Recent years have seen growing interest in including ethnographic projects in study-abroad curricula. This should come as no surprise, as living in a foreign country does not in itself guarantee significant gains in target language proficiency or intercultural competence; actually, in some cases a semester abroad can even lead to strengthening negative stereotypes. Making students responsible for focused observation of sociocultural phenomena in the country they visit not only helps to build their language skills and knowledge of the target culture, but also encourages self-reflection and openness to other perspectives (Byram, 1997; Jurasek, 1995; Kramsch, 1998; Roberts, 2001; Watson-Gegeo, 1988). Adopting ethnographic fieldwork as a learning tool can also benefit international teaching assistants (ITAs).

Due to time constraints or lack of methodological preparation, ITAs cannot be asked to undertake and complete real ethnographic projects. However, a simplified version of such assignments can prove valuable when incorporated into ITA development courses. I have included a version of the handout I use with students as a model (see appendix).

Using ethnographic fieldwork as a framework for language activities can make them novel and exciting to students. For this approach to work, several conditions need to be met. First of all, students should be given a great deal of flexibility in shaping the assignment and opting for a topic that would resonate with them. At the same time, they must be guided toward focusing on something concrete and doable. Last but not least, regardless of its length and complexity, each project needs to involve active participation, observation, and reflection.

The teacher can start by asking ITAs to identify on-campus or off-campus events, activities, or verbal/nonverbal behavior they consider “strange” or interesting. Sharing such observations in class will in itself lead to interesting discussions; it will also allow students to understand the concept of a group and group practices. Even the most ordinary interaction can be unfamiliar to foreigners or can be defamiliarized and used to look for larger cultural patterns. Because access to events and informants can be problematic, students should be advised to focus on social spaces they can visit and practices they engage in frequently. Shoppers who use recycled bags in the local supermarket, customers at the local farmers’ market or food store, gym members, or organizers of fund-raisers can be observed as engaging in practices that reflect attitudes toward the environment, health and fitness, or social engagement.

To give a specific example, a simple project based on the concept of fieldwork might revolve around garage sales. Observing who sells what, why, and how can be fascinating, especially for a foreigner or a newcomer. Once they are discovered by international students, garage sales often become their favorite weekend activity. A Saturday morning spent treasure hunting can be turned into a source of fascinating data for sociocultural analysis. Entering a conversation, asking questions, and negotiating are easy in this setting because they are seen as “natural” and expected; looking for patterns in the collected data yields interesting insights about both seller and buyers. Thus the project can get international students out of their dorms, make them practice speaking, and teach them a few things about American culture.

After they determine what “way of living” they will study, and whether they will do it individually or in small groups, students prepare for fieldwork by gathering necessary information about the event or behavior. Because ethnographic projects involve repeated and contextualized observation, students should be asked to observe and participate in an event at least three times, on three different occasions. Data collection from informants should elicit information about what they do, why they do it, and what it means to them (see appendix for sample prompts). Note taking can be done in many different ways. Today’s technology makes it easy for students to record their voices, take pictures, or film an activity; it is something they like doing and it allows them to be creative.

The final stage of the project should involve reflection on what the students have learned about the informants as well as themselves in the process of observation. Again, this task can be accomplished orally (in audio-journals or class presentations) or in writing (reflective journals, blogs, or a shared Google docs document).

The proposed approach has easily identifiable benefits. First of all, practicing linguistic skills is much more appealing to scientifically minded ITAs when presented as collecting and analyzing data rather than as traditional language activities. In addition, the principle of active engagement removes the “us versus them” dichotomy that often mars discussions of cultural differences; developing the habit of self-reflection and assuming the insider’s perspective, albeit temporarily, fosters building intercultural competence skills. Finally, this method is easy to adopt, as it does not constitute a radical departure from any goals or activities commonly used in ITA training programs. It is merely a shift in perspective, but one that can prove essential in ITAs’ professional growth.

REFERENCES

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Jurasek, R. (1995). Using ethnography to bridge the gap between study abroad and the on-campus language and culture curriculum. In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Issues in language program direction (pp. 85-101). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.

Kramsch, C. (1998). The privilege of the intercultural speaker. In M. Byram & M. Fleming (Eds.), Language learning in intercultural perspective: Approaches through drama and ethnography (pp. 16-31). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Roberts, C., Byram, M., Barro A., Jordan, S., & Street, B. (2001). Language learners as ethnographers. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Watson-Gegeo, K. A. (1988). Ethnography in ESL: Defining the essentials. TESOL Quarterly, 22, 575-592.

Dr. Krystyna Golkowska teaches at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Her research interests include ESL/EFL, sociolinguistics, composition, and English literature.

Appendix: Sample Prompts

Stage 1. Getting started

Event/activity/behavior: _________________________________

• Membership of the group you will observe: ____________
• Place: ________________________________________
• Time: _________________________________________

1. What do you know about this event/activity/behavior?

2. How did you learn about it?

3. What else do you need to know to understand it better? Where will you find this information (local papers, campus ads, other students, the Internet)?

4. What problems do you think you might encounter?

5. What kind of questions will you ask the informants?

Stage 2. Observation and gathering information from informants

1. Describe the activity/event/behavior and the participants. Be specific and use as many details as possible (For example: Who was doing what and how? Were there any important differences between the participants or the way they interacted? What were the similarities and differences between the three different occasions on which you conducted your observation?)

2. Describe what you did and how it felt (be as specific as possible).

3. List the questions you asked the respondents. Summarize their responses.

Stage 3. Making sense of the observation and self-reflection

1. Analyze the data you collected―look for patterns.

2. Formulate a conclusion based on your data. What have you learned about the group you observed? Do you think it could help you understand American culture better?

3. How did it feel to work on this project?

4. If you were to do it again, would you do anything differently? Why or why not?

5. Have you learned something new about yourself?

6. Do you think that doing projects like this one is useful? Please explain your answer.