School of Education, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ e-mail: ei@soton.ac.uk Current Research Activity I am a Ph.D. candidate and my thesis title is “This ain’t my real language, miss: on language and ethnic identity among Greek Cypriot students”. The aim of the thesis is to explore the link(s) between language and ethnic identity in the bi-dialectal and highly politicised context of Greek Cypriot education. An ethnographic approach has been adopted focusing on the social and political context(s) in which identities are built (macro-level), as well as on the way individual students construct and conceptualise their ethnolinguistic identities (micro-level). The main data collection techniques have included participant observation, interviews, focus groups and Identity-Tests (Ten Statement Tests). References 1) Ioannidou, E. (1999) ‘The Interplay of Language, Power and Identity’, Occasional Papers, Centre for Language in Education, University of Southampton. 2) Ioannidou, E. (2001) ‘Language Policy and Ethnic Identity in Greek Cypriot Education’, Paper Presented in the 34th European Linguistic Society Conference: “Language Study at the Turn of the Millennium: Towards the Integration of Historical, Cognitive and Cultural Approaches to Language”, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Institution: Department of Linguistics, California State, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach CA 90840, USA e-mail: ajaffe@csulb.edu
Current Research My most current ethnographic research (calendar year 2000) is on bilingual education on Corsica, where I did an intensive study of a single bilingual school, made briefer observations of other bilingual classes and schools, participated in bilingual teacher training courses, and conducted interviews with teachers, parents and parent groups. My focus is on the way that language use and pedagogical practices (micro-ethnography of the classroom) and discourses (macro-level language ideologies/politics) frame issues of identity, authority and authenticity in this situation of minority language shift and revitalization. Some of the issues I have been analyzing include: literacy practices in Corsican and French (oral preparation for reading, collaborative writing, the presentation of orthography and grammar); functions of teacher language choice, teacher evaluation (implicit and explicit) of children's language (including codeswitching and mixing); the social and professional context of bilingual teacher practice (including teacher training courses) and how they shape pedagogical practice; children's sociolinguistic/metalinguistic understandings. Previous Ethnographic/Literacy Research My research on Corsica has looked at the process of minority language shift and revitalization in a number of domains—media/performance, literacy/literature/orthography, public/political discourse and most recently, education. One of the themes that cuts across all of these areas has to do with the politics of representation of language and identity; how ideologies and discourses about language and identity structure language practices, the experience and presentation of self, and social action related to language. One of my central concerns has to do with the nature and possibility of minority "resistance" to dominant linguistic ideologies and language policies, a theme that I have also pursued in research in the Southern U.S. on non-standard orthography and "voice." The notion of "voice," or speaker stance, captures my interest in the complex, creative ways in which people use linguistic resources to position themselves with respect to language(s) and identity(s) and relationships (a topic that I've also pursued in an article on greeting cards). Recent publications Forthcoming: ‘Imagined Competence’: Classroom Evaluation, Collective Identity and Linguistic Authenticity in a Corsican Bilingual Classroom. To appear in The Linguistic Anthropology of Education, eds. Stanton Wortham and Betsy Rymes. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. Forthcoming: Talk Around Text: Literacy Practices, Cultural Identity and Authority in a Corsican Bilingual Classroom. Special issue of the International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, Angela Creese and Peter Martin, (eds.) 2001 The Question of Obligation: Authority and Authenticity in Corsican Discourse About Bilingual Education. In Voices of Authority: Education and Linguistic Diversity, Monica Heller and Marilyn Martin-Jones (eds.), Ablex Publishers. 2000 “The Voices People Read: Orthography and the Representation of Nonstandard Dialect” (with Shana Walton) Journal of Sociolinguistics 4(4) 2000: 569-595. 2000 Comic performance and the articulation of hybrid identity. Pragmatics 10(1): 39-60.1999a Ideologies in Action: Language Politics on Corsica. Mouton de Gruyter 1999b Locating Power: Corsican Translators and Their Critics. In Language Ideological Debates, ed. Jan Blommaert., Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 1999c Packaged Sentiments: The Social Meaning of Greeting Cards. Journal of Material Culture 4(2): 115-141. 1997a Competing Definitions of Cultural Boundaries in the Ideology of Language: the Corsican Case. The European Legacy vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 424- 431. 1997b Narrating the "I" versus Narrating the "Isle": Life Histories and the Problem of Representation on Corsica. In Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social ed. Deborah Reed-Danahay. New York: Berg Publishers. pp. 145-165. 1996 The Second Annual Corsican Spelling Contest: Orthography and Ideology. American Ethnologist 23(4): 816-835. 1993a Obligation and Error: Competing Cultural Principles in the Teaching of Corsican. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology vol. 3, no.1, pp. 99-114.
