Eighth Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages

First Call for Papers for Regular Session

We invite submissions to the 8th workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages, by October 7, 2024.

The ComputEL-8 workshop focuses on the use of computational methods in the study, support, and revitalization of endangered languages. The primary aim of the workshop is to continue narrowing the gap between computational linguists interested in methods for low resource languages, academic linguists documenting languages, and the language communities who are striving to maintain their languages. We encourage submissions from scholars and activists representing any or all of these perspectives.
The intention of the workshop is not merely to allow for the presentation of research, but also to build a network of computational linguists, documentary linguists, and community language activists who are able to effectively join together and serve their common interests.

Workshop Venue
ComputEL-8 will take place March 3-4, 2025, immediately preceding the 9th International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation (ICLDC) in Honolulu, Hawaii(https://ling.lll.hawaii.edu/sites/icldc/). In-person events will be co-located with the ICLDC at the University of Hawai’i Manoa.
The workshop will be a virtual/in-person hybrid event. Ability to attend in person will not affect consideration of submissions.

Call for Papers
We encourage submissions that explore the interface and intersection of computational linguistics, documentary linguistics, and community-based efforts in language revitalization and reclamation. This includes submissions that:
(i) propose or demonstrate new methods or technologies for tasks or applications focused on low-resource settings, and in
particular, endangered languages.
(ii) examine the use of specific methods in the analysis of data from low-resource languages, or propose new methods for analysis of
such data, oriented toward the goals of language reclamation and revitalization
(iii) propose new models for the collection, management, and mobilization of language data in community settings, with attention to
issues of data sovereignty and community protocols
(iv) explore concrete steps for a more fruitful interaction among computer scientists, documentary linguists, and language
communities

Important Dates
07-Oct-2024 Deadline for submission of papers or extended abstracts
22-Nov-2024 Notification of Acceptance
10-Jan-2025 Camera-ready papers due
3-4 March 2025 Workshop

Presentations
Presentation of accepted papers will be in both oral sessions and a poster session. The decision on whether a presentation for a paper will be oral and/or poster will be made by the Organizing Committee on the advice of the Program Committee, taking into account the subject matter and how the content might be best conveyed. Oral and poster presentations will not be distinguished in the Proceedings.

Submissions
In line with our goal of reaching multiple overlapping communities, we offer two modes of submission: extended abstract and full paper. The mode of submission does not influence the likelihood of acceptance. Either can be submitted to one of the workshop’s tracks: (a) language community perspective and (b) academic perspective.

All submissions must be anonymous following ACL guidelines and will be peer-reviewed by the scientific committee.

A. Extended Abstract:
Please submit anonymous abstracts of up to 1500 words, excluding references. Extended abstracts must be submitted as attached documents.

B. Full Paper:
Please submit anonymously either
a) a long paper (max. 8 pages excluding references and appendices), or
b) a short paper (max. 4 pages excluding references)

Proceedings
The authors of selected accepted full papers (long or short) will be invited by the Organizing Committee to submit their papers for online publication via the open-access ACL Anthology. Final versions of long and short papers will be allotted one additional page (altogether 5 and 9 pages) excluding references.
Proceedings papers should be revised and improved versions of the work that underwent review. Any revisions should concern responses to reviewer comments or the addition of relevant details and clarifications, but not entirely new, unreviewed content.

Camera-ready versions of the articles for publication will be due on January 10, 2025.

Special Theme Session: Building Tools Together
In addition to the Regular Session, ComputEL-8 invites self-identified submissions to a Special Themed Session on “Building Tools Together.” This Session will focus on amplifying our shared understanding of how best to work together across disciplinary and cultural boundaries to build technological tools that support community language revitalization.
We invite presentations that: (1) Describe the development of new tools and technologies in collaborative teams, and/or (2) Describe or identify technological or computational needs within community language revitalization contexts, and/or propose solutions.
For presentations that describe the development of new tools and technologies in collaboration among language communities, academic researchers, and (in some cases) industry or non-governmental organizations, we encourage submissions which address questions such as:
-- How did the idea for the tool or technology come about?
-- How did the team members meet and come to work together?
-- What has been the impact of this tool? How are you evaluating it? How has the project benefitted community efforts at language
maintenance and revitalization?
-- What are some challenges (logistical, technical, interdisciplinary, intercultural) that you encountered, and how did you address
them?
-- How have you balanced the needs and priorities of different team members through the lifespan of the project?
-- What lessons have you learned that might benefit similar collaborations?

For presentations that identify technological or computational needs within community language revitalization contexts, and/or propose solutions, we encourage submissions which address questions such as:
-- What is the need that this tool would meet? Who will it serve?
-- What is the blue-sky version of this tool? What is the minimum viable product version?
-- What kinds of data, digital assets, or media content would be required to create the tool, and how would they be assembled?
-- What challenges might the team face in the development process?
-- How do you anticipate the collaborative process to best incorporate diverse areas of expertise from cultural and community-
grounded knowledge to academic, technical, and production-oriented knowledge?

Submissions to the Special Theme Session
Please submit anonymous extended abstracts of up to 1500 words, excluding references.
Submissions representing community-led collaborations are strongly encouraged.
Submissions to the Main Session may choose to be considered for the Special Session as well. Same considerations will be given for publication whether papers are accepted to the Main Session or the Special Session. Alternatively, authors may submit abstracts only to the Special Session.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59pm 7 October, 2024 (Anywhere on Earth).

You may indicate that your full paper or extended abstract be considered for inclusion in the Special Session.
Notification of acceptance to the Special Session will be sent out by November 22, 2024.
All authors of papers in the Special Theme Session will be invited to contribute to a follow-up paper that synthesizes the findings of the Session.

Important Dates:
07-Oct-2024 Deadline for submission of papers or extended abstracts
22-Nov-2024 Notification of Acceptance
10-Jan-2025 Camera-ready papers due
3-4 March 2025 Workshop

Contact the OC
For further information, please consult our website: https://computel-workshop.org/computel-8/
or email us at: computel.workshop@gmail.com

Previous workshops

The first ComputEL workshop was co-located with ACL in June 2014 in Baltimore;
ComputEL-2 was co-located with the 5th International Conference of Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC5) in Honolulu, Hawai’i, in March 2017;
ComputEL-3 was co-located with the 6th International Conference of Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC6) in Honolulu, Hawai’i, in March 2019.
ComputEL-4 was co-located with the 7th International Conference of Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC7) in Honolulu, Hawai’i, in March 2021.
ComputeEL-5 was co-located with the ACL in May 2022 in Dublin
ComputEL-6 was co-located with 8th International Conference of Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC8), held remotely in March 2023.
ComputEL-7 was co-located with 18th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL 2024), held in Malta in March 2023.