can you follow the assignment instructions carefully? ANTH

Endangered Language Research

Choosing an Endangered Language & Finding Sources

Step 1: Finding a Language:

· Start with this list of resources on endangered languages: explore and eventually identify some languages of interest to you.

· Endangered Languages Project:  http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/

· UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger: http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/

· SIL: https://www.sil.org/sociolinguistics/endangered-languages (go to world map)

· Endangered Languages Documentation Program: https://www.eldp.net/ (also have a map)

· The Guardian List: https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered

· Think about criteria that define the languages you might want to focus on: Region of the world? Number of speakers? Degree of endangerment? Presence or absence of an active revitalization movement?

· As you explore and search for sources, think about what you’re seeing: where are the bulk of the world’s endangered languages located? Among endangered languages, where have scholars done the most research, and where has there been little research?

· Make a list of 3-4 endangered languages that you think you might be interested in.

· At this stage, try not to get too attached to any particular language. Many of the world’s endangered languages have not been extensively studied by sociolinguists.

Step 2: Identifying possible sources.

For your paper you will need:

3 scholarly articles or chapters from academic books.

OR

1 academic book.

OR

[At least 1 scholarly article + 3 or more non-scholarly sources.]

Sources must be relevant to the topic of language change/endangerment/revitalization.

Sources must be up-to-date: at least one of your sources must be published since 2000, and I will only consider sources pre-1980s on a case-by-case basis.

Searching for Scholarly Sources:

Method 1: Use the search bar on the library homepage.

* Make sure to choose the “WOU + Summit + Articles, etc.” option!

Method 2 (Recommended): Use an academic database.

Find databases through the library website by scrolling down and clicking the button marked "Databases." Databases are listed alphabetically. Good databases for this project are:  

JSTOR Arts & Sciences

Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)

Anthropology Plus

What is a scholarly source ?

· Articles published in peer-reviewed journals.

· Books published by academic publishing houses.

· Look at the language used in the title and description: does it use some of the scholarly vocabulary that we have been learning?

· If you’re not sure, ASK!

What is an appropriate scholarly source?

-Make sure it’s right area of research.

- Sociolinguistic/linguistic anthropology perspectives vs. formal linguistic perspectives vs. strictly socio-cultural perspectives.

- Using keywords in the title & abstract as a guide.

- Read the abstract or publisher’s summary carefully to determine what the article is really about: do you recognize the topic or approach as relevant to our class?

Tips for finding relevant scholarly sources:

· Start your search broad and narrow down by adding more keywords.

· Use bibliographies/works cited pages to find additional sources.

· Pro-tip: some languages have different names! Especially because languages belong to language families and there are dialects/local varieties within languages.

· Make sure you can access the source!! If not available through our library, place a request asap.

· To access an online source or make a request, make sure you’re logged in to the library site.

What are appropriate non-scholarly sources ?

· Examples:

News sources (reputable)

Blogs

Online databases, research orgs & reports, preservation/revitalization materials

· Think critically about these sources: who wrote it and what’s their relationship to the subject; what’s the venue of publication & what does that tell us; for whom was this piece written and why?

· Think about how you would use the information and perspectives in these sources.

· Treat these sources as primary sources.

· Thinking like an anthropologist about the information presented in these sources, the perspectives they are coming from, and what they tell us about the process of language endangerment/revitalization and/or the larger public discourse around these subjects.