Institution: Lancaster University and Cwmni Iaith e-mail: k.e.jones@lancaster.ac.uk / kathryn.jones@cwmni-iaith.com Current Research I am currently engaged in a number of research projects looking at institutional bilingual language policy and practices in public sector institutions in Wales. Previous research related to linguistic ethnography A study of the bilingual language and literacy practices of people living and working in 2 villages in north Wales. My focus of analysis was upon the social processes of globalisation, and specifically i) how processes of globalisation are constituted in and through the discourse practices of people’s day-to-day routines, and ii) how globalisation processes are textually-mediated. This study combined various ethnographic & qualitative methods of data collection. Its theoretical framework drew upon Social and Cultural Theory, Literacy, Bilingualism and Critical Discourse Analysis. A study of teaching and learning practices in primary, secondary and teacher training classrooms in Tanzania. This study combined a variety of ethnographic & qualitative methods of data collection with a discourse analysis of code-switching practices. References Martin-Jones M. & Jones K. (eds) Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds (Amsterdam: John Benjamins 2000), 395pp. Jones, K. Becoming just another alphanumeric code: farmers’ encounters with the literacies and discourses of agricultural bureaucracy at the livestock auction. In Situated Literacies: Reading and Writing in Context. (eds D Barton, M Hamilton & R Ivanic) pp 70-90. London: Routledge (2000). Jones, K. Texts, mediation and social relations in a bureaucratised world. In Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds (eds M Martin-Jones & K Jones) pp 209 – 228. Amsterdam: John Benjamins (2000). Jones, K., Martin-Jones M., & Bhatt A. Constructing a critical, dialogic approach to research on multilingual literacies. In Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds (eds M Martin-Jones & K Jones) pp 319 – 351. Amsterdam: John Benjamins (2000). Hodge, R. & Jones K. Photography in collaborative research on multilingual literacy practices: Images and understandings of researcher and researched. In Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds (eds M Martin-Jones & K Jones) pp 299 – 318. Amsterdam: John Benjamins (2000). Jones, K. Text, talk and discourse practices: Exploring local experiences of globalisation. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Lancaster (1999).
Institution: Culture, Communication and Societies, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL e-mail: ck@mariposa.u-net.com My current ESRC-funded research project involves 6 case studies of young children in London learning to write in more than one script system (in Chinese, Arabic or Spanish as well as in English). In order to find out how the children develop their ideas about symbol-meaning relationships in each writing system, I have been observing their learning in several different literacy domains: home, primary school and community language school. My previous research concerned multilingual literacy development in a South London nursery. The methodology included observation of children's use of home literacy materials in the classroom, over a period of one school year. Relevant publications (2000) Home Pages: Literacy Links for Bilingual Children (Trentham Books) (2000) 'Biliteracy in a monolingual school system?' Language, Culture and Curriculum, Vol. 13, No. 1. 13-30 (2000) 'Symbols make text: a social semiotic analysis of writing in a multilingual nursery' Written Language and Literacy, Vol. 3, No. 2, 235-266 (2000) 'Children writing in a multilingual nursery' in Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds (eds.) Marilyn Martin-Jones and Kathryn Jones (John Benjamins, Studies in Written Language and Literacy Series), 127-144 (1999) 'Children's understandings of text in a multilingual nursery' Language and Education, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1-16
Institution: Centre for Language and Communication Research, Cardiff University, PO Box 94, Cardiff, CF10 3XB e-mail: LawsonS@cardiff.ac.uk I am currently working on a Leverhulme Trust funded programme on Language and Global Communication. I work on the project concerned with Language and Tourism as a Global Cultural Industry, which is exploring the discourses of tourism, both in tourist-host interactions and across tourism writing genres. Studies are being carried out in a variety of tourist destinations and through a range of types of tourism. During a recent field trip to Senegal and The Gambia I collected data on the relationships between the local and global languages used in the tourism industry using communication diaries, semi-structured interviews and observation/recording. Further ethnographic studies of tourist-host and tourist-tourist interactions in different geographical locations are planned. In previous work in Tunisia, I investigated language attitudes and ethnolinguistic vitality perceptions among trainee teachers using quantitative methodologies and carried out an observational study into language behaviour in this multilingual setting. In addition to this, I am continuing to work on data collected in semi-structured inteviews with asylum-seeking and refugee pupils in inner London secondary schools to examine their perceptions of their reception into those schools and their arrival in Britain. A further ongoing project is investigating ethnolinguistic vitality perceptions, language attitudes and use among Bangladeshi British secondary school students. Lawson, S. & Sachdev, I. (2000) Codeswitching in Tunisia: Attitudinal and behavioural dimensions. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 1343-1361.
Institution: King's College, University of London e-mail: vally.lytra@pobox.com I am completing my PhD. thesis in sociolinguistics and bilingualism (Greek-Turkish) at the Dept. of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, King’s College, London. In my thesis, I am looking at how the members of a linguistically and culturally mixed peer group (Greek-Turkish bilinguals and Greek-speaking monolinguals) make use of play frames (e.g. teasing, name-calling and a range of performance-oriented phenomena) to construct a range of social identities, including a hybrid peer group identity, at a state primary school, in Athens, Greece. I am also looking at practical implications of bilingualism and its influence on trilingualism where the third language is a foreign language (such as English). To gain insights into the role of play frames and social identity construction, I did participant observations at the school, in the neighbourhood and at the homes of Greek-Turkish bilingual peer group members. Also, I interviewed members of the peer group, teachers, parents and other adults associated with the school. References Lytra, V. (2001) ‘Code-switching among Primary School Pupils: Three Languages in Contact’. In: The Other Within. Vol. 2: Aspects of Language and Culture. Ed: E. Kitis. Athanassios Altintzis: Thessaloniki, 103- 112. Lytra, V. (2001) ‘Making Sense of Everyday School Experience: Negotiating Interactional Space & Peer Group Alliances’. In: Greek Linguistics ’99: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Greek Linguistics. Nicosia. Cyprus. Eds: Y. Agouraki et al. University Studio Press: Thessaloniki, 573- 580. Lytra, V. (forthcoming) ‘Nicknames & Teasing: A Case Study of a Linguistically and Culturally Mixed Peer Group’. To appear: Discourse Constructions of Youth Identities. Eds. Georgakopoulou, A & I., Androutsopoulos. Benjamins. Lytra, V. (forthcoming) ‘Play Frames and Social Identity Construction: The Case of a Linguistically and Culturally Mixed Peer Group in an Athenian Primary School. Ph.D. Thesis, King’s College.
