Fraenkel et.al. (2012) defined ethnography
or ethnographic research as the collection of data on many variables over an
extended period of time in a naturalistic setting, usually using observation
and interviews. They further explicated that the emphasis in ethnographic
research is on documenting or portraying the everyday experiences of individuals
by observing and interviewing them and relevant others.
To
conclude such definition, the research “Communicative
Interaction and Second Language Acquisition: An Inuit Example” by Martha B.
Crago of McGill University. The stated
purpose is to study the role of cultural context in the communicative
interaction of young Inuit children, their caregivers, and their non-Inuit
teachers. Hence, the study is clearly
focused on the Inuit family language socialization and communicative
interaction. But then, unintentionally,
and because it is an ethnographic research, information about the differences
in the communicative interaction of Inuit families and non-Inuit second
language teachers surfaced repeatedly using the course of the study. And as Frenkel et.al. (2012) stated, that an
advantage of ethnographic study is that it is particularly for studying
behaviors best understood in their natural setting because some things may
happen unintentionally but may help a lot in analyzing the study.
Videotapes
were made every three months of two Inuit boys, two Inuit girls, and their
families. These four children were
between 1 and 2 years of age at the time of the study. Two of them had moms in early 20s, while the
other had considerably older moms. One child
lives in a small nuclear, one-generational family, which is a nontraditional
structure in northern Quebec. The other
three lived in larger families. In
addition, 20 women out of possible 45 women living in Quaqtaq were interviewed
in Inuktikut by the northern Inuk research coordinator, who is a native speaker
of Inuktikut.
The
present research consisted of a longitudinal study of 4 Inuit children and
their families. Recordings were made
from which detailed verbal and nonverbal information was transcribed. The information in the study were gathered
through three sources (triangulation): 1.) 80 hours of transcribed and
translated videotapes of 4 children and their families, 2.) 20 ethnographic
interviews of Inuit women conducted in Inuktikut by a native speaker, and 3.)
several hundred pages of observation and informal interview notes. Hence, this is a strength of a study because
in ethnographic study, researchers use a variety of instruments to collect data
and check validity. And validity is one of
the major issues to be addressed is such studies.
The
results are presented in narrative form supported with examples and some
answers of the respondents to certain questions. The reader must trust that these descriptions
accurately reflect what was said and observed, as well as how frequently these
occurred. The findings were complete,
descriptive, and very encompassing on the context of the ethnographic
communicative interaction and second language acquisition of the four Inuit
children. It is also essential that
culture is taken into consideration in the study since all cultures do not have
the same patterns of communicative interaction.
Teaching strategies for second language acquisition in Native children,
then, need to be based on the knowledge of what comprises cultural membership
of your students. Hence, language
teaching and learning are intertwined in a fundamental manner with culturally
integral ways of communicating.
References:
Crago, M. B. (1992).
Communicative Interaction and Second Language Acquisition: An Inuit Example.
TESOL quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 3, 487-505.
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