Announcement: TISLR 11 summer school: The Sign Language Researcher’s Toolkit (7-9 July 2013)

original post link: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/tislr/summerschool

TISLR 11 summer school: The Sign Language Researcher’s Toolkit will be held 7-9 July 2013, immediately preceding the TISLR 11 conference (see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/tislr/summerschool).

The summer school will provide core theoretical and methodological training on sign language research covering linguistic as well as psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic approaches. The summer school will consist of lectures, discussions and activities and will be aimed at masters and PhD students and early career post-doctoral researchers embarking on or interested in pursuing an independent research program in the study of sign languages. Training will be provided by internationally recognised experts in the field, offering students a unique opportunity to acquire an interdisciplinary skill set and to meet and interact with leading academics, both deaf and hearing. The summer school will cover topics crucial for linguistic documentation and description of sign languages and for experimental research.

Attendance is free of charge but you must apply to participate in the summer school as places are limited. If you would like to participate, please prepare a cover letter describing your research interests and current projects together with a CV and a letter of support from a supervisor. In order to assist in communication support provision, please indicate in your cover letter which of the summer school language(s) you would use (BSL, ASL, other sign language, spoken English – see Languages below). Completed applications (including cover letter, CV and letter of support) should be sent to TISLR11summerschool@gmail.com by Thursday 31^st January. Applicants will be notified if they have been successful by the end of February.

A minimum of 15 bursaries at 300 euros each (provided by the European COST Action SignGram) will be available to facilitate student participation in the summer school. To be eligible, you should be a masters or PhD student, or post-doctoral researcher within 4 years of submitting your thesis. Researchers from any country can apply. Priority will be given to researchers in less-advantaged positions in terms of the research environment and infrastructure available to them and in terms of their financial situation. If you would like to be considered for a bursary, please indicate this in your cover letter with some brief justification.

Additional bursaries for students based in the United States may be available pending funding (more information to come in February/March 2013). Information about bursaries for the main TISLR conference will be announced in early 2013 on the TISLR website. The application and consideration procedures for these bursaries will be separate from the summer school bursaries.

For general enquiries relating to the summer school please contact TISLR11summerschool@gmail.com

Topics and trainers:

–       Day 1: Linguistic data collection and annotation of sign languages
o   Field methods: Victoria Nyst
o   Data collection: Pamela Perniss
o   Annotation: Adam Schembri
o   Searching in ELAN: Trevor Johnston

–       Day 2: Linguistic analysis in core domains of sign language grammar
o   Phonology: Onno Crasborn
o   Morphology: Gaurav Mathur
o   Syntax: Caterina Donati
o   Semantics/pragmatics: Gemma Barberà

–       Day 3: Psychology of sign language
o   Psycholinguistics: Robin Thompson
o   Instrumented capture: Martha Tyrone
o   Neurolinguistics; Eva Gutierrez-Sigut
o   Atypical signers: Peter Hauser

Formats:
–       Lectures
–       Hands-on training
–       Discussion panel for Q&A

Venue:
The summer school will take place in central London at University College London, in easy walking distance of the venue for TISLR 11.  The building and room information will be available here by April.

TISLR summer school organising committee:
–       Jordan Fenlon
–       Pamela Perniss
–       Neil Fox
–       Eva Gutierrez
–       Kearsy Cormier

Languages:

The main languages of the TISLR summer school will be British Sign Language (BSL) and English. BSL/English interpretation will be provided. We are also intending to provide ASL/English interpretation pending funding (decision expected in February). Students wishing interpretation to or from other sign languages are welcome to bring their own interpreters and are requested to contact the summer school organisers (TISLR11summerschool@gmail.com) to make further arrangements.