What is a language profile?
- A tool for making it easier and more engaging to incorporate under-represented languages into linguistics classrooms
- More concretely, a language profile consists of:
- A variety of datasets on the language for use in undergraduate linguistics classrooms
- Contextualizing information about the language and culture
- Transcription and recording for language name pronunciation
- Map of where the language is spoken
- Numbers of speakers and endangerment status
- Sample text in the language
- Cultural information about food, music, etc., with links to videos and pictures where possible
Why did this idea come about?
(1) To address some of the barriers to including under-represented languages in linguistics classrooms
– Datasets from certain languages, like English, French, and German, tend to be more widely available
– Instructors are more likely to use data from other languages if they don’t need to construct the dataset themselves
– Instructors may not feel comfortable discussing a language if they don’t know anything about it, like how to pronounce the language name, where it’s spoken, etc.
(2) To emphasize to students that language isn’t a problem to solve or words on paper, but real language used by real people
– Linguistics courses often present data as completely disconnected from the people who speak it
– Anecdotally, students who have the chance to work directly with language speakers or in-depth in a language often report feeling much more invested in linguistic diversity, language revitalization, and related issues
– Language profiles are a way to bring a mini version of this fieldwork type of experience into far more linguistic classrooms
How do you choose the languages?
- Under-represented languages:
- Languages we don’t often see in linguistics classrooms
- Languages that have been historically marginalized and/or disadvantaged in some way, through genocide, colonization, language policies, etc.
- We choose languages where people from our team know members of the community (or are members of the community themselves)
- This way, we can work with community members to ensure that they feel happy with how the profile represents them
How can I use language profiles?
- In your classroom
- Search by dataset type or by language to find language profiles usable for your class
- We have datasets for a wide variety of undergraduate linguistics courses
- Datasets can be used in lectures, assignments, tutorial problems, etc.
- In introducing the language, you can use as much or as little as you like of the profile
- You can direct also students to the website to explore the entire profile
- In your conference talks
- Instead of a traditional background slide, use the context portion of a language profile!
- As a field methods project
- The Oromo language profile was created in part by students in Field Methods at University of Toronto Mississauga in Winter 2023
- You could use the language profile template as an exercise over the term in a field methods course
- If you do so and are willing to share, please get in touch! [link to contact us]
Who is involved in the project?
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How can I contribute?
- If you speak or work on an under-represented language that you would like to see included in the project, please contact us! [link to contact page]
- We would love to work with you to incorporate the language into the project!
- Your level of involvement could range from just directing us to some resources for us to base the profile on and checking the final profile to helping with all stages
- If you have contributions to profiles that already exist, please contact us! Contact Us
- Examples could include datasets that you already use in your courses and are willing to share
- See the idea about doing a language profile as a field methods exercise under “How can I use language profiles” [link to section]!
How do I cite the project?
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