ABSTRACT

Whilst most research has started from examining texts, our research has been more concerned with the practices people are participating in. The overall aim of this chapter is to discuss the importance of paying attention to both texts and practices in researching multilingualism online. To do this we focus on three studies of multilingual writing online that have drawn upon both traditional and newer methods of research, including observations, interviews, auto-ethnography and technobiography. We first discuss the question of alternative methodologies as starting points when researching language online. We also ask what can be gained from discourse-based studies which start out by examining texts versus more ethnographic approaches which focus on people’s language practices. Through the three case studies, we introduce the approaches we have taken in our research that combine both texts and people’s practices. This chapter argues that while it is important to describe patterns of language choice and mixed-language texts, a situated and contextualized approach that draws upon ethnographic data is useful in revealing the actual social activities and practices surrounding multilingual writing online.