The following is a list of basic fieldwork skills that the students involved in my NSF research project learned. The particular skills taught varied by student and field trip.
Audio Recording
1. Using Zoom H4n as an audio-interface.
2. Basic properties of the Zoom H4n.
3. Using cable, ‘dead cat’ and mic stand in recording.
4. Recording at the appropriate distance to get a high-quality signal.
5. Minimizing ambient noise (babies, chickens, cows, generators, boreholes, etc.).
6. Cuing consultants for recording.
7. Eliciting slow speech.
8. Recording words (three repetitions).
9. Devising a carrier phrase and using it for recording.
10. Recording sentences (one repetition).
11. Creating backup sound files.
12. The importance of having backup equipment (including cables).
Praat
1. Identifying click type and accompaniment using Praat.
(e.g., aspiration versus delayed aspiration, glottal releases, uvular releases, etc.).
2. Using pitch track for tonal transcription.
3. Identifying vowel pharyngealization using Praat.
4. Basic Praat commands (CMD N, CMD X).
5. Adjusting pitch settings in Praat.
6. Concatenating files for comparison.
7. Comparing different words for one speaker.
8. Comparing different speakers for one word.
9. Naming and saving sound files in Praat.
10. Creating a ‘database’ of easily accessible recordings.
11. Using ‘database’ of recordings in linguistic work.
FLEx
1. Searching for an existing lexical item.
2. Creating a new lexical item (gloss, definition, category).
3. Combining and deleting lexical items.
4. Using filters to find subsets of words (e.g., verbs with ML tonal contour).
5. Adding a second sense to a lexical item.
6. Using Send/Receive (Language Depot) to back up and share a project.
7. Glossing and analyzing texts with FLEx.
8. Searching for examples using concordance.
9. Adding examples to lexical entries.
ELAN
1. Setting up tiers.
2. Creating and modifying annotations.
3. Synchronizing and audio and video file.
4. Transcribing oral text using ELAN.
5. Creating a subtitle file using ELAN.
Archiving
1. Backing up all files regularly (sound files, videos, word, .pdf, photos, ELAN, FLEx).
2. Creating a metadata EXCEL spreadsheet.
3. Options for archiving.
Lexicon
1. Using picture books as sources for animals, plants, birds and insects.
2. Potential pitfalls in using picture books (e.g., misidentification).
3. Using lexicons of related languages to identify cognates.
4. Using lexicons of related languages to elicit new words.
5. Using Setswana dictionaries to help define words.
6. Using Setswana dictionaries to elicit new words.
7. Identifying words borrowed from Setswana.
8. The importance of having both Setswana and English glosses in lexicon.
9. Using converging evidence for accurate definitions.
10. Finding and recording new words during syntax elicitation.
11. Finding new words in oral texts.
12. Finding new words during spontaneous discussion.
13. Finding new words during fieldtrips with consultants.
14. Having consultants choose the correct pronunciation between two alternatives.
15. Determining part of speech.
16. Determining transitivity.
Syntax
1. Using Setswana sentences to elicit Cua sentences.
2. Back-translating Cua into Setswana (Setswana to Cua to Setswana).
3. Identifying syntactic borrowings from Setswana into Cua.
4. Creating background contexts for sentence elicitation.
5. Using physical prompts to elicit sentences (e.g., locative relations).
6. Acting out scenarios for context (e.g., first person inclusive versus exclusive).
7. The structure of a descriptive grammar.
8. Writing a grammar chapter.
9. Understanding descriptive grammars versus theoretical papers.
10. Understanding the relation between documentation and theory.
11. Stating empirical generalizations clearly and non-technically.
12. Defining relevant terminology for writing a descriptive grammar
(e.g., universal quantification, juncture morpheme, vocative, causative, etc.).