Institution: Language Centre, University College London, 136 Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT e-mail: marshallsj@hotmail.com I am researching the bilingualism of Spanish-speaking Latin American new migrants in Catalonia. My data is being collected in three ways: semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observation and informant diaries. Firstly, I am looking at the group’s minority status as they are in many respects an atypical linguistic minority. On a wider level, I am looking at the impacts of Catalan language policies (macro) on inter- group communication (micro). This involves the analysis of the language strategies that Spanish-speaking Latin Americans employ in domains where language use may be affected by policies of linguistic normalisation of the Catalan language [workplace, government institutions, education]. This is being compared to strategies used in other domains such as the home, or in linguistically-mixed social settings. Finally, the analysis considers other factors which may affect language choices: linguistic accommodation (Catalan speakers switching to Spanish); ethnolinguistic identity; perceptions of discrimination; L1 variety; and sociodemographic factors.
Institution: School of Education, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT e-mail: d.m.martin@bham.ac.uk Interests in * multilingual children's perceptions of their identity through their languages, within school contexts * exploring discourses of collaboration across communities of practice, particularly in multidisciplinary school contexts (particularly teachers, speech/language therapists/care workers) Approaches Interviewing, observing, field notes, videoing, reflection on data with multidisciplinary practitioners Institution: Department of
Education, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Old College, Aberystwyth,
Ceredigion, SY23 2AX I have been involved in two types of ethnographic research in multilingual urban settings in Britain: 1. School and classroom based research (with Mukul Saxena) in the N.W. of England (1989-1992, ESRC Grant X204252001). The main aim of this research was to gain insights into the ways in which a local educational policy intervention (i.e. that of providing ‘bilingual support’ for children’s learning in the early years) was being translated into classroom practice, in classrooms where bilingual assistants were working alongside monolingual class teachers. The ethnographic fieldwork included: classroom observation, fieldnotes, interviews and the gathering of texts used, produced and talked about in these classes. The main body of data was a corpus of bilingual classroom talk (Panjabi/Urdu/English) from key teaching/learning events in different areas of the curriculum. (These events were audio & video-recorded over a two year period in 8 classes). The data analysis focused on: (1) the nature and purpose of the bilingual talk exchanged between learners and bilingual assistants; (2) the organisational practices and communicative routines of the classes (and the ways in which these were orchestrated by the monolingual class teachers); (3) the ways in which these practices and routines facilitated or constrained the use of the children’s home or community language. Classroom discourse analysis (e.g. identifying bilingual routines which emerged in events with particular participant structures) was combined with analysis of the ethnographic and textual material we gathered. Our interpretation and analysis of key events was shared and checked with the bilingual assistants and the class teachers before it was written up. 2. Ethnographic research (with Arvind Bhatt and David Barton) on multilingual literacy practices in homes, schools and workplaces in the E. Midlands (1989-1992, ESRC grants: R000 23 3833 & R000 22 1534). I coordinated two ethnographic projects on multilingual literacy in Leicester 1993-6. These focused on multilingual literacies in the lives of Gujarati speakers in the city. The first project, Multilingual Literacy Practices: Home, Community and School, was based in 12 households where Gujarati was spoken. The main body of data gathered during this project was a corpus of semi-structured interviews (in Gujarati & English). We also observed literacy events, kept fieldnotes, used still photography and gathered literacy materials. Two examples of the ethnographic writing based on this work are: (1) a paper on gender and multilingual literacy (my own contribution to the project); (2) an account (with Arvind Bhatt) of how different literacies entered the lives of the young people in these households (mostly young people of secondary school age or older) and the ways in which these young people drew on these literacies in different domains of their lives. In the second project, Literacies at Work in a Multilingual City, our ethnographic work was extended into local workplaces. The aim of this project was to investigate the language and literacy demands placed on Gujarati-speaking staff appointed to posts in the public sector with a specific brief to use the languages and literacies in their communicative repertoire at work. We focused on: (1) the intertwining of different spoken languages and literacies across the communicative events of their working lives; (2) their positioning as ‘mediators’ of particular kinds of texts produced in English; (3) the ways in which they responded to this positioning. As in the previous ethnographic work in Leicester, our data included semi-structured interviews, fieldnotes from observations of literacy events and still photography. We also experimented with the use of literacy diaries and diary-based interviews, as means of capturing daily work routines and, at the same time, bringing the voices of the participants into our account. 3. Most recent work Over the last few years, I have mostly been involved in writing. I have written about issues of theory and method arising from the 7 years of ethnographic work described above. I have also endeavoured to give work on multilingual literacy and classroom-based research in multilingual settings greater visibility by publishing edited collections. In addition, I have initiated research in Wales with colleagues at Aberystwyth (see details below). Selected publications Ethnographic research in multilingual classrooms Martin-Jones, M. and Saxena, M. (1996) ‘Turn-taking, power asymmetries, and the positioning of bilingual participants in classroom discourse’, Linguistics and Education, Vol. 8, no. 1. pp. 105 –123. Martin-Jones, M. (1997) ‘Bilingual classroom discourse: changing research approaches and diversification of research sites’. In: N. Hornberger and D. Corson (eds) Research Methods in Language and Education (Volume 8 of The Encyclopedia of Language and Education). Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Heller, M. and Martin-Jones, M. (2001) Voices of Authority: Education and Linguistic Difference. Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing. Ethnographic research on multilingual literacy Martin-Jones, M. and Bhatt, A. (1998) ‘Literacies in the lives of young Gujarati speakers in Leicester’. In A. Durgunoglu and L. Verhoeven (eds) Literacy Development in a Multilingual Context. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Martin-Jones, M. (2000) ‘Enterprising women: multilingual literacy practices in the construction of new identities’. In: M. Martin-Jones and K. Jones (ed.) Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Jones, K., Bhatt, A. and Martin-Jones, M. (2000) ‘Constructing a critical, dialogic approach to research on multilingual literacy: participant diaries and diary interviews’. In: M. Martin-Jones and K. Jones (ed.) Multilingual Literacies: Reading and Writing Different Worlds. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Recent work on Welsh Jones, D.V. and Martin-Jones, M. (forthcoming) “Bilingual education and language revitalization in Wales: past achievements and current issues”. To appear in: J. Tollefson and A. Tsui (eds.) Medium of instruction policies: which agenda? whose agenda? Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. Roberts-Young, D. and Martin-Jones, M. “Lle ar y We (a place on the Web): discourse practices in the creation of web-sites in schools in Wales where Welsh is the main medium of teaching and learning”. Paper presented in the panel on Minority Language Education, 7th International Pragmatics Conference, 9-14th July, 2000, Budapest.
Institution: Faculty of Education and Languages, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA e-mail: j.maybin@open.ac.uk My current research involves ethnographic and textual analysis (of informal talk in one project and personal letters in a second) using a Bakhtinian model of communication. Work on reported discourse in children’s informal talk includes looking at its role in conversational anecdotes, the construction of gendered identities and induction into educational practices. A second ongoing research project on prisoners’ penfriend correspondence includes analysis of the processes within the correspondence which contribute to intersubjectivity and the (re)construction of identity. Selected research publications Maybin, J. (1998) ‘Children’s voices: talk, knowledge and identity’, in D. Graddol, J. Maybin and B. Stierer (eds) Researching language and literacy in context, pp 131-150, Clevedon, Multilingual Matters, 1994. Maybin, J. (1999) ‘Death Row penfriends: some effects of letter writing on identity and relationships’, in D. Barton and N. Hall (eds) Letter writing as a social practice, pp 151-177, Amsterdam, Benjamins. Maybin, J. (1999) ‘Framing and evaluation in 10-12 year old school children’s use of appropriated speech, in relation to their induction into educational procedures and practices’. in TEXT Vol 19(4). Maybin, J. (2002) ‘What’s the hottest part of the Sun? Page 3! Children’s exploration of adolescent gender identities through informal talk’, in J. Sunderland and L. Litosseliti (eds) Discourse analysis and gender identities. Amsterdam, John Benjamins. Maybin, J. (2002) ‘Voices, morals and identity in 10-12 year olds’ conversational narratives’ in M. Sanchez and I. Blayer (eds) Storytelling: interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Institution: Department of Education, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Old College, King Street, Aberystwyth, SY23 2AX / School of Education, University of Montana e-mail: mbm@aber.ac.uk Current Research Activities The research project in which I am currently engaged is one of academic service learning and curriculum development in Wales. This research is in the data collection stage where I am interviewing educators at three levels of the educational system in Wales. I have developed interview protocols for national and county level administrators, university faculty members, particularly those involved with teacher education, and site-based faculty in the local schools. With this information, as well as extensive document study, this research will seek to address the question of whether or not academic service learning is a viable pedagogy for teachers in Wales to address Curriculum Cymreig, especially in terms of the Personal and Social Education Framework, (ACCAC), and of cultural sustainability. Previous Research Efforts For the past ten years, I have been engaged in research and grant directing that sought to develop a conceptual framework for what service learning is and how it may be conducted across the curriculum to result in true learning and civic engagement. Much research and many researchers have collaborated in this effort to the point where we now have an impressive body of evidence that academic service learning is a powerful pedagogy for learning in any discipline, as well as developing the basic constructs of living in a participatory, democratic society. (Eyler & Giles, 1999; Zlotkowski, 1998, and McKenna, & Ward, 1996.) Within the last five years, I have begun to move beyond this curricular and definitive focus, to look more closely at the literacy development of preservice education students as they engage in academic service learning activities. Certainly in Montana, if not also in most institutions of higher education around the country, the majority of students are white, and have a middle class background. These preservice education students will eventually be teaching students different from themselves, and from most of their academy experiences. Students in the public schools, particularly in the United States come from a wide range of literacy communities. By literacy communities, I am referring to economic, social, educational, racial, language, and political entities, all of which tend to have their own organic literacy. If we are to overcome the notion of literacy as a set of skills that are defined mainly within the educational domain, then we must teach our university students how to hear, understand and engage with literacy communities other than their own. Therefore my research now seeks to look at the effect of academic service learning on the development and understanding of literacy as a dynamic social, economic, and political entity, on preservice education university students (see McKenna, 2001, 2000.) References McKenna, M.J., (2001). “Literacy and service learning: From abstraction to application at The University of Montana.” 177-181. In Service-Learning in teacher education: Enhancing the growth of new teachers, their students, and communities. Anderson, J.B., Swick, K.J. & Yff, J. (Eds.) Washington, D.C.: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. McKenna, M.J., (2000). “Students, agencies, and faculty sign on for academic service learning.” Teacher Education Quarterly, 27, (3), 89-102. McKenna, M.J., (1999). “Academic service learning and collaborative action research: Two roads to educational reform.” Academic Exchange Quarterly, Winter. 112-114. McKenna, M.J. & Ward, K.A.; (1999). “Education beyond the walls.” In Focus. Madsen, E. (Ed.). A monograph published by the 4-H Center for Youth Development at the University of California at Davis. 1-11. McKenna, M.J. & Ward, K.A.; (1998). “Education beyond the walls: Connecting classroom and community.” The Researcher, 13, (1), 46-53.
