LingComm

Communicating linguistics with broader audiences (#LingComm25, 23, 21 conferences, classes @CoEDLang 2018 & #lingstitute 2017). Tweets by @becauselangpod

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That's a wrap for #LingComm25! And it was the biggest LingComm ever.
We'll be back next time for more panels, talks, how-tos, posters, and great chats with all the linguistic communicators.
Thanks to everyone who attended and made this conference such a success.

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Plenary: @emilymbender on text extruders:
"Why are we automating that? How does it fit into the context we're trying to use it…? Who gets hurt if it goes poorly, if it puts errors? Who gets hurt if it works as intended, and who's benefiting from that being automated?
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@MikeMenaNYC @JPBGerald: "If you write something inaccesible, did you really write it?" After being intimidated by the academic style, he realised: "If I can't understand it, they didn't do a good job."

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What does it mean to talk like a person, and not like a journal?
@MikeMenaNYC: "It's more than switching vocabulary words. It's relating to a person on a different level." Try using YOU. Just addressing the reader gives it a whole different vibe.
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Doing a Linguistics Day for high schoolers? Take a tip on terms from Frances Blanchette.

Morphology? ❌
Wordmaxxing ✅

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@MalvinaNissim heads up an Ethics in AI course at the University of Groeningen, where one final project is to give a presentation to high school students. Having to explain concepts to younger people forces the uni students to consider multiple perspectives.
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"You take a complicated subject that everyone THINKS they understand and explain it in a way that people REALLY understand." @GrantBarrett on a huge value of linguistics and lingcomm training
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If you can bring a bit of childlike silliness, even adults will respond.
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Laura Wagner and Cecile McKee are showing how to share linguistics with respect. Right now they're role-playing teaching IPA with nametags, and linguistic concepts with dinosaurs! 🤯
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Valerie Friedman: "Forget what you know as a linguist in many ways, and all those internal battles we have… It's not about dumbing it down. It's about simplifying."
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Final thoughts about publishing:
Evangelia Adamou: "I feel personally that there is a lot of pressure to build your own audience. What I liked about @MITPress was they built the audience for me."
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Hedde Zeijlstra: "Try to think what you're going to accomplish with your writing" before you start. "Try to keep in mind who you write for."
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Author Hedde Zeijlstra on publishing: "The hardest thing about writing was that there was a linguist sitting on my shoulder" playing the part of a critic.
"You just have to beat up that person on your shoulder."
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Tips on podcast audio from @becauselangpod
How hard do you go on the edit?
- UMs and UHs have a function, so try to leave them.
- Honour the conversation you had. Don't overwork it.
- Serve the show — if it's distracting, cut it.
And always record more than one way.
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Valerie Friedman has an important tip on publishing (on the English-speaking scene): Agents get paid when you do.
"If an agent is asking you for money up front — run."
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Evangelia Adamou: Writing a popsci book is a great way to consolidate yourself as an expert.
But: "popular books don't always count the same [as academic books], especially early in your career. You may want to wait to get tenure first, before writing a popular book."
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Valerie Friedman on writing a popular book: "There's a point at which you have the confidence to say what *WE* do, rather than just what *I* do."
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Valerie Friedman has studied "vowel movement".
"I know I can say that in this crowd and not be mistaken for a gastroenterologist."
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Laura Wagner, on measuring impact in lingcomm:
“Not that any of us would ever have wrong ideas… but itš useful to have data to back up that we’re doing things the right way.”
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An interesting insight from Ionica Smeets:
In Netherlands, one goal is to increase public trust in science.
Another is increasing the trust scientists have in the public.
Mutual trust.
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