Emerging community-based methodologies call for collaboration with speech
community members. Although motivated, community members may lack the tools or
training to contribute actively. In response, many linguists deliver training workshops in
documentation or preservation, while others train community members to record data.
Although workshops address immediate needs, they are limited to what the individual
linguist can teach. Speech community linguists may articulate goals beyond what one
researcher can undertake. This creates a need for more advanced training than can be
provided in the field.
This paper uses a case study example to illustrate how the need for advanced training
can be met through university-based workshops. It describes the process, challenges,
and outcomes of bringing a nine-member team of Kari’nja (Cariban) speakers from
Konomerume, Suriname to Eugene, Oregon for the 2010 Northwest Indian Language
Institute’s (NILI) annual Summer Institute and the Institute on Field Linguistics and
Language Documentation (InField). Lessons learned are situated in the context of
community-collaborative methodologies, and a central role for training is articulated.
This paper demonstrates that collaboration need not be limited to academic and speech
communities, but rather can extend to a greater population of individuals who share an
interest in promoting linguistic diversity.