Category: Ethnography

Introduction:

Throughout history, there has been a clear divide of what is expected of a man versus what is expected of a woman. It is clear to see that in every society and culture, there are gender roles separating men and women. Gender roles in anthropology are defined as “perceived biological differences and the latter as the cultural constructions observed, performed, and understood in any given society, often based on those perceived biological differences.” Gender roles are based on theories of masculinity and femininity.

Many cultures view individuals as either male or female and their roles in society are based on this. The specific aspects of what is expected of each gender may vary considerably among different cultures, but other aspects may remain the same. There is continuing controversy as to what extent gender roles are socially established. Though these roles may vary or remain the same from culture to culture, one matter remains the same; males are seen as more dominant and as the ones with the most power. Women are objectified and viewed as lower than others in many different societies. However, there are movements and groups working towards changing the oppression of women in different cultures. This essay aims to explore and compare the gender roles of the Trobriand society to that of East Harlem.

Introduction to The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea:

As the focus of this paper is on gender roles, Annette B. Weiner’s ethnography, The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea, provides an excellent representation of just that. The Trobrianders are a group of subsistence horticulturalists who live on the small island of Papua New Guinea. The synopsis of the ethnography states “This re-examination of the Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea, the people described in Malinowski’s classic ethnographic work of the early 20th century, provides a balanced view of the society from a male and female perspective, including coverage of new discoveries about the importance of women’s work and wealth in the society.” Weiner conducted her research on the Trobriand society from 1971-1972. The main focus of Annette B. Weiner’s research was on the women of Trobriand society and the power they had on their small island. Weiner took inspiration from Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski who was the anthropologist to first observe and conduct research on the Trobrianders. His research focused mainly on the males who lived on the island and their daily routines. Malinowski implemented participation observation, which is a field method where the anthropologist lives amongst the individuals he/she is observing and engages in the same activities. Weiner used this same method to conduct her research and was able to learn a great deal about the Trobrianders. Much of this ethnography addresses how women in Trobriand society were neglected and were seen as nothing greater than a housewife.

Introduction to In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio:

In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio is an ethnography written by Philipe Bourgois, a medical and cultural anthropologist. The synopsis on the ethnography says “Philippe Bourgois’s ethnographic study of social marginalization in inner-city America, won critical acclaim when it was first published in 1995. For the first time, an anthropologist had managed to gain the trust and long-term friendship of street-level drug dealers in one of the roughest ghetto neighborhoods–East Harlem. This new edition adds a prologue describing the major dynamics that have altered life on the streets of East Harlem in the seven years since the first edition. In a new epilogue Bourgois brings up to date the stories of the people–Primo, Caesar, Luis, Tony, Candy–who readers come to know in this remarkable window onto the world of the inner city drug trade.” Bourgois conducted his research from 1985 to 1989 in East Harlem, which was known as one of the “nation’s roughest ghetto neighborhoods.” El Barrio refers to the spanish neighbourhood in East Harlem.

Most of the ethnography focuses on the lives of minorities in East Harlem and the employment opportunities they are given. Many minorities are forced to work in the underground economy to be able to earn a source of income. Along with employment opportunities, Bourgois also addresses the roles of both men and women in El Barrio.

Research Question:

This comparative analysis is focused on the following research question:

To what extent do gender roles in the lives of women in Trobriand society differ from that of women in East Harlem?

Analysis:

The roles of women in both the Trobriand Society and El Barrio are based on societal norms and structures that have been in place for many years. They are expected to follow these norms and accept their place in society.

Expectations of Labour and Cultural Activities for Women:

In today’s society, there are many stereotypes about what types of work females should be allowed to do. Although society has tried to make changes to allow women to have equal rights when it comes to working, there has not been a significant amount of progress at all. When women try to carry out work that is not common for women, they are seen as defiant for not following what is expected of them. If this was to happen, the female would be viewed in a negative way, as if she does not belong in society. To avoid this from happening, women just abide by societal norms and accept their place in society.

In Weiner’s The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea, it is clear to see through her research and observation the role of women on the island. The Trobriand society is established as a matrilineage, which according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as “lineage based on or tracing descent through the maternal line.” After determining that descent was traced through the mother’s side, Weiner decided to focus her research on the females on the island. In the beginning of the ethnography, she says “By taking seriously the importance of women’s wealth not only brought women as the neglected half of society clearly into the ethnography picture but also forced me to revise many of Malinowski’s assumptions about Trobriand men”(Weiner 5) Women in Trobriand society were neglected in many different ways, with one being the amount of work females do on the island. Females were seen as housewives in Trobriand society. Throughout the ethnography, it is clear to see instances where women are restricted to doing certain types of work. For example, women were expected to stay at home while the men worked. In Trobriand society, yams were seen as a symbol of wealth; the more yams an individual had, the more wealthy they were. Yam gardens were worked on by the men for the women. Women weren’t able to work in the gardens to help grow more yams, their source of power was dependent completely on men. In certain cases, the gardeners would purposely not work as hard because of a dispute they might have with a women’s wife. This will also affect how many yams are grown and the woman’s status in society. The only work women were allowed to do in the yam gardens was to help place soil. Women were also expected to do stereotypical work such as cooking and cleaning. When women in Trobriand society get married, they are expected to do all the cooking in the household. They were expected to be housewives while men did all the work.

Women in East Harlem were mainly immigrants, so living in a new country was already difficult. What made things more difficult were the stereotypes women had to face. Females were able to work, but many were expected to work at home. Men were seen doing work in public such as fixing cars and work that was seen as more masculine. Women would do stereotypical work such as cooking and cleaning at home. In some cases, women did have more superior work than men. Some women would work in mainstream society, at offices and corporations. The machismo of street culture further aggravates the insult men feel at having to work under the supervision of women. In the ethnography, Caesar expresses his outrage at having been forced “to break the street taboo against public male subordination to a woman” He recounts his time spent at a pharmaceutical advertising agency called “Sudler and Hennessey.” He talks about how his beautiful boss with a mean personality had him doing strenuous personal errands. This was very frustrating for Caesar. The gender disses are ultimately the result of the economic equality and power hierarchies in society. The dealers such as Primo and Caesar express their feeling of powerlessness through racist and sexist idioms. They are both aware of the economic inequality, especially their position in the labor hierarchy. When women are in power in workplaces, men do not like to listen and follow instructions. In Chapter 4, Philippe Bourgois speaks about Primo’s old job at a trade magazine company under Gloria Kirschman where she basically advises him to “go back to school.” Primo believed her advice to be coming from a spoiled point of view in that not everyone can afford to pay for school. Bourgois reads between the lines and interprets her behaviour towards Primo as that of someone who cared about the future of the “bright energetic high school dropout.” Working for her, Primo also had no reference or previous experience to understand some of the tasks asked of him. For example when he was asked to do an inventory he, “didn’t even know what…those things were.” (Bourgois 152) Along with being confused over the apparently irrational mysteries of office work, Primo was also worried about being insulted in any way and not noticing it. Since Primo did not understand his boss’s reasoning behind the urgency and precision she put into overseeing the logistics of her direct mailings, her behaviour toward him appeared overbearing, oppressive and insulting to him. This shows how women, who have worked hard to make a name for themselves in mainstream society, have to face inequality and discrimination from men.

There is a clear difference in the work women do in Papua New Guinea when compared to women in El Barrio. Work in Papua New guinea is done mainly by the men, from growing yam gardens to building houses to sore yams. The only work women are expected to do is typical work society expects a woman to do, such as cooking. The women in Trobriand society are expected to do all of the cooking when she becomes married. Not being able to be independent because of societal rules and norms also affect the amount of power and recognition a woman has in society. Yams are seen as power, but women are not allowed to grow any on their own, which puts their place in society in the hands of men. On the other hand, women in El barrio are not restricted from working. They are also expected to do stereotypical work, but they are also able to work in mainstream society as well. However, women in El Barrio receive rude remarks from men when they are seen having more power than men. These women have to work knowing that some men detest the fact that they are above them. Hence, in Trobriand society, women are restricted from doing work, whereas in El barrio, women receive hate for having a better job than men. In both cases, women in these societies have to endure societal norms when it comes to working.

Sexual Relations with Male Counterparts:

In many societies, women are discriminated against and are objectified. They are seen as objects of pleasure and as a means of sexual intercourse. Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who has views on the objectification of women. He states that the only instance where society won’t degrade a women for having sexual relations is when she is married. In monogamous marriages, both individuals are treated equally and the partners are to “surrender their persons to one another.” However, in both Trobriand society and El Barrio, women are unable to have freedom when it comes to their sexual relations and are treated very unfairly when compared to men. In addition to women being very restricted when it comes to sexual relations, they are also degraded when they are seen having sexual relations with more than one individual. This section of the paper focueses on how women in both Papua New Guniea and East Harlem experience prejudice in terms of their sexual relations.