Institution: School of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies, Institute of Education, University of London e-mail: g.moss@ioe.ac.uk My research interests are predominantly in the areas of literacy and education policy, including gender and literacy, children’s informal literacy practices and their relationship to the English curriculum, how the shifting relations between policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders are re-shaping the literacy curriculum and the impact of the new knowledge economy on research within higher education. I am also interested in the role of the literacy event as the unit of analysis in shaping ethnographic enquiry into literacy. Current research A project on: “Mixed methods in the study of pattern and variation in children’s reading habits” (funded by the ESRC). This focuses on trialling and evaluating new analytic tools, designed for use with quantitative datasets, which can highlight the social processes which govern children’s text choice and link to reading attainment. The project will contribute to understanding children’s gendered development as readers and is being undertaken as a joint enterprise with Dr John McDonald at Southampton University. A second project on: “Building a new literacy practice through the adoption of the National Literacy Strategy” (also funded by the ESRC). This project is exploring: (1) how the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy is reshaping literacy practices in school; and (2) the extent to which the adoption of the National Literacy Strategy is enhancing the creation of strong professional learning communities at local level. A third project on: “Fact and Fiction” (1996-1998). This project explored boys’ development as readers in the 7-9 age group by conducting 4 ethnographic case studies in London and Hampshire junior schools using analytic tools derived from a literacy as a social practice perspective. (1999) “Texts in context: mapping out the gender differentiation of the reading curriculum” Pedagogy, Culture and Society, Vol. 7: 3, pp. 507-522. (2000) “Informal literacies and pedagogic discourse” Linguistics and Education, Vol.11, pp. 47–64. (2001a) `Bernstein's languages of description: some generative principles' in the International Journal of Social Research Methodology, Vol. 4:1, pp17-19. (2001b) ‘Literacy and the social organisation of knowledge inside and outside school’ Language and Education, Vol. 15: 2&3, pp.146-161 (2001c) `Seeing with the camera: analysing children's photographs of literacy in the home' Journal of Research in Reading, Vol. 24: 3, pp.279-292 (2001d) `To work or play? Junior age non-fiction as objects of design' in Reading: Literacy and Language, Vol 35: 3, pp.106-110
Institution: Dept of Language and Culture, Linkopings Universitet, SE-581 83 Linkoping, Sweden e-mail: nigmu@isk.liu.se I am a full-time research student in the Department of Language and Culture at Linköping University in Sweden. I have now spent two years within this research programme. The subject of my research concerns the language values and language practices of teenagers attending bilingual/Welsh-medium secondary schools in Wales. My pilot projects, undertaken during the spring of 2001, involved video-recording of focus groups of friends discussing a number of questions on two separate occasions. I have used Conversation Analysis as one of my main tools for interpreting the data. Participants also filled in questionnaires on their language practices. The groups I recorded attended either the bilingual secondary school in Aberystwyth, Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig, or resided at Neuadd Pantycelyn, accommodation reserved for Welsh-speaking students at the University of Wales Aberystwyth. Previously I taught English in the Department of Language and Culture at Linkoping University for several years. I have also been co-writing an English language course for Swedish primary schools, the first book of which is due to be published later this spring, entitled Steps 1.
