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Transdisciplinarity in Applied Linguistics
Edited by Daniel Perrin and Claire Kramsch
[AILA Review 31] 2018
► pp. 53–80

On, for, and with practitioners

A transdisciplinary approach to text production in real-life settings

| Zurich University of Applied Sciences

This article explains how research “on” practitioners can be turned into research “for and with” practitioners (Cameron, Frazer, Rampton, & Richardson, 1992, p. 22) by including these practitioners in the research teams. Methodologically, it draws on two decades of multimethod research and knowledge transformation at the interface of applied linguistics and transdisciplinary action research on professional communication (Perrin, 2013). Empirically, it is based on large corpora of data collected in multilingual and multicultural workplaces. First, the article outlines transdisciplinary action research as a theoretical framework that enables researchers and practitioners to collaboratively develop sustainable solutions to real-world problems in which language use in general and text production in particular play a substantial role (Section 1). Then, Progression Analysis is explained as a multimethod approach to investigate text production practices in natural environments such as workplaces (Section 2). Examples from four domains (education, finance, translation, and journalism) illustrate what value transdisciplinary collaboration between academic researchers and practitioners can add to knowledge generation in applied linguistics (Section 3). For the case of journalism in increasingly global contexts, in-depth analyses offer step-by-step understanding of the trajectory from a real-world problem to a sustainable solution (Section 4). The article concludes by suggesting empirically-based measures for research that contribute to the development of both theory and practice in applied linguistics (Section 5).

Keywords: transdisciplinarity, education, translation, journalism, finance
Article outline
  • 1.Applied linguistics and transdisciplinarity
  • 2.The multi-method approach of Progression Analysis
    • 2.1Ethnographic observation and interviews
    • 2.2Computer recording
    • 2.3Cue-based retrospective verbal protocol
  • 3.Examples from four domains of writing
    • 3.1 myMoment: Tracking writing behavior to improve teacher education
    • 3.2Nationalbank: Analyzing financial analysts’ recommendations for investors
    • 3.3Capturing Translation Processes: Revealing translators’ use of resources
    • 3.4Idée suisse: Investigating collaborative and multimodal newswriting
  • 4.An exemplary trajectory from the problem to the solution
    • 4.1The collaborative text production practices
    • 4.2The strategies beyond situated activity
    • 4.3The emerging solution
  • 5.Conclusion: Mediating the relationship between disciplines and real-life domains
    • 5.1The trans- measures
    • 5.2The action measures
    • 5.3The research measures
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 12 March 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00013.per
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