2026 CanIL Workshop on Grammatical Description

The Workshop on Grammatical Description is a nine-week program for experienced field linguists to develop a 30-page (or longer) grammar sketch of an under-documented language, guided by SIL Global consultants and supported by daily plenary and consultant sessions. Participants work from an annotated text database and focus on clear, functional linguistic description, with the option to refine their work for future publication. 

DATES

• For those staying on campus: move in to dorm: May 30, 31

• Summer student and workshop participant orientation: Sunday May 31 5pm

• Workshop: Monday, June 1 - Friday, July 31

• Move out of dorm: August 1

PREREQUISITES

• Linguistics training including introductory morphology and syntax. A minimum of two semesters of linguistics courses

• A corpus of language data to work with (at least four interlinearized texts of more than one genre)

Workshop on Grammatical description

The Workshop on Grammatical Description is designed for experienced SIL fieldworkers, though it is open to anyone who could profit from nine weeks of focused time working on a grammatical description, with the support and under the guidance of SIL Global linguistics consultants. The ideal workshop participant would be a linguist-translator with one or more years of direct experience learning and doing linguistic analysis of one of the many under-documented languages of the world. An annotated (glossed and translated) digital database of texts of various genres (narrative, expository, hortatory, etc.) is a prerequisite to attend the workshop.

The default goal of the workshop is for each participant or team to produce a 30-page or longer grammar sketch that gives a brief overview of some key morphological and syntactic features of a language. This sketch will not necessarily be a publishable paper, but may serve as the basis for future published work. In addition to, or instead of the grammar sketch, participants may want to concentrate on a specific grammar topic of interest, whether or not that topic appears on the workshop outline. The grammar sketch will be the focus of the workshop plenary sessions; after the workshop, consultants and workshop staff will be glad to continue working with individuals who wish to develop their papers (grammar sketches and/or other topical papers) into a publishable form. If a participant has already begun work on a grammar, then the existing work can be expanded during the workshop, with feedback from a consultant.

The Workshop Will Be Organized as Follows:

Plenary sessions: One hour a day, five days a week (except Canada Day on Wednesday, July 1, and the Friday when the CanIL community camping trip starts). Three of these sessions are the lectures of the Morphosyntax II class of the CanIL Summer Program, together with graduate-level students of the school. Two more sessions are exclusively for the participants of the workshop, focusing on issues related to grammar writing, and give opportunities to the participants to present their work to each other.

Consultant sessions: Each individual or team who is participating in the workshop will be assigned a consultant early on. The team will meet with their consultant for up to one hour each day to discuss progress on the Grammar Sketch.

The rest of the work day will involve individual research and writing.

Insights from various theoretical traditions on the functional linguistics spectrum may be employed in the workshop where they are useful. However, this will not be a workshop on linguistic theory. Theory will only be employed as it proves useful to clear, insightful linguistic description.

We are hoping that many SIL and SIL-related entities around the world will encourage and support field linguists who wish to participate in this workshop, as an alternative or supplement to area or entity-level workshops.

APPLICATION & FEES

If you are interested in participating in the Workshop on Grammatical Description, please consider the following details and steps:

• Complete the Workshop application. Workshop on Grammatical Description Application The application deadline is March 31, 2026, and the application will close when the workshop is full. (Your application will be reviewed by the facilitator, and CanIL Admissions staff will contact you regarding your potential participation in the workshop.)

• The registration fee for the Workshop on Grammatical Description is $500 CAD. Accepted participants must pay this fee by April 30, 2026, to confirm their participation in the workshop. (Later payment may be considered for those with extenuating circumstances).

• Other fees and costs include on-campus housing, food, and transportation.

• On-campus housing options are available