projects, funding, and publications
Three rivers language center
What we do.
Our collaborative research is community based and focuses on the needs of our research partners in the various communities we work in, with, and for. We focus on nondominant languages and issues of language documentation, linguistic pedagogy, language policy, and the linguistic and human rights of nondominant-language speakers. Our team has expertise in linguistics, anthropology, computational linguistics, language documentation and preservation, pedagogy development, curriculum design, international policy, international education, rhetoric and composition, publishing, teacher training, nonprofit management, strategic planning, and linguistic rights. We primarily work with refugee and immigrant communities, indigenous communities of the Americas, and nondominant-linguistic communities in Southeast Asia.
Completed Project
Coeur d’Alene Online Language Resource Center
Our team at the Three Rivers Language Center has been working with partners at the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Language Program and the University of Arizona for over 20 years. In 2018, our team won the Ken Hale Prize for our community-based and driven research on digital storage and retrieval of language and cultural resources. These resources can be found at the Coeur d’Alene Online Language Resource Center. The Ken Hale Prize is presented in recognition of outstanding community-language work and a deep commitment to the documentation, maintenance, promotion, and revitalization of indigenous languages in the Americas.
Ongoing Project
Mon Heritage Language and
Well-being
Since 2010, we have been working with refugees and immigrants from Myanmar/Burma in our local community and partners in Myanmar/Burma. This community-based work has led to numerous presentations and publications, as well as a partnership with the Mon National Education Committee. Despite the military coup in 2021, we continue to work with our grassroots partners on the ground in Myanmar/Burma on education reform through training and education. Our
well-being and language research is perhaps captured best in our joint publication with community members for UNESCO, Refugees, Language, Well-being, and Education: A Case Study from a Heritage Language Program.
Publications and Funding
It takes a community-based approach.
We strive to engage in best practices as they relate to community-based collaborative research. To this end, we work to ensure that our work—from start to finish—is driven by our community partners, their needs, and their expertise. This is explored and exemplified best in our 2018 Insights from Practices in Community-Based Research publication, which was nominated for the Franz Boas Award. In this work and others, our community partners share in the production and academic dissemination of our scholarly work together.
Our team has secured over $2 million in funding for projects related to the Three Rivers Language Center. This includes seven National Science Foundation grants, one National Endowment for the Humanities grant, and over $400,000 in donations.