CoLang 2026 starts with two weeks of workshops on a diversity of topics. The purpose of workshops is to start or deepen understanding of holistic, collaborative language documentation processes and tools, including their linguistic, ethical, practical, and technical dimensions. The workshops take place from June 22 to July 3. Participants select two workshops in the morning and two in the afternoon, each of which will be 90 minutes in duration. Though some workshops in Week 2 will be a continuation of a workshop offered in Week 1, Week 2 will generally offer a different set of workshops than Week 1.
The topics of the workshops are connected to the following themes:
In addition to the standard training workshops that are typically offered at CoLang, we are also offering workshops on topics that are connected to themes of CoLang 2026:
★ Strengthening solidarity
★ Overcoming obstacles
★ Forging our future
| Workshops | Facilitator(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intro to Linguistics 1 & 2 (2 weeks) | Adrienne Tsikewa | This workshop will consider the role linguistics has in community efforts of language revitalization and examine how the field of linguistics (in particular American linguistics) is built upon the study of the Indigenous languages of the Americas. |
| Demystifying Documentation | Adrienne Tsikewa | This workshop aims to provide a brief overview of language documentation as a field of inquiry. |
| From Field to Archive: A collaborative workflow for documenting endangered languages | Tesfaye Negash Bayou | This workshop provides a practical, step-by-step guide to building a language documentation corpus, from initial data collection and management in FLex and ELAN to final archiving, using the ongoing documentation of the endangered Kwegu language of Ethiopia as a living case study. |
| Audio Recording | Amalia Skilton | This workshop trains participants to make high-quality audio recordings of spoken language using consumer-grade equipment. |
| Video Recording | Amalia Skilton | This workshop trains participants to make high-quality video recordings of spoken language using consumer-grade equipment. |
| Language Work and Intellectual Property | Susan Smythe Kung | This workshop explores the types of intellectual property typically produced during "language work" (Leonard 2017); they evaluate these products/works through the lenses of Traditional Knowledge and copyright; and they assess their suitability for licensing with Creative Commons licenses. |
| Workshops | Facilitator(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FLEx 1 | Beth Bryson | A hands-on introduction to the basic use of FieldWorks Language Explorer (FLEx) for language documentation and instruction. |
| FLEx 2 | Beth Bryson | This workshop is about the creation of an audio-visual storybook and will take participants through the process of making their own. |
| FLEx automatic parser basics | Beth Bryson | A hands-on introduction to basic use of the automatic parser in FieldWorks Language Explorer (FLEx) for language documentation. |
| Introduction of ELAN for community-based language documentation | Martin Kohlberger | This workshop provides a hands-on introduction to ELAN for community-based language documentation, equipping participants to transcribe, translate, organize and archive multimedia recordings efficiently and ethically. |
| Automatic transcription of indigenous languages | Rolando Coto-Solano and Gabriela De la Cruz Sanchez | This workshop will provide a hands-on example of how to train and deploy an automation speech recognition (ASR) system for language documentation, as well as provide training on how participants can adapt this to their own languages. |
| Crash course in artificial intelligence (2 weeks) | Sarah Moeller | In this workshop, participants will learn fundamental AI concepts and skills, looking under the hood of computer programming and machine learning for language-related tasks. |
| Introduction to python for language documentation and revitalization | Albert Ventayol-Boada | In this workshop, participants will learn fundamental AI concepts and skills, looking under the hood of computer programming and machine learning for language-related tasks. |
| Automatic morphological parsing techniques | Michael Gallaspy and Mark Simmons | This workshop focuses on techniques for automatic morphological parsing of words, which is especially useful for facilitating search and analysis of morphologically complex languages. |
| Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Language Documentation, Maintenance and Revitalization | Tyler Peterson and Ellie Brooks | A hands-on workshop where community language workers and academic linguists collaboratively assess the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in language documentation and revitalization, with a focus on developing tools and frameworks for the ethical and transparent use of AI. |
| Workshops | Facilitator(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Working with Archival Materials | Tim Thornes and Megan Lukaneic | This workshop will serve participants who have, or are seeking, access to legacy recordings and print materials held in archives in order to incorporate their contents as both cultural resources and pedagogical materials. |
