Ling G: Linguist and native speaker: A powerful duo

This course will discuss main methodologies and best practices in linguistic fieldwork with a special emphasis on the collection of ecologically-valid data. We will examine the history of field work and consider some of the misconceptions held both by field work practitioners and recipients of field work results. In particular, fieldwork is sometimes viewed as colonial in its nature or too scholar-oriented, and fieldworkers may be seen as separated from the native speakers and unwilling to give back to their community. To address these concerns, we will focus on viable current fieldwork practices; methodological issues concerning the quality and management of the data; interactions between researchers and language consultants, and the role of theory in fieldwork. Work in the course will include analysis of primary data, and the final meeting of the course will include elicitation with a native speaker consultant (language TBD).