| Table of Contents |
|---|
...
Introduction
...
When you’re working with language speakers to collect language information, you are doing elicitation. This is a shortened version of a FirstVoices Elicitation Guide that will guide you through the basics of working with language speakers to elicit the best audio and most useful language information possible.
...
Audio recording best practices
Before you start recording, it is important to consider some best practices to consider when working with language speakers in general.
...
Consider your speaker
Has your speaker given Informed Consent to participate in recording?
How comfortable is your speaker? Are they going to feel the need to shift around, causing unintentional background noise? Are they sitting somewhere that they will be able to sit for long periods of time?
What is your speaker wearing? Are they wearing comfortable clothes? Are they wearing loose clothes or jewelry that will move or brush up against other things, causing unintentional background noise?
Consider your equipment
How far is your audio equipment set up? Is it at an appropriate distance to record audio?
What are your audio levels? Are you able to continuously monitor your levels while recording?
Consider your environment
Are you working in a silent space? Will there be background noise that could interrupt or potentially harm your audio file?
Is the environment safe and comfortable for everyone involved?
Consider your timing
How long will you be able to record for? Will you foreseeably be interrupted?
| Info |
|---|
It is best practice to record one continuous audio file |
...
General elicitation information
...
We want to ensure that the information we collect is:
As accurate as possible.
As thorough as possible. This is especially important when it comes to collecting verbs (action words).
Useful for language learners. If you open up an English dictionary, you can find all sorts of words that aren’t used on a daily basis. It’s great to collect those things in the long term but your priority should be useful information.
| Tip |
|---|
It’s good to remember to ask yourself: “Is this a useful thing to say?” |
...
There are several different ways you can go about eliciting language information.
Word lists
When you use word lists, you are asking for one word at a time. Record the word on its own, but also ask the speaker to provide a full sentence with the word in it. This makes it much more useful for language learners and for understanding the proper context in which to use a word. These can be uploaded as ‘Related Phrases’ when uploading your words to FirstVoices later on.
Stories and conversations
Ask your speakers to tell you a story. Traditional stories are great but we tell “stories” in everyday life too. A similar method is to get two or more speakers together and ask them to have a conversation about a topic.
Brainstorming
Another way to collect language information is by brainstorming around a theme or topic. Take fishing for an example. How many action words can you think of that describe everything you do when you go fishing? What about the names of fishing equipment and kinds of fish? It is easy to generate word lists by focusing on a topic and these can be very useful for teachers who want to develop a lesson around a topic. Combine brainstorming with the story method; have the speaker tell a story about fishing to get you started.
...