Sexuality is very important in Trobriand society. Adolescents are encouraged to explore their sexuality from a young age. Chapter four in Annette B. Weiner’s ethnography is called Waiting and Watching & Adolescent Sexuality. In the section Adolescent Sexuality, Weiner states that children at the age of seven to eight begin to imitate sexual attitudes portrayed by the adults and by thirteen, the teens begin to look for partners. Both males and females have different roles when it comes to sexual relations, but young women are equal to men when it comes to finding a lover and refusing others. Men were seen to give more to the females. Males would present females with numerous gifts if they wanted to be lovers with them. Even though they received a gift, the women were still able to reject the man’s offer to sleep together. In this sense, females have power when choosing sexual relations. Both young males and females would dress themselves up compellingly with flowers and herbs, clothes and various decorations, all examples of materiality included in a social practice. They would also cast magic spells of beauty and love to attract lovers. Lastly, youths take advantage of big gatherings like feasts and funerals to find new lovers. This can be seen as them taking the initiative in the achievement of personal goals which can be interpreted as resourcefulness. Adolescents develop skills for influencing people early on in by persuading each other with their sexuality. They negotiate their sexual desires and seductions by supporting them with their youthful and social attractiveness, love and beauty magic. They increase their “aura of seduction” with clothes, decorations, flowers and herbs that they weave into their armbands and their hair. Their sexual intentions are also portrayed in their eyes and physical movements. Shell decorations signify social status. Furthermore, flowers and coconut oil enhanced with magic spells “make somebody want you”. This all shows how females in Trobriand society have control over their sexual relations when they are adolescents, but this power is lost when they become married.

Women in Trobriand society are expected to follow their husband’s commands and beliefs, as he is the one who has power over them. Many cultures control sexual activity and in Trobriand society, this is seen when women become adults and get married. Throughout the ethnography, it is clear to see many examples where a woman’s sexual interactions are limited and for men, it is not. One example is seen in chapter six, in the section

The First Exchanges at Marriage. This section in the chapter discusses what a married couple must go through when they are getting married. A woman in Trobriand society is able to reject to be with her husband, but is unable to try looking for another one. The females must wait for men to approach them and try asking for their hand in marriage. If a woman decides not to be with her husband, technically, the husband’s kinsmen can want her back. If the husband decides to leave the wife, usually to be with another woman, the wife’s kin don’t make any efforts to bring him back. This shows that women have some power in the sense of deciding who they want to be with, but on the other hand, they are unable to go find male partners of their own, which makes women very restricted. Another example is of chiefs in Trobriand society. In chapter six, Chief Vanoi is introduced. Only men are able to become chiefs in this society. This chapter talks about Vanoi visiting Linda, a woman in the ethnography. She is not allowed to raise her head higher than the chief and must always bow when he is present. Chiefs are also able to marry other women out of love and partake in affairs with other women. The chief’s wives sometimes fight with each other over their husband, but when this happens, it is seen as poor behaviour by the rest of society. This shows how unfairly women are treated. Men are able to take part in affairs with other women and women don’t have a say in any of this. This shows how women are expected to follow societal norms and do what is expected of them, while men are able to do anything they want.

George P. Murdock is an anthropologist who once said “All societies have faced the problem of reconciling the need of controlling sex with that of giving it adequate expression, and all have solved it by some combination of cultural taboos, permissions, and injunctions. Prohibitory regulations curb the socially more disruptive forms of sexual competition. Permissive regulations allow at least the minimum impulse gratification required for individual well-being. Very commonly, moreover, sex behavior is specifically enjoined by obligatory regulations where it appears directly to subserve the interests of society.” In simpler terms, this quote by Murdock is saying the beliefs and ideologies around sexual relations in a society is created to promote the interests of society. In East Harlem, women are just beginning to attain their basic rights again, although there is still some incidents of gang rape and abuse. There are many females in East Harlem who are victims of rape and abuse. For instance, in the ethnography, Bourgois speaks of a woman named Candy. Candy was abused by her father, left to live on the streets at the age of thirteen. This was just the beginning of a traumatic life for Candy. She went to her boyfriend Felix and ended up getting raped by his gang. Felix would continuously beat her, but she thought he did this out of love. Candy ended up having five miscarriages as a result of all these beatings. Furthermore, if a woman was to get pregnant and have a child, they are obliged to take care of kids unconditionally and men don’t have to share the responsibility. This shows how men are the ones who have power in the relationship. Women are forced to give up their body for the pleasure of men, and this is usually done by force. Men in Western society, such as El barrio, would brag about the number of women they have slept with. Even gang rape in this neighborhood was normalized and some individuals beelieved that girls liked it. This is seen as appropriate and “cool” for men to do. On the other hand, if a woman were to do this, she would be seen as a disgrace to her family and society. She might also get called derogatory terms such as “slut” and “whore.”

Sexual relations are introduced at a young age in both societies. In Trobriand society, females are encouraged to explore their sexuality at a young age. For young female adolescents in El Barrio, this is not the case.

Study Case

The reason for why an award show was selected as a case study in this paper, is because liveness is very much the central concept in a show like this. The elements that float around in the bubble of the concept of liveness, are all things that can be applied to a media event like this. An award show is a combination of a broadcast that shows pre-recorded and live performances, but also verbalized interactional moments such as an acceptance speech. The Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) are known as the award show that honors the music that performed well on the Billboard Charts, which is the chart that is “widely considered to be the ultimate authority in the music industry” (“About,” n.d.). Billboard themselves claims that the award show is the second largest pop music show of the year, possibly after the Grammy Awards. Finalists of this award show are “based on the key interactions with fans of music, as well as album and digital songs sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound” (“About”). Since 1940, the Billboard Charts have been the fundamental chart for ranking the popularity of artists and music, and have been the measure to determine success in music.

Originally, the idea was to choose a reaction video of some sort and study the behavior and interaction of the people in the video reacting to a musical performance only. This idea progressed into sampling a three-hour long YouTube Watchalong live stream for two reasons. First off, it was difficult to find content of more than one person reacting to the same performance, and it was almost impossible to determine whether or not these people had indeed watched the performance live or not. The reason for why more than one person was needed, is because otherwise there would be no comparison and they might not react as much to the video as they would when there is someone else in the room. Secondly, using a live stream Watchalong as a case study legitimizes the fact that the video was live at that moment. Furthermore, there are various platforms that offer live stream services and truthfully there were probably a handful of people who live streamed a Watchalong to this particular show. However, live streams are often not uploaded after they end, generally due to copyright issues from Billboard. The case study video does not contain the content of the video broadcast that was being watched by the hosts and the viewers, which is the most probable reason for why this video has not been taken down.

This Watchalong by the channel “AfterBuzz TV” was chosen because this digital broadcast network provides “expert hosts” to make comments on the shows that they have watched and they engage with fellow fans (“About AfterBuzz TV,” n.d.). The two women in the sample have more expertise in the entertainment industry than any regular viewer, this provides more useful data to analyze. However, one limitation would be that the women being experts in the field might not give the most natural reaction since they know what the viewers want to see and they know how to interact with the audience.

Sampling

YouTube provides the option to click on certains timestamps in the video and read the live chat comments that were made at that moment, which is an effective tool to use when liveness is being studied. The textual analysis will be performed on seven short clips that were chosen from the three-hour long video, each of these clips being under 10 minutes long and some of them are just a short moment. These samples were either chosen based on the amount of interactivity that the clip showcased or if it demonstrated an unusual activity performed by the hosts or the viewers of the Watchalong. The whole video was thoroughly watched and notes were continuously written down about any interactions between the live chat and the Watchalong hosts. If there was anything notable happening between either the hosts or in the way the hosts used the media that they had with them, then this was noted too. The chapter about the findings in his paper will make general comments about the case study video, but will mainly focus on the seven selected clips as three hours is simply too long to analyze.

The first sample was chosen based on the interactivity between the chat and the hosts, since they respond back to each other and they fuel the discussion about the crossovers of the country music genre and pop music genre. The second sample showcases the online liveness of the live chat since the users are commenting about the same things that the hosts are talking about. The third clip grasps the developed idea of a media event, since the host is looking through a social media hashtag #BBMAs on Twitter, and so uses multiple media platforms to experience this event. The fourth clip was chosen because it demonstrates a malfunction in communication between the hosts and the chat. The users of the live chat are commenting but it is being ignored by the hosts until some time later. This is questioning the idea of online liveness. The fifth sample shows a different form of interactivity as the hosts are responding through the live chat to a user, which is why this clip was chosen. The next sample showcases the interaction between the two hosts, it happens in a way where they are excluding the viewers, indicating how aware the hosts are of the level of liveness in their situation. The last sample consists of two short clips that illustrate the shared experience of the hosts as they disclose their experience very directly to the viewers.

Method and operalization

The central question of this paper is how liveness as a user experience is constructed around the live stream, meaning that liveness is being researched through analyzing experience. An individual’s experience is subjective and it would be difficult to answer this question using a quantitative approach because the data that would come out of that would be too diverse and scattered to make a solid argument. Facts and statistics that are generated by quantitative research are definitely useful, but a lot of times these statistics will keep the reader wondering “why.” Qualitative research is appropriate when attempting to answer the main question of this paper since it’s an open ended question that needs rich data which only qualitative research can provide (Bryman, 2016a).

Digital ethnography is the main methodology of this paper, which will be elaborated later. Ethnography is an approach that is often used when doing qualitative research in social studies. It allows the researchers to get a closer insight on behaviours, practices and experiences of a particular group that they immerse themselves in. Through participant observation researchers gather data, although ethnography is more than just observing as the researcher will typically gather interviews or collect other types of documents as data (Bryman, 2016b). With this is mind, a legitimate question is how an ethnographer gets engaged in a group when it is in cyberspace. Ethnography may not seem to be an obvious method to collect data on the internet, since the internet seems like a “placeless space” (Bryman, p. 447) and seems to go against the grain of ethnography, however, studying what people do online can tell us more about what they do offline.

