Barbara Johnstone

Linguists have sporadically noted peculiarities of pronunciation, lexis and morphosyntax in the speech of European Americans in the Pittsburgh area, and Pittsburgh speech, locally known as “Pittsburghese”, has been a topic of discussion in the Pittsburgh area for decades. This variety has never before been systematically documented, however. The first and only scholarly book to describe Pittsburgh-area varieties of English, Pittsburgh Speech and Pittsburghese is an essential reference tool for anyone studying the dialect of the Pittsburgh area and the only textbook choice for anyone teaching about it.

This book explores the history of Pittsburghese, the language of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area as it is imagined and used by Pittsburghers. Pittburghese is linked to local identity so strongly that it is alluded to almost every time people talk about what Pittsburgh is like, or what it means to be a Pittsburgher. But what happened during the second half of the 20th century to reshape a largely unnoticed way of speaking into this highly visible urban "dialect"? In this book, sociolinguist Barbara Johnstone focuses on this question. Treating Pittsburghese as a cultural product of talk, writing, and other forms of social practice, Johnstone shows how non-standard pronunciations, words, and bits of grammar used in the Pittsburgh area were taken up into a repertoire of words and phrases and a vocal style that has become one of the most resonant symbols of local identity in the United States today.

This book explores the history of Pittsburghese, the language of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area as it is imagined and used by Pittsburghers. Pittburghese is linked to local identity so strongly that it is alluded to almost every time people talk about what Pittsburgh is like, or what it means to be a Pittsburgher. But what happened during the second half of the 20th century to reshape a largely unnoticed way of speaking into this highly visible urban "dialect"? In this book, sociolinguist Barbara Johnstone focuses on this question. Treating Pittsburghese as a cultural product of talk, writing, and other forms of social practice, Johnstone shows how non-standard pronunciations, words, and bits of grammar used in the Pittsburgh area were taken up into a repertoire of words and phrases and a vocal style that has become one of the most resonant symbols of local identity in the United States today.

Qualitative Methods in Sociolinguistics is the only book on qualitative research methods designed especially for readers doing research on language and society. It provides a brief, accessible introduction to general theoretical and practical questions about research and also covers the principal means of selecting, collecting, and analyzing data for interpretive sociolinguistic work. Topics discussed include the historical context of contemporary sociolinguistic methodology, the development of research questions, standards of evidence, research ethics, ethnography, discourse analysis, and strategies for writing articles and essays. In each chapter the author considers both field methods and analytical methods, illustrating the approaches by describing studies that have employed them. Exercises, ideas for discussion, and suggestions for further reading enhance the text and provide starting points for student research projects. Clearly written and comprehensible to students at all levels, this unique work is an ideal supplementary text for courses in sociolinguistics, language and culture, and field methods. It is also a helpful reference for anyone contemplating sociolinguistic research on any level.

This text reports on an ethnographic study of journal-keeping in a university science class. The author spent a summer semester attending a general education class in geology as a participant observer, took extensive notes, interviewed class members and the professor, and analyzed journal entries and other documents related to the class. She provides an example of ethnographic methods to be of use to other composition researchers, especially in her careful attention to reflexivity, that is, the effect of the researcher and the research on data. The book provides a detailed exploration of journal keeping from the perspective of both the students and the professor, as well as case studies of how two students in particular used journal keeping. Journal entries are examined not simply as texts produced by individuals for a class assignment, but as the outcome of a socio-political process, including the goals of the general education curriculum, the goals of the geology course and its instructor, the students' personal and educational goals, the institutional constraints on the professor, the methods of the researchers, and the dynamics of classroom interaction.