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In a world of uncertainty, which questions do we ask? Framing research questions in linguistic ethnography

We are living in an unpredictable time in which prior certainties and comfortable assumptions about the workings of our social world have been challenged and overturned. Current realities like the rise of populism and strong-man leaders, armed conflict and its potential escalation in Europe, ongoing economic challenges, the unknown consequences of artificial intelligence, increasing disruption from the effects of the climate emergency, and others, can leave us wondering about the role of research in linguistic ethnography which focuses on the fine detail of language use located in a broader social context.

The changes taking place around us merit pausing and thinking about what we are doing.  In this small participatory two-day workshop, we explore how we frame our research questions and the implications of this for our research. We will talk about where to look, what to ask, and how this shapes our methods and data.  We will bring together a group of PhD students, early career researchers and established scholars in linguistic ethnography to explore what we need to consider when developing research questions in current global and political circumstances. How might our questions need to change to reflect the world as it is now and make a meaningful contribution?

During the workshop, we will invite participants to share their research projects, reflecting particularly on their research questions and how these questions shape data and methods. We will discuss the broader context and think about how the close analysis of linguistic data characteristic of linguistic ethnography can contribute to our understanding of social questions and issues. We will locate contemporary linguistic ethnographic research within the critical project of the ethnography of communication (Blommaert 2009), and discuss how we bring together praxis, poetics, and knowledge construction in a meaningful way.

We plan three main sets of activities: a sharing session where we discuss the ongoing research projects participants bring to the workshop; a broader discussion of research questions and framing, locating this within the historical and political project of linguistic ethnography; and a mapping session to capture the themes and directions which have emerged from what has been discussed.

This workshop will be particularly useful for PhD students and early career researchers, but also for anyone thinking through the direction of their research programme in response to contemporary social conditions. The specific content of the discussions will depend on the problems and questions that participants bring to discuss. Please do share this announcement with anyone who might be interested.

We are trying to keep costs as low as possible. There will be a small fee of £64 for the workshop to cover costs and refreshments during the day. Lunch and tea / coffee will be provided, and there will be the opportunity to join us for a dinner on the Monday evening (subsidised cost tbc). Some accommodation will be available to book on campus, please indicate on the registration form if you would like details of this.

Recommended pre-reading:

Blommaert, J. (2009). Ethnography and democracy: Hymes’s political theory of language. Text & Talk, 29(3), 257-276.

external keynote

Uta gave a keynote presentation in Cyprus, where she critically examined recent and current policies for adult literacy education in England, Scotland and Australia. The Conference has been included in the official activities of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union (first half of 2026).

hybrid County South D72 and Teams

Prince of Songkla University, Thailand

LLRC meeting

As many Southeast Asian nations, Thailand has recently placed significant focus on English, a language policy orientation reflecting processes of regional integration as well as narratives of national development and global competitiveness. However, the discourse around language policy in Thailand is also dominated by narratives of ‘failure’ in which speakers are consistently positioned as deficient due to their perceived lack of English. In this talk, I will discuss a project focusing on the voices of the English (non-)speakers at the heart of this discursive struggle, namely learners who, having completed twelve years of compulsory English in basic education, have not reached the learning outcomes prescribed by policy. Our participants were 25 students who, upon acceptance to a major university, were assigned to take a remedial English course as a result of their poor scores on a placement test (approximately CEFR level A1). The students participated in drawing of language portraits and focus group discussions, two activities intended to highlight their voices in relation to recent policy. Data obtained through both activities showed that the participants’ identities were largely disconnected from that imposed by policies. While top-down measures have largely promoted a vision of (English-Thai) bilingualism, participants articulated a range of plurilingual identities. In these, English played a role, but as part of a broader network of languages of local, regional and global communication. I conclude by reflecting on alternative visions of language policy for Thailand that could be developed on the basis of our participants’ voices.

This is a joint meeting with the Language, Ideology and Power group.

Together with Bethan Garrett, Carys Nelkon and Irene Wise (all Lancaster University), Uta Papen has worked with seven schools in and around Lancaster and the Morecambe Bay to support children in developing stories based on local themes, landmarks, buildings or events. The aim was to create place-based oracy and literacy activities, leading to children writing and performing their own stories. The participating children had fun exploring local places, researching their community’s past, learning how to be a story-teller, writing and illustrating their own story. ‘Local Legends’, the booklet of the seven stories, is now used by the schools and by others to inspire further story-telling and writing activities. We have been working on a curriculum resource with tips and tricks for how to engage in similar story projects, to be published early in 2026. Together with a student researcher, Uta has been researching the impact of the project on children’s motivation to write.

Julia Gillen had the great privilege of going to the 75TH Literacy Research Association Conference in Las Vegas!  Funded through her editorship of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, she presented two papers, one from her recent “Toddlers, Tech and Talk” project, focussing on very young children’s interactions with AI via smartspeakers in the home. That was written with Dr Sabina Savadova, who used to be here at Lancaster and is now at Edinburgh. SheI also presented on my new project with Dr Samuel DeJulio, University of Texas, San Antonio, “An exploratory proposal for a posthuman perspective to transform the study of “Writing Systems.”  As Chair of the Brian Street Memorial Award she presented the Brian Street Memorial Award to Dr Jennifer Frean of the University of Melbourne. Julia continues to serve as Area Chair 12, International Research and Scholarship.

Thursday 30 October evening

External talk

Lancaster Archaeological and Historical Society

Julia Gillen gave a talk to 75 members and guests of the society in St Paul’s Parish Church, Scotforth. This included an introduction to the project’s open access main collection now hosted by Lancaster Digital Collections.

FHASS Meeting Room 1 (A008)

online:  teams link

LLRC meeting

This presentation traces the personal and professional journey that led me to explore the academic literacies of displaced Ukrainian researchers. As an English lecturer from Ukraine, I found myself struggling to publish in English after arriving in the UK on a Researchers-at-Risk fellowship. This experience prompted me to question how other scholars like me were coping with the demands of academic writing in exile.

What began as a study of English language proficiency and national language policy evolved into a broader inquiry into scholarly identity, voice, and agency. Drawing on data collected from 125 displaced Ukrainian scholars, I explore how war, displacement, and institutional inequality shape research literacy practices. I also reflect on emerging themes such as the use of AI as a self-directed tool for academic empowerment.

This biographical talk offers insights into how literacy research can emerge from lived experience, shift alongside the researcher, and contribute to more equitable academic spaces for marginalised scholars. It invites reflection on how we understand and support scholarly writing in contexts of crisis, transition, and transformation.

Short Bio

 Dr Oksana Torubara is a Visiting Researcher in Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University and an Associate Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Collegium” in Ukraine. With over 20 years’ experience teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, she is currently conducting the SURE project (Supporting Ukrainian researchers in Exile), which investigates the language needs, writing trajectories, and identity shifts of displaced Ukrainian scholars. Her work draws on survey, interviews, and case study data to explore how academic literacies are shaped by conflict, policy, and global publishing norms.