The reason for why this method suits this case study, is because digital ethnography invites researchers to examine how people live in a digital and sensory environment (Pink et al., 2016). The hosts of AfterBuzz TV are doing a live stream that requires them to watch a broadcast of a media event on the television in front of them and also have a headset with a microphone on to review the broadcast and converse with each other while responding to the users of the live chat. They’re using a laptop and their smartphones to read the live chat and use various social media such as Twitter and Instagram. This shows that digital ethnography is relevant for analyzing these particular samples since the space is a digital and sensory environment.

The theoretical concept of liveness is being studied through the empirical indicator that is participant observation. Bryman (2016b) writes about how participant observation is practiced in cyberspace. There are various ways to go about this, such as engaging in online discussions on forums or chat rooms, conducting online interviews or even ethnographic content analysis. “Netnography” or online ethnography is one of the most significant approaches to conduct ethnographic research on online communities, and it relies mostly on observation. This is the most appropriate approach to study the chosen samples, as the event is in the past and it is not content that can be participated in any longer. Bryman further mentions four prominent types of online community studies, where each of them have a different focus on participation levels and whether or not the research is online and/or offline. The relevant approach for this case study is the first type that he mentions, which is the study of online communities only, with no participation. He argues that typically this type of study takes the form or “lurking” and it is conducting an analysis without the members of that online community being aware of the ethnographer’s(s’) presence. It can be considered as a form of covert participant observation, except the members of the community don’t know that they are being researched in any way since they don’t know about the presence of a researcher. This is especially applicable since the research is through the internet. It would be difficult to observe everything that is displayed in the samples which is why focus points were chosen. They are each related to previously discussed sub-theories; the interaction between participants, their shared experience, the way they might experience online liveness as well as experiencing faults in the live stream set up. Observations were done in the same manner as usual ethnographic fieldwork, which is writing field notes and then analyze that data. This means that there is no further software required to organize or manage the data, as most of it is written observations sorted by timestamps of the video.

Limitations

When reading the previous paragraph one might wonder how reliable or ethical this research really is. Every research has its limitations so that will be discussed here as well. First off, when doing an undergraduate research project it is unlikely to conduct a full-scale ethnography. Ethnographic research can take months or even years, and even then there is usually not a complete answer to the research question. Despite that, ethnography is still used for small research as it is an insightful method that delivers rich data that includes a detailed representation of participants’ behavior and practices, it also can help with identifying and analyzing unexpected data. Short ethnographic research that only focus on one particular aspect of a topic can also be called “micro-ethnography” (Bryman, p.424).

The second limitation is related to ethical issues that ethnography brings about. When participants are involved in research, informed consent is crucial. Usually researchers make participants sign consent forms, however in this case study the video is already uploaded online for everyone to watch. They have had to accept the terms and conditions of YouTube and decided to live stream the event. Additionally, AfterBuzz TV is an online broadcast network that must have dealt with copyright issues, which means they know about the fact that the content of their videos are probably used too. The live chat users decided to post their comments online, knowing that their comments will be read out loud in the live stream. It would be better to ask for consent, but it is impossible to contact the people in the live chat since their details are not given except their display name, which makes them pretty much anonymous anyway.

The next limitation of this research would be the problems of generalization (Bryman, 2016b). The scope of the findings in qualitative research is restricted. When the sample size is small, when the period of time that was put into the ethnographic research was short and when the research is based on only the opinions and observations of one researcher, how can that ever be representative of all similar case studies? Therefore we need to know that a research like this is not meant to represent anything, but the goal is rather to gain insight into a theory or add to the existing discussions of these theoretical ideas.

References

1. About. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.billboardmusicawards.com/about/
2. About AfterBuzz TV. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.afterbuzztv.com/about-afterbuzz-tv/
3. AfterBuzz TV. (2019, May 1). Billboard Music Awards 2019 Watchalong | AfterBuzz TV [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2PxjRAwY8&list=WL&inde x=2&t=9725s
4. Bryman, A. (2016a). The nature of qualitative research (Fifth ed.). In Social research methods (pp. 374-406). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Bryman, A. (2016b). Ethnography and participant observation (Fifth ed.). In Social research methods (pp. 422-464). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
6. Pink, S. et al. (2016). Digital ethnography : Principles and practices. London: Springer.

When I was assigned an ethnographic essay as my first anthropology assignment, I was undoubtedly confused as to what topic I should write on. Feeling slightly defeated, I stumbled into the tram to go home. I stood in front of a girl facing her as there was barely any space to do otherwise. All was well until I looked up from my mobile and accidentally made eye contact with her. I was tired so I didn’t even realize that I was staring at her until she began to look uncomfortable. It got very awkward. A claustrophobic sensation and a feeling of ‘forced intimacy’ kicked in and I could feel the blood rush to my face. Even though we broke eye contact, that feeling stayed.

Then it came to me, it is an untold social rule that you must not make eye contact with a stranger for prolonged amounts of time or you are considered to be rude. As simple as it sounds, observing this opened a can of worms. Intimacy between human beings begins when a mother holds her newborn baby (in fact, skin-on-skin contact is advised to strengthen the bond), and from then onwards, the people with whom we find physical contact comfortable are those we share an emotional connection with, namely kith and kin.

Now that it is clear that physical closeness is associated with intimacy, I feel that what really pushes the intimate feeling is eye contact. I connect this, yet again, to our experiences as children. Children stare unabashedly, spending a lot of their time looking at faces and learning how to speak and express emotions. The eyes, being the physical part of the body that we can’t fully control, are thereby a powerful source of social and emotional information. It is also proven by the fact that people with higher levels of neuroticism feel more compelled to break eye contact quicker as they feel like they need more control over it. The eyes are indeed a window to the soul, and the pupils are a literal window to the eye. Hence, eye contact is associated with strong communication, memory for faces, and social connection. It is due to this, that I believe we find eye contact intimate, and even confrontational, with strangers.

An interesting aspect of this is who each individual finds more comfortable having eye contact with. As I have observed, there is a sense of classism and a sense of community simultaneously in public transport. While I was frantically looking elsewhere, hoping to break the tension, I made eye contact with yet another girl, but it didn’t feel as awkward. She seemed to be holding the same equipment as me and we just smiled at each other acknowledging our similarity. It is the same case when it comes to races for some people, the reason being that the color of their skin can be a symbol of a similar upbringing or maybe livelihood. It is a sense of community, not racism, created due to similar struggles and ethics. However, the opposite can be true. I feel when we see people who we immediately ‘judge’ as someone we are incompatible with, we ‘overcompensate’. We avert our eyes trying not to stare as it can be seen as judgmental, whatever our true feelings might be. How the rich try not to look at the poor is a case of ‘polite classism’ and the same can be applied to races, gender, appearance, and many other traits that make us diverse.

When the tram got less crowded at later times and I was able to observe more, I drew another curious conclusion. Most people had their heads bent down looking at their phones. All except a select few. Some were looking out of the window, while others, mostly senior citizens, were watching the people in the tram. Personally, I think is an interesting habit of the elderly because they grew up without cell phones to keep them busy and they had to interact with people more as the digital world wasn’t as fully developed. An obvious phenomenon is the adoring looks sent the way of kids that reveal the ‘grandparental’ status. There has been a significant amount of progress when it comes to acceptance in the past decade, so some of their gazes may be tinted with darker emotions as they stare at things that used to be ‘frowned upon’ in their time. But for me, a more interesting approach, though it could be a shot in the dark, is that they are reflecting on past times. As they grow older, their past feels closer as their futures become shorter. Each individual might remind them of a phase or a moment in their lives. So, the reason they don’t look away when we look back could either be a simple case of being lost in thought or an inward sigh lamenting what things have come to in these modern times.

As I got off the tram and into the station, I noticed something that is not prevalent where I grew up. The escalator is divided into two sections, one side for standing and the other for walking. Upon research 2, I have discovered that this is a very inefficient way to use escalators because more people tend to stand than walk, as it is safer. This causes more weight to fall onto one side of the escalator making it break more often. Despite many efforts in some cities around the world to change this, people still continue to move at whatever stride they want. Through this, I came to realize that humans need control over the pace they live their lives, and the escalator seems to be one of the few ways they can implement that control. It is a case where tradition prevails over logic. A kind of hierarchy forms through this and the other general ‘paths’ we give people in a rush.

Overall, I think that the crowds bustling in the stations and various modes of public transport reflect many characteristics of the human mind and the web of society that we create. Many of our current habits stem from traditions in olden times that we are unaware of. It makes me wonder whether some of our current ways of thinking will turn into ‘tics’ for the later generations!

References

1. Cheddar (2019). The Unseen Inefficiency of Escalator Etiquette – Cheddar Explains. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbsoO2c7gCM [Accessed 27 Mar. 2019].
2. Ro, C. (2017). Here’s Why Eye Contact Is So Awkward for Some People. [online] New York. Available at: https://www.thecut.com/article/heres-why-eye-contact-is-so-awkward-for-some-people.html [Accessed 24 Mar. 2019].

