Select a pile of disyllabic noun roots that contain 2 open syllables with the same vowel symbol in each. The a vowel tends to be the easiest place to start (i.e. <aCa> or <CaCa> syllable patterns). 

Begin the SAME-DIFFERENT Test. Have a native speaker read through all the words in the pile, one by one. If the language has a singular/plural distinction, both forms should be read aloud. The reader should be discouraged from including definitions or giving other explanations. The goal of this exercise is to focus on the sounds of the language without interruption. 

As the reader pronounces each word in the pile, everyone else - both native speakers and facilitators - should listen carefully and decide whether or not all the vowels that have been written with the same symbol (e.g. with the letter a) are actually the same sound. Encourage listeners to stay focused on the vowel quality and not get side-tracked by tone or other sounds. Some speakers will quickly feel that 2 vowels are different, even though they have been writing them the same up to this point. Ideally, both the facilitators and the native speakers will agree on whether they are hearing the same vowel sound or different ones. 

If a vowel sound occurs that is noticeably different from other <a> vowels, create a new pile for words with this sound.* For example, the testing process may result in one pile of words with an æCæ sound pattern and another pile with an aCa pattern. If 2 different vowel sounds occur in the same word, such as æCa, set the word aside to be tested in Part 2 with other V1 ≠ V2 nouns.

If the SAME-DIFFERENT Test results in 2 or more piles (such as æCæ and aCa in the example above), the piles will need to be re-checked to ensure that the vowel sound is consistent in each one. Check and re-check as many times as necessary. Do not try to assign IPA symbols to the sounds you hear. Simply focus on making sure the vowel sounds are consistent for every word in the pile. 

When everyone agrees that each pile represents only one vowel sound, the group can move on to the next vowel symbol. It is recommended to test words with <i> or <u> next, since contrasts are easier to recognize in high vowels than in mid-vowels. 

Facilitators should stay curious, paying attention to native speaker intuition. In a workshop on Ngbugu, a new vowel phoneme was identified when a facilitator noticed that speakers had written some words with <o> and others with <ho>, even though there was no noticeable [h] being produced. Further testing revealed that words being written <ho> contained a high, back [-ATR] vowel that contrasted with the high, back [+ATR] vowel being written as <o>! 

After all the vowel symbols have been tested and sorted in this way, the final number of piles will reveal how many contrastive vowels the language contains. Each pile represents one vowel phoneme. It is rare for a language to have more than 10 contrastive vowels or fewer than 5. 

After the speakers and facilitators have determined the language's vowel phonemes, they can start tuning their ears to distinguish between these phonemes when hearing words in isolation.  

*The facilitator should have some idea, based on preparatory research, whether or not this outcome is to be expected. 

If the SAME-DIFFERENT test reveals that the language has more than 5 vowel phonemes, the facilitator should present options for how the language community can write these additional vowels.*

It is ideal for the language's vowel symbols to be...

a) Close to native speaker intuition,

b) Non-contradictory with the writing system taught in local schools, and

c) Similar to the writing systems of other languages with the same vowel set, particularly writing systems that have proven to work well for reading and writing.

After evaluating the options, the native speakers should come to an initial decision on how to write vowels in their language. Write example words for each symbol chosen on a lecture board or poster. These visual references will help reinforce the new writing system as the workshop progresses. 

*There is no need to write or discuss IPA symbols at this point -- only orthography options. If desired, IPA symbols can be assigned afterwards for descriptive-linguistic purposes. 

After vowel symbols have been chosen, participants should work on updating V1 = V2 noun cards to reflect the new system. List a few examples for each vowel that can later be used for an alphabet poster or vowel teaching booklet. Ideally, the example words will contain only the vowel being illustrated. Minimal pairs, if they readily exist, often make the best examples for demonstrating different vowel phonemes. 

For Languages with Advanced Tongue Root Distinction: In the beginning, it is helpful to refer to [+ATR] vowels as 'heavy' and [-ATR] vowels as 'light.' The linguistic terms can be introduced in a later stage of the workshop, after participants have a solid understanding of the concept. 

For Languages with an Existing Orthography: The SAME-DIFFERENT Test is also helpful for identifying any existing conventions that are hindering reading fluency. As speakers read through piles of words, facilitators should take note of any writing conventions that seem to be causing difficulty, so that these can be addressed during the workshop. For example, during research on Ngbugu, it became clear that the heavy use of digraphs was creating long sequences of vowel symbols, resulting in an unnecessarily heavy burden for readers. 

