Plenary: Linguistic fieldwork as a scientific enterprise

dc.contributor.author	Newman, Paul
dc.contributor.speaker	Newman, Paul
dc.date.accessioned	2009-04-02T18:19:58Z
dc.date.available	2009-04-02T18:19:58Z
dc.date.begin	2009-03-12
dc.date.finish	2009-03-14
dc.date.issued	2009-03-14
dc.description	After years of neglect in which linguistics lost sight of the value of empirical field research, new life has finally been breathed into this fundamentally important component of our discipline. But in the process, linguistic fieldwork has ironically lost sight of linguistics! That is, if by linguistics one means the scientific study of language, fieldwork ideology and practice have gone askew. The major movements and individuals that we can thank for the resurgence of interest in linguistic fieldwork all promote (in words or deeds) approaches to field research that fall far short of the tenets of science. Examples of such misguided directions include (a) the endangered languages movement, (b) language documentation, and (c) the traditional-orthodox school. In my talk, I expose the failings of these non-scientific approaches to linguistic field research and set out what would be required for linguistic fieldwork to qualify as truly scientific and thus be entitled to recognition as an essential subfield within linguistics per se.
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10125/5163
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.rights	Copyright © Paul Newman 2009
dc.title	Plenary: Linguistic fieldwork as a scientific enterprise

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