Post 1; Introduction

After intensively analyzing and reading the introduction, preface and foreword of this work, I was far from having a clue of the several terminological words used. For instance, in the introduction, Spry, in “Body, Paper and Stage”, explicates the core and vital aspects of performance. She goes further in giving the details which engulf performance, “per formative- I as a critical heterogeneous auto ethnographic research disposition constructed through the body’s continual negotiation of self/other/culture/language” (Spry 28). In his first explanation, the author talks about faith and beauty as essential aspects of performance. The author enhances his explanation on how he was phobic writing about beauty. However, as the writer goes on with the chapter she explains how she gained confidence in talking about beauty “I am finding moments of beauty and have begun to be less afraid of fear.”(25).It is an indication of direct proportional representation of physical and mental growth to confidential growth.

Post 2; Chapter 1

Chapter one, ‘Skins: A Daughters Re construction of Cancer,’ was an engaging and a far much touching chapter to go up-to to the end. This chapter entailed an extremely emotional and touching performance. In my inner view, Spry was trying to create connection as one of the most crucial facet of per formative auto ethnography. In the start of the chapter, Gomez-Pena and bell hooks articulate two of the most defining features of perfomative auto-ethnography and its connection to larger social issues. Besides, this chapter pumped into me the idealize terminology of performing autobiographies. I had to split the wording since such term9inology was new and unique to me. After reading deeper, I underpinned the meaning of the terminology, it came to my realization that is main aim is to understand who we are in relation to others in culture (51).

Post 3: chapter 2 section 1

Class discussions helped me understand Spry’s chapter two better. It was not until I read more that I begun to have a deeper understanding of auto-ethno biography. The chapter “Tattoo Stories: A Postscript to ‘Skins’, Spry sends indications that she peeled off skins time after time. It became clear to me that the skins represented a certain period in time. As the meaning of the story gets deep so is the meaning of performative autoethnography. The section which explained the tattoo story of dancing and kicking was a little to fathom, but as I put myself the emotions depicted I got a glimpse of what Spry was meaning. She says that in her family they were required to dance, which in their meaning it was a requirement of discipline. Spry in “Tattoo stories: A Postscript to “Skins” she extends her ideas in explains ethno biography, she says that ‘for me, plaiting ethnography with autobiography emphasizes the cultural situatedness of the autobiographic subject’ (Spry 92). Spry keeps talking about loss in her work. She explains the coats she has to remove in order to move on, which is a representation of losing her mother. Everyone experiences loss in their life; therefore, performing auto-ethnobiography is a way to get over loss situations.

Post 4: chapter 2 part 2: the Haunting

The second section of chapter two explains in details what the body might depict. It intensively creates a connection of the body and different words which might be used in performing autobiographies. A conjunction of the body aspect and feedback which is created by language can show situations in our lives. This section emphasizes the effect of loss to our daily life. The great performance moved me to belief that loss and especially is inevitable. Therefore performing is a way of relieving this emotions endured due to loss which we incur. I did not understand what Spry meant by Corporeal body (p110)

Post 5; Chapter 3 up to 136

The first section of chapter three goes deeper in identifying what really perfoamtive auto-ethnography is. Spry underpins the reality of this concept; she presents the concept as beyond our self need and a presentation of how we create a connection between us and the audience. “Spry articulate writing as an evocative, subject nervous, citational and consequential” (p 103). According to Spry writing auto-ethno biography entails our everyday activities. It is these activities which guide our beginning to writing performative ethnobigraphy. I have been pushed to talk about mixed emotional reactions in my previous performance, although I veered away to avoid being judged. After reading Spry’s perfoamtive work, I realized that I cannot stay away from this as it is what the audience can relate and learn from me.

Post 6: Chapter 3 part 1

In this section of chapter three, Spry goes deeper to establish the connection which exists between writing an auto-ethnography and critical reflection. Spry further indicates the importance of personal reflections in performative writing. She says that, “researcher may engage in shocking self disclosure by purposefully foregrounding the traumatic details and events of a difficult experience without connecting this trauma to rigorous critical reflection (p136).This chapter taught me that reflecting on our own actions is essential in writing auto-ethno biography. She made me realize that we sometimes without worrying whether the work will be performed, perhaps why scripts may create a great reflection of our personal experiences. What confused me in this chapter is the …. Ethical pitfalls may occur (p135).

Post 7: Chapter second phase

In this section of chapter three, Spry explains the various genres which perfoamtive auto-ethnography should take. She goes further to engrave the forms to all ethical aspects of the perfoamtive ethnography concept. Form should not matter, but all perfoamtive writing should be written to be understood by the audience, Spry quotes that, “the best way to start writing is to start writing’ (151). All perfoamtive writings have to consider culture. Gender and social life. As a result, performing auto-biographies needs to be approached from an ethical perception. Spry goes up to ask, what are the ethical implications of representing others in an auto-ethnobiography? (p134). The last part of the chapter confused me since it was too wordy, although I hope to connect with the paper as I get to the next chapter.

Post 8: chapter 4 part 1

In chapter four, Spry talks about stage in auto-ethnography performance. She explains the concept of performing auto ethno biographies which performers might ask themselves. She strongly incorporates embodiment as an important aspect in performative arts. According to her, a person might ask,’If I am performing my own writing, why worry about embodiment or rehearsal? (171).inher work, Spry presents the very physical act of typifying an abstraction. Spry explains how she was to perform an abstraction of violation which was not her story. Her explanation on how the physician reacted to her abortion case sends an image of embodiment within the chapter section. Through performance, a critical reflection of culture and personal experiences can reach to individuals and the audience at large. I can relate to this chapter because of my mixed emotional reactions in my previous topics.

Post 9: chapter 4 part 1

In the second part of chapter four, Spry goes deeper to explain how vulnerability can be dangerous in performative ethnography. I understood this chapter better since vulnerability can be a challenge. She says that the ability to perceive things critically beyond the stage becomes practice of vulnerability. Through her explanation it becomes clear that performing can achieve diversity, and help create a connection with others. Other people from different cultures are able to connect to ourselves to more than what we know as individuals. I learned that I can perform my personal attributes more than I can share with others. This creates an opportunity and a connection for people to know me more than they would in real life situation.

Post 10: Chapter 5 part 1

According to me, Spry set this section of her work as the most important, it outline and explains every single part of her work. This is the section through which the written paper is exposed to the stage. As she talks about stage and performance, she goes deeper to explore the idea of audience’s perception on performance. According to her, to capture the audience’s perception, I should create a physical entity of typifying an abstraction with the stage. This taught me that in all my performances, I should try to create an embodiment with my audience In order to influence my perceptions.

Works cited

1. Spry, Tami. Body, paper, stage: Writing and performing autoethnography. Routledge, 2016.

‘Auto-ethnography’ is a social research method, wherein the author plays the role of a researcher and a participant. As Burnard (2007) claims that in auto-ethnography the author becomes the ‘subject’ of the study. According to Smith (2005), “[b]y using auto-ethnography, researchers can use their experiences, together with those of other participants, to complement their research.” (p. 71). It permits the author to systematically describe and analyze her experience in order to understand cultural phenomenon.

Accordingly, this autoethnography narrates my experiences in relation to teaching English in particular socio- cultural context which clearly, visibly presents me as a social actor. In writing autoethnography, Fernanda Durante also agrees that ‘it begins with a descriptive narrative of events and activities that unfold within a particular culture and then develops into a reflective analysis of these events and activities to generate new insights and to enhance the researcher’s sensitivity towards the knowledge gained in the process’. In Durante’s view an autoethnography includes two processes mainly: description of events and activities, and reflection from them. My autoethnography, presented below, is the outcome of these two processes as an English Teacher and learner.

In this auto-ethnography, I will try to explore my journey of learning and teaching English in my home country and in the UK from the perspective of a non-native speaker of English. I will employ language ideologies to explore my identities and I believe it would benefit me to reflect and interpret my experiences as a language user, learner and teacher.

When I review and study my past experiences of teaching English. It adds to my learning from this process and I realize the significance of Heewon Chang’s autoethnography in which she has clearly explicated that autoethnography as method can help teachers to understand themselves and others better and make teaching of multicultural education more effective (L2). Thus, based on autoethnography, I further explore my teaching experiences which are reflected in my autoethnography as a teacher.

Today when I reflect about the incident of my becoming a teacher of English, which in my opinion was quite accidental because as a student, I never thought of becoming a teacher. I studied pure and social sciences in my school and college life but then I ended up studying English literature. So my journey is not a linear one, I have been trying to find direction out of a lot of indirections.

I think it will be interesting to share with you how I joined the profession of teaching. Actually, I was accompanying my sister to collect her documents from her university while passing by a school on the way we saw a lot of people queued up in front of a renowned school in the metropolitan city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan. While my sister went to her university, I joined the queue and discovered that it was an open day for teachers’ recruitment.

I decided to test myself. Although I was not carrying anything such as my qualification certificates nor I had any previous experience of appearing in interviews let alone any teaching experience. Anyway, I was attended by some staff and they made me sit in a hall. All of us candidates were given some books relevant to the subjects of our choice to prepare a micro lesson. Being a student of English literature, I opted for English language. However, interestingly I did not have much know how of English language grammar, functions, forms and meanings etc. After some time I was taken to a classroom where I had to deliver a lesson to a group of 14-15 year old students and a panel of observers was seated at the back. They kept on taking notes while I was giving lecture which lasted for 15 minutes. As soon as, I finished my lesson I was told that I would be informed of the feedback and outcomes soon.

