Part of
Less Frequently Used Research Methodologies in Applied LinguisticsEdited by A. Mehdi Riazi
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 6] 2024
► pp. 9–29
Edited by A. Mehdi Riazi
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 6] 2024
► pp. 9–29
Chapter 2The Multiperspectival Approach to Applied Linguistic
research
Exploring principles, questions, and orientations
This chapter explores the distinctive features
of the Multiperspectival Approach (MPA) to research: its
theoretical and philosophical background, the questions it
addresses, and the research orientations it enables. The chapter
explains how MPA offers researchers a heuristic that addresses
ontological and epistemological challenges to research that are
central to the language-context relationship and consequential
for any researcher who seeks to make claims about the meaning of
language in the lives of others at particular sites. The chapter
provides detailed background and guidance on what MPA involves
and its value as a practical ontology that enables researchers
to discover – rather than to search – the worlds of their
participants, iteratively to learn through this process of
discovery, developing warrants and finding themes to bridge
these worlds through multiple, mutually-corroborating
perspectives.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical foundations
- 3.Methodological orientation
- 3.1Principles and affordances
- 3.1.1The researcher’s perspective
- 3.1.2Participants’ perspective
- 3.1.3Textual perspective
- 3.1.4The social action perspective
- 3.1.5The socio-historical perspective
- 3.2Types of research questions addressed by MPA
- 3.3Procedures of data collection and analysis
- 3.4Ethical issues
- 3.1Principles and affordances
- 4.Critiques and responses
- 5.Conclusions
-
Note -
References
References (69)
Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech
genres and other late
essays (V. W. McGee, Trans.). Texas University Press.
Blumer, H. (1966). Sociological
implications of the thought of G. H.
Mead. American
Journal of
Sociology, 71, 535–544. 
(1969). Symbolic
interactionism: Perspective and
method. Prentice-Hall.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The
logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Stanford University Press.
(1991). Language
and symbolic power (G. Raymond & M. Adamson, Trans.). Polity Press.
Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse
analysis. Cambridge University Press.
Candlin, C. N. (1997). General
editor’s
preface. In B. L. Gunnarsson, P. Linell, & B. Nordberg (Eds.), The
construction of professional
discourse (pp. viii–xiv). Longman.
(2002). Introduction. In C. N. Candlin (Ed.), Research
and practice in professional
discourse (pp. 1–36). City University of Hong Kong Press.
Candlin, C. N., & Crichton, J. (2011a). Emergent
themes and research challenges: Reconceptualising
LSP. In M. Peterson & J. Engberg (Eds.), Current
trends in LSP
research (pp. 277–316). Peter Lang.
(2011b). Introduction. In C. N. Candlin & J. Crichton (Eds.), Discourses
of
deficit (pp. 1–22). Palgrave Macmillan.
(2013a). From
ontology to methodology: Exploring the discursive
landscape of
trust. In C. N. Candlin & J. Crichton (Eds.), Discourses
of
trust (pp. 1–18). Palgrave Macmillan.
(Eds.). (2011c). Discourses
of deficit. Palgrave Macmillan.
(Eds.). (2013b). Discourses
of trust. Palgrave Macmillan.
Candlin, C. N., Crichton, J., & Firkins, A. (2016). Crucial
sites and research orientations: Exploring the
communication of
risk. In J. Crichton, C. N. Candlin, & A. Firkins (Eds.), Communicating
risk (pp. 1–16). Palgrave Macmillan.
Candlin, C. N., Crichton, J., & Moore, S. (2017). Exploring
discourse in context and in
action. Palgrave Macmillan.
Carter, B., & Sealey, A. (2000). Language,
structure and agency: What can realist social theory
offer to
sociolinguistics? Journal
of
Sociolinguistics, 4(1), 3–20.
Cicourel, A. V. (1982). Interviews,
surveys, and the problem of ecological
validity. American-Sociologist, 17(1), 11–20.
(1992). The
interpenetration of communicative contexts: Examples
from medical
encounters. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking
context: Language as an interactive
phenomenon (pp. 291–310). Cambridge University Press.
(1996). Ecological
validity and ‘white room effects’: The interaction
of cognitive and cultural models in the pragmatic
analysis of elicited narratives from
children. Pragmatics
&
Cognition, 4(2), 221–264.
(2007). A
personal, retrospective view of ecological
validity. Text &
Talk, 27(5/6), 735–759.
Crichton, J. (2004). Issues
of interdiscursivity in the commercialisation of
professional
practice. (Unpublished
doctoral
thesis). Macquarie University.
(2010). The
discourse of commercialization: A multiperspectived
analysis. Palgrave Macmillan.
(2018a). Framing
a ‘community of consumption’: Field theory,
multiperspectival discourse analysis and the
commercialization of
teaching. In J. Albright, D. Hartman, & J. Widin (Eds.), Bourdieu’s
field theory and the social
sciences (pp. 117–131). Palgrave Macmillan.
(2018b). Transdisciplinary
applied linguistics: Issues of perspectivity and
transcendence. International
Association of Applied Linguistics
Review, 31(1), 143–148.
Crichton, J., Candlin, C. N., & Firkins, A. (Eds.). (2016). Communicating
risk. Palgrave Macmillan.
Crichton, J., & Koch, T. (2007). Living
with dementia: Curating
self-identity. Dementia, 6(3), 365–381.
Dallmayr, F. R. (1991). Life-world,
modernity and critique: Paths between Heidegger and
the Frankfurt
School. Polity Press.
Duranti, A., & Goodwin, C. (1992). Rethinking
context: An
introduction. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking
context: Language as an interactive
phenomenon (pp. 1–42). Cambridge University Press.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse
and social
change. Polity Press.
(1997). Discourse
across disciplines: Discourse analysis in
researching social
change. AILA
Review, 12, 3–17.
Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline
and punish: The birth of the
prison. (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Penguin.
(1989). The
archeology of
knowledge. Routledge.
(Ed.) (1980). Power/knowledge:
Selected interviews and other writings
1972–1977. Pantheon Books.
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies
in
ethnomethodology. Prentice-Hall.
Geertz, C. (1973). The
interpretation of
culture. Basic Books.
(1983). Local
knowledge: Further essays in interpretive
anthropology. Basic Books.
Giddens, A. (1984). The
constitution of
society. Polity Press.
(1991). Modernity
and
self-identity. Polity Press.
(1994). Introduction. In A. Giddens, D. Held, D. Hubert, D. Seymour, & J. Thompson (Eds.), The
Polity reader in social
theory (pp. 1–8). Polity Press.
Goffman, E. (1959). The
presentation of self in everyday
life. Doubleday Anchor.
(1974). Frame
analysis: An essay on the organization of
experience. Harper & Row.
(1981). Forms
of talk. Wiley Blackwell.
(1983). The
interaction
order. American
Sociological
Review, 48, 1–17.
Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse
strategies. Cambridge University Press.
(1992). Contextualisation
and
understanding. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking
context: Language as an interactive
phenomenon (pp. 229–252). Cambridge University Press.
(2001). Interactional
sociolinguistics: A personal
perspective. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H. E. Hamilton (Eds.), The
handbook of discourse
analysis (pp. 215–228). Routledge.
Habermas, J. (1984). The
theory of communicative actio, Volume one: Reason
and the rationalization of
society (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press.
(1987). The
theory of communicative action. Volume two:
Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist
reason (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press.
Hocking, D. (2011). The
discursive construction of creativity as work in a
tertiary art and design
environment. Journal
of Applied Linguistics and Professional
Practice, 7(2), 235–255.
(2018). Communicating
creativity: The discursive facilitation of creative
activity in
arts. Palgrave Macmillan.
Jewitt, C. (Ed.) (2009). Routledge
handbook for multimodal
analysis. Routledge.
Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading
images. The grammar of visual
design. Routledge.
Kristeva, J. (1986). Word,
dialogue and
novel. In T. Moi (Ed.), The
Kristeva
Reader (pp. 34–61). Blackwell.
Lambek, M. (2010). Introduction. In M. Lambek (Ed.), Ordinary
ethics: Anthropology, language, and
action. (pp. 1–36). Fordham University Press.
Layder, D. (1993). New
strategies in social
research. Polity Press.
(1998). Sociological
practice: Linking theory and social
research. Sage.
Moustakas, C. E. (1990). Heuristic
research. Sage.
Nagel, T. (1986). The
view from
nowhere. Oxford University Press.
Riazi, A. M., & Candlin, C. N. (2014). Mixed-methods
research in language teaching and learning:
Opportunities, issues and
challenges. Language
Teaching, 47(2), 135–173.
Roberts, C., & Sarangi, S. (1999). Hybridity
in gatekeeping discourse: Issues of practical
relevance for the
researcher. In S. Sarangi & C. Roberts (Eds.), Talk,
work and institutional order: Discourse in medical,
mediation and management
settings (pp. 473–504). Mouton de Gruyter.
(2005). Theme-oriented
analysis of medical
encounters. Medical
Education, 39, 632–640.
Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures
on conversation, Volumes I and
II. Blackwell.
Sarangi, S. (2007). Editorial.
The anatomy of interpretation: Coming to terms with
the analyst’s paradox in professional discourse
studies. Text &
Talk, 27(5/6), 567–584.
(2015). Experts
on experts: Sustaining ‘communities of interest’ in
professional discourse
studies. In M. Gotti, S. Maci, & M. Sala (Eds.), Insights
into medical
communication (pp. 25–50). Peter Lang.
Sarangi, S., & Candlin, C. N. (2001). ‘Motivational
relevancies’: Some methodological reflections on
social theoretical and sociolinguistic
practice. In N. Coupland, S. Sarangi, & C. N. Candlin (Eds.), Sociolinguistics
and social
theory (pp. 350–387). Longman.
Steinberg, J. (2011). Bismarck:
A life. Oxford University Press.
Sultan, N. (2018). Heuristic
inquiry. Sage.
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2003). Handbook
of mixed methods in social and behavioural
research. Sage.
Van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse
and practice: New tools for critical discourse
analysis. Oxford University Press.