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Indirectness in the Interview
Author(s) -
Hopkins Jill D.,
Furbee Louanna
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of linguistic anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.463
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1548-1395
pISSN - 1055-1360
DOI - 10.1525/jlin.1991.1.1.63
Subject(s) - contextualization , interview , psychology , competence (human resources) , communicative competence , linguistics , social psychology , pedagogy , sociology , philosophy , anthropology , interpretation (philosophy)
This article addresses the issue of communicative competence in the linguistic interview, in particular in the elicitation of an obsolescent language. A consultant's attempts to contextualize linguistic forms resemble digressions in Wasco‐Wishram (Upper Chinookan) reported by Moore (1988). Examples from elicitation of Chiwere wherein various means of contextualization are attempted by both consultant and interviewer illustrate the intricacies of the interview as communicative event (Briggs 1986). The article examines the comparative ease of visual as opposed to verbal contextualization. It suggests that the use of the visual channel may reduce difficulties in communication which arise in the interview setting, and speculates on the importance of these findings for future study of the effect of the interview on data.