LOL-25 - Linguistics, Orthography, Literacy

Collaborating for Better Quality

6-11 February 2025 Chiangmai

• Updated 11 Feb 2025 - For further information email Cathy Bartram

Linguistics, Orthography and Literacy (LOL) are all crucial and connected when local language speakers develop their languages. SIL and related organizations will gather together in early February 2025 in Chiangmai, Thailand to learn from each other, with a theme of “Collaborating for Better Quality.” This gathering is designed to help language workers be more effective in their work, with a combination of lectures with discussion, various interactive presentations (poster presentations, panels, role-play, five-minute presentations), and times for individual consultations. Approximately half the time will be plenary sessions with all domains, and the individual domains will also have their own scheduled times to dig deeper into their specialties. The main focus is expected to be on Asia and the Pacific - though all are welcome. Not only SIL, but related organizations are most definitely welcome.

Dates, Venue, Registration

• Five actual conference days, starting on Thursday, February 6, taking Sunday off, and ending on Tuesday February 11, with expected travel days on each side.

• The location will be the Empress Hotel in Chiang Mai. This link is for your information. Please do not book directly with the hotel; instead, please use the link immediately below. 

• There are two registration forms. These do not need to be filled out at the same time.

  • The first form is for "SAM," the local organizers, who are our liaison with the hotel and have obtained discounted prices for us. They need your travel information and room preferences. This is the official registration; without it, you are not part of LOL. You can fill this out before you have your exact plane flights, and come back later to complete the form. 

  • The second form is for us LOL-25 organizers, to know more about you and your interests in this gathering. It will be very helpful in shaping our agenda!

Finances

• The main financial expense for most will be travel to Chiang Mai. 

• Hotel room and conference fee: Double/twin room (sharing) - 2750 Baht (about $85) per person per night. Single room, 3350 Baht (about $104) per night. 

• The above fee will include your hotel room, transportation to and from the airport, breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks, the final day dinner, and rental for the meeting rooms. There will be NO additional registration fee!

• Due dates: The above charges are an "early bird discount," ending the end of October. An additional fee of $50 will be charged for every month after October, that is, $50 extra in November, $100 in December. The FINAL date for registration and fees will be December 20.

• Besides airfare or other travel to Chiangmai, your personal costs will be any evening meals, food on the days before or after LOL-25, and any market purchases you make. 

• Those living locally (not just temporarily staying with a friend) will pay 1,950 Baht per person per day (about $61) for participation, covering all non-lodging and non-transportation expenses. Proof of local residency will be required upon admission.

• There is the possibility of scholarships for those who would otherwise be unable to come to LOL-25. After seeking funds through your regular funding channels, you may complete this application form. It is best to apply by 1 Aug 2024. 

• For your personal planning, here is a form that may help you think through and budget expenses.

• Here is the link where you can make actual payment, by credit card or Cash App Pay. Please add 4% when using this payment method. To instead pay with your SIL/Wycliffe member account number, send this number to tim_stirtz@sil.org.

Logistics Links

1. Daily Schedule

2. Travel/Chiang Mai airport

3. Hotel - Empress Hotel, Chiang Mai

4. Chiang Mai sights/tourism. Night market.

5. LOL Report

Presentations

We are intending LOL25 to have a varied programme including plenary talks, parallel sessions, discussions, Q&A times, posters and 5-minute presentations, and domain-specific topics, as well as time for individual consultations. Whether you have many years of experience in orthography development or you are relatively new to this, there should be something for everyone.

• Payap Linguistic Institute (LI) YouTube Channel - LOL2025 Playlist with six videos of some plenary speakers

Plenary speakers will include Dr Edgar Ebojo of the United Bibles Societies, Fernand de Varennes of the United Nations, and several others listed with their presentation title below:

• Human Flourishing and Language: Global Trends in Inclusive Education and You (speaker: Kirk Person).

• Minority Languages, Scripts and Linguistic Rights: A human rights perspective (speaker: Fernand de Varennes).

