Chapter 2. The Multiperspectival Approach to Applied Linguistic research

Abstract

This chapter explores the distinctive features of the Multiperspectival Approach (MPA) to research: its theoretical and philosophical background, the questions it addresses, and the research orientations it enables. The chapter explains how MPA offers researchers a heuristic that addresses ontological and epistemological challenges to research that are central to the language-context relationship and consequential for any researcher who seeks to make claims about the meaning of language in the lives of others at particular sites. The chapter provides detailed background and guidance on what MPA involves and its value as a practical ontology that enables researchers to discover – rather than to search – the worlds of their participants, iteratively to learn through this process of discovery, developing warrants and finding themes to bridge these worlds through multiple, mutually-corroborating perspectives.