Interactional Sociolinguistics

Activities

Week 2

In-class Activity

The Ethnography of Communication

¬Work out the norms of communication in your culture for the following speech situations
 
Situation

 

  
Participants

 

  
Ends

 

  
Act Sequence

 

  
Key

 

  
Instruments

 

  
Norms

 

  
Genres

 

  

Fieldwork (include this in your field journal)

Go to Festival Walk or the MTR station and identify three 'withs' and two 'single withs'. Observe

In the space below provide a description of the people (participation units) and what you observed. 

With 1

 

 

  
With 2

 

 

  
With 3

 

 

  
Single 1

 

 

  
Single 2

 

 

  

Reflect on the different ways 'singles' and 'withs' behave in public.

2.

a. Observe people handing out handbills on the street (or any other repetitive interaction) and reflect on what you observed.  How do handers act towards other people? Do they treat different people differently? How do their actions serve to claim and impute identity?

OR

b. Do a Garfinkle

Stage a strategic disruption in a public place and observe people's reactions. Reflect on what you observed. 

Reflection (include this in your field journal)

Reflect on the different ways people 'do being normal' in different situations. Think of a time when you found yourself in a situation where it was difficult to 'do being normal'. How did you handle it?