Conference: CoLang 2018: Institute for Collaborative Language Research -- Florida

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

The global crisis in language loss and endangerment represents a tremendous loss in scientific information as well as linguistic and cultural heritage. Addressing this problem requires skilled and well-informed collaboration between indigenous communities and academic experts, and the expertise necessary to achieve such collaboration requires specialized training in linguistics and a variety of other fields. The Institute for Collaborative Language Research (CoLang) is designed to respond to these needs. CoLang is a unique summer institute that provides critical training for researchers and collaborators in language documentation techniques and practices. The Institute advances the scientific study of language, enables the preservation of rapidly disappearing knowledge, and trains the next generation of language researchers. The promotion of linguistic knowledge that CoLang represents is essential in our globalized world and as the United States increasingly becomes linguistically diverse. In effect, activities of Institute alumni and participants foster strong international relationships and capacity building, serving a role akin to soft diplomacy and in support of the national interest. CoLang 2018 will be held at The University of Florida in June and July 2018. Broader impacts include training of academic linguists, undergraduate and graduate students, and indigenous community members, including those underrepresented in the language sciences. Additionally, workshop materials will be disseminated to attendees as well as a wider public audience through a new endangered language archive, The University of Florida Language Archive (TUFLA). CoLang 2018 will consist of two parts, lasting five weeks total. First, two weeks of intensive workshops focus on the practice and principles of documentary linguistics and fieldwork, ranging from new technology to interdisciplinary methods to best practices in ethical community collaborations. Second, the Institute offers an optional three weeks of intensive field methods courses focused on working with speakers of different endangered languages. These practica weeks require participants to use the technology and documentation skills acquired during the preceding workshops. The entire five-week Institute thus offers state of the art instruction, combined with guided practical experience, allowing participants to acquire methods, technical skills and collaborative approaches. CoLang has a developed a significant track record of national and international success. Previous participants have used their CoLang training to venture into successful fieldwork and community documentation projects across the world. Importantly, one of the themes for CoLang 2018 is archiving, key to the development and adoption of interoperable standards and data sharing. CoLang 2018 activities in this area will continue to support models of robust and reliable research in the social and behavioral sciences, including through the data management of practicum documentation and its onsite archiving at TUFLA by CoLang participants.