ANT 040: Language and Culture
Kutztown University
Dr. Schlegel

Exercise #4
Due: Submit to the Exercise 4 dropbox in D2L by April 24th, 2015 at the beginning of class.

This exercise is worth 15 points. This exercise requires you to review topics discussed over the course of the semester. Use the index of Ahearn to help you.

Imagine you are a linguistic anthropology student who has been awarded a $100,000 research grant to produce an ethnography of communication. You may study any culture group or speech community in the world. Before the check is handed over to you, you must provide the following information:

1. the identification of a specific culture group/speech community/community of practice you will be researching and the reason why you selected that group (2 pts);

After watching the Anthropology of YouTube video, the online community sparked my interests. If I had to choose, I would decide to study the online gaming community; for example Xbox live or computer games. I would consider myself to be a part of this community and would love to dive deeper into the communication during gaming and how the language can be brought into every day social interaction.

2. the specific language practices or linguistic structures you are interested in studying and why (3 pts);

First and foremost, I want to look at the pragmatics of the gaming speech. I think it would be a great way to understand how new words are formed and I want to know why they are formed. Then, I would like to look at morphology and syntax. I know of some terms that I have seen created while interacting in the game “League of Legends.” I just think it is cool to see these new words and how they are used to be funny or communicate in a different way. Also, the semantics of a language. Each online gaming community could have the same word used in a variety of ways in different communities. In addition, to understand the speech and those who speak it, one must interpret and respond accordingly to be included in that speech community.

3. the identification of additional areas of focus of your research and why (3 pts);

I would like to focus on the history of the speech community for gamers. This will show me how the speech in the gaming realm has evolved and changed over the years. I think this is important to know because gamers have to react to the new technology brought to them by being a part of this speech community. With the history, I feel it is important to then look at the future of the community and how it may adapt to something new such as a new gaming console or a new communication tool. These all can influence the speech of gamers.

4. the ethical considerations and methodological choices you will make in conducting your research (2 pts);

I will be sure to ask for consent and anybody’s keep confidential personal online information. I think the use of gamer tags or username can be beneficial to protecting a gamer’s identity. I would also consider the scope in which the gaming community falls into; worldwide. To fully understanding and gain the perspective of “all” involved, I must take my research across the globe. However, this shouldn’t be too difficult because of having online access grants communication globally.

5. the significance of your research for anthropology and the world at large (2 pts); and

I feel it can have a great impact on the world. For example, the community consists of billions of people interacting online via computer or gaming console. Gamers are have their own way of talking and what is said online during a game is just as important as a video post on YouTube or a blog posted. Gamers can bring their speech into the everyday lives of the ones around them not part of the same speech community.

6. a concluding statement that demonstrates the way in which language is effectively studied as a cultural resource and cultural practice (3 pts).

The gaming speech is used to recreate the world around them as if their life was a part of the game; and it also can contest to order of things. For example, gamers recreate the gaming world by acting as characters or speaking in public how they would speak to a screen. Also, they can contest the order of things by discussing taboo topics and use the speech community as an escape from reality.

Although the research award is imaginary, the assignment is not.