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ERIC Number: EJ940944
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0826-435X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Ethical Dimensions of Shared Ethnicity, Language, and Immigration Experience
Victoria, Mabelle P.
TESL Canada Journal, v28 spec iss n5 p72-79 Sum 2011
In this article I illustrate how some commonalities that I share with my participants--ethnic background, native language, and immigration experience--create unexpected ethical concerns. I explore how these commonalities facilitate the establishment of rapid intimacy, at the same time creating the temptations of over-identification and blurring the boundaries between researcher and participants. Drawing on three episodes from my ethnographic field work, I demonstrate how the mundane and taken-for-granted encounters with informants (used synonymously with participants) reveal the seeds of ethical dilemmas when put under the powerful and critical lens of reflexivity. Instead of viewing ethics as adherence to a set of codes, I explore reflexivity as ethical practice. Researchers continually make on-the-fly decisions in the field and take corresponding actions without the luxury of careful forethought. I argue that such decisions need to be unpacked after the event to examine if they carry ethical implications with them.
TESL Canada Federation. 408-4370 Dominion Street, Burnaby, BC V5G 4L7, Canada. Tel: 604-298-0312; Fax: 604-298-0372; e-mail: admin@tesl.ca; Web site: http://www.tesl.ca
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A