Sociolinguistic ethnography is framed by the researchers' sociocultural and psychological frames of reference. Research of the attitudes towards English and its use by Brazilian university students conducted by their US peers highlighted the issues of class, race, and language identity. Critically-informed analysis of students' research papers and self-reflexive essays revealed dialogic relationships between language researchers and subjects. The study showed critical approaches as capable of enriching study of L2 learning with understanding of deeper social processes that belie language data. Critically-guided scholarship can move language researchers from simply receiving, or processing knowledge, to being transformed by it.
Critical ethnographic approaches can enrich L2 learning research with the understanding of deeper social processes that belie language data. For instance, this study of Brazilian EFL learners' attitudes towards English, conducted by their US peers, highlighted the issues of class, race, and mulilingual identities. Further critically-informed analysis of student self-reflexive writing elucidates multiple dialogic relationships between language researchers and social context. Both language learning and its sociolinguistic ethnography are framed by the participants' sociocultural and psychological frames of reference. Critically-guided scholarship has the potential to move language learners and researchers from simply receiving, or processing knowledge, to being transformed by it and becoming agents of change in their communities.
