6 - Sociolinguistics and Anthropological Linguistics

Summary

Chapter 6 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of sociolinguistics & anthropological linguistics. These are two interdisciplinary linguistic subfields investigating language (with a focus on variation) in its socio-cultural context. Key issues of empirical research include aspects of data collection, such as fieldwork and participant observation, considerations on linguistic and non-linguistic data types (emic vs. etic parameters), and research participants, as well as methods of analysis. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.