Institution: Department of Social Anthropology, 43 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HN / University of Lancaster e-mail: uta.papen@durham.ac.uk Current research activity I have recently finished my PhD on literacy and language use among adults in Namibia. The aims of this study were to identify and understand everyday life and work-related uses of both oral and written language. I compare these communicative practices with the forms of literacy and language that are introduced in the National Literacy Programme in Namibia. As part of my work in Namibia, I studied the literacy practices of local tourism workers. In this small study, I tried to combine an ethnography of literacy practices (e.g. the literacy practices of crafts vendors and tour guides ) with a critical analysis of the kinds of texts that are used in tourism, for example signboards and brochures. Methodologically, the study draws on ethnography as well as critical discourse analysis. My future research looks at how lay people use health websites in order to acquire knowledge about health and disease and negotiate treatment options. The focus of this research is on the potential of health websites (and the networks that develop around them) as new social and ideological spaces for the construction and communication of alternative health knowledge that is located in lifeworld rather than in expert discourses. References Papen, U. (2002) TVs, Textbooks and Tour Guides: Uses and Meanings of Literacy in Namibia, PhD thesis, King’s College, London (unpublished). Papen, Uta (2001) Speaking and writing the language of tourists: Tourism literacies in Namibia (draft conference paper), http://www.ched.uct.ac.za/literacy/Papers/ Papen, Uta (2001) "Literacy - Your Key to a Better Future? Literacy, Reconciliation and Development in the National Literacy Programme in Namibia”. In: Street, Brian V. (ed.) Literacy and Development: Ethnographic Perspectives. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 40-61.
Institution: University of Westminster, Regent Campus, 309 Regent St, London, W1B 2UW / University of London e-mail: s.preece@wmin.ac.uk I am currently undertaking research into language and identity issues and appropriating academic discourses with British students traditionally classed as bilinguals who have attended a Written Communication Skills module in the University of Westminster Business School. The qualitative side of this research will form the basis of my doctoral thesis. Over the last 2 academic years, this has involved classroom observations, group discussions, a questionnaire and 2 rounds of interviews. In addition to this, I am compiling student profiles (gender, ethnicity, age, entry qualifications etc.) comparing level 1 students in the Business School who have attended the Written Communciation Skills module with those who haven't. This is based on statistical data from the student record system and is being undertaken as part of widening participation research for Westminster. Previous ethnographic research related to language or literacy A study of the ways in which English language teachers in a university language centre assisted students with self-study language activities and developing learner autonomy. References Forthcoming: 'Language and Identity Issues with Home Students on EAP Writing Programmes'. Directions for the Future. BALEAP/ Peter Lang
Institution: Estudis d'Humanitats i Filologia, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Av. Tibidabo, 39, planta –2, 08035 Barcelona e-mail: jpujolar@uoc.edu I am interested in the role of languages in the construction of national, ethnic and any aspect of social identity from a critical perspective, that is, in terms of their role in social integration and exclusion. I have conducted ethnographic research on how these processes take place in face-to-face interaction among groups of young working-class people in Barcelona. I am presently working in a project on issues of language and social integration amongst African and Asian immigrants in Catalonia, particularly with respect to the role of linguistic competence in Catalan and Spanish. The project is at an early stage to tell with certainty, but it is probably going to include some ethnographic work in adult-education classroom contexts. My previous (linguistic) ethnographic research consisted of a study of issues of gender and bilingualism amongst two groups of young working-class people in Barcelona. I analysed peer-group activities in terms of their significance for the construction of gender identities. I proposed a variety of forms of masculinity and femininity according to the various ways in which members organised their gender displays in face-to-face interaction. I showed how their use of argot, dialectal Spanish and Catalan was part of these processes of identity construction. I explored the meanings constructed through Catalan and Spanish by looking into the code-switching practices of my participants. I argued that, in the groups I studied, Catalan was generally not used to animate the voices that were central to the identities of the peer-group, and particularly to masculine identities. Selected publications Pujolar, Joan (2000) Gender, heteroglossia and power: A sociolinguistic study of youth culture. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. --------------- (1999) “Els gèneres verbals: reflexions sobre la seva significació per a una teoria de l’ús social del llenguatge.” In Llengua i Literatura vol. 10. Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans. --------------- (1997) “Dialogismo y bilingüismo: explorando las relaciones entre lengua e identidad en el contexto catalán.” In Carbó, Teresa and Martín Rojo, Luisa (eds) El análisis del discurso en España hoy. Edició especial de la revista Discurso: teoría y análisis. Otoño 1996-Primavera 1997. México D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 183-212. --------------- (1997) “Masculinities in a multilingual setting”. In Johnson, Sally and Meinhof, Ulrike Language and Masculinity, Chapter 5. London: Blackwell Publishers, 86-106.
