The paper by Yaron Matras is available free online at:<div><br><div><a href="http://www.elpublishing.org/docs/1/03/ldd03_13.pdf">http://www.elpublishing.org/docs/1/03/ldd03_13.pdf</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>Peter</div><div><br><br>On Friday, 30 October 2015, Ruth Singer <<a href="mailto:ruth.singer@gmail.com">ruth.singer@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial">Announcement: Melbourne Linguistics in
the Pub Tuesday 24th November 2015</span></b><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial">********NEW PUB: UNIVERSITY HOTEL******</span></b><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial">This month we are trying out a new pub, the
University Hotel, Lygon St, Carlton which has more cheap(ish) food options than Naughton’s</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial">Tonya Stebbins</span></i><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial"> (Monash University/Languagewise) will be leading the discussion, she has written widely on her experiences of doing fieldwork with a range of communities</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt">Topic:
</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt">Here
to help? – balancing research aims and community-oriented efforts in the field</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Field
linguists are also often well-intentioned, hoping to contribute to the
betterment of the world. This may be something they want to achieve only
through their academic research and teaching. But many would also
like to make a practical contribution to the community they research. Field linguists
often work with communities who are disadvantaged and feel a strong desire to
try and do something to redress the disadvantage. This can take the form of
providing support for language maintenance activities (Newman 2003) or general
volunteering such as collecting donations of secondhand clothes, helping out
with classes at the local school or driving people to the next town.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There has
been quite a bit written about these competing pressures and demands on a
linguist. Newman suggests that due to time constraints on fieldwork “‘the
good-hearted, well-meaning linguist, to whom we can all extend our admiration,
will do less of a job of basic documentation than one would have hoped
for’”(2000:6). Matras (2005) warns against the dangers of linguists taking the
role of saviours, stepping in to ‘save’ a language. Stebbins (2012) agrees that
the role of the linguist is highly contested and she looks at how power
imbalances hamper linguists’ efforts to contribute positively to the community
they work with. However Stebbins also argues that much what we do as linguists
in the field is negotiable so there is the possibility of creating a third
space between the community and academia, where people can engage on a more
equal footing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Background
readings:<br>
Matras, Yaron. 2005. Language contact, language endangerment, and the role of
the “salvation linguist.” Language documentation and description 3. 225–251.<br>
<br>
Newman P. 2003. The endangered language issue as a hopeless cause. In M. Janse
and S. Tol (eds.) 2003. Language Death and Language Maintenance. Theoretical,
Practical and Descriptive Approaches. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1-13.<br>
<br>
Stebbins, Tonya. 2012. On Being a Linguist and Doing Linguistics: Negotiating Ideology
through Performativity. <a href="http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/4501" target="_blank">http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/4501</a>
(29 October, 2015)<span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(35,31,32)">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(35,31,32)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Walsh, Michael. 2005. Will Indigenous
Languages Survive? <i>Annual Review of Anthropology</i> 34(1). 293–315.
doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120629.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(35,31,32)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial">Check RNLD MLIP page later for readings (to be
uploaded soon): <u><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a href="http://www.rnld.org/mlip" target="_blank">http://www.rnld.org/mlip</a></span></u> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial">Date:
Tuesday 24<sup>th</sup> November</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial">Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm<br>
Venue: Function room (upstairs)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"> <b>University
hotel</b> (NOTE NEW VENUE)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Address: </span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">272 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Phone: </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a title="Call via Hangouts"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,13,171);text-decoration:none"><span lang="EN-US">(03) 9347 7299</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">
</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.unihotel.com.au/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.unihotel.com.au/</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> (menu available online)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br>
LIP is an occasional gathering of language activists
and linguists in Melbourne and is coordinated by the MLIP committee:
Ruth Singer (Melbourne Uni), Harriet Sheppard, Jonathan Schlossberg, Alan Ray,
Giordana Santosuosso and Jonathon Lum (Monash Uni)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial">Contact Ruth Singer (University of Melbourne) with
any questions: <u><span style="font-size:12pt;color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rsinger@unimelb.edu.au');" target="_blank">rsinger@unimelb.edu.au</a></span></u><br>
You can receive these announcements by signing up to the RNLD mailing
list: <u><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a href="http://www.rnld.org/node/5" target="_blank">http://www.rnld.org/node/5</a></span></u> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Arial">Dr Ruth Singer<br>
DECRA Postdoctoral Fellow<br>
Linguistics Program and Research Unit for Indigenous Language<br>
School of Languages and Linguistics<br>
Faculty of Arts<br>
University of Melbourne 3010<br>
Tel. <u><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">+61 3 90353774</span></u><br>
<u><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a href="http://languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/academic-staff/ruth-singer" target="_blank">http://languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/academic-staff/ruth-singer</a></span></u><br>
<u><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a href="http://indiglang.arts.unimelb.edu.au/" target="_blank">http://indiglang.arts.unimelb.edu.au/</a></span></u></span></p>
</div>
</blockquote></div></div><br><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Prof Peter K. Austin<div>Marit Rausing Chair in Field Linguistics</div><div>Director, Endangered Languages Academic Programme<div>Research Tutor and PhD Convenor<br>Department of Linguistics, SOAS<br>Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square<br>London WC1H 0XG<br>United Kingdom<br><br>Homepage: <a href="http://www.hrelp.org/aboutus/staff/index.php?cd=pa" target="_blank">http://www.hrelp.org/aboutus/staff/index.php?cd=pa</a></div></div><div>Academia: <a href="https://soas.academia.edu/PeterAustin" rel="nofollow" style="color:rgb(59,89,152);text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:12.8800001144409px" target="_blank">https://soas.academia.edu/PeterAustin</a></div><div>ResearchGate: <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Austin2" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Austin2</a></div><div>ResearcherID: <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;white-space:nowrap"><a href="http://www.researcherid.com/rid/P-5066-2014" target="_blank">http://www.researcherid.com/rid/P-5066-2014</a></span></div><div>ORCID: <a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-0524" target="_blank">http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-0524</a></div><div>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/peterkaustin" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/peterkaustin</a></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div><br>