Ten Essential Elements of an Effective Orthography Workshop
/Guest Post by Dr. Mary Morgan
An orthography is defined by Google as “the conventional spelling system of a language.”
But what do you do if you want materials in a language that does not yet have a conventional spelling system? Well, you have to create one. Although I’ve had several decades of language experience in Mexico and Niger, a few years ago I found myself in just this situation when I was asked to facilitate an orthography workshop in a small Asian country.
Due to cultural sensitivities about my work in this region and the fact that the exact location is not germane to the story, I have chosen to maintain geographical anonymity. But I will use this workshop to highlight ten essential elements in a workshop dedicated to developing an effective and acceptable way to write a language that has not been used in writing for very long.
1. Local initiative is vital.
An expatriate colleague approached me (rather apologetically) at a Christmas party to ask for help with an orthography workshop. This colleague had spent a number of years analyzing a language, and the head of the ethnic organization for speakers of the language wanted to publish their newspaper in their language, not the official state language. He said that only a few attempts had been made to write their language, with limited success. The head of the ethnic organization said that he would help any way he could and publish whatever my linguist colleague came up with. I was new to the area and was engaged in learning the official state language, not working in local literacy matters. But I knew it was a great opportunity to get local help in developing a good writing system for the local language. My colleague had no idea how to get started, so I jumped in to help.
2. Consider with whom and when to plan your workshop.
During our subsequent discussions, I learned that most of the speakers of the local language in the area were working in business, either as employers or employees, or were students at local colleges or universities. We chose the same weekday over four consecutive weeks when these speakers were most likely to be available.
3. Workshop location has to be accessible.
The next step was to decide where to hold the workshop. My colleague had access to a building that was used to teach the children of expatriates, and it was available for the four days of the planned workshop, so we were good to go.
4. Presentations need to be culturally appropriate.
We then discussed the program for these sessions. We knew we had to begin with an introduction to the proposed orthography. My colleague suggested that his assistant, a very capable young woman, could lead the introduction and subsequent dictations and discussions. She would start with the letters which have the same equivalency between the official state language and this language. Next she would introduce the suggestions for the letters which were different. She would then dictate words and phrases for the participants to practice writing their language. We later found, however, that it would not be considered culturally appropriate for a woman to teach men in that context—so a degree of flexibility was required in our planning.
5. Time must be spent learning the suggested orthography and discussing literature development.
Following the introduction to the orthography, the participants would talk about what kind of literature should be developed in the language. Then they could start writing and editing whatever they chose to write about. Writing and then reading out loud to other participants would bring to light dialectal and spelling problems. I mentioned to my colleague that it was likely that some of the participants would criticize the suggested orthography. It would be easy to grow defensive at this. However, gratitude is a more appropriate response, as often these are the people who later will be excellent editors of published materials, as they are especially detail oriented and attentive to practical issues. Discussion of dialectal differences can result in heightened emotions, as well. So it is necessary to take the time to allow participants to be and feel heard.
6. A tangible booklet needs to be produced.
I suggested that an important outcome of the workshop could be a small booklet that began with a chart of the letters of the suggested orthography and illustrative pictures, then went on to include a selection of the articles or stories that had been written during the workshop. So that became our initial goal.
7. Refreshments are helpful, as is videotaping the workshop.
Four weeks in January and February were selected and participants were invited by the linguist and by the leader of the local organization. I planned to videotape the sessions so that the linguist could review the discussions afterward at his leisure. His wife planned to serve tea and refreshments mid-afternoon. This made for a much more pleasant experience and, when the linguist had to pivot and lead the workshop himself (instead of having his assistant do so, so he could observe), the videos became an essential part of his learning process as he reviewed them later.
8. Cultural sensitivity is essential—and can lead to serendipitous moments.
This point bears repeating. Besides the need to change the discussion facilitator, we also learned that the sessions of writing and reading out loud had to be divided into two areas, one for men and another for women. I was only able to video the women’s group as they wrote and read aloud to each other. Several older women, as well as the university students, were delighted to be able to write in their mother tongue. And their delight was on tape!
9. Be flexible, and allow the participants to influence the direction of the workshop.
Some of the same participants came to all four sessions, but there were new people every week. So the introduction to the suggested orthography had to be presented every week. This repetition aided learning. At the conclusion of the workshop, the chart with the illustrated letters of the orthography was ready. However, instead of a limited selection of pieces for the booklet, the group decided to publish something by every participant. So rather than an eight page booklet, they ended up with a thirty-two page book. The head of the language organization published and distributed the book and charged enough that he could later print more. The authors wrote using their own dialect. And although some dialect challenges remained, we considered the workshop a success.
10. Be sure to ask everyone who needs to be included.
The linguist and I overlooked an invitation to the university linguist who was a mother tongue speaker of this language. It was an unfortunate oversight. Whenever a workshop in a given language is held, it is essential to invite government officials, educators, and linguists who have an interest in the language, or at the very least to apprise them of the plans for the workshop. New resources can be marshalled and public relations problems can be avoided by making sure you’ve extended invitations to key people who have a vested interest in what you’re trying to accomplish.
While each orthography workshop presents unique challenges and opportunities, my experience with this one should give you an idea of what to look out for as you plan a workshop of your own.
For more information about developing orthographies, visit the SIL orthography website at THIS LINK.