| Documenting language for revitalization: Connecting lexicography, curriculum development and vocabulary learning | Josiah Murphy and Michol Miller | This workshop will offer participants an introduction to key concepts and practical skills in second language vocabulary acquisition, language curriculum, and materials development, language documentation and lexicography, and task-based vocabulary learning through the use of games and stories. |
| Community-based dictionary projects for living languages | Cláudio da Silva and Craig A. Volker | This workshop reviews a community-based dictionary writing project in Papua New Guinea, examines its tie to the participants’ own communities and their social and language ecologies, and helps participants prepare a plan for their own community-based dictionary writing project. |
| Publishing Indigenous Language Work: From Completed Research to Published Book | Lillian Maassen | This workshop will walk students through the process of submitting their research to an academic publisher, focusing on how best to prepare their work for consideration, what they can expect from the experience, and how they can advocate throughout for themselves and for the language communities they serve. |
| Reclaiming Voices: A Community-Based Approach to Language Revitalization - The Torwali Case Study | Zubair Torwali and Aftab Ahmad | This workshop explores practical, community-driven strategies for language reclamation, maintenance, and documentation using the Torwali language project in northern Pakistan as a living case study. |
| Holistic Approaches to Language Revitalization | Thierry Veyrié | This workshop aims to promote the integration of language and culture in the community in language revitalization practices. |
| Understanding morphology (the structure of words) for community language work | Seaira Lett and Lukas Denk | This workshop will help CoLang participants of all backgrounds to obtain the level of morphology knowledge required to engage in tasks including teaching, learning, documenting, etc., understudied languages, which often possess complex morphological systems |
| Community Language Archives | Hali Dardar | Language and cultural reclamation require connecting people to ideas and knowledge that may not be readily accessible. This could be taking notes while learning a language, recording conversations and interviews, creating learning materials, or finding things in archives, libraries and garages. This workshop will teach participants skills for assessing and inventorying materials, defining goals and creating management systems for materials that meet the community's needs. |
| Workshops | Facilitator(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Designing communicative tasks for language learning | Kelsey Bialo | This workshop will guide participants through the process of creating communicative language tasks for teaching, practicing or learning their language. |
| Tell your story: Integrating indigenous knowledge through collaborative school and community projects | Cláudio da Silva and Craig A. Volker | This workshop uses school materials co-created in community-based projects in Papua New Guinea as a starting point for integrating Indigenous knowledge and language in both school and community contexts, while fostering critical reflection on colonial logics in education. |
| Audiovisual story books for language revitalization | Guillem Belmar and Noemy Condori Arias | This workshop is about the creation of an audio-visual storybook and will take participants through the process of making their own. |
| Animation, storytelling and creative language teaching | Violet King | Participants will practice storytelling skills as they create a stop-motion animated video in their language, and learn how they can use this process to engage students and center creativity in language teaching. |
| Writing Systems | Martie Woothtakewahbitty and Kate Pewenofkit | A hands-on workshop on developing, navigating, and teaching writing systems for Indigenous languages in ways that use community knowledge, accessibility, and practical revitalization needs. |
| Teaching Pronunciation | Martie Woothtakewahbitty and Kate Pewenofkit | A practical hands-on workshop on how to learn and teach pronunciation in Indigenous language reclamation settings using community knowledge, accessible tools and culturally-rooted practices. |
| Curriculum | Martie Woothtakewahbitty and Kate Pewenofkit | A hands-on workshop on designing community-centered curriculum that supports language reclamation goals, cultural values and practical teaching realities in Indigenous learning environments. |
| Assessment | Martie Woothtakewahbitty and Kate Pewenofkit | A hands-on workshop on developing culturally grounded and learner-centered assessments that support fluency, community values and positive language identity. |
| Growing self-directed language learners through exploration and problem-solving | Charlie McVicker | This workshop explores techniques for bringing curiosity and problem solving into language learning spaces, encouraging learners to grow from instructor-dependent consumers of language into resilient, independent and self-guided language learners that approach challenges students to develop a with a solution-oriented mindset. |
