A Linguistics for Ethnography. Why Not Second Languaculture Learning and Translation?

Abstract

Language and ethnography have always gone hand in hand. In this article two kinds of linguistics are explored that seem to have a close relationship to ethnography, namely, second languaculture learning and translation theory. The article shows how the former resembles the ethnographic research process while the latter is similar to the usual ethnographic product. The irony is that neither of these two kinds of linguistics have played much of a role in ethnographic research in the past. By applying them to the author’s past work on ethnographic logic and exemplifying them with samples of applied ethnographic work, languaculture learning and translation help re-think the notion of "method" beyond the usual social science conversations while highlighting features of intercultural communication as it happens on the ground.