Survey of elicitation materials (SignGram COST Action)

[Gladys Tang]

Dear Josep,

I happened to come across this email which you sent some time ago. I probably have missed the opportunity to join your call for contribution, right?

Gladys
On 12 Mar, 2012, at 12:14 AM, Josep Quer <josep.quer at upf.edu> wrote:

> (Our apologies for multiple postings)
> 
> Dear colleague,
>  
> We are writing to you as the coordinators of a network of researchers working on European sign languages that has been funded by the intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST). The official name of this network is SignGram COST Action “Unraveling the grammars of European sign languages: pathways to full citizenship of deaf signers and to the protection of their linguistic heritage”.  Its main goal is to coordinate existing research groups working on sign language (SL) grammar in order to create a common blueprint to develop grammars for the different European sign languages. We are still at the beginning of a 4-year program and researchers have only met once. In the first meeting, everyone agreed that there are still many aspects of the grammar of European sign languages that need to be thoroughly explored before a comprehensive reference grammar can be produced (this holds for more well-studied sign languages, and even more so for sign languages that have a more recent research tradition).
>  
> In order to facilitate this research, specific elicitation techniques for the different grammatical properties are needed. Of course we know that there are many techniques and materials which have been used for elicitation before, and many of you have valuable experience based on those techniques and materials. So the first step is collecting materials that have already been used for elicitation and evaluating to what extent they could accompany the blueprint as a development tool. That is why  we decided to create a first inventory of such materials, classified for the specific purpose it was used for. At a later stage (if the researchers agree and there are no copyright problems) this material could be uploaded in the SignGram Cost Action webpage. This should allow different teams to use the same type of material to study the same linguistic phenomenon in different sign languages (adapted for differences among them, of course). “Materials” is an umbrella term, which includes pictures, videos but also more immaterial devices (like plays, ways to set up linguistic exchanges, suggestions on how to fix problems that usually arise when a specific setting is used, etc.). Although the institutional goal of COST is promoting the study of European sign languages, we know that this survey might be helpful also for researchers working on non-European sign languages.
>  
> We are writing to ask your help for this survey. If you or your research group have any materials that have been used to elicit sign language production for any kind of sign language research (anything from informal settings when working with informants, to experimental settings), we kindly request you answer the questionnaire that was prepared by our colleagues Kearsy Cormier  and Christian Rathmann. You find it attached to this mail. Please return the questionnaire to our colleague Galini Sapountzaki at the following e-mail address, by THURSDAY 12 APRIL, 2012:
>  gsapountz at uth.gr
>  
> This would be the first step. Those who answer the questionnaire will be contacted again, with a follow-up about the possibility (or not) of sharing materials. Note that sharing is not required for this initial survey; any concerns or problems about possibly sharing materials should be included in the survey. We will distribute a report about this survey to everyone who responds. The more people who respond to this survey, the more useful this exercise will be for everyone. To see an example of results from a similar survey that was undertaken in 2009, see here:
>  
> http://www.bslcorpusproject.org/wp-content/uploads/posterlondonelizitation.pdf
>  
> We hope that you find this initiative useful and we thank you in advance for your time and for your invaluable help,
> Josep Quer and Carlo Cecchetto
> 
> 
> 
> <COST elicitation materials survey questionnaire.doc>

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