York's Hidden Stories

“This book explores the hidden stories of migrants in the UK and the unseen stories that lie behind thematic analyses of interviews. York’s Hidden Stories: Interviews in Applied Linguistics highlights the social practices involved in research interviewing, and makes practical recommendations for eliciting narratives. Written in an engaging style with numerous examples, this book provides a theoretically-informed, up-to-date guide for how to do high-quality interview research. A valuable contribution to the field of applied linguistics!” –Kathryn Roulston, Mary Frances Early College of Education, University of Georgia, USA
"In their compelling argument for theorizing the data-generating technology of the research interview, Zhurauskaya and Wicaksono provide an important contribution to the developing scholarship in applied linguistics on the inherent sociality of research methods. The volume is a must-read for researchers and students who are committed to moving beyond simplistic ‘you ask-they answer-then you know’ approaches to interviewing that continue to vex empirical inquiry in today’s ‘Interview Society'." --Steven Talmy, University of British Columbia, Canada

This book explores the mechanics of storytelling within a study aimed at focusing on a ‘hidden’ population of migrants in the city of York, UK. Taking applied linguistics to mean the consideration of real-world ‘problems’ as identified by a ‘client’, in which the use of (and beliefs about) language is a significant component, the authors describe the benefits and challenges of working in a partnership with a community organisation. With project participants from Africa, Europe, Asia and South and Central America who had lived in York between two and fifty years, the study considers the co-construction of meaning in interviews from a range of practical and theoretical perspectives. The book will be of interest to students, academic researchers and community project leaders who are interested in migration stories and interviews as a method of data collection.
​Rachel Wicaksono is Associate Professor and Head of the School of Education, Language and Psychology at York St John University, UK.
Dasha Zhurauskaya was awarded a Master’s by Research from the University of Leeds after completing a BA (Hons) in English Language and Linguistics at York St John University, UK.