| Practical approaches to community language teaching while bridging linguistics and revitalization pedagogy | Lisa Casarez | This workshop will offer practical approaches to community language teaching that draw on linguistics as a tool to support revitalization pedagogy, guiding participants to apply linguistic insights of their language through lessons, activities and materials as language teachers in their own communities. |
| Translingual feedback as empowerment: Practical pedagogical strategies for inclusive language teaching and assessment | Susmita Davi Trisha | This workshop introduces practical, translingual feedback strategies that help teachers, researchers and community practitioners design inclusive assessment methods, strengthen learner confidence and build linguistically responsive classrooms and collaborative environments. |
| Digital tools for place-based language teaching: Creating interactive materials that connect language to land | An Sakach and Saki Gejo | This hands-on workshop empowers language teachers and community scholars with practical skills in using free digital platforms (Quizlet, Book Creator, Wordwall, Thinglink, and Google Earth) to create engaging, culturally relevant learning materials and place-based activities that connect language to traditional territories and cultural landscapes. |
| Workshops | Facilitator(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lullaby documentation and language revitalization | Mizuki Miyashita | This workshop introduces (i) the benefits of using songs in Indigenous language teaching and learning, (ii) the differences between traditional songs and translated Indigenous language teaching and learning, (ii) the differences between traditional songs and translated Western songs, (iii) the process of lullaby documentation, and (iv) ways of sharing documented songs. |
| Sneezing versus eating: Lexical aspect and how to document it | Pilar Chamorro | This workshop is the first of a two-part series on aspect and will introduce participants to lexical aspect, an area that is understudied in many languages, and to how to document it. |
| Ate versus have eaten: Viewpoint aspect and how to document it | Pilar Chamorro | This workshop, the second of a two-part workshop on aspect, will provide an introduction to viewpoint aspect and methods to document it. |
| Community-centered indigenous child language documentation and research | Melvatha R. Chee | This course provides a foundational overview of the Indigenous Child Language Research Center's approach to child language studies by sharing research literature, workflow, methodologies, and community priorities through presentations, demonstrations, engaging activities, and discussions. |
| Words of the land: Documenting and teaching traditional ecological knowledge through language | Heather Todd | A hands-on workshop on documenting and detailing traditional ecological knowledge--the relationship between people, plants, animals, and their environment--and integrating this knowledge into community-led language teaching and curriculum. |
| Documenting place names and ecological knowledge | Martin Kohlberger | This workshop introduces practical methods for documenting place names and related ecological knowledge, including how to collect, analyze and map landscape-based language data through interviews, narratives, audio/video recording and basic GIS tools. |
| Documenting the language of landscape and toponyms | Gabriela De la Cruz Sanchez | This workshop will provide participants with basic knowledge and experience on how to incorporate the documentation of landscape into their work. This can include the documentation of place names (toponyms) and flora and fauna, emphasizing the importance of experience-based language documentation and learning. |
In addition to the workshops, the first two-week session will include other opportunities for engagement with broader ideas in the field and cultural experiences of the area, through plenaries and cultural activities. Following the examples set by previous institutes, the first two weeks of CoLang 2026 will also include the steps plenary, sharing nights and models talks.
Steps plenary
The Steps plenary, which is held on the first day, serves as an introduction to the institute and provides an overview of the process of documentation and maintenance from project conceptualization to postproduction of linguistic analysis and language learning materials.
Sharing nights
Sharing Nights are held in the evenings during the workshop weeks. Participants are invited to make five-minute presentations on their own ongoing or nascent projects, enabling them to use the collective knowledge and creativity of CoLang participants to get constructive feedback and share their ideas with those in attendance
Models talks
Models talks provide exemplars of documentation and maintenance, exposing participants to current work by scholars (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) and community members engaged in innovative and successful collaborative projects.