I’m curious: what would you do for language reclamation/documentation/etc if you had $1million? How about $10million? That is, rather than the much smaller research grants we have access to (of $1,000, 10,000 or up to $250,000), larger amounts would let us think bigger. But there are many ways to think bigger!
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Interesting thought exercise!
Build research software for linguists that play well together. Move current tools to modern, cross-platform and open-source versions.
Create a series in person events that bring together linguistics, engineers, and community members for networking, language app development, and training.
Research about of data sovereignty, IPR, and other social impacts of language documentation and NLP and advocate for better awareness of these issues among large companies, gov agencies, and university departments that teach computer engineering, info or data science, etc. Not solutions per se, just awareness of issues with data-based impacts to start with!
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Provide funding for projects that focus on creating "new adult’ and “youth” speakers for “critically endangered” Indigenous languages. That would mean financially supporting mother-tongue or other proficient speakers and learners to spend structured and unstructured time in immersion using methodology that works for Indigneous communities that do not have contexts in which to do natural immersion. At the same time, I would also focus on building capacity in community-based and community controlled language documentation and ILT development (digital resources, references, CALL, etc.)that has a “low bar” for entry AND based on the pedagogical and andrological, and cultural needs of the communities’ learners.
Just some thoughts…
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[quote=“SarahRMoeller, post:2, topic:1197”]
Research about of data sovereignty, IPR, and other social impacts of language documentation and NLP and advocate for better awareness of these issues among large companies, gov agencies, and university departments that teach computer engineering, info or data science, etc.
[/quoteResearch about of data sovereignty, IPR, and other social impacts of language documentation and NLP and advocate for better awareness of these issues among large companies, gov agencies, and university departments that teach computer engineering, info or data science, etc.
– I would say that we need help community-based and institutionally-based (university, etc.) Indigenous scholars (and ethical allies) create better awareness among the political and thought leaders of their Indigenous nations and amongst the members of their nations. So many of the general public, as well, know so little about best practices in language pedagogy/androgogy and just jump on the bandwagon of IT, and especially now AI, because it is so “bright and shiny”.
At present, I know of (unwittingly and strategically) ignorant tech companies wanting to “help” Indigeous nations with their supposed AI ILT needs. These companies are happy to separate Indigenous nations from their funding and provide less than useful TOOLS for their specific contexts. The focus is not on creating TOOLS for use under guidance of community members and promote community linguistic and cultural empowerment,capacity-bulding and resurgence. And, like many of the first apps that came out, the AI tools I have seen so far do not focus on helping learners internalize language by developing phonemic, morphological, morphosyntactic awareness and flexible, practical communication skills to use with human beings in their families, in their communities and on the land.
Just some thoughts…
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