ABSTRACT
The second chapter exposes the theoretical questions faced by researchers analyzing on-screen multilingualism. It also describes and explains in detail the research methodology developed by the book’s author. The first part of the chapter reviews previous research on film and television dialogue, arguing that it’s best not to isolate the linguistic exchanges from the original audiovisual frame in which they occur. Unlike spontaneous, “non-scripted” conversation, on-screen linguistic contact is mediated by recording technologies and production practices of the media in which a series is made and circulated. The second part of the chapter offers a detailed description of the research methodology developed, which is based on sequence segmentation and coding according to linguistic and narrative parameters and styles. While the chapter presents an exhaustive description of the methodology adopted, with its strengths and limitations, it also encourages readers to think and develop their own research methods, more suitable to their available cultural and linguistic tool kits.
