McGill Linguistics will host a workshop on computational issues in fieldwork May 27th–28th. The workshop will focus on computational tools for transcribing, storing and searching linguistic data. There is a special focus on fieldwork, but it should be of broader interest as well––no background required.

In addition to work by Montreal-based iLanguage Lab, a key partner in the Mi’gmaq Partnership, the workshop will feature a talk and workshop by keynote speaker Alexis Palmer.

Monday, May 27th –– in Linguistics Department, room 117
3–4pm – Hisako Noguchi & Gina Cook: “Why LingSync?” [Why LingSync? slides]
4–5pm – Alexis Palmer: “Computational Linguistics for Low-Resource Languages” [slides]
6pm–… – Wine & Cheese reception at iLanguage Lab [LingSync Lite tutorial slides]

Tuesday, May 28th –– in Thompson House, room 404
9:45 – 10:30 – BREAKFAST (provided)
10:30–12:00 – Josh Horner, Tobin Skinner & Carol Little, Workshop: “Plugging in to LingSync”
12:00–1:30 – LUNCH (provided)
1:30–2:30 – Erin Olson: “Using Forced Alignment for Segmental Analysis: A Review” [slides] [links to scripts]
2:30–3:30 – Robert Henderson: “Reclaiming SIL Bibles for Linguistic Research” [slides]
3:30–3:45 – COFFEE (provided)
3:45–5:30 – Alexis Palmer, Workshop: “Data Management and Manipulation for Field Linguists” [slides]

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada