Reading between the lines in Ways with Words

In my reflection today, I am interested in discussing the ethnographic methods Brice- Heath uses rather than the observation she makes. I'm not sure, but I think the purpose of reading this book lies more in experiencing a complete ethnographic study than discussing the actual findings of her research. At least for this novice ethnographer, an approach of examining her methods is more valuable than examining her findings..... I hope that statement doesn't get me in hot water. Therefore, a few observations I'd like to mention:

The dialogues are terrific to really understanding the dynamics of a discourse. Paraphrasing the conversations would not have nearly been as effective as the painstaking word for word recreation. I took this lesson and applied it to my own ethnographic observation required for class. It's really tough to do, but I can see that what I wrote down verbatim was really different than what I had remembered and paraphrased later.

Also, I'm going to draw attention to the juxtaposition of the "Teaching How to Talk" in Trackton & Roadville. At first, I thought the back and forth was going to be distracting and was merely a rhetorical strategy to keep readers engaged with both parties. However, I see now that it is essential in understanding the differences Brice Heath was observing. The observations become more powerful since we have an immediate reference for comparison.

Furthermore, the tools utilized to get authentic data was essential. In fact, I was curious to learn how Brice Heath was getting so much detailed information. For my ethnographic class observation task, I had used a video camera and could replay sections of the observation numerous times to really hear and understand interactions. In Ways with Words, for example, the conversation Aunt Sue had with Baby Bobby about "yo widdle tum-tum being empty" was lengthy and detailed- Brice heath mentioned a tape recorded later. I realized that to get specific irrefutable data, some type of recording device is really essential. Our perceptions are so different from our observations. I only saw after I watched my observation a few times, what I had misperceived." It's a real lesson to me as an observer.