48
Languages and Literature of China and South East Asia
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide students with a solid theoretical foundation and practical skills in linguistic fieldwork, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia and the issue of endangered languages. Students will acquire methodological tools to design and carry out their own research project, addressing the ethical, technical, and analytical aspects of field-based linguistic inquiry.
Expected Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the linguistic landscape of Southeast Asia and analyze the factors affecting language vitality and endangerment in the region;
- Grasp the theoretical principles and core practices of linguistic fieldwork;
- Collect linguistic and sociolinguistic data (audio and video) in accordance with ethical and methodological standards;
- Use digital tools for transcription and analysis, such as ELAN, SayMore, and related software;
- Design and conduct an independent linguistic field study, selecting methods appropriate to the research context;
- Analyze linguistic data using categories aligned with clearly defined research questions;
- Critically reflect on the ethical, social, and cultural implications of fieldwork;
- Communicate research findings clearly and effectively in the form of a structured written report.
Course Prerequisites
A background knowledge of linguistics and a basic knowledge of one (or more) Asian language is required. A good command of English is required, especially for reading and understanding academic texts and articles.
Teaching Methods
A portion of the course (approximately 36 hours) will be dedicated to lectures, focusing on the theoretical and methodological aspects of linguistic fieldwork. The remaining part (approximately 12 hours) will be devoted to practical activities, including interviews and recordings with language consultants, as well as transcription and annotation exercises using the software ELAN and SayMore.
Assessment Methods
Students will be assessed based on a final paper, structured as a research report of approximately 8 pages. The report must include, in the appendix, the collected data, the corresponding metadata sheet, and a partial or complete transcription of the linguistic materials analyzed.
Texts
Anderbeck, K. (2015). Portraits of language vitality in the languages of Indonesia. In Language Documentation and Cultural Practices in the Austronesian World (pp. 19–47).
Bowern, C. (2008). Linguistic Fieldwork: A Practical Guide. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bradley, D. (2006). Endangered languages of China and South-East Asia. Multilingual Matters, 134, 112.
Bradley, D. (2007). East and Southeast Asia. In Encyclopedia of the World’s Endangered Languages (pp. 349–424).
Chelliah, S. L., & De Reuse, W. J. (2010). Handbook of Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork. Springer.
Himmelmann, N. P. (1998). Documentary and descriptive linguistics. Linguistics, 36, 161–195.
Himmelmann, N. P. (2012). Linguistic data types and the interface between language documentation and description. Language Documentation and Conservation, 6, 187–207.
Klamer, M. (2018). Documenting the linguistic diversity of Indonesia: Time is running out. In Proceedings of ‘Revitalization of Local Languages as the Pillar of Pluralism (pp. 1–10).
Klamer, M., Edwards, O., Fricke, H., Gialitaki, Z., Moro, F. R., Palmér, A., ... & Jiang, W. (2021). Practicalities of language data collection and management in and around Indonesia. Wacana, 22(2), 467–521.
Contents
- Understand what endangered languages are in Southeast Asia and explore the concepts of ethnolinguistic vitality;
- Explore the history of linguistic fieldwork: definitions, goals, what is meant by "the field" and "fieldwork," how to get started, and how to choose a language to document or describe;
- Distinguish between language documentation and language description;
- Gain familiarity with the initial steps in researching a language: observation, listening, setting goals;
- Learn how to find language consultants and select an appropriate fieldwork location;
- Understand the ethical principles of linguistic fieldwork, including informed consent and respect for communities;
- Become familiar with equipment and key software for linguistic documentation: audio, video, and archiving tools;
- Identify and collect different types of linguistic data: natural data, elicited data, sociolinguistic interviews;
- Learn how to organize and manage data: compiling metadata, processing, and safe archiving;
- Transcribe linguistic data using tools such as ELAN;
- Understand the full process from data collection to data analysis, with attention to data quality, organization, and interpretation;
- Learn how to write a linguistic research report, including key content, formal structure, and academic standards.
Course Language
ITALIAN
More information
The course combines lectures with practical activities. The main textbook will be Linguistic Fieldwork by Claire Bowern, supplemented by additional materials provided by the instructor throughout the course.
Practical sessions will be supported either by the presence of language consultants or through fieldwork experiences conducted in the city of Naples, allowing students to simulate interviews and elicitation sessions in realistic contexts.
There may also be guest lectures by external researchers, specialists in specific areas of linguistic fieldwork, such as the construction of linguistic corpora, audio-video recording techniques, remote fieldwork, or field research in other parts of Asia, depending on their availability