• Whose orthography is it? Taking time to understand people and the values and beliefs that shape their choices can help guide us in designing the process for a fair and effective conversation. This talk will explore specific methods for accomplishing that. (speaker: Doug Fraiser).

• Sounds, letters, and words: Issues at the intersection of linguistics and orthography, with case studies from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea  (speaker: René van den Berg).

• Orthography testing for minority language development: The state of the art  (speaker: David Roberts).

• A strategy for harnessing the power of metalinguistic awareness - A crucial reference point for learning other languages  (speaker: Cecille Van Zante).

• Orthography Quality and Scripture Access: Case studies of large language groups where inadequate orthographies have hindered reading. (speaker: Leila Schroeder).

Besides the plenary sessions given above, there will be additional orthography presentations by others on topics such as the following: 

• Dialect issues

• Community ownership

• Deep vs. shallow orthographies and what we can learn from Lexical Phonology

• Options for representing tone distinctions in non-Roman scripts

• How linguists can assist literacy personnel

• Orthography input to literacy curricula

• Script decisions

• Consultant soft skills

• Challenges in limited access contexts

• From linguistics through orthography to literacy

• Multilingualism and orthography

• Orthography choices for reverse transfer literacy in limited access areas

There will also be sessions devoted specifically to linguistics and to literacy, including the following:

• Importance of discourse analysis

• How to translate in verb-final languages

• Dictionary development for translation and language development

• Tone analysis for orthography

• Software for linguistics

• Community-oriented linguistics

• Extending participatory methods to digital environments for displaced communities

• Literacy Needs assessment tool

• Translation in literacy

• How to design literacy lessons to teach language patterns

• Critical thinking for language development

There will also be a variety of other sessions, including the following:

Optional Prayer

Each morning, you are invited to a time of group prayer for whatever is on your mind. You can pray in any language. You don't have to say what you will pray beforehand. Just come and pray, and others will pray with you! 

Worship and Spiritual Reflection

Each morning, those from a different country or region will lead us in worship of our Saviour through song, words of Scripture, meditations or other spiritual reflection.   

5-minute Presentations

Throughout LOL, there will be 5-minute presentations on a project, strategy, resource or other topic of interest to everyone. Although they are only five minutes, they will include significant ideas of high impact for you to consider.

Poster Presentations

Poster presenters, standing next to their posters displayed around the main room, will explain their topic to a small group standing around, or they may begin a discussion by asking a question related to their topic. 

Participatory Demonstrations

Participatory methods for orthography development will be demonstrated through role play or attendee participation in parallel sessions, repeated so that all can attend two demonstrations.

Software Workshops

Software workshops are for learning about an orthography software tool. Through interactive demonstrations, participants will be led through steps of how to begin using the tool on their own laptops, tablets or phones. 

Marketplace consulting

Marketplace consulting is a small-group activity at LOL for dealing with actual, challenging language situations. The groups are led by consultants and those who have knowledge and experience of the specific language situations. Those in each group observe role-plays, ask questions, and discuss how to approach these language situations to grow in their consultant skills. 

World Café

World Café includes small-group table discussions where participants formulate answers to important orthography questions.  After ten minutes, everyone switches to a different table to discuss a different question, continuing to switch every ten mins for five different key questions. 

Orthography testing

On the last day, David Roberts will give a plenary session on orthography testing. Afterwards, we will divide into orthography testing focus groups to collaboratively design formal orthography tests with research questions in specific languages. 

Optional networking or consulting

During lunch or before the evening meal, there is time set aside for you to meet with those who have similar challenges, experiences or goals as you--those you can share with or benefit from. Making the most of this time could lead to relationships that benefit you in your work responsibilities for years to come.

Who To Talk To About

• Overall Coordination: Cathy Bartram

• Linguistics topics: Tim Stirtz

• Orthography topics: Cathy Bartram

• Literacy topics: Diane Dekker