Sign language 'fieldwork'

[Adam Schembri]

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Cheers,
Adam
-- 
Assoc. Prof. Adam Schembri, PhD
Director | National Institute for Deaf Studies and Sign Language
La Trobe University | Melbourne (Bundoora) | Victoria |  3086 |  Australia
Tel: +61 3 9479 2887 | Fax: +61 3 9479 3074
|http://www.adamschembri.net/webpage/Welcome.html






On 3/02/12 10:56 , "Daisuke Sasaki" <daisukes at MUSASHINO-U.AC.JP> wrote:

>I appreciate the interesting discussion is going on, but we're discussing
>in two separate mailing lists, i.e., SLLING-L and SLLS lists.  Those who
>are subscribing either of these can't see the discussion carried on in
>the other list and may lose some points made in the other side.  So,
>could we stick on to one list?
>Thanks.
>
>Daisuke
>
>On 12/02/02 14:03, Adam Schembri wrote:
>> Hello SLLING-L and SLLS list members,
>>
>> Recently, a language documentation colleague asked me why there were so
>>few sign language researchers conducting 'fieldwork'. She was reasonably
>>well-informed about the field, and could name a few sign language
>>linguists who were collecting data from micro-community/ 'village' sign
>>language communities (e.g., in Bali), or from macro-community sign
>>language communities in developing countries (e.g., Uganda), and
>>identified them as doing sign language 'fieldwork'.
>>
>> I could see her point, but I thought this was an interesting
>>perspective, because (without wanting to diminish the challenges of
>>those who work on sign languages in places like Bali and Uganda), I have
>>always considered myself an 'urban fieldworker' working on the sign
>>language varieties cities in Australia and the UK. I read the definition
>>below, and I feel that the Auslan and BSL corpus projects I have worked
>>on do (more or less) fit the bill:
>>
>> Bowern(2008:7) ³Šwhat is Œfieldwork¹? My definition is rather broad. It
>>involves the collection of accurate data in an ethical manner. It
>>involves producing a result which both the community and the linguist
>>approve of. That is, the Œcommunity¹ (the people who are affected by
>>your being there collecting data) should know why you¹re there, what
>>you¹re doing, and they should be comfortable with the methodology and
>>the outcome. You should also be satisfied with the arrangements. The
>>third component involves the linguist interacting with a community of
>>speakers at some level. That is, fieldwork involves doing research in a
>>place where the language is spoken, not finding a speaker at your
>>university and eliciting data from them".
>>
>> What do others think? Are many more of us 'fieldworkers' in Bowern's
>>sense than our colleagues realise?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Adam
>>
>>
>> --
>> Assoc. Prof. Adam Schembri, PhD
>> Director | National Institute for Deaf Studies and Sign Language
>> La Trobe University | Melbourne (Bundoora) | Victoria | 3086 | Australia
>> Tel: +61 3 9479 2887 | Fax: +61 3 9479 3074
>>|http://www.adamschembri.net/webpage/Welcome.html
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Daisuke Sasaki
>Associate Professor, Musashino University
>mailto:daisukes at musashino-u.ac.jp   http://www.daisuke.com/
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>