Project Descriptions in Language Revitalization

Revitational project descriptions are around 10 pages long and present project proposals at different stages, from the conceptualization phase to their implementation or evaluation. The primary difference between a Project Description and a Chronicle is the stage of the work. Chronicles should report on current or past experiences. Project descriptions are plans for future work and work in progress being undertaken by a given community or group of revitalizationists. Revitalization project descriptions can be an opportunity to have a future project reviewed by peers in language revitalization and validated by way of a publication. This could prove useful when presenting the project for funding or for approval, for instance. Documentation and language description projects can be accepted provided that they make a clear connection to revitalization work.

Authors

Authors are not required to have academic affiliations. Each author should include a short bio (30 words), where they mention their academic and non-academic affiliations, and/or connections to the community/language. They can also include any experience or professional position they believe can demonstrate their expertise in the field.

Content

Project Descriptions should include the following, within a framework that includes the appropriate information on the following aspects:

  • Please introduce in the first section of the paper the author(s), their relationship with/within the community, their role in the described project, etc. Who is/are the authors and their role in the revitalization efforts?
  • Need for revitalization of the language(s)
  • Please say something about the community and some characteristics of the local environment where the actions took (or are taking) place. You can also describe some of the key people or groups of people involved.
  • Cultural epistemology defined as language and cultural knowledge principles that guide the project. How does the project match the community's perspectives, needs and goals? Is the project a community initiative or rather a community-researcher partnership?
  • Goals of the project.
  • Implementation of the goals. It is important to describe the actions planned. Will there be meetings/workshops? Is the plan to create language learning materials? If yes, please describe the products to be created, which can be physical objects (books, reports, videos, class materials, songs, etc) or actions (workshops, trips, community celebrations or activities, etc.). When would the activities start (end)?
  • Assessment protocol. Notice that most funding agencies do require that authors state the way the work will be assessed.
  • Funding needed.

Peer review process for Project Descriptions

All contributions will undergo a peer-reviewed process.

  • Project Descriptions will be evaluated in terms of how informative they are.
  • We encourage Project Descriptions to be centered on community perspectives and to describe the impact of revitalization efforts within the language community.
  • If possible, we ask authors to suggest one to three names of people who have experience with the type of project being described (e.g. in a neighboring community) or know about the described experience and can comment on the Project Description and make suggestions for its improvement.
  • For contributions written in languages being revitalized, we ask authors to arrange for another member of the language community to review the contribution and also suggest someone external who, if proficient in the language in question, might review the paper.
  • If there are any perspectives or advice you would like to receive through the peer review process, please state so upon submission.