Findings from the Workshop on User-Centered Design of Language Archives

This white paper describes findings from the workshop on User-Centered Design of Language Archives organized in February 2016 by Christina Wasson (University of North Texas) and Gary Holton (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa). It reviews relevant aspects of language archiving and user-centered design to construct the rationale for the workshop, relates key insights produced during the workshop, and outlines next steps in the larger research trajectory initiated by this workshop. The purpose of this white paper is to make all of the findings from the workshop publicly available in a short time frame, and without the constraints of a journal article concerning length, audience, format, and so forth. Selections from this white paper will be used in subsequent journal articles. So much was learned during the workshop; we wanted to provide a thorough documentation to ensure that none of the key insights would be lost. We consider this document a white paper because it provides the foundational insights and initial conceptual frameworks that will guide us in our further research on the user-centered design of language archives. We hope this report will be useful to members of all stakeholder groups seeking to develop user-centered designs for language archives.U.S. National Science Foundation Documenting Endangered Languages Program grants BCS-1543763 and BCS-1543828

Norman languages of the Channel Islands: Current situation, language maintenance and revitalisation

The Channel Islands have been self-governing dependencies of the British Crown since 1204, but their geographical location, indigenous languages and older cultural traditions are much closer to Normandy (north-west France). However, acculturation to English language and customs has accelerated in the last 200 years, and is now pervasive. This paper examines the situation of the indigenous languages of the islands, which are now highly endangered: practically all native speakers are aged over 70. The island varieties of Norman have traditionally had low status, which contributed to their decline, but in recent years there have been attempts to raise their status and to raise awareness of their imminent disappearance; these attempts have borne fruit with a degree of support from the islands’ governments. The paper first describes some of the linguistic features of Channel Island Norman, and then discusses efforts to preserve this aspect of island culture. The outcomes of the various revitalisation measures are also considered

Talk it up! — Integrating and prioritizing conversational data in documentation

Syllabus for workshop, CoLang 2016This course will introduce participants to some of the basic methodological and theoretical issues related to recording and analyzing everyday conversations. We will discuss specific contributions of naturalistic interactions to understanding aspects of linguistic structure, social interaction, and culture and explore how interactional data can be better integrated into language documentation projects.2015 NSF/BCS 1500841: CoLang 2016: Institute on Collaborative Language Research – ALASKA Alaska Native Language Cente

Creating Books for Use in Language Revitalization Classrooms: Considerations and Outcomes

In this paper, I examine the development, implementation, and results of utilizing three types of storybooks in a language revitalization classroom for students ages 5-12 learning Teotitlán del Valle Zapotec, an indigenous language of southern Mexico. Although each method used for creating books in Zapotec generated a positive reaction from students and parents, I consider the ways in which each method facilitates student learning while also problematizing the cultural authenticity of the classroom. Based on classroom observations, a parent focus group, and student interviews, I conclude that the most effective method for storybook creation involved students creating their own book modeled on a pre-existing book written in the non-indigenous language. This student-created book generated sustained interest in the language and allowed for students to shape the materials into something that was culturally relevant for them personally

Language ecology and photographic sound in the McWorld

The unique sounds of the world’s small-scale languages are being extinguished at an alarming rate. This article explores links between acoustic ecology and language ecology and outlines an approach to the creation of archive material as both source for and useful by-product of sound art practice and research. Through my work with endangered clicklanguages in the Kalahari Desert, it considers the boundaries between language and music and discusses the use of flat speaker technology to explore new relations between sound and image, portrait and soundscape in a cross-cultural context

Endangered language maintenance and revitalisation: the role of social networks

Numerous studies have found that high-density, ‘traditional’ social networks correlate with the use of low-status or local language varieties. Why some people maintain an ancestral language and transmit it to their children, while others abandon it, is a major issue in the study of language endangerment. This study focuses on Guernesiais, the endangered indigenous language of Guernsey, Channel Islands. Baseline data were collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews; ethnographic methods then shed light on ideologies, attitudes, and the processes of language shift. Availability of interlocutors correlates strongly with fluency, for both native speakers and learners, but the increasing age and linguistic isolation of many native speakers contributes to both individual and societal language loss, along with other factors. Options for supporting (or reconstituting) social networks through language planning are examined