Language and identity in linguistic ethnography

Abstract

Linguistic ethnography (LE) is a relatively new term that originated in the United Kingdom (UK). It aims to provide socio-and applied linguists with theoretical and methodological perspectives for studying situated practice vis-a-vis wider sociocultural processes of change. Broadly speaking, this term offers a platform for analysing the ways in which social actors negotiate meaning and identity through language use in the context of large historical configurations that shape (and get shaped by) local instances of language use. In a discussion paper on linguistic ethnography published by the UK Linguistic Ethnography Forum over a decade ago, its general orientation was described as follows:Although LE research differs in how far it seeks to make claims about either language, communication or the social world, linguistic ethnography generally holds that to a considerable degree, language and the social world are mutually shaping, and that close analysis of situated language use can provide both fundamental and distinctive insights into the mechanisms and dynamics of social and cultural production in everyday activity.