2008 Entries and Abstracts
Hans Boas
Germanic Studies
Texas German Dialect Archive (TGDA)
Conducting original linguistic analysis that gets students excited about the data and their underlying linguistic patterns is usually a very complicated task, because linguistic data is typically exclusively in print or exclusively audio in format. To overcome this problem, the Texas German Dialect Archive (TGDA) combines audio recordings of Texas German interviews with text (transcriptions and translations) and delivers them over the web. As a result, students become much more excited about conducting linguistic description and analysis because they feel as if they are sitting directly across from the Texas German informants as they talk. The TGDA is a resource and a teaching tool that contains more than 450 hours of recordings with more than 250 speakers of Texas German, a moribund dialect that will be extinct by 2050. Design features fostering teaching with the help of the TGDA include students’ ability to have (i) Repeated interaction with linguistic data, (ii) Accessibility and understanding of linguistic data, and (iii) Combination of audio and geo-spatial information.
The TGDA is unique because it is the central data source for a number of classes dealing with Texas German language, culture, and history. Without it, classes on these subject would be very difficult to teach because of a dearth of data. Furthermore, the TGDA is unique because students are involved in building the resource (they record, transcribe, and translate the interviews). As such, students learn the process of creating a resource (thereby generating content for future generations) and are not only passive consumers.
The TGDA is effective because it allows students to work on assignments, tests, and theses both inside and outside of the classroom around the clock. It is efficient because students have combined on-line access to audio, textual, and geo-spatial information in once place.