"Elderly people are of particular benefit when they participate...They are walking dictionaries which may soon be gone. They are highly respected, and if they see how the task belongs to all of them, they may accept the project from its very early stages."

- Constance Kutsch Lojenga, PRL Trailblazer

The workshop leader should be an experienced linguist. The more languages involved, the more experience needed, as multi-language workshops are especially intense for the leader. While the leader does not need to be an expert on the particular language(s) under study, he or she should have extensive typological background knowledge. 

The workshop leader's responsibilities include:

• Coordinate and organize the training

• Introduce new topics and explain activities 

• Supervise linguist facilitators

• Regularly join each work group, asking good questions and verifying the results of their research, preferably on a daily basis 

• Suggest orthography options as different features of the language are discovered

Skills Required:

• Extensive typological background knowledge 

• Familiarity with the key linguistic features to be researched during the workshop

• Awareness of orthographic conventions in use in the area

• Capacity to direct a large group of people from a variety of language backgrounds

• Cultural sensitivity to existing hierarchies and local processes for decision-making 

• Grassroots experience, including technical write-ups of research data

• Quick-thinking, flexible, and able to improvise

During various workshop activities, participants will be divided into small groups. For multi-language workshops, each group should consist of native speakers from a single language community. Linguist facilitators assist the workshop leader by guiding individual work groups in the discovery process. It is not advisable for the facilitator to be a native speaker of the language being researched. A single facilitator should not be assigned to more than 2 work groups. 

Responsibilities:

• Assist a small group of participants on a full-time basis, under the oversight of the workshop leader

• Process and document data obtained during the workshop

• Write-up research results, as assigned 

Skills Required:

• Formal linguistics training, including a solid understanding phonology, grammar, and orthographic principles

• Awareness of orthographic conventions in use in the area

• Cultural understanding and sensitivity 

It is hoped that as facilitators grow in their skills, they can later lead workshops themselves. 

Focusing on a single language allows for more in-depth training.  While security concerns may prevent the possibility of holding a workshop within the home area of the language community, there are several benefits to hosting in the home area, including:

• Lower cost

• Ability for more people to participate, especially if the workshop is centrally-located

• Word traveling more quickly through the community that their language is going to have a written form

• Tendency for the language development project to grow deeper roots in the community

The advantage of a multi-language workshop is that the different language groups involved can encourage one another and learn from each other. Multi-language workshops should be held in a location that is central to all participating language groups. 

It is worth noting that, because multi-language workshops are held outside the language communities, they are more expensive to run due to increased cost for transportation, accommodations and food. They are also more limited in the number of speakers who can participate. 

While it is advisable to plan at least 2 full weeks for the first research session, it is not necessary to limit the schedule to 2-week blocks. The 8-week structure could be broken up into two 4-week blocks, four 2-week blocks, or even eight 1-week blocks spread out over the course of a year.  Consider the community's needs, preferences, and availability when scheduling research sessions. For example, one community strongly preferred to work in 3-day chunks. 

However the time is divided up, spending less than 2 full weeks on any particular unit is strongly discouraged, as this will limit the participants' ability to research topics to the extent necessary for developing a quality orthography. 

The workshop content can be tailored to the community's specific needs by limiting the focus of the workshop to a particular issue that the language community is facing. Some topics may only take a few days to cover.  

For example, a community may want to limit research to vowel harmony and tone (i.e. assuming vowels and consonants have already been discovered). Another community may already have an established orthography but find difficulty in writing verb conjugations. In this case, it would be best to focus research on verbs and VPs. The initial data collection activity (Unit 1: Data Collection) remains largely the same for each workshop, regardless of whether the group plans to focus on a specific topic or work through all 4 units. 

Ultimately, workshop planning should prioritize the language community's needs and the most effective way to address concerns.

Although there are general similarities in how PRL workshops are run, the way a particular workshop plays out will depend on the specific language(s) and participants involved. Workshop leaders should modify activities to fit the relevant features of the language(s) under study while still following the basic principles of PRL methodology.