Constructing adequate language documentation for multifaceted cross-linguistic data: A case study from the virtual center for study of language acquisition

Authors

Barbara Lust, Cornell University
Suzanne Flynn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
María Blume, University of Texas at El Paso
Elaine L. Westbrooks, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2010

Comments

Forthcoming in Language Documentation. Practices and values, by Grenoble, Lenore A. and Louanna Furbee (eds.), scheduled to be published in September 2010. Copyright 2010 John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Abstract

This paper confronts the challenge of constructing language documentation and data management in the face of continually expanding sets of crosslinguistic multi-media data arising in collaborative language acquisition research. It describes the development of an infrastructure and methods for creating and managing such shared language data across a Virtual Center for Language Acquisition(VCLA) by fostering collaborative scientific research in the language sciences across multiple institutions. The infrastructure reflects a research lab/academic library collaboration that integrates metadata organization in research methods. This paper describes both the research and educational components involved in the development of the VCLA