Written Communication Jul 2008

Ethnography as Method, Methodology, and “Deep Theorizing”

Theresa Lillis The Open University

Abstract

This article critically explores the value of ethnography for enhancing context-sensitive approaches to the study of academic writing. Drawing on data from two longitudinal studies, student writing in the United Kingdom and professional academic writing in Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, and Portugal, the author illustrates the different contributions ethnography can make to researching academic writing, depending on the level at which it is construed, as method, methodology, or “deep theorizing.” In discussing the third level of ethnography, the author draws on recent debates around linguistic ethnography to explore how ethnography as deep theorizing can contribute to refining social practice accounts of academic writing through the specific notions of indexicality and orientation. By working through three levels of ethnography, her aim is to signal the ontological gap between text and context in academic writing research and to open up debate about how this gap can be narrowed.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2008-07-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088308319229
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (19)

  1. Jeria et al. (2026)
    Notions About Drafts in Scientific Research Articles: A Case Study With Writers…
    Written Communication
  2. Hint et al. (2025)
    Decoding Metadiscourse Markers in Estonian Academic Texts: A Language-Specific …
    Written Communication
  3. Karsten (2024)
    Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously
    Written Communication
  4. Piña (2023)
    (Re)Turning to Hypertext: Mattering Digital Learning Spaces
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Russell (2022)
    From Methodology to Method in Genre-Based Ethnographies
    Written Communication
Show all 19 →
  1. Leonard (2021)
    The Role of Writing in Critical Language Awareness
    College English
  2. Madden et al. (2021)
    Untangling Methodological Commitments in Writing Research: Using Collaborative …
    Written Communication
  3. LaFrance et al. (2021)
    Fingerprinting Feminist Methodologies/Methods: An Analysis of Empirical Researc…
    College Composition and Communication
  4. Lillis et al. (2020)
    Time, the Written Record, and Professional Practice: The Case of Contemporary S…
    Written Communication
  5. Olinger (2020)
    Visual Embodied Actions in Interview-Based Writing Research: A Methodological A…
    Written Communication
  6. Reid (2019)
    Compressing, Expanding, and Attending to Scientific Meaning: Writing the Semiot…
    Written Communication
  7. Anderson et al. (2017)
    Seeing Academically Marginalized Students’ Multimodal Designs From a Position o…
    Written Communication
  8. LeBlanc (2015)
    Performance and Apprehension of the Mass in an Urban Catholic School
    Written Communication
  9. Noy (2015)
    Writing in Museums
    Written Communication
  10. Leonard (2015)
    Writing Through Bureaucracy
    Written Communication
  11. Compton-Lilly (2014)
    The Development of Writing Habitus
    Written Communication
  12. Harwood et al. (2012)
    Performance in the Citing Behavior of Two Student Writers
    Written Communication
  13. Vieira (2011)
    Undocumented in a Documentary Society
    Written Communication
  14. Roozen (2010)
    Tracing Trajectories of Practice: Repurposing in One Student’s Developing Disci…
    Written Communication

Cites in this index (13)

  1. Price (2007)
    Accessing Disability: A Nondisabled Student Works the Hyphen
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Kill (2006)
    Acknowledging the Rough Edges of Resistance: Negotiation of Identities for Firs…
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Harwood (2006)
    (In)appropriate Personal Pronoun Use in Political Science
    Written Communication
  4. Juzwik et al. (2006)
    Writing Into the 21st Century
    Written Communication
  5. Lillis et al. (2006)
    Professional Academic Writing by Multilingual Scholars
    Written Communication
Show all 13 →
  1. Gentil (2005)
    Commitments to Academic Biliteracy
    Written Communication
  2. Hyland (2003)
    Dissertation Acknowledgements
    Written Communication
  3. FISHMAN et al. (2001)
    An ESL Writer and her Discipline-Based Professor
    Written Communication
  4. ANGELOVA et al. (1999)
    “If You Don't Tell Me, How Can I Know?”
    Written Communication
  5. SPACK (1997)
    The Acquisition of Academic Literacy in a Second Language
    Written Communication
  6. CANAGARAJAH (1996)
    “Nondiscursive” Requirements in Academic Publishing, Material Resources of Peri…
    Written Communication
  7. HAAS (1994)
    Learning to Read Biology
    Written Communication
  8. CINTRON (1993)
    Wearing a Pith Helmet at a Sly Angle:
    Written Communication
Also cites 35 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.4324/9780203448885
     ↗
  2. 10.1080/10350330701311470
     ↗
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511610295
     ↗
  4. 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00346.x
     ↗
  5. Brown, S. G. (2004)
    Ethnography unbound: From theory to critical praxis
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjn6c
     ↗
  7. Chang, Y.Y. & Swales, J.M. (1999). Informal elements in English academic writing: Threats or opportunities fo…
     ↗
  8. 10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_257
     ↗
  9. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjpc7
     ↗
  10. 10.2307/3588284
     ↗
  11. 10.2307/3588099
     ↗
  12. 10.2307/3587862
     ↗
  13. 10.1016/0889-4906(94)00022-6
     ↗
  14. 10.1017/CBO9780511611834
     ↗
  15. 10.1080/17457820500512697
     ↗
  16. 10.4135/9780857020277
     ↗
  17. 10.1093/applin/20.3.341
     ↗
  18. 10.4324/9780203006603
     ↗
  19. 10.1075/swll.5
     ↗
  20. 10.1016/S1060-3743(98)90006-6
     ↗
  21. 10.4324/9780203451311
     ↗
  22. 10.1080/03075079812331380364
     ↗
  23. 10.1111/j.1473-4192.2005.00084.x
     ↗
  24. 10.1080/09500780308666848
     ↗
  25. Lillis, T. (2006). Moving towards an academic literacies pedagogy: `Dialogues of participation.' In L. Ganobs…
     ↗
  26. 10.1057/9780230511958
     ↗
  27. 10.7208/chicago/9780226668253.001.0001
     ↗
  28. 10.1016/S1060-3743(00)00037-0
     ↗
  29. 10.1017/CBO9780511486722
     ↗
  30. 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00341.x
     ↗
  31. 10.1007/978-0-230-20858-2_10
     ↗
  32. 10.3138/9781442683747
     ↗
  33. 10.1386/ltss.1.1.9/0
     ↗
  34. 10.4324/9780203463994
     ↗
  35. 10.1515/9783110883527.457
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 254 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    From Monologue to Dialogue: Communication Strategies of Chinese Museums on Weibo and the Imperative for Participation Awareness ↗
    Xiaole Zhu; Yoonjae Nam
    qualitative research social media
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  3. Computers and Composition Mar 2026
    Chinese EFL learners’ engagement with ChatGPT feedback on academic writing: A case study in Malaysia ↗
    Zhang Kailin; Murad Abdu Saeed
    qualitative research artificial intelligence multilingual writers
  4. Written Communication Feb 2026
    Precarious Participation: Chinese International Students’ Transnational Digital Literacies ↗
    Zhaozhe Wang
    literacy studies qualitative research digital rhetoric multilingual writers
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly Feb 2026
    “No Mining Engineer Could Be a Lady”: A Historical Case Study of Drag and Humor in Technical Writing, 1911–1917 ↗
    Andrew Fiss
    qualitative research technical communication