UK Linguistic Ethnography Forum
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Second research seminar
University of Wales Conference Centre, Gregynog
April 27th-28th, 2002
Cymraeg
The second research seminar of the BAAL Special Interest
Group on Linguistic Ethnography was held at the University of Wales Conference
Centre, Gregynog, Powys, on the weekend of April 27th and 28th,
2002. The seminar was supported by
a grant from the Research Fund of the University of Wales Aberystwyth (UWA) and
the local UWA-based organisers were Marilyn Martin-Jones (Education) and Wini
Davies (European Languages). The overall aim of the seminar was to extend and further
develop the dialogue about theory and method in ethnographic research on
language and literacy that was initiated in the first seminar in this series at
the University of Leicester (details available here).
This dialogue was extended and
developed in four main ways at Gregynog: By considering issues of theory and method
arising from ethnographic research in bilingual and multilingual settings; By revisiting the notion of ‘genre’ and
reflecting on its use in ethnographic research on language and literacy; By discussing the views of
ethnography put forward in the Manifesto of the new journal, Ethnography,
and by examining these in the light of recent research in the area of
linguistic ethnography; The first of these four themes was adopted because the
seminar was held in a bilingual context. The
invited speakers had all conducted recent ethnographic research on language and
literacy in a bilingual setting. They
were: Alexandra Jaffe (University of California at Long Beach – research in
Corsica); Kathryn Jones (Lancaster University and Cwmni Iaith – research in
N.E. Wales) and Joan Pujolar i Cos (Open University of Catalonia – research in
Barcelona). The total number of participants, including the invited
speakers, was forty. This made it
possible to organise most of the event as a series of round table-style plenary
discussions, with a chance for everyone to make a contribution. There
was a good mix of new and established researchers, including 8 research
students. The programme was made up of two broad types of sessions:
(1) Those considering issues arising from research practice; (2) those with a
more conceptual focus (though this was not a hard and fast distinction). There
were six sessions altogether, with five of these being plenary sessions and with
one session being set aside, on Saturday evening, for small group discussions. The
programme and the cross-cutting themes are briefly summarised below: Saturday,
April 27th First plenary session: Linguistic ethnography in
multilingual settings. (Presentations
by Alexandra Jaffe, Kathryn Jones and Joan Pujolar, followed by discussion). Second plenary session: The notion of ‘genre’ in
linguistic ethnography. (Discussion
led by Janet Maybin, Ben Rampton and Karin Tusting and based on readings from
Bakhtin, Fairclough, Hanks, Kress and Halliday & Hasan selected in advance
of the seminar). Small group discussions: Ethnographic research on
language and literacy by individuals and research teams. Sunday, April 28th Third plenary session:
Feedback from small group discussions and general discussion of the
issues arising. This session was
led by David Barton. Fourth plenary session: Manifesto of the new
journal, Ethnography: links with ethnographic research on language and
literacy. (The discussion in this session was initiated by Helen Wood, the
deputy editor of the journal and by a response to the Manifesto by Brian
Street). Fifth plenary session: Drawing out the main themes
of the Seminar. (This final reflection on the seminar was initiated with
input from Rosaleen Howard, Gemma Moss and Jane Freeland). The participants gathered again after lunch on Sunday to
plan ahead and to consider ideas for future activities. It
was decided that, in addition to the Colloquium at the BAAL AGM, a further
seminar would be organised in the Spring of 2003 and that one or more of the
themes emerging from the discussion at Gregynog would be taken forward to that
seminar. Details of the research interests and current research of
those who participated in the seminar are available here. Gregynog Hall, the venue for this seminar, is situated a
few miles from Newtown, Powys. Further information about Gregynog is available here. |
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Site created and maintained by Karin Tusting, k.tusting@lancaster.ac.uk. Last updated 09/01/2007 |