Few days later, I was informed by a telephone call that I had been selected for the role of a teacher. Where I was glad of the outcome at the same time it left me perplexed and I started thinking about how I would carry out this given role in the long run. If I really wanted to join this profession for long time or I was just trying to take up the opportunity till I don’t find something of my interest or as a matter of fact the question at the heart of this self dialogue was if I really wanted to become a teacher of English language and how I would be justifying the role, knowing that English is not my first language and I have not been through any formal teacher training as well. Now when I look back and think about that episode, I realise that perhaps these questions came to my mind because until few months back I observed teaching profession from outside as an observer and then was the question of becoming a member of the teaching community and perhaps I was trying to place myself at an appropriate position in this situation or was it a struggle to find an appropriate identity for myself.

I was assigned a class of elementary level and was provided a text/course book to follow. Having got all the supporting material when I sat at my desk to plan my first lesson I found it quite over whelming because there were so many things and I was confused how to organise my lesson that at the end of the lesson I achieve the learning outcomes. My observations and experiences as student the way I was taught helped me to prepare my next day’s lesson.

I carried a copy of my lesson plan to the classroom as to follow the planned activities in sequence. When I came out of the classroom after delivering my first ever lesson, I was too over whelmed and there were so my questions I wanted to seek answers for. I was very lucky to have a group of very supportive colleagues who comforted me and shared their wisdom as to how I can develop my teaching skills and some of them were kind enough to answer my questions. But one area that I always struggled with was phonetics because having a background of literature this field was totally alien to me until one of my colleagues, who studied linguistics introduced me some of its basics.

One of the problems of the developing countries is the lack of resources and lack of professional networking which means that there are no forums and platforms where professionals of one field can get together and exchange their experiences and practices. And in those days internet access was not available very easily. Therefore, I had to travel long distance from my home or workplace to have access to the British Council where I could access some journals or books about teaching English to enhance my knowledge of the profession and make myself aware of the latest theories and philosophies shaping the future of English language teaching in particular.

It was at the British Council which provided me an opportunity and awarded me Hornsby Trust Award to attend an international summer school in Leeds which changed my outlook towards teaching practice. I regard this opportunity as highly impactful because it helped me to redefine my career, my entire approach towards teaching and also it brought me an opportunity to connect myself with the practitioners from the world as the participants of the group came from 37 different countries of the world which included teachers, test designers and policy makers as well but I was just an ordinary member of one large group. I find this opportunity to interact with external social, cultural and institutional forces that helped me constructing my own meanings and identity of myself. I felt as if I got the membership of a larger community but it did not come easily. Neither my new self nor the membership of the larger community which I newly became the member of came so easily. There was a constant dialogue and tension between the two communities and cultures one that I was a member of at home and one that I newly subscribed.

It was the time when I first time came to know about modern teaching approaches such as I never heard of communicative approaches, task based approaches all this was new to me because I thought of teaching from the perspective of direct and indirect approach, grammar translation approach and the conventional teaching style which is practiced by the teachers commonly in South Asian states but there was a sense of dissatisfaction and an urge to seek more that kept me focused and brought me a purposeful and engaging opportunity which was not confined to the seminars and lectures but also I got the opportunity to experience the British culture that is the culture of native speakers of English.

Education as a permanent process is rooted in the awareness of our incompleteness. Every individual is capable of being educated to the extent one is capable of seeing himself as unfinished. Education does not make us educable. It is our awareness of being unfinished that makes us educable. And the same awareness in which we are inserted makes us eternal seekers. (Freire, 1998, p. 58)

On completion of the programme equipped with my new wisdom about Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), I went back and resumed my job. After carefully reflecting on my previous style of teaching and introspection, I decided to switch from teacher centred to student centred approach. Having been introduced with CLT, I started believing it to be more effective for teaching English than the other methods. I began practicing it in my classrooms–I began using student-centered activities, maximized (STT) student talk time, minimized (TTT) teacher talk time, and put myself as a facilitator in setting up communicative activities and as an advisor during their activities (Harmer, How 38). My objective was to enable learners to communicate in the target language and gave them autonomy to be responsible of their own learning (Larsen- Freeman129), and my desired goal of teaching English was to develop communicative competence in them. As CLT is believed to be an effective method of teaching L2, I adhered to it and made it a part of my teaching practices. I continued my practice of CLT for some time till I realized that it was not allowing me to accomplish the term wise syllabus targets.

As it is generally believed, reflective practices provide opportunities for teachers to engage in self-dialogue and self-assessment and in theory; this is an ideal approach because teachers need to negotiate with their complex identities (Duff & Uchida, 1997; Tsui, 2007; Varghese et al., 2005) also it help them develop their own strategies for intervention or change.

A year later, I changed my job and began teaching international proficiency exam based classes where I experienced what I never experienced in my 3 years of teaching career. It was my first experience of teaching adults with professional qualifications and in most of the cases my learner group was mainly composed of established professionals who wanted to continue their studies in some English speaking country. This was the time when I started studying grammar myself in detail. On one hand, I was playing the role of a teacher on the other hand, I was a learner myself. I found it quite daunting teaching adult male learners in a male dominated conservative society but I count this experience as one of the most valuable assets because it motivated me to explore those areas of the language which I never bothered about in my student life. In many ways this was an enlightening time for me especially when we used to get engaged in discussions in order to mutually develop an understanding of the problem by comparing the languages L1 and L2 (Target Language).

By engaging in discussions with the gender which is generally considered authority, it governs the society in socio-cultural context gave me massive amount of confidence and motivated me to establish myself (my identity) both on personal and professional levels. Also, it enabled me to gain acceptance in the circle of men without being noticed and challenging their authority rather I became one of them, perhaps sharing the stage with them and giving them some space to work to work together make it happen. Another thing that revealed to me was that the learners who are willing to improve their proficiency, competence in the target language prefer to learn it from a person who has experienced the culture of their L2 or who belongs to L2 culture either directly or indirectly.

The focus of education in Pakistan’s socio-cultural context is to form and nurture the personality and to instil moral qualities in the learners. As a lot of respect, prestige is associated with the role of a teacher therefore, teachers are expected to be the moral and spiritual guides and they are not considered less than parents. Teaching is simply not the work of brain but it demands heart and soul to educate good citizens.

I think my exposure to the world through learning and teaching English has influenced my performance and identity as well which in turn has influenced my views about teaching. Where it broadened my mind to accept and embrace a culture different from the culture in which I was born and brought up at the same time it broadened my mind as Thu stated, “Learning a language broadens our minds”, because as a teacher of a foreign language one gets connected with a culture beyond his/her home culture which is incongruent with one’s identity which he/she has been nurturing since birth or since one starts communicating with external world.

Having got a significant experience of teaching English as a foreign language in Pakistan, I decided to relocate to the UK. The idea of relocation itself is very daunting and challenging because relocation is not simply transporting oneself and one’s material belongings to a new place but transporting one’s values, beliefs, culture etc anything or everything that is associated with or makes one’s identity.

I entered in the UK with my assumptions and my past experiences of the English society which I had few years ago. After coming in contact with the British society, what I experienced, how I responded to particular situations, how others reacted to my responses, how I tried to adapt and fit in with the new environment, how I negotiated and shaped my new identity as an immigrant and my teaching role in the English society. Within three months of my arriving in the UK , I started teaching English in ESOL settings.

Being a non-native speaking teacher of English among native speaking teachers and non-native speaking learners was quite a complex situation. As a non-native speaking teacher many students associated themselves with me, especially female learners from South Asia found it easy to communicate with me with confidence for cultural and social reasons and being a bilingual in both English and Urdu/Hindi help me to communicate better with them understand better. Knowing learners’ L1 fosters student-teacher relationship to an extent, because they can explain their problems to the teacher in their L1. An advantage of knowing my learners’ cultural and social background gave me awareness of their learning styles and some added insight into the problems they were likely to face as compared to my native speaking colleagues.

A disadvantage of teaching English in the inner circles being a non-native speaker of English is that despite having a reasonable fluency I cannot speak English like natives, because it is not my mother tongue. For example, teaching intonation, rhythm and pronunciation is the area where I struggle. Thus, I put a lot of effort when I plan my lessons. I may be very good at dealing with grammar and methodologies but native speakers may have excellent understanding of their culture, and can explain cultural concepts better than me.

Introduction

Research involves selecting one suitable method that could facilitate the researcher achieve his or her objectives. It is for this reason that in social science research new methods have been proposed effective when conduct a study which involves human and their culture. One of such methods is ethnography. In view of this, the paper discusses ethnography as a research methodology in relation to selection research participants. It begins by defining ethnography, stating the historical view of ethnography, situations on which it could be used, key features in ethnography, how to get into setting and conclude with strengths and weaknesses of ethnography.

Definition

Before discussing any subject that is particular important to science, we need to first understand the term and what is made off. Similarly, it is critical to draw a clear understanding of the term ethnography as a research method. A lot of people have attempted to define ethnography in diverse ways. One concept of ethnography view it as a ‘’systematic study of people and cultures’’, (Brewers, 2000). Under this conceptual understanding, the researcher directs his or her attention to observing the society in relation to the topic he want to study. Many people use this method in prospect to graphically depict and write a culture of a group. Certain people regard Ethnography one type qualitative research method which involves the researcher and research participants in real-life issues. All of these assumptions about ethnography bears the same understanding that suggest it to be a study happening in social context where people and their activities become the basis for data collection through participation.

When ethnography is applied

There are different instances when Ethnography is useful. For eample when searching for the issues related to cultural norms and views, trying to understand the reasons for the use of certain behavior or practices, examining social trends and instances like divorce, illness, migration, examining social interactions and encounters, understand the roles of families and organizations and their behaviour, identify new patterns and gain new insights into social phenomenon, understand the hygiene and sanitation practices of communities, observe the types of punishment given to children at school and studying the behavior of workers in an organization

Key features

An ethnographic examination is novel in that there are explicit components that distinguish it from other different strategies for research. As indicated by Ngwisha (2007), ethnography utilizes a group of general responsibilities or introduction to investigate. These incorporate the issue of understanding social activity, the accentuation of the procedure, the examination of Natural settings as referred to as Naturalism, the investigation of social wonder in their specific situation, which is refered to as Holism, the suspicion that there are constantly numerous viewpoints and the utilization of different strategies, with accentuation on participant observation and interviewing.

Access to participants for study

In order for the researcher access social setting, observe behavior and work closely with participant participating in the qualitative research with them, a number of research instruments of collecting data are useful in ethnography, such as in-depth interviewing, participant observation, personal documents and discourse analyses of natural language.

However, access the partipants in these instruments is not an easy task. This has been ascertained by many researchers in the social science perspective. For example Shaffir et aI. (1980) and Shaffir and Stebbins (1991) pointed out that access to participant is the major issue which start with structure arrangement faced with by field agents, one focal issue shared by all field agents is the issue of access to participant. The issue arises when answering the question of who ones participant are and the study area (setting). We can view Spencer (1991), who gave an insight on how it is difficult access participants when we think about some organization that have strict bureaucratic, such as the military. Spencer (1991) elaborated specific characteristics associated with such organization through which an ethnographer has to pass to get access to the needed information. We can also relate the scenario to what might happen if the researcher wants to carry out specific diagnosis in an organization like a jail of psychiatric clinic, of course procedure of how to get a consent of offer has to be followed, in the similar way the 1991 analysis was done at the U.S. Military Academy. However, Robert Burgess (1991: 43) highlighted that how get to participants is ‘arranged and stated through the exploration procedure. It is evident from his expression that get access to depend on rapport formed between the researcher and the participants throughout the activity.

In a different instance, Hertz and Imber (1993) also explain issues related to directing field thinks about in world class settings. In line with this, they propose that there has been few investigation of elites because elites by nature are difficuit to access. Moreover, in certain societies finding elites is simple. However, in a general sense, it is hard to find elites due to obstractions and impendiments and decline of access to researchers.

Although there are different methods that can facilitate to access the difficult-to-achieve groups, the appropriate answers could be found in perusing the writing. Just like vrious settings and organisations are hard to access to, a good number of them can be accessed. This is depicted by (Ostrander, 1993) when she encountered by a fairly easy to access upper – class ladies. She pointed out four things that help in accessing difficuilt to access groups, which include a bit of luck, exploiting certain connections, extensive foundation work, and making the correct contacts

Considering the limited settings or organization in the context of access of participants, may at a glace depict tasky work, but afterwards it pays. This is why it is important to comtemplate on the few vital hubs during structural phase of a researc. For instance, since most ethnographic research includes human subjects, analysts must give significant idea to ways they can make sure the participant are free from harm and injuries, (Berg, 2001). This is particularly evident when managing confined groupings or settings. In these lines, care must be put on not to entire participants’ rights and security. Likewise, analysts must think about how they will approach seeking for authorization or assent of the participants. Obviously, this requires a choice about whether to enter the field as a declared researcher (clearly) or as a mystery researcher (secretively).

Generally, accessing the field may either be exceedingly available or a limited setting or a choice made during at the commencement of a research. This is possible because these choices establish the both the application and methodology of the entire research. This is what (Janesick (1994: 210-211) depicted when he mentioned “arranging the research structure”. Similarly, it is important for the ethnographer to master the core lessons that the research will potray in the results.

In view of this, choosing the appropriate way of entering the field is vital. The style of how one decides to proceed in the research should include certain issues, and concentrate in the preferred style is one step in addressing this issue. Similarly, regardless of the style one has chosen, it is important to be aware of how close the style is to the research setting as this may be affected by the participants in the study setting. Basing on the study of 1970, Receptive effects of perception are the most bewildering highlight of member perception, since the nearness of a researcher in any setting is regularly an outside item. The making of the job of member onlooker definitely brings some level of reactivity into the field setting, (Denzin, 1970).

Strengths of this method

Since ethnography involves researching on human and their culture, researchers have to build some sort of relationship which could enable them enter a specific culture. This means that participants have to know better the people they would be working with in the research or an experiment. The rapport created between participants and the research helps the participant to free ask the researcher about the goal and objectives of the proposed study, in order for them make a decision whether to refuse or accept to be part of the study. By doing so, the ethics of research are upheld. Consequently, the ultimate result of upholding ethical norms help in protecting the participants.

Another strength of ethnography method concerns with its wide range of approaches suitable based on the research setting. These approaches include observation, interviews, and detailed analysis often at a micro level, (Jones and Smith, 1998). These methods have predominantly been involving depth of fieldwork as well as always identified with exemplary engagement of participants in the usual setting. With the participants and their settings in consideration, there is an improvement of the quality of findings of ethnography research. For example, we all know that participant observation as a type of ethnography demands that the ethnographer be involved in the setting where a study is being undertaken.

Different qualities of ethnography as a technique includes those (Salzman, 2009) proposed, which include, ethnographic research empowers scientists to pursue same individuals for an adequately extensive stretch to observe the intermittent changes in their lives. This activity centered on whatever people are doing or what is occurring in the lives of the general population. The technique permits to make a preference with respect to what is a sight to be the simultaneous happenings of the participants and their setting.

Furthermore, ethnographic research dependent on the different data which aids cross-checking and conceptualizing a subject. This could be found in the quantity of model given in writing. For cases, we see what individuals do; we tune in to what they state to each other; we note what they state to us; we do overviews; we measure and check a wide range of thing; we partake in some nearby exercises; we read neighborhood papers, reports, books, open and private archives and records, and watch nearby media; we draw on authentic, old stories, political, and different records by different analysts, (Salzman, 2009).

Weakness of this method

It is evident that for Ethnographic research to take place there must be a relationship build between the participants and researcher. This is not a simple task to achieve, but requires commitment. Thus, it can take more time. This is a great weakness because it sought for building trust with the informant in an effort to facilitate full and honest disclosure. At times this can lead to partial of the researcher which could impact on study design and the collection and valid interpretation of data. In most cases, such data is engrossed with deadly errors patterning to a people’s behavior.

The nature of ethnography results into many problems, because of the people who are involved. In this context the researcher must decide whether to adopt an overt or covert approach to data collection and observation. According to Jones and Smith (1998), in a plain methodology, the informants realize they are being observed, while in an undercover methodology the informants are ignorant they are being observed. Second, the specialist must consider ‘their position’ either as an ‘insider’ (emic) or ‘untouchable’ (etic). Broadly, an emic approach is lined up with inundating into the way of life, watching and recording informants’ lifestyle and activities, as opposed to the etic approach that watches and portrays networks and societies.

Conclusion

It is essential to note that ethnography method of research involves people, their activities and culture. Because of this it requires that the research be aware of what to be done in order to get access to the informants. The most critical one has been creating a strong relationship which could help the research be trustworthy of being given the information he needs. It is also certain that ethnography has great opportunities especially where gaining access to research participants concerns. The strength suggest how effective the method could be especially in the aforementioned area. However, weaknesses are also important to understand them, because they can distort the collection, and interpretation of the data including the whole design of the study.

‘Auto-ethnography’ is a social research method, wherein the author plays the role of a researcher and a participant. As Burnard (2007) claims that in auto-ethnography the author becomes the ‘subject’ of the study. According to Smith (2005), “[b]y using auto-ethnography, researchers can use their experiences, together with those of other participants, to complement their research.” (p. 71). It permits the author to systematically describe and analyze her experience in order to understand cultural phenomenon.

Accordingly, this autoethnography narrates my experiences in relation to teaching English in particular socio- cultural context which clearly, visibly presents me as a social actor. In writing autoethnography, Fernanda Durante also agrees that ‘it begins with a descriptive narrative of events and activities that unfold within a particular culture and then develops into a reflective analysis of these events and activities to generate new insights and to enhance the researcher’s sensitivity towards the knowledge gained in the process’. In Durante’s view an autoethnography includes two processes mainly: description of events and activities, and reflection from them. My autoethnography, presented below, is the outcome of these two processes as an English Teacher and learner.

In this auto-ethnography, I will try to explore my journey of learning and teaching English in my home country and in the UK from the perspective of a non-native speaker of English. I will employ language ideologies to explore my identities and I believe it would benefit me to reflect and interpret my experiences as a language user, learner and teacher.

