The UK Linguistics Olympiad

1. The UK Linguistics Olympiad Richard Hudson ISMLA Oxford, Feb 2011

2. Plan • How it works • Some example problems • Educational benefits • Past, present and future • Independent and state schools • Boys and girls • Age • Practicalities

3. 1. How it works • Round 1 (early Feb) • sat in schools • two levels: • Foundation level • Advanced level • Round 2 (late March) • a two-day residential selection process • International Linguistics Olympiad (July)

4. 2. Some example problems • Foundation level: Abma • discover vocabulary and syntax in easy data • Foundation/Advanced level: Turkish • discover 'vowel harmony' • Advanced level: Tangkhul • discover vocabulary and syntax in hard data

5. Foundation level: Abma Foundation level: Abma mwamni, sileng = drinks/drinking or water mwatbo = keeps mwegau = grows nutsu = the child

6. ‘Water’ = mwamni or sileng? sileng = water mwamni = drinks/drinking

7. Foundation and Advanced: Turkish NB No dot!! Question: Here are two more Turkish words: dil (language), kalıp (form, shape). How would you translate (a) mute (b) shapeless?

8. ‘lacking’ = siz, suz, … Why does the vowel keep changing?

9. A nasty twist • Two of the words don’t follow the regular pattern. • because they’re borrowed from another language. • BUT we don’t know which two! • So you’re looking for a rule that • explains most of the cases • that (hopefully) makes sense • but that doesn’t apply to two of the words. • So you have to look globally for a general trend • and hope the exceptions will stand out.

10. Advanced: Tangkhul • Structure of problem: • 9 sentences in Tangkhul • 9 sentences in English that translate them. • but in a different order! • Challenge: • Work out which E sentences translate which T sentences • and which E words translate which T words!

11. For instance • Tangkhul: • (a) a masikserra. • (b) āni masikngarokei • (c) āthum masikngarokngāilā • English: • (1) Do they want to pinch each other? • (2) Do you(sg) see it? • (3) Have you(pl) all come?

12. 3. Educational benefits • Children enjoy it. • "Although our students didn't make it to the next round … they - and I - enjoyed the experience, and we look forward to next year's competition." • "This is really the first time that I've seen students actually get so involved in working out how languages work. It really is brilliant!!" • But it's also good for their minds.

13. Good mind-training Olympiad work requires: • formal analysis (pattern-spotting) applied to language • long chains of reasoning • persistence • creativity • attention to fine detail • attention to the broad picture • confidence

14. Language awareness • Olympiad work requires some intuitive understanding of how languages work • e.g. rules may be sensitive to phonology. • It also teaches: • the diversity of languages • the interest of language structure • Some problems involve French or even English.

15. A tool for language teaching? • Guided discovery learning • Example: French ma ~ mon • ma mère ~ mon école ~ mon ancienne amie • Give some examples as data • Let students induce the generalisation • Give feedback • Let them expand the generalisation to include other pronouns and la ~ l'

16. 4. Past, present and future Past • 1960s: first Linguistics Olympiad • in Moscow, then St Petersburg and Bulgaria • a UK school once sent a team to Moscow • 2003 first International Linguistics Olympiad • in Bulgaria • 20010 26 teams from 18 countries • 2009 UKLO created

17. Present • UKLO is part of a consortium of English-speaking countries • USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, UK • purpose: to produce test papers • very hard! • UKLO organises the competitions • and raises funds for round 2 and ILO • maybe we'll host ILO in 2013?

18. Future • Our aim is: • to promote analytical language study in schools • NOT recruitment for BA Linguistics • NOT medals at ILO • 2010 (our first year): • 600 pupils, 50 schools • 2011: 900 pupils, 69 schools

19. 5. Independent and state schools • Independent schools perform much better • 2010, Advanced level:

20. So what? • Well done independent schools! • Round 2 winners were really smart. • But: why do state schools do so poorly? • This is a major concern for UKLO: • as citizens • as fund raisers • So state schools are our main target • for recruitment • for support

21. Our patron • Christine Ohuruogu • MBE • Olympic gold-medalist, 200 metres • BA Linguistics, UCL

22. 6. Boys and girls • In 2010, boys and girls were roughly equal in numbers: • F-level: B = 68, G = 67, ? = 67 (B = G) • A-level: B = 233, G = 173 (B > G) • ILO teams: B = 4, G = 4 (B = G) • BUT ILO awards: • B = 4, G = 0!

23. Boys and girls at ILO • All countries, 2008-10 • all awards for individuals: • B = 99, G = 38 • Why? • But compare the Int Maths Olympiad • 2010 gold/silver: B = 144, G = 7!!! • So at least girls perform better in linguistics than in maths

24. Something for everyone • UKLO 'brings girls into science' • they're as good as boys at formal analysis • and they enjoy it. • UKLO 'brings boys into languages' • they're as good as girls at analysing language • and they enjoy it. • "…we had 41 boys who took part and "battled" in earnest for 2 hours!  … I feel it is another way of encouraging languages as a whole, and especially in a boys' school."

25. Round 2 2010

26. 7. Age • Most countries offer just one level. • so typically for Y12-13 • But we offer Foundation level too. • In 2010, 14 were from Y7!! • If these pupils stay with us, they will do five more olympiads!

27. F-level marks x age, 2010

28. A-level marks x age, 2010

29. 8. Practicalities • When in 2011? • Round 1: last week! (Feb 2-7) • Round 2: March 25-27, Edinburgh • ILO: July, Pittsburgh, USA • How much? • Nothing. • We depend entirely on donations. • Two independent schools have donated generously.

30. Thank you • More information • e.g. registering, preparing www.uklo.org