Recent Publication in Journal of Applied Communication

Earlier this year my article “Using cultural discourse analysis and storytelling to design an applied intervention for U.S. English language education” was published in the Journal of Applied Communication Research. I developed this article over many years because it was based on my master’s thesis (completed in 2018). The article focuses mostly on the methods piece of the project, specifically how to use Carbaugh’s (2007) Cultural Discourse Theory and Analysis to design an applied intervention. All the intricacies of that process are detailed in the paper (go read it!) but here are some highlights:

• Ethnographic research can provide deeper insight to a community and their needs, so it is an excellent tool to use as a foundation for applied interventions.

  • Cultural Discourse Analysis (CuDA), an extension of the ethnography of communication approach, can help researchers analyze the cultural meanings that are present in a community and the things that are valued in interaction.

  • My analysis focused on meanings of “acting” and “relating” (two of Carbaugh’s “radiants” or cultural meaning). The radiant of acting describes what people believe themselves to be doing in their communication. The radiant of relating captures participants’ sense of accomplishing relevant social relations through communication.

  • I used those two radiants to design the goals for an applied intervention where I offered storytelling workshops for English language learners.

• Most English language education focuses solely on grammar, pronunciation, and practical skills. While this is useful, advanced learners need support to better understand how culture factors in to how people speak a certain language in everyday life.

  • Explaining and discussing cultural “norms”—taken for granted social rules for what people should or shouldn’t do—is beneficial for English language learners because that is what helps them actually adjust to a new place.

  • Storytelling and conversation-based practices in English language education allow participants to build relationships while improving their language skills.

There were many other pieces to that project and I plan to publish more about it in the future. But for now I hope this article can illuminate one way for scholars to use ethnography to design targeted interventions that help the communities they research. As I said in the paper, I also feel strongly that “engaging in the critical and applied modes of CuDA is one way that applied communication scholars can address broader cultural or social problems of inequality” (p. 14). Communication as a discipline has so much practical knowledge to offer our society, and applied projects like this are an important way for researchers to make an impact beyond the academy.