When I review and study my past experiences of teaching English. It adds to my learning from this process and I realize the significance of Heewon Chang’s autoethnography in which she has clearly explicated that autoethnography as method can help teachers to understand themselves and others better and make teaching of multicultural education more effective (L2). Thus, based on autoethnography, I further explore my teaching experiences which are reflected in my autoethnography as a teacher.

Today when I reflect about the incident of my becoming a teacher of English, which in my opinion was quite accidental because as a student, I never thought of becoming a teacher. I studied pure and social sciences in my school and college life but then I ended up studying English literature. So my journey is not a linear one, I have been trying to find direction out of a lot of indirections.

I think it will be interesting to share with you how I joined the profession of teaching. Actually, I was accompanying my sister to collect her documents from her university while passing by a school on the way we saw a lot of people queued up in front of a renowned school in the metropolitan city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan. While my sister went to her university, I joined the queue and discovered that it was an open day for teachers’ recruitment.

I decided to test myself. Although I was not carrying anything such as my qualification certificates nor I had any previous experience of appearing in interviews let alone any teaching experience. Anyway, I was attended by some staff and they made me sit in a hall. All of us candidates were given some books relevant to the subjects of our choice to prepare a micro lesson. Being a student of English literature, I opted for English language. However, interestingly I did not have much know how of English language grammar, functions, forms and meanings etc. After some time I was taken to a classroom where I had to deliver a lesson to a group of 14-15 year old students and a panel of observers was seated at the back. They kept on taking notes while I was giving lecture which lasted for 15 minutes. As soon as, I finished my lesson I was told that I would be informed of the feedback and outcomes soon.

Few days later, I was informed by a telephone call that I had been selected for the role of a teacher. Where I was glad of the outcome at the same time it left me perplexed and I started thinking about how I would carry out this given role in the long run. If I really wanted to join this profession for long time or I was just trying to take up the opportunity till I don’t find something of my interest or as a matter of fact the question at the heart of this self dialogue was if I really wanted to become a teacher of English language and how I would be justifying the role, knowing that English is not my first language and I have not been through any formal teacher training as well. Now when I look back and think about that episode, I realise that perhaps these questions came to my mind because until few months back I observed teaching profession from outside as an observer and then was the question of becoming a member of the teaching community and perhaps I was trying to place myself at an appropriate position in this situation or was it a struggle to find an appropriate identity for myself.

I was assigned a class of elementary level and was provided a text/course book to follow. Having got all the supporting material when I sat at my desk to plan my first lesson I found it quite over whelming because there were so many things and I was confused how to organise my lesson that at the end of the lesson I achieve the learning outcomes. My observations and experiences as student the way I was taught helped me to prepare my next day’s lesson.

I carried a copy of my lesson plan to the classroom as to follow the planned activities in sequence. When I came out of the classroom after delivering my first ever lesson, I was too over whelmed and there were so my questions I wanted to seek answers for. I was very lucky to have a group of very supportive colleagues who comforted me and shared their wisdom as to how I can develop my teaching skills and some of them were kind enough to answer my questions. But one area that I always struggled with was phonetics because having a background of literature this field was totally alien to me until one of my colleagues, who studied linguistics introduced me some of its basics.

One of the problems of the developing countries is the lack of resources and lack of professional networking which means that there are no forums and platforms where professionals of one field can get together and exchange their experiences and practices. And in those days internet access was not available very easily. Therefore, I had to travel long distance from my home or workplace to have access to the British Council where I could access some journals or books about teaching English to enhance my knowledge of the profession and make myself aware of the latest theories and philosophies shaping the future of English language teaching in particular.

It was at the British Council which provided me an opportunity and awarded me Hornsby Trust Award to attend an international summer school in Leeds which changed my outlook towards teaching practice. I regard this opportunity as highly impactful because it helped me to redefine my career, my entire approach towards teaching and also it brought me an opportunity to connect myself with the practitioners from the world as the participants of the group came from 37 different countries of the world which included teachers, test designers and policy makers as well but I was just an ordinary member of one large group. I find this opportunity to interact with external social, cultural and institutional forces that helped me constructing my own meanings and identity of myself. I felt as if I got the membership of a larger community but it did not come easily. Neither my new self nor the membership of the larger community which I newly became the member of came so easily. There was a constant dialogue and tension between the two communities and cultures one that I was a member of at home and one that I newly subscribed.

It was the time when I first time came to know about modern teaching approaches such as I never heard of communicative approaches, task based approaches all this was new to me because I thought of teaching from the perspective of direct and indirect approach, grammar translation approach and the conventional teaching style which is practiced by the teachers commonly in South Asian states but there was a sense of dissatisfaction and an urge to seek more that kept me focused and brought me a purposeful and engaging opportunity which was not confined to the seminars and lectures but also I got the opportunity to experience the British culture that is the culture of native speakers of English.

Education as a permanent process is rooted in the awareness of our incompleteness. Every individual is capable of being educated to the extent one is capable of seeing himself as unfinished. Education does not make us educable. It is our awareness of being unfinished that makes us educable. And the same awareness in which we are inserted makes us eternal seekers. (Freire, 1998, p. 58)

On completion of the programme equipped with my new wisdom about Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), I went back and resumed my job. After carefully reflecting on my previous style of teaching and introspection, I decided to switch from teacher centred to student centred approach. Having been introduced with CLT, I started believing it to be more effective for teaching English than the other methods. I began practicing it in my classrooms–I began using student-centered activities, maximized (STT) student talk time, minimized (TTT) teacher talk time, and put myself as a facilitator in setting up communicative activities and as an advisor during their activities (Harmer, How 38). My objective was to enable learners to communicate in the target language and gave them autonomy to be responsible of their own learning (Larsen- Freeman129), and my desired goal of teaching English was to develop communicative competence in them. As CLT is believed to be an effective method of teaching L2, I adhered to it and made it a part of my teaching practices. I continued my practice of CLT for some time till I realized that it was not allowing me to accomplish the term wise syllabus targets.

As it is generally believed, reflective practices provide opportunities for teachers to engage in self-dialogue and self-assessment and in theory; this is an ideal approach because teachers need to negotiate with their complex identities (Duff & Uchida, 1997; Tsui, 2007; Varghese et al., 2005) also it help them develop their own strategies for intervention or change.

A year later, I changed my job and began teaching international proficiency exam based classes where I experienced what I never experienced in my 3 years of teaching career. It was my first experience of teaching adults with professional qualifications and in most of the cases my learner group was mainly composed of established professionals who wanted to continue their studies in some English speaking country. This was the time when I started studying grammar myself in detail. On one hand, I was playing the role of a teacher on the other hand, I was a learner myself. I found it quite daunting teaching adult male learners in a male dominated conservative society but I count this experience as one of the most valuable assets because it motivated me to explore those areas of the language which I never bothered about in my student life. In many ways this was an enlightening time for me especially when we used to get engaged in discussions in order to mutually develop an understanding of the problem by comparing the languages L1 and L2 (Target Language).

By engaging in discussions with the gender which is generally considered authority, it governs the society in socio-cultural context gave me massive amount of confidence and motivated me to establish myself (my identity) both on personal and professional levels. Also, it enabled me to gain acceptance in the circle of men without being noticed and challenging their authority rather I became one of them, perhaps sharing the stage with them and giving them some space to work to work together make it happen. Another thing that revealed to me was that the learners who are willing to improve their proficiency, competence in the target language prefer to learn it from a person who has experienced the culture of their L2 or who belongs to L2 culture either directly or indirectly.

The focus of education in Pakistan’s socio-cultural context is to form and nurture the personality and to instil moral qualities in the learners. As a lot of respect, prestige is associated with the role of a teacher therefore, teachers are expected to be the moral and spiritual guides and they are not considered less than parents. Teaching is simply not the work of brain but it demands heart and soul to educate good citizens.

I think my exposure to the world through learning and teaching English has influenced my performance and identity as well which in turn has influenced my views about teaching. Where it broadened my mind to accept and embrace a culture different from the culture in which I was born and brought up at the same time it broadened my mind as Thu stated, “Learning a language broadens our minds”, because as a teacher of a foreign language one gets connected with a culture beyond his/her home culture which is incongruent with one’s identity which he/she has been nurturing since birth or since one starts communicating with external world.

Having got a significant experience of teaching English as a foreign language in Pakistan, I decided to relocate to the UK. The idea of relocation itself is very daunting and challenging because relocation is not simply transporting oneself and one’s material belongings to a new place but transporting one’s values, beliefs, culture etc anything or everything that is associated with or makes one’s identity.

I entered in the UK with my assumptions and my past experiences of the English society which I had few years ago. After coming in contact with the British society, what I experienced, how I responded to particular situations, how others reacted to my responses, how I tried to adapt and fit in with the new environment, how I negotiated and shaped my new identity as an immigrant and my teaching role in the English society. Within three months of my arriving in the UK , I started teaching English in ESOL settings.

Being a non-native speaking teacher of English among native speaking teachers and non-native speaking learners was quite a complex situation. As a non-native speaking teacher many students associated themselves with me, especially female learners from South Asia found it easy to communicate with me with confidence for cultural and social reasons and being a bilingual in both English and Urdu/Hindi help me to communicate better with them understand better. Knowing learners’ L1 fosters student-teacher relationship to an extent, because they can explain their problems to the teacher in their L1. An advantage of knowing my learners’ cultural and social background gave me awareness of their learning styles and some added insight into the problems they were likely to face as compared to my native speaking colleagues.