For Occurrences of Differing Transcriptions and/or Over-Differentiation: During the word collection activity, different participants may write the same word in different ways. For example, in a workshop on Maꞌdi Urule, 3 cards had been written as <ꞌbɨ> ‘shoot (v),’ <ꞌbi> ‘hunt (v)’ and < bi > ‘sprout (v).' While performing the SAME-DIFFERENT Test, the facilitators began to question whether these cards all represented the same word. After the native speakers confirmed this hypothesis, the 3 cards were stapled together and the participants ultimately chose <ꞌbɨ> as the official spelling. When grouping multiple senses of a word, it is very important to rely on native speaker intuition to ensure accuracy.

It is also possible that speakers of a language with less than 5 vowel phonemes may still use 5 vowel symbols (a-e-i-o-u) to write their language. This can result in a single vowel sound being written interchangeably with more than 1 symbol, sometimes appearing as <u>, for example, and other times as <o>. If the facilitator believes this to be the case, he or she should have the native speakers compare 2 piles of words with the symbols in question (i.e. in this example, the <oCo> and <uCu> piles). Have a participant read 1 word from each pile, one right after the other. Go through several sets of words, each time deciding together as a group whether the vowel sounds in the 2 words are the 'same' or 'different.' If the group collectively decides that the sounds are the same, write 10 or more example words on the board with the 2 letter options (e.g. <o> and <u>) and have the group discuss which spelling is preferred. If no agreement is reached during this initial discussion, consider facilitating additional exercises or asking input from others in the language community. 

If all 5 basic vowels were used in the initial word collection stage, there may be as many as 20 different vowel combinations in 2 syllable nouns.

Perform the SAME-DIFFERENT test on every pile of nouns where V1 ≠ V2. Consider each vowel combination as a unit, determining whether it is the same or different from the other vowel combinations in its pile.*  As before, set aside cards with a noticeably different vowel set into a separate pile. For example, in a language with advanced tongue root distinction, a stack of roots written as px-CoCu may end up as two contrastive piles, px-CoCu [+ATR] and px-CɔCʊ [-ATR]. 

The facilitator should investigate the possible vowel combinations in the language, exploring hypotheses with the native speakers. If examples of vowel combinations are limited, consider taking more time on each word. Have the reader slow down his or her pronunciation, emphasizing or even stopping on the vowel of the first syllable before continuing with the second syllable. To better determine whether the V1 vowels for two words are the same, the group may find it helpful to read and compare only the first syllable of the two words. 

Check and re-check every pile to be sure that each one represents only a single vowel combination. 

*It is not recommended to listen to each vowel separately. 

Update the transcriptions on all V1 ≠ V2 noun cards using the symbols selected in 'Part 1' above. 

Languages that have closed syllables (VC and CVC) will need extra checks. Sometimes, certain syllable-final consonants will influence the pronunciation of the vowel before it, resulting in allophonic realizations of vowel phonemes. 

When the research is complete, update the transcriptions of all nouns with closed syllables, as needed.   

The workshop leader and participants should work together to fill in co-occurrence charts for each existing vowel combination, along with examples. The result will be a list of analogous pairs demonstrating CV combinations for all positions within a word root. Any 'holes' in the system will reveal systematic and accidental gaps.* 

Note which vowels can or cannot occur together in the same word. Unexpected combinations, such as exceptions to noticeable vowel harmony rules, should be examined closely. These ‘exceptions’ may turn out to be loan words or compound nouns. 

*Distribution charts based on traditional lists of minimal pairs do not always highlight relevant restrictions, particularly if the pairs differ in word class and/or morphological structure. Because the process described above is based entirely on comparable forms, the resulting charts will make cases of complementary distribution much more obvious.

Learning how the language's vowel harmony system functions will benefit native speakers in writing and proofreading texts in their language. Notice whether vowel harmony patterns occur within the whole word (including the affixes) or only within the root. If the harmony system is based on ATR,  it is recommended to write a small '+' sign in the bottom corner of cards with [+ATR] vowels and a '-' sign on cards with [-ATR] vowels. 

Languages often have the same number of vowel phonemes for both nouns and verbs, but this is not always the case. Verbs may have a different set of vowel phonemes or different restrictions for V1-V2 combinations.  

Using the same process described for nouns in Parts 1 & 2, work through all piles of verb cards, first analyzing the vowels, then updating the transcriptions and charting the results. 

Up to this point, any 'extra' symbols indicating contrastive vowel features will have been ignored. For example, syllables written as Caa have so far been treated the same as Ca. Now that each pile of words consistently represents a single vowel quality, the stacks can be sorted through again to check for vowel length and other contrastive features. Keep in mind that any contrastive features present may or may not have been written consistently in the word collection stage.

Repeat the same SAME-DIFFERENT Test, subdividing piles, as needed, based on contrastive vowel features (nasalization, length, etc.). Where applicable, examine the resulting piles to determine which structural positions the feature(s) can occur in contrastively. Discuss orthography options for any contrastive features and update all cards accordingly.