Classic case studies surveying the use, role and function of language and speech in social life.

In this eloquently written volume Michael Agar expands the premise set forth in his very popular work The Professional Stranger. Speaking of Ethnography challenges the assumption that conventional scientific procedures are appropriate for the study of human affairs. Agar's work is informed by a hermeneutic and phenomenological tradition, in which he questions the researcher's own taken-for-granted procedures.

Methods for the Ethnography of Communication is a guide to conducting ethnographic research in classroom and community settings that introduces students to the field of ethnography of communication, and takes them through the recursive and nonlinear cycle of ethnographic research. Drawing on the mnemonic that Hymes used to develop the Ethnography of SPEAKING, the authors introduce the innovative CULTURES framework to provide a helpful structure for moving through the complex process of collecting and analyzing ethnographic data and addresses the larger "how-to" questions that students struggle with when undertaking ethnographic research. Exercises and activities help students make the connection between communicative events, acts, and situations and ways of studying them ethnographically. Integrating a primary focus on language in use within an ethnographic framework makes this book an invaluable core text for courses on ethnography of communication and related areas in a variety of disciplines.

A highly influential scholar urges that linguistics be studied as part of the entire communicative conduct of social groups and demonstrates the mutual relation between linguistics and other disciplines, such as sociology, social anthropology, and education.

Illuminating, through ethnographic inquiry, how individual agents "make" language policy in everyday social practice, this volume advances the growing field of language planning and policy using a critical sociocultural approach. From this perspective, language policy is conceptualized not only as official acts and documents, but as language-regulating modes of human interaction, negotiation, and production mediated by relations of power. Using this conceptual framework, the volume addresses the impacts of globalization, diaspora, and transmigration on language practices and policies; language endangerment, revitalization, and maintenance; medium-of-instruction policies; literacy and biliteracy; language and ethnic/national identity; and the ethical tensions in conducting critical ethnographic language policy research. These issues are contextualized in case studies and reflective commentaries by leading scholars in the field. Ethnography and Language Policy extends previous work in the field, tapping into leading-edge interdisciplinary scholarship, and charting new directions. Recognizing that language policy is not merely or even primarily about language per se, but rather about power relations that structure social-linguistic hierarchies, the authors seek to expand policy discourses in ways that foster social justice for all.

This is an engaging interdisciplinary guide to the unique role of language within ethnography. The book provides a philosophical overview of the field alongside practical support for designing and developing your own ethnographic research. It demonstrates how to build and develop arguments and engages with practical issues such as ethics, transcription and impact. There are chapter-long case studies based on real research that will explain key themes and help you create and analyse your own linguistic data. Drawing on the authors’ experience they outline the practical, epistemological and theoretical decisions that researchers must take when planning and carrying out their studies. Other key features include: A clear introduction to discourse analytic traditions Tips on how to produce effective field notes Guidance on how to manage interview and conversational data Advice on writing linguistic ethnographies for different audiences Annotated suggestions for further reading Full glossary This book is a master class in understanding linguistic ethnography, it will of interest to anyone conducting field research across the social sciences.

This volume presents explorations in the literary turn in ethnographic work. Drawing from a range of disciplines, such as sociology, philosophy, psychology and English, the author demonstrates the ways in which ethnography can be effectively expressed.

The field of linguistic anthropology looks at human uniqueness and diversity through the lens of language, our species' special combination of art and instinct. Human language both shapes, and is shaped by, our minds, societies, and cultural worlds. This state-of-the-field survey covers a wide range of topics, approaches and theories, such as the nature and function of language systems, the relationship between language and social interaction, and the place of language in the social life of communities. Promoting a broad vision of the subject, spanning a range of disciplines from linguistics to biology, from psychology to sociology and philosophy, this authoritative handbook is an essential reference guide for students and researchers working on language and culture across the social sciences.

Directions in Sociolinguistics is a now classic collection of pioneering essays by leading sociolinguists. It is published here for the first time in paperback and incorporates an extensive new bibliography. The book proceeds from the assumption that we may learn from language as interactional behaviour, illustrating both advances in theoretical insights and changes in research interests. Taking a speaker's communicative competence as a social as well as grammatical fact, this volume is an invaluable compendium of articles by some of the most eminent researchers in Sociolinguistics, and in the sociology and anthropology of language.