The aim of this seminar is to provide an introduction to the methods of language documentation, namely in regarding the use of ELAN and FLEx, two software packages designed, among other purposes, for linguistic annotation. ELAN is a professional and open-access tool for creating, editing and searching time-aligned annotations (e.g. transcriptions, translations, POS tagging) on video and/or audio resources, developed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. FLEx, for its part, is a complementary and open-access software for the interlinearization of texts and the creation of a lexicon, produced by SIL International.
The seminar will include a brief introduction to the methods and tools for linguistic documentation, followed by the presentation of key concepts and the annotation process of ELAN. Following this foundation, the functions which involve the use of both ELAN and FLEx will be addressed and, finally, advanced level features and procedures will be demonstrated. For an illustration of the topics addressed, I will use some annotation files from an ongoing language documentation project. Participants will be encouraged, throughout the seminar, to engage in the presented tasks and to apply the newly acquired skills.
Outline
Session 1: Brief introduction to the methods and tools for linguistic documentation. Introduction to the key concepts (annotation, tier, template, etc.) of ELAN. Familiarization with the interface of the program.
Session 2: Introduction to the annotation process and discussion of the purposes of the different types of annotation. Introduction to the ELAN-FLEx interface.
Session 3: Presentation of advanced features: ELAN-FLEx-ELAN workflow;Interlinearization Mode (recently featured in new versions of ELAN) as an alternative to interlinearization in FLEx; Searching in multiple files.