LD&A 2026

Conference
Berlin, Germany & Online, 9-11 September 2026

Language documentation and archiving are key activities in the effort to preserve and support linguistic and cultural diversity globally. As new technologies emerge and evolve, new opportunities and challenges present themselves for how we record, curate, preserve, and disseminate linguistic and cultural materials. This conference invites documenters, scholars, activists, technologists, and others engaged in language documentation and archiving to present papers and posters exploring new approaches, methods, and technologies for documentation, archiving, and mobilization. We welcome critical and creative perspectives on the politics, practicalities, and possibilities for working with language documentation materials in both academic and community contexts.

Abstract submission open now, until 1 March 2026.

Authors may submit only one abstract as the first author, but they may be collaborators on more than one abstract submission. The conference will be hybrid, with both in-person and online participation.

We especially invite submissions on the following themes in language documentation and archiving:

Relationship & Collaboration

Community-driven and Indigenous-led documentation projects
Navigating differing expectations among community members
Capacity-building and support for local agencies and small cultural centers

Tools & Technology

Advances in documentary tools (remote methods, specialized software, audio/video tech)
Use of 360 cameras, GoPros, and new audiovisual tools
Enhancing annotation, orthography, and translation practices
Development of digital platforms for documentation and revitalization
Using social media and technology to promote minoritized languages

Impact & Outcomes

Archives as models for strengthening language records
Reports on indigenous community use of archives and materials
Move from paper to digital, and qualitative shifts in record-keeping
Educational and artistic initiatives using archival materials
Sustainability: addressing carbon costs of documentation and archiving

Planning, Policy & Future

Updating OLAC metadata and archiving standards for accessibility
Making digital archives more navigable and engaging
Solutions for access in low or no-internet environments
Training sessions, capacity development, and future prospects

Artificial Intelligence: Challenges & Opportunities

Use of AI for description, transcription, OCR, and ASR on records
AI tools to locate and catalog language materials
Debate over using AI for synthetic speech; ethical and legal concerns
Calls to heed critiques like Emily Bender’s about “AI hype”
Balancing innovation with data sovereignty and community consent

Conference Timeline

March 1, 2026

Abstract submission
deadline

April 1, 2026

Notification of acceptance

June 1, 2026

Presenter registration deadline

July 1, 2026

In-person attendee registration deadline

August 1, 2026

Online attendee registration deadline

September 9-11, 2026

Conference dates

on Zoom

and in Berlin, Germany

Plenary Speakers

Language documentation in the context of language loss: case studies from the Amazon

Brazil stands out worldwide as a country with remarkable linguistic diversity, based on the number of languages spoken, but above all on the great genealogical diversity of the families represented. However, this great diversity has suffered the effects of a violent process over the centuries, giving rise to a scenario in which the vast majority of languages are endangered. In response, in recent years, the country has experienced a movement of recovery, reclamation and/or revitalisation of its native languages, led mainly by indigenous peoples with collaboration from non native researchers.

In this lecture, I will present on the interaction between language documentation, description and revitalisation, in the context of language endangerment, illustrating with some case studies from my own experience with Amazonian languages.

Noa atu ꞌe ngarungaru te tai – tūkētūkē te au rima i tō
tereꞌanga. Ko tō tātou Vairanga Tuatua tētaꞌi.

Even though the sea is choppy you have many different hands on your journey. One is our language archive(s).

The Māori people of the so-called Cook Islands have been increasingly engaged in language revitalisation activities over the last decade. As with so many Indigenous peoples on language reclamation journeys, we have encountered many challenges along with many successes.

In this talk, I will share some of these challenges and successes, from my perspective, as a linguistic researcher working in language documentation, language technology and language revitalisation. I will focus on archiving, in a broad sense, and will travel around orthography, robots, capacity building and community participation. Alongside I will discuss various flavours of social, ethical and theoretical tension that bubble bubble toil and trouble along, in this contemporary cauldron of techno-mania and creative liberation.

Conference Schedule

ConferenceSchedule_20240903

Access here.

Pre-Conference Trainings and Events

LDA-2024