Chapter 3 - The Learner as Analyst: Methods and Sources of Data Analysis

Summary

In order to become more effective communicators, we need to understand how participants, their cultural and intercultural selves, values, motivations, language knowledge, and language use, among other factors, shape interactions. We can improve our understanding by analyzing interactions both in the L1 and L2. Systematic data analysis reveals how different layers of culture – the supranational, national, regional, cultural group-based, local, and individual factors – contribute to the interaction (Bonvillain, 2020; Oetzel, 2009; Saville-Troike, 2003). It also allows us to see which aspects of culture are most salient – relevant and impactful – in a particular situation. To help readers – and their learners – develop the necessary skills, this chapter presents three models for analyzing communication as a culturally situated process: the ethnography of communication, interactional sociolinguistics, and multimodal analysis. Instructors can implement these analytic approaches in the classroom, using various sources of authentic data, to help students learn to understand communication in culturally and situationally appropriate ways.