A disadvantage of teaching English in the inner circles being a non-native speaker of English is that despite having a reasonable fluency I cannot speak English like natives, because it is not my mother tongue. For example, teaching intonation, rhythm and pronunciation is the area where I struggle. Thus, I put a lot of effort when I plan my lessons. I may be very good at dealing with grammar and methodologies but native speakers may have excellent understanding of their culture, and can explain cultural concepts better than me.

Introduction

Research involves selecting one suitable method that could facilitate the researcher achieve his or her objectives. It is for this reason that in social science research new methods have been proposed effective when conduct a study which involves human and their culture. One of such methods is ethnography. In view of this, the paper discusses ethnography as a research methodology in relation to selection research participants. It begins by defining ethnography, stating the historical view of ethnography, situations on which it could be used, key features in ethnography, how to get into setting and conclude with strengths and weaknesses of ethnography.

Definition

Before discussing any subject that is particular important to science, we need to first understand the term and what is made off. Similarly, it is critical to draw a clear understanding of the term ethnography as a research method. A lot of people have attempted to define ethnography in diverse ways. One concept of ethnography view it as a ‘’systematic study of people and cultures’’, (Brewers, 2000). Under this conceptual understanding, the researcher directs his or her attention to observing the society in relation to the topic he want to study. Many people use this method in prospect to graphically depict and write a culture of a group. Certain people regard Ethnography one type qualitative research method which involves the researcher and research participants in real-life issues. All of these assumptions about ethnography bears the same understanding that suggest it to be a study happening in social context where people and their activities become the basis for data collection through participation.

When ethnography is applied

There are different instances when Ethnography is useful. For eample when searching for the issues related to cultural norms and views, trying to understand the reasons for the use of certain behavior or practices, examining social trends and instances like divorce, illness, migration, examining social interactions and encounters, understand the roles of families and organizations and their behaviour, identify new patterns and gain new insights into social phenomenon, understand the hygiene and sanitation practices of communities, observe the types of punishment given to children at school and studying the behavior of workers in an organization

Key features

An ethnographic examination is novel in that there are explicit components that distinguish it from other different strategies for research. As indicated by Ngwisha (2007), ethnography utilizes a group of general responsibilities or introduction to investigate. These incorporate the issue of understanding social activity, the accentuation of the procedure, the examination of Natural settings as referred to as Naturalism, the investigation of social wonder in their specific situation, which is refered to as Holism, the suspicion that there are constantly numerous viewpoints and the utilization of different strategies, with accentuation on participant observation and interviewing.

Access to participants for study

In order for the researcher access social setting, observe behavior and work closely with participant participating in the qualitative research with them, a number of research instruments of collecting data are useful in ethnography, such as in-depth interviewing, participant observation, personal documents and discourse analyses of natural language.

However, access the partipants in these instruments is not an easy task. This has been ascertained by many researchers in the social science perspective. For example Shaffir et aI. (1980) and Shaffir and Stebbins (1991) pointed out that access to participant is the major issue which start with structure arrangement faced with by field agents, one focal issue shared by all field agents is the issue of access to participant. The issue arises when answering the question of who ones participant are and the study area (setting). We can view Spencer (1991), who gave an insight on how it is difficult access participants when we think about some organization that have strict bureaucratic, such as the military. Spencer (1991) elaborated specific characteristics associated with such organization through which an ethnographer has to pass to get access to the needed information. We can also relate the scenario to what might happen if the researcher wants to carry out specific diagnosis in an organization like a jail of psychiatric clinic, of course procedure of how to get a consent of offer has to be followed, in the similar way the 1991 analysis was done at the U.S. Military Academy. However, Robert Burgess (1991: 43) highlighted that how get to participants is ‘arranged and stated through the exploration procedure. It is evident from his expression that get access to depend on rapport formed between the researcher and the participants throughout the activity.

In a different instance, Hertz and Imber (1993) also explain issues related to directing field thinks about in world class settings. In line with this, they propose that there has been few investigation of elites because elites by nature are difficuit to access. Moreover, in certain societies finding elites is simple. However, in a general sense, it is hard to find elites due to obstractions and impendiments and decline of access to researchers.

Although there are different methods that can facilitate to access the difficult-to-achieve groups, the appropriate answers could be found in perusing the writing. Just like vrious settings and organisations are hard to access to, a good number of them can be accessed. This is depicted by (Ostrander, 1993) when she encountered by a fairly easy to access upper – class ladies. She pointed out four things that help in accessing difficuilt to access groups, which include a bit of luck, exploiting certain connections, extensive foundation work, and making the correct contacts

Considering the limited settings or organization in the context of access of participants, may at a glace depict tasky work, but afterwards it pays. This is why it is important to comtemplate on the few vital hubs during structural phase of a researc. For instance, since most ethnographic research includes human subjects, analysts must give significant idea to ways they can make sure the participant are free from harm and injuries, (Berg, 2001). This is particularly evident when managing confined groupings or settings. In these lines, care must be put on not to entire participants’ rights and security. Likewise, analysts must think about how they will approach seeking for authorization or assent of the participants. Obviously, this requires a choice about whether to enter the field as a declared researcher (clearly) or as a mystery researcher (secretively).

Generally, accessing the field may either be exceedingly available or a limited setting or a choice made during at the commencement of a research. This is possible because these choices establish the both the application and methodology of the entire research. This is what (Janesick (1994: 210-211) depicted when he mentioned “arranging the research structure”. Similarly, it is important for the ethnographer to master the core lessons that the research will potray in the results.

In view of this, choosing the appropriate way of entering the field is vital. The style of how one decides to proceed in the research should include certain issues, and concentrate in the preferred style is one step in addressing this issue. Similarly, regardless of the style one has chosen, it is important to be aware of how close the style is to the research setting as this may be affected by the participants in the study setting. Basing on the study of 1970, Receptive effects of perception are the most bewildering highlight of member perception, since the nearness of a researcher in any setting is regularly an outside item. The making of the job of member onlooker definitely brings some level of reactivity into the field setting, (Denzin, 1970).

Strengths of this method

Since ethnography involves researching on human and their culture, researchers have to build some sort of relationship which could enable them enter a specific culture. This means that participants have to know better the people they would be working with in the research or an experiment. The rapport created between participants and the research helps the participant to free ask the researcher about the goal and objectives of the proposed study, in order for them make a decision whether to refuse or accept to be part of the study. By doing so, the ethics of research are upheld. Consequently, the ultimate result of upholding ethical norms help in protecting the participants.

Another strength of ethnography method concerns with its wide range of approaches suitable based on the research setting. These approaches include observation, interviews, and detailed analysis often at a micro level, (Jones and Smith, 1998). These methods have predominantly been involving depth of fieldwork as well as always identified with exemplary engagement of participants in the usual setting. With the participants and their settings in consideration, there is an improvement of the quality of findings of ethnography research. For example, we all know that participant observation as a type of ethnography demands that the ethnographer be involved in the setting where a study is being undertaken.

Different qualities of ethnography as a technique includes those (Salzman, 2009) proposed, which include, ethnographic research empowers scientists to pursue same individuals for an adequately extensive stretch to observe the intermittent changes in their lives. This activity centered on whatever people are doing or what is occurring in the lives of the general population. The technique permits to make a preference with respect to what is a sight to be the simultaneous happenings of the participants and their setting.

Furthermore, ethnographic research dependent on the different data which aids cross-checking and conceptualizing a subject. This could be found in the quantity of model given in writing. For cases, we see what individuals do; we tune in to what they state to each other; we note what they state to us; we do overviews; we measure and check a wide range of thing; we partake in some nearby exercises; we read neighborhood papers, reports, books, open and private archives and records, and watch nearby media; we draw on authentic, old stories, political, and different records by different analysts, (Salzman, 2009).

Weakness of this method

It is evident that for Ethnographic research to take place there must be a relationship build between the participants and researcher. This is not a simple task to achieve, but requires commitment. Thus, it can take more time. This is a great weakness because it sought for building trust with the informant in an effort to facilitate full and honest disclosure. At times this can lead to partial of the researcher which could impact on study design and the collection and valid interpretation of data. In most cases, such data is engrossed with deadly errors patterning to a people’s behavior.

The nature of ethnography results into many problems, because of the people who are involved. In this context the researcher must decide whether to adopt an overt or covert approach to data collection and observation. According to Jones and Smith (1998), in a plain methodology, the informants realize they are being observed, while in an undercover methodology the informants are ignorant they are being observed. Second, the specialist must consider ‘their position’ either as an ‘insider’ (emic) or ‘untouchable’ (etic). Broadly, an emic approach is lined up with inundating into the way of life, watching and recording informants’ lifestyle and activities, as opposed to the etic approach that watches and portrays networks and societies.

Conclusion

It is essential to note that ethnography method of research involves people, their activities and culture. Because of this it requires that the research be aware of what to be done in order to get access to the informants. The most critical one has been creating a strong relationship which could help the research be trustworthy of being given the information he needs. It is also certain that ethnography has great opportunities especially where gaining access to research participants concerns. The strength suggest how effective the method could be especially in the aforementioned area. However, weaknesses are also important to understand them, because they can distort the collection, and interpretation of the data including the whole design of the study.