The Discursive Co-construction of Knowledge, Identity, and Difference: An Ethnography of Communication in the High School Mainstream

Abstract

This article describes the ethnography of communication as a viable, context-and culture-sensitive method for conducting research on classroom discourse. I first provide an overview of the method and its role in applied linguistics research and then present a study of discourse in mainstream high school classes with a large proportion of students who speak English as a second language. Drawing on social constructivist views of language learning and socialization that recognize the role of participation in language-mediated activities in people's development as fully competent members of sociocultural groups, I examine the macro- and micro-level contexts of communication within one content-area course. I focus on the discourse and interactional features associated with teacher-led whole-class discussions, examining the sequential organization of talk, including turn-taking and other features of participation, and explicit and implicit references to cultural identity and difference. The paper reveals the contradictions and tensions in classroom discourse and in a teacher's attempts to foster respect for cultural identity and difference in a linguistically and socioculturally heterogeneous discourse community. I conclude with a poststructural commentary on the ethnography of communication.