2021Q3 Reports: SIGEL

Antti Arppe and Sarah Moeller

SIGEL is ACL's special interest group on Endangered Languages.

MEMBERSHIP

SIGEL was officially approved on Oct. 4, 2019. After 1.5 years, its membership has reached 116.

WORKSHOP (ComputEL-4)

Following up on three preceding events, we organized, in virtual format, the 4th instance of the Workshop on the Use of Computational in the Study of Endangered Languages (ComputEL-4: https://computel-workshop.org/computel-4/) on 2-3 March 2021, co-timed and co-ordinated with the 7th International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC-7).

We received 24 submissions as papers or extended abstracts. After a thorough review process, 8 of the submissions were selected as long papers and 4 as as short papers, to be published in the ACL Anthology, representing a 50% acceptance rate. In addition, an additional 2 long papers and 1 short paper were accepted as resource oriented papers, alongside 5 extended abstracts (1 as a resource presentation), to be published in CU Scholar.

As we had done previously, we welcomed all the participants of ICLDC-7 to take part in ComputEL-4, and we did not have any registration fee to encourage as broad participation as possible. Despite the pandemic and thanks to the virtual format, we had 50'ish participants from around the world.

As a new workshop event, we organized a Special Panel on the ICLDC-7 theme, Recognizing Relationships, with the panelists Hilaria Cruz, Christopher Cox (Carleton University), and Lane Schwartz (University of Illinois), chaired by Antti Arppe (University of Alberta).

We intend to hold the fifth ComputEL at an ACL-cycle event in 2022, potentially in collaboration with another ACL-SIG.

The Organizing Committee for ComputEL-4 consisted of the interim SIGEL Executive Board as well as other SIGEL members:

• Antti Arppe, University of Alberta
• Jeff Good, Buffalo University
• Atticus Harrigan, University of Alberta (community track chair)
• Mans Hulden, University of Colorado, Boulder
• Jordan Lachler, University of Alberta
• Sarah Moeller, University of Colorado, Boulder (review & computational track chair)
• Alexis Palmer, University of North Texas
• Miikka Silfverberg, University of British Columbia
• Lane Schwartz, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The Program Committee for ComputEL-4 can be found in: https://computel-workshop.org/committees/

OTHER ACTIVITIES

None to report yet.

ENDORSEMENTS

During the last 12 months, we did not endorse any other events.

COMMUNICATIONS

SIGEL WEBSITE

We have set up SIGEL's website (https://acl-sigel.github.io/). Our website contains information about our previous and planned future activities, as well as our governance (Executive Board) and up-to-date membership.

TWITTER ACCOUNT

We have created a twitter account (@acl_sigel) for disseminating information relevant to SIGEL.

MAILING LISTS

We have created a Google email for SIGEL: acl.sigel@gmail.com - and a Google Group for the entire SIGEL membership: sigel@googlegroups.com - and for the SIGEL Executive Committee: sigel-ec@googlegroups.com

GOVERNANCE

The original proposers of SIGEL, Antti Arppe and Mans Hulden, acted as the interim President and Secretary, respectively, until the election of a new Executive Committee in January 2021. In addition, we had designated the Organizing Committee of ComputEL-3 as the interim Executive Committee for SIGEL. As the first Executive Committee for SIGEL, the following persons were elected by acclamation for two-year terms, from January 2021 until January 2023.

EXECUTIVE Committee

• President: Antti Arppe, University of Alberta
• Secretary: Sarah Moeller, University of Florida, Gainesville
• Members-At-Large:
  • Antonios Anastasopoulos, George Mason University
  • Hilaria Cruz, University of Louisville
  • Jordan Lachler, University of Alberta
  • Lane Schwartz, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

ELECTIONS

The next elections are due to take place by January 2023.