Introduction

[Margaret Field]

Hello Everybody,

I'm Margaret Field, and my degree is in Linguistics from UCSB, a somewhat
unique Linguistics dept (for the US, at least) in that the study of
language is always embedded in naturally occurring speech (discourse!).
In other words, folks at Santa Barbara are largely concerned with the
study of what many other Linguistics departments commonly dismiss as
"Performance," and the relationship between the practice of speaking and
grammar. I share this perspective on Discourse as both a subject for
study as well as analytical methodology. My own work centers on language
socialization, applied linguistics and education, and Navajo language and
culture. This year I'm very happily esconced at UCLA with a postdoc in
the American Indian Studies Center, doing fieldwork on the Navajo
reservation and sitting in on all kinds of wonderful classes in
Anthropology and Applied Linguistics.  I'm glad this list has started; I
know some of the people who have already introduced themselves and I look
forward to meeting the rest of you from other disciplines with an
interest in Discourse.

Margaret Field
Postdoctoral Fellow
American Indian Studies Center
UCLA