Corpora: CFP: Workshop on "Developing language resources for minority languages"

[Briony Williams]

                            Workshop on

          Developing language resources for minority languages:
          -----------------------------------------------------
                   reusability and strategic priorities
                   ------------------------------------
                Athens, Greece  -   May 30  (14:30 - 20:00)

                     (Preceding LREC2000 conference)

              http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/SALTMIL/lrec00.html


                           CALL FOR PAPERS
                           ---------------

There will be a one-day workshop on the theme of "Developing language
resources for minority languages: re-useability and strategic priorities" on
the afternoon of May 30th 2000 at Athens, Greece (preceding the 2nd
International Language Resources and Evaluation Conference, LREC2000).  The
aim of the workshop is to bring together those who are developing language
resources for minority languages, in order to build contacts and share
experience.  The workshop will include the first meeting of the ISCA SALTMIL
SIG: "Speech and Language Technology for Minority Languages".


                       WORKSHOP SCOPE AND AIMS
                       -----------------------

The minority or "lesser used" languages of the world (e.g.  Basque, Welsh,
Breton) are under increasing pressure from the major languages.  Some of them
(e.g.  Gaelic) are endangered, but others (e.g.  Catalan) are in a stronger
position.  However, the situation with regard to language resources is
fragmented and disorganised.  Some minority languages have been adequately
researched linguistically, but most have not, and the vast majority do not yet
possess basic speech and language resources (such as text and speech corpora)
which are sufficient to permit commercial development of products.

If this situation were to continue, the minority languages of the world would
fall a long way behind the major languages, as regards the availability of
commercial speech and language products.  This in turn will accelerate the
decline of those languages that are already struggling to survive, as speakers
are forced to use the majority language for interaction with these products.
To break this vicious circle, it is important to encourage the development of
basic language resources.

The workshop is a small step towards encouraging the development of such
resources.  The aim is to disseminate information on existing projects and
possible future strategies, as well as forming personal contacts and sharing
best practice.  This will make it easier for isolated researchers with little
funding and no pre-existing resources to begin developing language resources
that are maximally useful.

The workshop will also incorporate the first meeting of the ISCA "SALTMIL"
SIG: "Speech and Language Technology for MInority Languages".


Talks will include the following:

1) A general overview of the situation of minority languages.
   (Donncha O'Croinin, Ireland)

2) Strategic priorities for the development of language technology in
   minority languages.
   (Kepa Sarasola, Basque Country)

3) Funding for research into language technology for minority languages.
   (Bojan Petek, Slovenia)


The contributed poster papers will focus on existing projects in the
field, with the opportunity to share useful information.  This includes
(but is not limited to) topics such as:

1) Presentations of existing speech and text databases for minority
   languages, with particular emphasis on software tools that have been
   found useful in their development.

2) Presentation of existing lexicons for minority languages, with
   particular emphasis on fast production methods.


                            Submissions
                            -----------

Papers are invited that will describe existing speech and language resources
for minority languages (speech databases, text databases, and lexicons), also
papers based on the analysis of these resources.  All contributed papers will
be presented in poster form.  Abstracts (maximum 500 words) should be sent to:

Donncha O'Croinin, ITE, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.
email:   doc at ite.ie
Electronic submission is preferred (plain text, Postscript, or MS Word 6.0).

Those who wish to attend without offering a paper are asked to indicate their
interest to Donncha O'Croinin (doc at ite.ie) in order to receive their own
copy of the final programme and registration details.

The workshop webpage is at:  http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/SALTMIL/lrec00.html


                            Important dates
                            ---------------

Deadline for submission of abstracts:       11 February 2000
Notification of acceptance:                  3 March 2000
Camera-ready papers due:                    28 March 2000
Workshop:                                   30 May (afternoon)

                             Organizers
                             ----------

   Briony Williams    University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
   Donncha O'Croinin  Linguistics Institute of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
   Climent Nadeu      Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Catalunya, Spain
   Kepa Sarasola      University of the Basque Country, Basque Country
   Bojan Petek        University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

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                 LREC2000 CONFERENCE INFORMATION
                 -------------------------------
                31 May - 2 June 2000, Athens, Greece

General information about the main conference is at:
http://www.icp.grenet.fr/ELRA/lrec2000.html)

Specific queries about the conference should be directed to:

Ms. Despina Scutari
LREC Secretariat
Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP)
6, Artemidos & Epidavrou Str.
15125 Marousi
Athens
GREECE

Tel: +301 6800959
Fax: +301 6854270
e-mail:  LREC2000 at ilsp.gr

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