Labovian narrative analysis of a Pakistani schoolteacher’s experience of teaching English

Abstract

This article aims to understand, employ, and explore the importance of the Labovian method of analyzing narratives of experience. The authors in this article, firstly, discuss the theoretical foundations wherefrom narrative approaches including the Labovian analytical method has sprung. Later, they explain the components that are involved in the method. Secondly, they discuss a research study that employed the Labovian method and explore how the Labovian method has been employed for analyzing an experience. Thirdly, the authors attempt to construct a narrative from one of the author’s data and analyze it through the Labovian lenses. Fourthly, they discuss the Labovian elements of narrative analysis that they found in their narrative. Finally, the authors reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the Labovian methods for analyzing narratives of events.