Irina Zhulamanova, Independent Consultant, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Research: An Investigation of Confrontational Discourses and Impoliteness Theory
Host: University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Babara, CA
August 2004-May 2005

UCSB gradstudents invited Irina Zhulamanova to see a student concert of Javanese music and dance.

I conducted my research project, "Investigation of Confrontational Discourses and Impoliteness Theory," in the department of linguistics at the University of Santa Barbara, California.

My main objective for coming to the United States and doing research was to learn to process and analyze audio-recorded speech data. After becoming familiar with the departmental recording and digitizing equipment; attending several graduate courses, seminars and conferences at the linguistics, communication and education; and writing a research paper under the guidance of my sponsoring professor Mary Bucholts, my knowledge and level of analysis was significantly improved.

I also had informal discussions and common activities with the graduate students, who were the main source of my cultural knowledge of people and universities in the United States. The diverse community of the linguistic department and the university provides significant background for the socio-cultural research trends that I have been exposed to.

Another Kazakh Fulbrighter Roza Tayeva came to visit Irina Zhulamanova in Santa Barbara.

Among the most remarkable new things that I absorbed during my time as a Visiting Scholar are the human subject related issues in collecting and processing audio-recorded data. Although the process of human-subject approval delayed my data collection, it helped me understand the connection between research ethics and data authenticity and learn a modern methodology of data collection. It was also helpful to work in the graduate students' lab because of the culture of collaboration, exchange of knowledge and ideas and mutual support. My questions were answered right away and I was provided technical help for the department equipment and software.

Among my accomplishments during and immediately following my Fulbright Visiting Scholar award, I achieved the following:

1. Collected about 80 hours of interactions in service encounters and interviews about impoliteness in service.
2. Presented my research at three conferences:

   a.	Empire or Interdependence Friends University, Wichita, KS on March 30-April 1, 2005
   b.	Language and Identity Tapestry, Georgetown University, Washington, DC on February 18-20, 2005
   c.	Langues et Relations de Service: Identités, Interactions, Formations, Nancy, France, on June 16-17, 2005.

3. Gave a lecture at the Houston Community College on April 7, 2005.
4. Published a book review in the Journal of Sociolinguistics, on May 2005.
5. Sent my paper, "Identity Conflict and Evaluation of Impoliteness in Cross-Cultural Service Encounters in Kazakhstan," for publication in the international journal Language and Intercultural Communication.
6. Prepared materials for two more papers based on the current research. One is entitled, "Ethnic Identities in Interviews about Impoliteness in Service Encounters in Kazakhstan," and the other one is entitled, "Impoliteness and Interaction in Service Encounters."

My life in the United States was busy but comfortable. My family and I were lucky in getting an apartment in a university family housing complex. Aside from its close location to the campus, it has a very nice community of student families and a well-designed space and facility for children. We enjoyed it a lot. I did need to learn to drive, as the public transportation in Santa Barbara-especially in Goleta where we lived, is rather limited. Thanks to a used car, I could take my daughter to school and to see her friends, take my husband to night English classes in a city community college and visit some tourist areas in California with my family.

I also attended a couple of very well organized meetings of the Regional Fulbright Enrichment Program in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it was difficult to travel there often because of the long distance and my tight schedule.

Irina Zhulamanova with adopted Kazakh kids and their American mothers at Nauryz in Santa Barbara.

Through the department professor Pat Clancy, I met some Santa Barbara families who have adopted children from Kazakhstan. It was interesting to see how these kids get used to their new parents and new language and how they become happy kids. Since there are extremely negative attitudes to international adoptions in Kazakhstan, I decided to collect pictures and information about these children to report in the Kazakhstan media. We had a celebration of the Kazakh New Year, Nauryz, with these families and the department grad students. The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program has given me an extraordinary year.