UPenn calls for Tamil volunteers for language research

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 April 2005, 14:24 GMT]
Christopher Glenn of University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)is seeking Tamil speakers domiciled in the US to register for a research study called LVDID – Language, Variety and Dialect Identification, a new multi-language telephone speech study supporting linguistic research, technology development and education, text of an e-mail posted in TamilNation website said.

"200 Tamil speakers in the U.S, who would be willing to register with us and make one 10 minute phone call to a friend or family member. The two Tamil speakers would converse on any subject that they wish for 10 minutes, and then we will use their conversation for our research. The project itself involves minimal effort from participants," the note said.

The researchers, for the purpose of this study, define a native speaker of Tamil as someone who

• was raised in a region where Tamil is a primary language/dialect used in daily activity,
• acquired Tamil at home or during elementary education,
• has been using Tamil regularly up to the present.

Volunteers are requested to call 1-800-380-7366 or to email Mr Glenn at [email protected].

The project will conduct a lottery for $500 for every 200 registrants, according to the program's website.