ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic restructured communication practices in communities around the world. The constraints of the pandemic also stimulated new methodological approaches for conducting ethnographic research. As transnational researchers, we analyze the “where, how, and why” in relation to researching the language(s) of health warnings around us. Our chapter begins with a description of how linguistic ethnography and duo-ethnography work in tandem to create the innovative method of linguistic duo-ethnography. We then discuss our practical choices of data collection, showing that our WhatsApp audio messages, texts, and photographs emerged as valuable tools in our linguistic duo-ethnography. This approach supported flexible roles as participant observers and empathetic witnesses, leading us to advocate for greater linguistic inclusion and culturally responsive communication. A situated account of our joint reflections on methodological choices during an era of travel and work restrictions is provided with a call for continuing the method in post-COVID times.