13. The importance of writing up results in the field.
14. Eliciting minimal pairs.
15. Using Praat to accurately transcribe sentences.
16. Using Leipzig glossing conventions.
17. Organizing a fieldwork session around a topic (e.g., yes-no questions).
18. Recording metadata for a session.
19. Understanding issues with obtaining grammaticality judgments.
20. Practice drawing syntax trees for target language.
21. The importance of oral texts for syntactic description.
22. The importance of spontaneous discussion for syntactic description.
23. The pros and cons of different data sources (elicitation, oral texts, conversation).
Phonology/Phonetics
1. Practice transcribing with IPA.
2. Practice pronouncing and transcribing various clicks (e.g., alveolar versus palatal).
3. The phonetic description of the basic click types.
4. Practice pronouncing and transcribing various click accompaniments.
5. The phonetic description of click accompaniments.
6. Practice pronouncing and transcribing various tonal melodies.
7. Practice pronouncing and transcribing sentences.
Tonal Transcription
1. Recognizing the eight tonal contours of Cua.
2. Recognizing tonal depression (D-HM and D-HL).
3. Using pitch tracks from Nakagawa’s thesis and Mathes’ thesis.
4. Creating and using a Tone Matching List.
5. Having consultants do tone matching.
6. Looking for cognates in Kua, Gǀui and Tsua.
7. Recording a word in context (to see relative pitch).
8. Using the juncture morpheme to diagnose the tonal contour.
Video
1. Using the run-and-gun set up for video recording
(Rode mic on top of Cannon DSLR video camera).
2. Using other set-ups for video recording (e.g., label mic, boom mic).
3. Positioning interviewer, translator and interviewee for high quality recording.
4. Planning an interview.
5. Using GoPro camera for less intrusive hands-free video during fieldtrips.
6. Syncing video and audio from different sources using the ‘clap’ method.
Oral Texts
1. Genres of oral texts (folktale, how-to, history, anecdotes, conversations, descriptions etc.).
2. Brainstorming with consultants for oral text ideas.
3. Helping consultants plan and practice their oral text.
4. Recording Setswana and English translations of oral text.
5. Workflow for transcription.
6. Working with consultants during transcription.
7. Working with ELAN during transcription.
8. Asking consultants to translate line-by-line.
9. Asking consultants to repeat line (annotation) slowly.
10. Asking consultants to record unknown words.
11. Working with consultants to define unknown words.
12. Reconciling translation and phonetic transcription.
13. Budgeting time for transcription.
14. Entering transcription into FLEx.
15. Creating a word version of oral text (with interlinear glossing and translations).
Consultants
1. Interacting with illiterate consultants.
2. Working with elderly consultants.
3. Working with consultants who do not speak English.
4. Working with a translator (English-Setswana).
5. Interacting with consultants from a different culture.
6. Interacting with a translator from a different culture.
7. Finding consultants in the village.
8. Finding a translator.
9. Training consultants for linguistic fieldwork.
10. Consultant skills for linguistic fieldwork.
11. Training a translator for linguistic fieldwork.
12. Resolving conflicts and miscommunication with the consultants.
13. Resolving conflicts and miscommunication with the translator.
14. Recording information from an identification card.
15. Paying consultants, writing receipts, getting signatures.
16. Evaluating and using strengths of different consultants.
17. Working with two or three consultants at a time.
18. Working with multiple consultant groups for comparison.
19. Recognizing dialectal differences between consultants.
20. Recognizing speech impediments.
21. Structuring schedule (days, times, tea breaks).
22. Human Subjects approval of research.
22. Using consent forms.
Solar Panel
1. Basic set-up (panel, battery, controller, inverter, cables)
2. Capacity (charge four laptops and cell phones on sunny day).
3. Trouble shooting set up.
4. Changing orientation panel during the day.
5. Dealing with a cloudy day.
6. Transporting a solar panel.
Fieldwork General
1. Learning basic Setswana (the lingua franca of Botswana).
2. Living in a rural village.
3. The advantages and disadvantages of working in a village (versus the capital).
4. Adaptability: Doing fieldwork in a difficult environment.
5. Being a member of research project.
6. Communicating questions and observations in a research team.
7. Organizing research, by focusing on areas. Prioritizing.
8. Applying for a research permit.
Planning for Expedition
1. Options for staying in capital before expedition.
2. Planning transportation to and from the village.
3. Planning lodging in the village (e.g., VDC housing, chief, networking).
4. Buying gas for stoves.
5. Planning clothes, blankets, mats, dishes, pots, etc.
6. Buying food and equipment (e.g., Sefalana Hyper).
7. Understanding resources available in small village (e.g., pharmacy, shops, bread).
8. Jumping a car battery.
9. Fixing a flat tire.
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