Organizers: Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, NYSEAN

Lecture Series: Thailand Seminar Series

Description:

Join Dr. Thanachate Wisaijorn (Ubon Ratchathani University) as he shares personal insights from the field into the powerful role of language and how language choice impacts interpersonal relationships. 

This presentation discusses a methodological problem that Dr. Thanachate Wisaijorn encountered in an ethnographic fieldwork in Ubon Ratchathani. Bordering Champassak in Lao PDR, Ubon Ratchathani receives a number of undocumented laborers from southern Laos annually. Dr. Wisaijorn interviewed many as part of her research. When the undocumented laborers were from northern Lao provinces, such as Vientiane and Luang Prabang, the dialect he used with them became really important. Dr. Wisaijorn found that using the Vientiane dialect with them greatly hindered trust; using the northern dialect led them to suspect that he was someone sent by the Lao government to detect illegal migrants. His assumption that adopting the informants’ language would build rapport with them backfired. This seemingly minor issue of language choice overlooked by some is thus very crucial in the research process as informants too interpret information about the researchers themselves.

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