Introduction
3. Data collection
3.3. Methods of data collection
3.3.1 The triangulation approach
3.3.1.3. Participant observation
discussion, and I paid close attention to the possibility that one person may influence others by "inhibiting them from saying what they really think or leading the group into apparent agreement" (Wray, Trott and Bloomer 1998: 182).
Individual interviews were based on the narrative approach, whereby the participants were guided to speak about any language(s)-related matters in their lives (Mayring 1996: 55). Accordingly, there were few structural limitations and a high level of flexibility on my behalf in order to elicit the thoughts, emotions, perceptions and opinions of the individual participant. Interviews with people who were hesitant to talk about their individual perceptions and opinions tended to evolve more into a problem-centred interview (Mayring 1996). In those cases, I generally initiated the interview by asking the individual about his/her feelings about one of the previously mentioned discussion topics. Although interviews, if handled with care and critically explored, certainly provide a useful source of data elicitation, I regard it as insufficient to rely solely on interview findings for the purpose of this study. Researchers in the social sciences have increasingly become reluctant to trust what people say in interviews (see, for instance Vaux and Cooper 1999: 18). The actual behaviour of participants has frequently proven to be at odds with the information given during an interview. It is for this reason that it was imperative for this investigation to employ an ethnographically orientated method to create a holistic and more authentic picture of the sociolinguistic dynamics at work in the township community.
actual life, "series of phenomena of great importance which cannot possibly be recorded by questioning of computing documents, but have to be observed in their full actuality".113 Therefore, the trivialities of township life gained importance, while language use was observed and experienced as a social and cultural phenomenon in the community.
Participant observation is an interdisciplinary method, but within sociolinguistics it is understood as a variety of informal field methods (Johnstone 2000, Milroy and Gordon 2003, Spradley 1980). Its aim is to holistically understand a community in order to present detailed descriptions of a particular element of that community, which in the case of this thesis is language. Accordingly, the fundamental aim of this study is to construct a picture of the Umlazi community, which is based on a holistic approach to language use and behaviour towards language(s) - namely isiZulu and English - by engaging with the community and individual members on a close and personal level. Despite the great diversity of the community and the sharp divisions (cultural, political, linguistic, class, etc.) existent among isiZulu- speakers in Umlazi, I attempt to understand the role of language(s) in the lives of Umlazi inhabitants through a broad understanding of the community as a whole.
Observation of daily language behaviour, cultural values and social networks are part of this undertaking. Speech situations and speech events are explored and the language choices of individuals systematically observed and contextualised. The analysis of how, when and why individuals decide to use isiZulu and/or English, and the distinction between conscious and subconscious choices, was part of this undertaking. Umlazi residents employ and adjust language(s) creatively by carefully choosing what is meaningful in a particular situation.
Although many sociolinguists claim that the 'best' and most 'valuable' data is inherently linked to recorded speech, it must be stressed that it certainly is the knowledge about the cultural world in which speech is embedded that leads sociolinguists to the analysis of this data (Johnstone 2000: 84). "Participant
11 However, participant observation was not employed in the classic (Malinowskian)
anthropological sense, which requires the rearcher to live with the community to be researched, for a minimum period of one year in order to immerse him/herself completely in the daily life of the community.
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observation enables the research worker to secure his data within the medium, symbols, and experiential worlds which have meaning to his respondents" (Vidich 1970: 164/5). It is this function of participant observation that I regard as essential to this research.114
Observations, of course, can greatly vary in their extent of explicitness (Seliger and Shohamy 1990: 162). For the purpose of this study, I chose slightly 'structured' observations on the one hand and 'open' (unstructured) observations on the other.
A checklist and rating scale was used as an additional tool for the former type, while field notes generally accompanied the latter type. In the field, my position varied from one which was mostly observing as an evident 'outsider', to one that was observing while participating and receiving more of an insider's perspective.
Spending time at the secondary schools made my 'participation' in the life of the community reasonably acceptable, as the school management approached me on many occasions in order to take up the role of a substitute English teacher. Under these circumstances I could slip into the position of a language teacher who, in the eyes of my subjects, had a common purpose (that of a staff member). This obscured my role as a researcher, and assisted me in understanding the "local knowledge" (Geertz 1983) and the "unspoken common sense" (Johnstone 2000:
82) and, most of all, the processes in everyday interactions that are based on subliminal assumptions.115
In my private activities in the township, I was always very well aware that the role that I, as a white, non-South African female, was playing influenced the situational dynamics quite significantly. For this reason, it was frequently helpful to spend
Although my involvement in township life from a greater anthropological perspective was rather marginal over a period of nearly three years, I regard these observations as the most valuable form of data collection. In one sense the questionnaires and some interviews created a formal situation that made the participants feel uncomfortable and behave unnaturally. The critical evaluation of the obtained data through the questionnaires and interviews by comparing them to the ethnographic data proved to greatly enrich the overall findings of this investigation.
115 While I stayed and spent time with different acquaintances in the township, I took part in daily activities, whether it was shopping at the market, attending a Christian cell meeting, or socialising at a shebeen. At all times, my observations focused on the use and choice of language(s) in different situations. There were also instances where I openly asked people in my company about their choice of language. I did not, however, use a tape recorder at any time and instead field notes were taken.
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time with a large group of people who during the course of a gathering, split up into smaller groups at a later stage. From the sheltered distance of being a participant in one of these groups, I could observe the linguistic behaviour of others who were unaware of my presence. Sometimes my role as a researcher was open and revealed, other times I was introduced to new people as a friend or acquaintance. My position as an outsider did have certain advantages in the sense that "some of the socio-cultural knowledge affecting speech behaviour in particular contexts is below the level of consciousness of community members" (Boxer 2002: 12).116
In order to be a successful participant-observer, the researcher must be accepted by the community to be studied (Breitborde 1998: 15). The development of personal relationships with township residents greatly helped me to meet this criterion.
While most of my contacts with township residents waxed and waned, a few turned into close friendships, which helped me gain a view of township life that 'normal outsiders' may be deprived of. The success of my research activities in the township was mainly based on my interconnectedness with the people and the time and effort that was put into this study by my informants and research assistants.
Nevertheless, it needs to be stressed that my relationship with Umlazi, apart from the personal relationships I have with residents in the township, remained that of an outsider-observer.
It is pertinent to "assess the influence of role, techniques, and methodological orientation on research results" (Pearsal 1970: 350). Accordingly, I shall mention the constraints and limitations that characterise this study. In spite of aiming to achieve an emic perspective, researchers have increasingly become aware that what one observes is very much based on one's own perception and 'cultural glasses', to borrow one of the terms coined by Hall (1959).
116 To spend time in the township as a white person, other than for business purposes, remains an unusual occurrence to date in post-apartheid South Africa. The permanent whispering oVumlungu, umlungu...' [white person] made me frequently aware of how rare the presence of a white person remains in the township.
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Furthermore:
...observation does not fulfil to the same extent the demand for a strict method because the distortion of perception by the observing subject [myself] can only be reduced to an insufficient degree (Friedrichs and Liidtke 1975: 3).
The call for self-reflexive and critical analysis of ethnographic research findings has become such an integral part of anthropological studies that the evaluation and verification is given more attention than the actual research findings. This shall certainly not be the case here. In what follows, I will limit the discussion of the limitations of this research to a brief critical analysis of the methodological tools and the role of the qualitative researcher [myself].