Institution: Department of Education, King's College London, Waterloo Road, London, SE1 9NN e-mail: ben.rampton@kcl.ac.uk My research generally works on the Gumperzian premise that as it’s a key site for the negotiation of social order, relations and identities, a close look at situated interaction can throw new light on issues of more general social, cultural and educational debate. I’ve done three periods of intensive fieldwork focusing on urban heteroglossia among adolescents in youth clubs, playgrounds and schools in London and the South Midlands (1984-85, 1987, 1997-98), and most of my fieldwork involves participant-observation, interviews, radio-microphone recording, and playback sessions. My approach is grounded in interactional sociolinguistics and the ethnography of communication, though I’ve also drawn quite extensively on themes and concepts from cultural studies, anthropology and sociology. Along with Roxy Harris, Constant Leung and Celia Roberts, I’m part of the Language and Ethnicities Research Group (previously the Urban Multilingualism RG) at King’s, and our stated aims are (a) to develop applied and sociolinguistic frameworks adequate to the analysis of contemporary urban language, learning, literacy and interaction, and (b) to develop modes of intervention within language education policy and practice that are productively tuned to the local realities of urban institutional life. My own efforts to contribute to this larger programme have been influenced by the ways in which my empirical data on urban heteroglossia resonate with wider debates about late/post-modernity. This coalescence of data and theory throws doubt on the traditional linguistic assumptions that (i) language study should be centrally concerned with systematicity in grammar and coherence in discourse, and (ii) that people learn to talk grammatically and coherently from extensive early experience of living in families and fairly stable local social networks, and it has led to critical engagement with prevailing sociolinguistic perspectives on ethnicity, speech community, intercultural communication, and code-switching. Urban heteroglossia involves a complex dialogue around self/us and the ‘other’, but there has been very little sensitivity to this in the massive linguistic literature on second/foreign/additional language learning, and so this has been a second field of engagement. Language education policy and practice constitute a third area, and here I’ve explored the interface between urban heteroglossia and the teaching of ESL, minority languages, language awareness, and foreign languages. Lastly, I’ve argued that ongoing epistemic shifts provide applied linguistics with a good opportunity to move beyond SLA+ELT to Hymes’ view of a ‘socially constituted’ linguistics and to a much fuller relationship with interdisciplinary research and intervention elsewhere in the social sciences. My current research includes a project on ‘Interaction, Media Culture and Adolescents at School’ (2001-2002; Rampton, Harris and Dover; Spencer Foundation) Representative publications Rampton, B. (1995) Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents. London: Longman. Rampton, B. (1997) ‘Retuning in applied linguistics’. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 7 (1): 3-25. Rampton, B. (1998) ‘Speech community’. In J. Verschueren, J-O Öla, J. Blommaert and C. Bulcaen (eds) Handbook of Pragmatics 1998. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Rampton, B. (1999) ‘Sociolinguistics and Cultural Studies: New ethnicities, liminality and interaction’. Social Semiotics. 9 (3): 355-374. Rampton, B. (1999) ‘Deutsch in inner London and the animation of an instructed foreign language’. Journal of Sociolinguistics 3 (4): 480-504. Rampton, B (2001) ‘Critique in interaction’. Critique of Anthropology 21 (1). 2001.
Institution: University of Bristol e-mail: P.Rea-Dickins@bristol.ac.uk I am investigating aspects of classroom-based assessment at Key Stage 1 for learners with English as an Additional Language - in multiracial inner city schools with a high density of bilingual learners. My main focus in on instruction-embedded assessment (rather than on formal 'standardised and SATs-like tests which measure achievment), especially aspects of formative assessment and the ways in which different activities represent language learning opportunities. Data comprise interviews with Language Support Teachers, mainstream Class Teachers, and Bilingual Education Assistants; transcriptions of lessons / assessment episodes that have been observed across a range of KS1 subject areas (e.g. Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Geography/History); as well as some learner interviews. This project is funded by the ESRC, and the other researchers are Sheena Gardner (University of Warwick) and Jane Andrews (University of Bristol). Selected publications Rea-Dickins, P. 2001. Mirror, mirror on the wall: identifying processes of classroom assessment. Language Testing, Vol. 18/4:429-462. Gardner, S. & Rea-Dickins, P. 2001. Conglomeration or Chameleon? Teachers' Representation of Language in the Assessment of Learners with English as an Additional Language. Language Awareness. Vol 10: 2&3. Rea-Dickins, P. & Gardner, S. 2000. Snares or silver bullets: disentangling the construct of formative assessment. Language Testing. Vol. 17/2:215-244.
Name: Dilwyn-Ellis Roberts-Young Institution: Department of Education, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Old College, King Street, Aberystwyth, SY23 2AX e-mail: dlr@aber.ac.uk
I have undertaken research into how Information and Communication Technology affects teaching and learning in schools in the primary sector and at present I am looking at the effect that Information and Communication Technology has on the language of the classroom where Welsh is the medium of teaching and learning. I have worked on the way that individuals and institutions construct identity on their websites. Roberts-Young, D. and Chandler, D. 1999 “The construction of identity in adolescent personal home pages”. In Marquet, P., Mathey, S., Jaillet, A. and Nissen, E. (eds.) Internet-based teaching and learning. (Proceedings of the 1998 IN-TELE conference). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Roberts-Young, D. and Martin-Jones, M. “Lle ar y We (a place on the Web): discourse practices in the creation of web-sites in schools in Wales where Welsh is the main medium of teaching and learning”. Paper presented in the panel on Minority Language Education, 7th International Pragmatics Conference, 9-14th July, 2000, Budapest.
Institution: c/o Dept. of Welsh, University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED e-mail: pr047@lamp.ac.uk I am currently working on a Ph.D. project on bilingual literacy (Welsh/English). I am doing ethnographic work with four students from English speaking families who are learning Welsh as a second language at higher education level. The main purpose of my research is to gain insights into their bilingual literacy practices on a day-to-day basis both inside and outside the university and, accordingly, to find out how they are establishing different identities through those practices. My interests are in fields of study such as bilingualism, second/foreign language teaching, socio-cultural and economic issues, politics and language.
Institution: King's College, London e-mail: paulshrubshall@msn.com My interests are in classroom microethnography, narrative, and EAL (English as an additional language) pedagogy. My current work (PhD) involves seeing how EAL pedagogic models can be informed by microethnographies of classroom reading and writing events. My thesis features an ethnomethodological analysis of reading aloud, and I am also interested in using ethnopoetics as an analytic tool for the analysis of writing. I am concerned with relationships between evaluation (of pedagogic practice) and description, and theory (or pedagogic model) and practice.
