The Department of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii in Muna is a leading voice in an effort to provide reliable data on the COVID-19 pandemic to more people around the world.
Assistant Professor Bradley McDonnell has teamed up with experts from the University of London and the State University of New York at Buffalo on COMALLanguages, an assignment to provide underserved communities with accurate data on COVID-19 in their own language so their populations are informed on how to save you from spreading the virus. The volunteer team focuses on endangered languages and began creating resources for some 20 languages spoken in Cameroon. The team also covered languages in Ghana, Indonesia and Pakistan, with others expected.
“The virALLangauges team partners with language communities around the world, and the increased amount of language resources in Cameroon, Ghana, Pakistan and Indonesia make up the existing connections that the virALLangauges team members have already developed,” McDonnell said. “For example, I have been doing linguistic boxing in Indonesia for over a decade, so I got in touch with the language communities and educational linguists in Indonesia. “
Team members were encouraged to create the task because data written in majority languages is well understood or obtained well in many minority communities, especially in spaces where data is primarily communicated orally. The team created YouTube videos and a Facebook page in other languages with fundamental fitness data on COVID-19, tutorials on how to make hand sanitization, and tips on how to adapt social life to half of COVID-19.
“This is a wonderful example of how the Department of Linguistics works to solve real global disruptions for communities that are overlooked in today’s world,” said branch director and professor Kamil Deen. “Professor McDonnell, as representative of the Department of Linguistics at UH Mānoa, is the best ambassador of this philosophy.
UH Mānoa scholars Jacob Hakim, Khairunnisa, Jessica Charest, Shirley Gabber, Leah Pappas, Sebastian Ohara-Saft, and Katherine Strong contributed to the project. McDonnell also worked extensively with Yanti, director of the Center for Linguistic and Cultural Studies at Indonesia’s Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta, Indonesia; and Ika Nurhayani, Director of the Graduate Program in Linguistics, Faculty of Cultural Studies, Brawijaya University in Malang, Indonesia.
The team’s number one data source is the World Health Organization with the Global Health Equity Community at New York State University in Buffalo. After collecting the latest COVID-19 data, team members shared it with local speakers to create video and audio recordings in their own language.
“The most rewarding component of the assignment for me is seeing people’s willingness to help their own communities despite the demanding situations they have faced lately,” McDonnell said. “We have had doctors, nurses and teachers who have given their time to record honest messages in their own language to succeed in their own communities. “
The team recruits speakers from minority or endangered languages from around the world who are willing to help with the project. The team is also intended for researchers, activists and travelers familiar with communities that speak an marginalized language and can engage with team members. page for more information.
“Our biggest challenge continues to be recruiting other people who can record reliable and memorable data on COVID-19,” McDonnell said. “In many cases, we simply cannot identify other people in various communities. In Indonesia in Indonesia, linguists know more than 700 different languages, so calling other people on the network is a real challenge.
Video translation by Lusi Susianti, leader and speaker of Kapuas Hulu in Indonesia.
—By Marc Arakaki