Contact info

For Library research help, please contact Moninder Lalli, Librarian for Sociology / Anthropology by email (moninder_lalli@sfu.ca) or Ask a librarian.

Essay  

Start Your Research Here - This page gives you an overview of the research process, or in other words how to find materials for your essay

Selected encyclopedias and handbooks

Get an overview of a topic by using encyclopedias, handbooks or textbook.  These types of resources identify key authors, theories and  important resources on a topic.

• Cambridge handbook of linguistic anthropology 
• The international encyclopedia of linguistic anthropology (2021)
• International encyclopedia of linguistics - Historical, comparative, formal, mathematical, functional linguistics and sociolinguistics
• Oxford handbook of language evolution
• Routledge Companion to Media Anthropology
• Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies 
• Routledge handbook of language and emotion
• Routledge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology

For more, see reference works in linguistics

Find journal articles

Searching the "Databases for a discipline" is a great strategy to view articles that have been written within the scholarly journals of that discipline.  For help, refer to the How to find journal articles, What is a scholarly journal? [guide], Finding articles: Advanced search techniques [video 3:13 mins]

If full-text of article is not available from within the database, click on the "Get@SFU" to start a search.  If the Library does not provide access, then use the Citation Finder/ILL tab to request a copy from another library (free) through SFU Library's Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service.

Anthropological databases

• Anthropology Plus  - Indexes material relating to anthropology
  • To find "ethnographies", use the descriptor terms: ethnography, cultural ethnology
    • Enter into search box: DE Cultural ethnography
• AnthroSource
  • Full-text access to journals published by the American Anthropological Association (AAA Journal list)

Sociological databases

• ProQuest Sociology Collection - for issues related to class, gender, racism, sexuality and sexism and theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and policy science. Also searches Sociological Abstracts.
• Sociological Abstracts - theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and policy science.
• Social Sciences Full Text - social sciences journals

Databases for linguistics

• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) -- The most inclusive database for research in all aspects of Linguistics
• ERIC -- Education research and practice, first and additional language acquisition, computer-aided language learning
• PsycINFO -- Citations to literature in the field of psychology, psycholinguistics, bilingualism and language acquisition

For a more complete list, try Databases for linguistics

Find books

Library Catalogue search guide

Search the SFU Library Catalogue: Advanced keyword

• linguist* AND anthropol*
• linguist* AND (anthropo* OR ethnogra* OR ethnolog*) AND theor*
• "critical discourse analysis" AND (anthropo* OR ethnogra* OR ethnolog*) AND language AND(power OR ideology OR identity OR institutions OR "social values")
• linguist* AND (war OR propaganda OR national*)
• linguist* AND (politic* OR power*) AND (anthropol* OR ethn*)

Combine different concepts using AND
Combine same concepts using OR
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase
Use brackets for synonyms
Use asterisk (*) for different endings of words

Use pull-down menu and select, "Source Types" as "Books"

Note:  For Catalogue Search, when combining concepts, use CAPITAL letters ( "OR", "AND")

When you find a useful book, click on its "subject" to find more books on the same topic.

Selected books

• A new companion to linguistic anthropology
• Alarming reports: communicating conflict in the daily news (Anthropology of media)
• Approaches to language and culture
• Digital anthropology [print]
• Essays in linguistic ethnography : ethics, aesthetics, encounters [print]
• Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts : Truth, Love, Hate and War
• Language and ethnicity 
• Language and ethnonationalism in contemporary West Central Balkans : a corpus-based approach
• Language and globalization : an autoethnographic approach 
• Language and materiality : ethnographic and theoretical explorations 
• Language diversity in the USA 
• Language, Vernacular Discourse and Nationalisms: Uncovering the Myths of Transnational Worlds
• Linguistic relativity today : language, mind, society, and the foundations of linguistic anthropology
• Linguistic worldview ethnolinguistics, cognition, and culture
• Living language : an introduction to linguistic anthropology
• Looking like a language, sounding like a race : raciolinguistic ideologies and the learning of Latinidad 
• Narratives of conflict, belonging, and the state : discourse and social life in post-war Ireland 
• Native bias : overcoming discrimination against immigrants 
• Politics of multilingualism Europeanisation, globalisation and linguistic governance

Browse by subject

You can also "browse by subject" to find  books about a topic.

Catalogue Search / Browse

Change "Title" to "Subject" and enter "subject" terms

• Anthropo-linguistics
• Ethnolinguistics
• Linguistic anthropology
• Linguistic anthropology -- [geographic area}
• Mass media and anthropology
• Sociolinguistics
• Sociolinguistics -- [geographic area]
• Sociolinguistics -- United States

Library guides

• Annotated bibliographies
• Evaluating sources
• How to find journal articles.
• Library Catalogue search guide.
• What is a scholarly (or peer-reviewed) journal?
• What is plagiarism?  Guide to common forms of plagiarism and how to avoid them.

Presentation skills

• Resources on developing your participation skills
• Resources to help you improve your presentation skills

Writing help

See the Student Learning Commons for expert and friendly help with academic writing, learning, and study strategie