Interactional Sociolinguistics

Activities

Week 13

Fieldwork (include this in your field journal)

Observe people from different cultures interacting. Make observations on how they interact in at least 2 of the following areas: 

Conversational style

Conversational mechanics (topic negotiation, pausing, backchannel, etc.)

Body language

Politeness and Face

Topic and structure of conversation

Contextualization cues

Reflection (include this in your field journal)

Think about difficulties you have had in the past communicating with people from different cultures. How can you account for these differences (Caution: try to apply the theories learned in this course--do not resort to abstractions or cultural stereotypes).