Institution: Department of Education and Professional Studies, King's College London e-mail: brian.street@kcl.ac.uk Over the past 25 years I have undertaken anthropological field research and been consultant to projects in countries, of both the North and South, and have a commitment to linking ethnographic-style research on the cultural dimension of language and literacy with contemporary practice in education and in development. Books include Literacy in Theory and Practice (C.U.P. 1985), Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy, (ed. CUP, 1993), Social Literacies (1995), and Literacy and Development: Ethnographic Perspectives (ed. Routledge, 2000). I am also involved in research projects on academic literacies (e.g. a co-edited volume on Student Writing in the University: Cultural and Epistemological Issues. Benjamins 2000) and on home/ school literacy and numeracy practices.
Institution: Dept of Religious Studies, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG e-mail: k.tusting@lancs.ac.uk I am currently employed by the Religious Studies department at Lancaster University for 'The Kendal Project', a locality study of religion and spirituality in Kendal using primarily qualitative and ethnographic methods (for more details see http://www.kendalproject.org.uk/). Although the focus of the project is not linguistic, there are some interesting relevant issues which have arisen from the data collection stage, such as the role of prayer as a social practice in different communities or the different literacy practices of different congregations, and I am hoping to have the time to examine these in a little more depth. My PhD research used ethnographic methods to examine the role of literacy and text in constructing identity in different communities of practice in a Catholic parish. The Kendal Project finishes in June, after which time I am hoping to be able to move away from the study of religion and pursue broader interests in literacy and informal learning in local communities. On a more theoretical side, my research interests include critical realism, understandings of society as a complex system, and communities of practice. Relevant references Tusting, K. (2000) Time and the new literacy studies, in Barton, Hamilton and Ivanic, Situated Literacies: Reading and Writing in Context, London: Routledge. Tusting, K (2000) Written intertextuality and the construction of Catholic identity in a parish community: an ethnographic study. PhD thesis, Dept of Linguistics and Modern English Language, Lancaster University.
Institution: Departmento de Lenguas Modernas, Universidad del Quindio, Armenia, Quindio, Colombia e-mail: silvia_valencia@hotmail.com I am in my third year as a part-time Ph.D. student at the Department of Education, University of Wales Aberystwyth. My research focuses on bilingual classroom interaction. It is an ethnographic case study of two secondary classes in public schools in Armenia, Colombia, where English is taught as a Foreign Language. The data for this study was collected through classroom observation, audio and video-recordings, short questionnaires and fieldnotes. My main interests are: discourse analysis, literacy practices and ELT. Previous relevant research: I have been involved in two other research projects: the first was a case study of two ESP engineering classrooms at the University of Quindio. The second was on the teaching/learning of English as a Foreign Language in state schools in the Departmento del Quindio. Part of the data collected for this project formed the basis of my MA thesis at Lancaster University. Reference “ ‘Una oración (a sentence?)’. Students resisting teacher-led talk around texts: a case study of one EFL class in Quindio, Colombia”, Unpublished MA dissertation, Lancaster University, 1998
Institution: Cultural Studies and Sociology, University of Birmingham e-mail: h.k.wood@bham.ac.uk I have recently completed my PhD which involved ethnographic work on the communicative context of broadcast reception in the home. It investigated the ‘inter-active’ strategies of women viewers of talk television and revealed insights into the negotiation of subjectivity through mediated communication. In general, I am interested in the role of mass communications technologies in everyday ‘interaction orders’ as a means to investigate relationships between media and modern subjectivity. I have recently prepared a bid for the ESRC for an ethnographic project on multi-media use by bilingual South Asian families in Birmingham with Dr Ann Gray. It represents an attempt to explore the role of media languages (through various local, national and ‘global’ media flows) in urban heteroglossia. I am also assistant editor of the journal, ETHNOGRAPHY. http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journals/j0300.html References Wood, H (2001) ‘Interacting With Television: Talk TV and its communicative relationship with women viewers’ Unpublished PhD thesis, Open University. Wood, H (2001) ‘No, YOU Rioted: The pursuit of conflict in the management of expert and lay discourses on Kilroy’ in Tolson, A. (ed) Television Talk Shows: Discourse, Performance, Spectacle. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Institution: Birkbeck College, University of London, School of Languages, Linguistics and Culture, 43 Gordon Sq, London, WC1H 0PD e-mail: t.young@sllc.bbk.ac.uk I'm researching Intercultural Communication Competence in Curricula for Teaching English as a Second or Other Language. I am in my second year as a part-time PhD research student at Birkbeck College, where I also lecture on the Social Psychology of Language, Statistics (both on the MA in Applied Linguistics), and on Multilingualism and Multiculturalism (BA Languages and Linguistics). I am also a part-time teacher of EAP/EFL, Courses Co-ordinator and Curriculum advisor for the Bell Educational Trust. My research project is investigating the teaching, learning and assessment of Intercultural Communication Competence in EFL Curricula. This involves ethnographic investigation with curriculum designers, teachers and learners in the UK, USA, Switzerland and Poland. Reference Learning Styles in the Multicultural Classroom (1999), unpublished MA thesis, Birkbeck College, University of London
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