On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research

Two experienced and esteemed ethnographers examine how to use ethnographic methods to conduct research in language and literacy. The authors begin by mapping some of the developments in ethnography across the last century, from colonial interests to contemporary studies of migration, multiculturalism, and global citizenship. The authors then draw from their own field work and that of a novice ethnographer to inform a succession of chapters on research questions, field notes, and analysis. Throughout, the book stresses that "doing ethnography" involves engagement with public life and cannot be separated out as an academic activity.