FYI: Language Documentation Center in Hawai'i

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With thanks to Donna Christian of CAL for the tip...

Entrepreneurial U.H. Students Setting up Language Documentation Center
By Lisa Ann Ebeling, 3/25/2005 1:18:16 AM
Two years ago in fall 2003, Meylysa Tseng, an international student from
Taiwan was inspired by the rich cultural diversity at the University of
Hawaii at Manoa. Meylysa, a Ph.D. student in linguistics, was looking for a
good community service project to organize. Suddenly, she realized that
there were many speakers of different endangered languages studying at the
university and that graduate students of linguistics could teach language
documentation skills to these students. At first many were skeptical. They
thought the project would not take off. But, that did not discourage Meylysa
who went on to recruit her other classmates to seek support from various
departments within the University. One semester later, nine previously
under-documented languages of the world received much needed attention, were
further away from extinction and the effort saw the winning of two awards:
the Jacob Peace Memorial Award and the NAFSA "Partnership in Excellence
Award."

Today, the Language Documentation Project (LDP) continues its social mission
by training students from countries with endangered languages on how to
document their languages and to apply for grants to expand their projects.
This semester there are 20 students being trained by graduate students in
the Linguistics Department, led by an equally dedicated graduate student,
Valerie Guerin from France. The project now utilizes computer software to
improve the documentation and archiving process and places its resources on
the Internet for speakers of the languages documented, as well as other
researchers to access them. Valeries dedication has been rewarded. This May,
she will present the project at the NAFSA international conference in
Seattle. According to Valerie the LDP director, the projects secret
ingredient is, the spirit of aloha and cooperation in reaching out to the
international student community at the university. The students who speak
endangered languages are placed in a constructive environment where people
care about their languages and culture. And in cooperation, everyone wins.
The Department of Linguistics benefits by having its student engage in real
and useful research. The University as a whole is enriched by the presence
of these laudable efforts. Graduate students in linguistics are provided
with an opportunity to pass on their training and skills. In the process,
everyone broadens their cultural knowledge and is motivated of the
importance of language preservation.

One of the languages documented so far is the Kemak language spoken by
approximately 50,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste,
commonly known as the East Timor. There are more than 15 other languages
spoken in this newly formed nation, which was recognized as an independent
state from Indonesia in 2002. The Kemak language faces a serious threat of
extinction as it is no longer widely spoken. To date, there has been very
little documentation of the Kemak language. Matias Gomes, an East Timorese
student joined the LDP in spring 2004 and worked together with linguistics
graduate student, Ryoko Hattori to compile a basic 300-word vocabulary list,
a writing system for the language and later the first alphabet picture book
in the Kemak language. Their work was later recognized and awarded the Jacob
Peace Memorial Award. Matias and Ryoko were funded by the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) to continue their work. Since
then, they have produced other products such as a recording of a Kemak
funeral song and a Kemak sketch grammar.

What happens next? Recently, an entrepreneurial business student has been
working to take LDP to greater heights. Philip Lee, a Japan-focused MBA
student from Malaysia began working with Valerie and the LDP team to write a
business plan to transform the LDP into the leading language documentation
center in the Asia Pacific region. The business plan was short listed in the
semi-finals of the 2005 U.H. Business Plan Competition and the final winner
will be announced at the end of this month. When interviewed, Philips eyes
gleamed with optimism, we plan to get state accreditation for The Language
Documentation Center (LDC) within the next year. And our five year plan is
to position LDC as the premier language documentation center in the Asia
Pacific region. We have innovative ideas and determination. The spirit of
cooperation that springs from the team will see great success. Philip adds
that the University of Hawaii at Manoa is one of only two universities in
the world currently offering a language documentation Masters program and
the unique culture in Hawaii that respects diversity promotes the success of
this center. Our work is in line with the Universitys Strategic Plans to
position itself as one of the worlds foremost multicultural centers for
global and indigenous studies. Yes, maybe my goals for LDC have been rather
conservative, as we are truly capable of being the worlds leader in language
documentation!

The LDC will hold an exhibition in Bishop Museum on April 2nd and 9th. Its
booth will present an interactive world map that allows visitors to select
languages on the screen and hear greetings in some of the endangered
languages from around the world. The LDC will also demonstrate its virtual
museum of languages archived on its website demonstrating a goal in line
with the Bishop Museums conservation mission. Native speakers who have been
working on the project will also be present. These future local language
leaders will proudly display creative works of their culture and language.
The LDC expresses its appreciation to Bishop Museum for its partnership in
this exhibition. As we continue to form more partnerships with Hawaiian
organizations, we will be able to enlarge our social mission. It is
impressive how Hawaii has developed its culture and language and I believe
as we have more intercultural exchanges, we will learn and enrich each
others cultures. We will even help others in preserving their culture,
Philip eyes glitter with optimism again.

Come support the language documentation project at the Bishop Museum. Also
on display at the Bishop Museum from April 1 onwards is the Journey With A
King exhibit and there is a celebration on April 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A
special performance will be rendered by the Konan High School Jazz Band from
Japan and the Le Jardin Academy Ukulele Choir. The Journey With A King
recounts stories of adventure and travel, from King Kalakauas personal
journal and other interesting exhibits.

Lisa Ann Ebeling is a first year MA student in liguistics from California.
She has been working with the LDC since Fall 2004. Contact her at:
lebeling at hawaii.edu