[RNLD] Melbourne Linguistics in the Pub Tuesday 24th November 2015: Here to help? – balancing research aims and community-oriented efforts in the field

[Peter Austin]

The paper by Yaron Matras is available free online at:

http://www.elpublishing.org/docs/1/03/ldd03_13.pdf

Peter


On Friday, 30 October 2015, Ruth Singer <ruth.singer at gmail.com> wrote:

> *Announcement: Melbourne Linguistics in the Pub Tuesday 24th November 2015*
>
>
>
> *********NEW PUB: UNIVERSITY HOTEL*******
>
>
>
> 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
>
>
>
> *Tonya Stebbins* (Monash University/Languagewise) will be leading the
> discussion, she has written widely on her experiences of doing fieldwork
> with a range of communities
>
>
>
> *Topic: *Here to help? – balancing research aims and community-oriented
> efforts in the field
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
>
> Background readings:
> Matras, Yaron. 2005. Language contact, language endangerment, and the role
> of the “salvation linguist.” Language documentation and description 3.
> 225–251.
>
> 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.
>
> Stebbins, Tonya. 2012. On Being a Linguist and Doing Linguistics:
> Negotiating Ideology through Performativity.
> http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/4501 (29 October, 2015).
>
>
>
> Walsh, Michael. 2005. Will Indigenous Languages Survive? *Annual Review
> of Anthropology* 34(1). 293–315.
> doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120629.
>
>
>
> Check RNLD MLIP page later for readings (to be uploaded soon): *http://www.rnld.org/mlip
> <http://www.rnld.org/mlip>*
>
>
>
> Date:      Tuesday 24th November
>
> Time:       6:00 - 8:00 pm
> Venue:     Function room (upstairs)
>
>               *University hotel* (NOTE NEW VENUE)
>
> *Address: *272 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
>
> *Phone:   *(03) 9347 7299
>
>                 http://www.unihotel.com.au/ (menu available online)
>
>
> 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)
>
>
>
> Contact Ruth Singer (University of Melbourne) with any questions: *rsinger at unimelb.edu.au
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rsinger at unimelb.edu.au');>*
> You can receive these announcements by signing up to the RNLD mailing
> list: *http://www.rnld.org/node/5 <http://www.rnld.org/node/5>*
>
>
>
> Dr Ruth Singer
> DECRA Postdoctoral Fellow
> Linguistics Program and Research Unit for Indigenous Language
> School of Languages and Linguistics
> Faculty of Arts
> University of Melbourne 3010
> Tel. *+61 3 90353774*
> *http://languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/academic-staff/ruth-singer
> <http://languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/academic-staff/ruth-singer>*
> *http://indiglang.arts.unimelb.edu.au/
> <http://indiglang.arts.unimelb.edu.au/>*
>


-- 
Prof Peter K. Austin
Marit Rausing Chair in Field Linguistics
Director, Endangered Languages Academic Programme
Research Tutor and PhD Convenor
Department of Linguistics, SOAS
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
United Kingdom

Homepage: http://www.hrelp.org/aboutus/staff/index.php?cd=pa
Academia: https://soas.academia.edu/PeterAustin
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Austin2
ResearcherID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/P-5066-2014
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-0524
Twitter: https://twitter.com/peterkaustin
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