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- Course name
- Languages in Peril
- Institution
- Rutgers
- Instructor
- Charles G. Haberl
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Endangered Languages
- Course dates
- 2018-01-16 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-05-09 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 50
The vast majority of human knowledge is stored not in books, or computers, or even Wikipedia, but rather in the minds of ordinary people the world around. In many cases, the languages in which this knowledge is encoded are spoken by as few as a dozen people, and will almost certainly be lost with the passing of these languages and their speakers. By some estimates, fully 90% or more of the world’s languages will have disappeared by the end of the century.
This course will employ a multidisciplinary approach to address the impending disappearance of the world’s linguistic and cultural patrimony, which is one of the greatest challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. The discussion of these general issues will be illustrated with case studies of endangered languages and the traditions that they represent: three from the Middle East, three from South Asia, and three from Africa.
We will address:
the importance of linguistic diversity, and the ways in which the cultural knowledge encoded within language shape our experiences of and perspectives on the world; issues of language policy and linguistic rights across local and global contexts; and the methodology and technology of documentary linguistics, and how it can be employed to document our disappearing linguistic and cultural patrimony. By the end of the semester, students will be familiar with value of “local” non-standard forms of language, and the critical threat to intellectual diversity posed by their disappearance, as well as the philosophical and other theoretical issues surrounding the topic of language endangerment. They will learn about the importance of traditionally orally-transmitted knowledge, both as witnesses to a specific tradition and more broadly within the context of human knowledge, and the importance of documenting these before the languages in which they are transmitted vanish.
Timeline
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 22 January 2018 | Tuesday, 23 January 2018 | Wednesday, 24 January 2018 | Thursday, 25 January 2018 | Friday, 26 January 2018
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.
Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page.
To get started, please review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Practicing the basics
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
- It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page. Don't forget to sign and time-stamp your comment with four tildes (Jami (Wiki Ed) (talk) 16:49, 4 June 2018 (UTC)).
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 29 January 2018 | Tuesday, 30 January 2018 | Wednesday, 31 January 2018 | Thursday, 1 February 2018 | Friday, 2 February 2018
- In class - Choose an article
- Choose two articles (a first choice, and a backup) to translate into English. Post the article links on your talk page, and submit them to the instructor for review.
- Once your instructor has approved one or both of your choices, finalize your choice of which article to translate.
Handouts: Choosing an article
- Assignment - Begin translating
- First, copy the article from the source-language Wikipedia into your sandbox.
- Begin to translate your work, using your sandbox as "scratch paper."
You may find the following supplementary training modules and resources useful for improving upon the original article:
- [[../../../training/students/sources|Sources and Citations]]
- [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]]
Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 5 February 2018 | Tuesday, 6 February 2018 | Wednesday, 7 February 2018 | Thursday, 8 February 2018 | Friday, 9 February 2018
- In class - Translation
- If you have any questions about your translation project, now would be the time to email the professor and/or come to office hours (Wednesdays from 2-4pm).
- Assignment - Add to an Article
- Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article on a subject related to the class.
- For some ideas of articles to work on, check out the Category:Endangered languages article list.
- Assignment - Translation
- Continue to translate your work.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 12 February 2018 | Tuesday, 13 February 2018 | Wednesday, 14 February 2018 | Thursday, 15 February 2018 | Friday, 16 February 2018
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 19 February 2018 | Tuesday, 20 February 2018 | Wednesday, 21 February 2018 | Thursday, 22 February 2018 | Friday, 23 February 2018
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 26 February 2018 | Tuesday, 27 February 2018 | Wednesday, 28 February 2018 | Thursday, 1 March 2018 | Friday, 2 March 2018
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 5 March 2018 | Tuesday, 6 March 2018 | Wednesday, 7 March 2018 | Thursday, 8 March 2018 | Friday, 9 March 2018
- Assignment - Drafting Starter Articles
You've picked a topic and started translating. Now it's time to put together a draft version in your sandbox for others to check out.
Creating a new article?
- Start off with an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox.
- A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.
Improving an existing article?
- Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.
Once you have your first draft:
- Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
- Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
- Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 19 March 2018 | Tuesday, 20 March 2018 | Wednesday, 21 March 2018 | Thursday, 22 March 2018 | Friday, 23 March 2018
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 26 March 2018 | Tuesday, 27 March 2018 | Wednesday, 28 March 2018 | Thursday, 29 March 2018 | Friday, 30 March 2018
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 2 April 2018 | Tuesday, 3 April 2018 | Wednesday, 4 April 2018 | Thursday, 5 April 2018 | Friday, 6 April 2018
- Assignment - Peer Review and Copy Edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 9 April 2018 | Tuesday, 10 April 2018 | Wednesday, 11 April 2018 | Thursday, 12 April 2018 | Friday, 13 April 2018
Week 13
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 16 April 2018 | Tuesday, 17 April 2018 | Wednesday, 18 April 2018 | Thursday, 19 April 2018 | Friday, 20 April 2018
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 23 April 2018 | Tuesday, 24 April 2018 | Wednesday, 25 April 2018 | Thursday, 26 April 2018 | Friday, 27 April 2018
Week 15
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 30 April 2018
- Assignment - Publish your work
- Move sandbox articles into main space.
- If you are expanding an existing article, it's time to add your revised translation (including English sources, when available). Copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article. Be sure to check the article's talk page and respond to suggestions from Wikipedians. Don't panic if your edits are removed or changed! Discuss it civilly on the article's talk page, and make a note of it for your report or presentation about your editing experience.
- If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow instruction on the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
- In your first edit to the article namespace, include a link of the source article (i.e., the article you translated) in the "edit summary" before hitting "save."
- Copy the code {{Translated page|es|Page Title}} to the bottom of the Wikipedia article, replacing es with the language code of the language you a translating from and replacing Page Title with the title of the source page.
Handout: Moving out of your sandbox
- Milestones
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.