TY - JOUR

T1 - Linguistic ethnography in realist perspective

AU - Sealey, Alison

N1 - This is a pre-print of an article published in Journal of Sociolinguistics, 11 (5), 2007. (c) Wiley.

PY - 2007/11

Y1 - 2007/11

N2 - This article engages with linguistic ethnography from the perspective of sociological realism. It begins by reviewing some of the positions expressed in the linguistic ethnography (LE) literature about the extent to which LE is defined by theoretical orientation as well as by method. The article is then framed around a kind of ‘generic’ sociolinguistic research question – ‘Which people use which kinds of language in what circumstances and with what outcome(s)?’. Taking each element in turn, it explores the ways in which an ethnographic approach contributes to the processes of: classifying speakers as members of various kinds of social groups; identifying language varieties; accounting for the inf luence of ‘context’; and identifying ‘outcomes’. I suggest that each of these aspects of social linguistic research stands to benefit from the methods developed in ethnography, and from the theories and principles underlying the approaches it uses. However, drawing on the work of contemporary realist social theorists, the article concludes that ethnography is a method suited to illuminating certain aspects of such questions better than others.

AB - This article engages with linguistic ethnography from the perspective of sociological realism. It begins by reviewing some of the positions expressed in the linguistic ethnography (LE) literature about the extent to which LE is defined by theoretical orientation as well as by method. The article is then framed around a kind of ‘generic’ sociolinguistic research question – ‘Which people use which kinds of language in what circumstances and with what outcome(s)?’. Taking each element in turn, it explores the ways in which an ethnographic approach contributes to the processes of: classifying speakers as members of various kinds of social groups; identifying language varieties; accounting for the inf luence of ‘context’; and identifying ‘outcomes’. I suggest that each of these aspects of social linguistic research stands to benefit from the methods developed in ethnography, and from the theories and principles underlying the approaches it uses. However, drawing on the work of contemporary realist social theorists, the article concludes that ethnography is a method suited to illuminating certain aspects of such questions better than others.

KW - Sociolinguistics

KW - Ethnography

KW - Ethnicity

U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00344.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00344.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 11

SP - 641

EP - 660

JO - Journal of Sociolinguistics

JF - Journal of Sociolinguistics

SN - 1360-6441

IS - 5

ER -