A new Cost Action of interest to lexicographers
European Network for Combining Language
Learning with Crowdsourcing Techniques
(enetCollect)
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Institute for Specialised Communication and Multilingualism
European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen
Cost Enel WG3 Meeting, 25/02/2017, Budapest, Hungary
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (2/22)
Summary
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Introduction
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Objectives
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Approach and expected impacts
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Stakeholder and Working Groups
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Relevance for lexicographers
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Some interesting facts
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Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (3/22)
Summary

Introduction

Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working Groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Introduction (4/22)
Challenge
The enetCollect Action addresses the major European challenge of fostering the
language skills of all citizens regardless of their diversified social, educational, and
linguistic backgrounds.
To this end:
 it is concerned with enhancing the production of language learning material
 it kick-starts a Research and Innovation trend that combines Language Learning
with recent and successful Crowdsourcing approaches.
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Introduction (5/22)
Relevance and timeliness
1) Europe is confronted with intensified migration flows motivated by
educational, professional, economic and geopolitical circumstances (e.g.
Erasmus programs, market globalization, and the current Syrian conflicts).
=> Enabling people to properly communicate is a decisive factor.
2) Target groups are spread over Europe but the production of language learning
material is usually handled at country-level.
=> To serve all small and scattered target groups, forces should be joined.
3) The ambition to devise teaching material for the overwhelming number of
combinations between languages taught and target groups found in Europe
requires a large-scale and inclusive course of action.
=> EnetCollect sets into motion a R&I trend fostering multiple initiatives.
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Introduction (6/22)
Relevance and timeliness
4) It is a propitious time to obtain support for crowdsourcing initiatives of different
sizes since many regional, national, and international funding agencies have
acknowledged the potential of Crowdsourcing.
=> EnetCollect creates a solid footing on which other initiatives can rely.
5) According to the report on “Europeans and their Languages” nowadays 21% of
the Europeans aged over 14 are actively learning a language.
=> For every language a massive barely-exploited crowdsourcing potential exists.
6) Crowdsourcing is omnipresent in language-related R&I fields but efforts are
scattered, uncoordinated, and make very limited use of language learning.
=> The time is ideal for obtaining support from numerous R&I stakeholders.
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (7/22)
Summary

Introduction

Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working Groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Objectives (8/22)
Research Coordination Objectives
Objective 1:
=> Creating a theoretical framework for achieving a shared understanding.
Objective 2:
=> Gathering evaluation data for complementing the theoretical framework.
Objective 3:
=> Disseminating the knowledge created and the achievements obtained.
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Objectives (9/22)
Capacity-building Objectives
Objective 4:
 Creating a balanced interdisciplinary core community of active stakeholders.
Objective 5:
 Establishing communication channels.
Objective 6:
 Fostering new funded initiatives.
Objective 7:
=> Creating an association that takes over after enetCollect ends.
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (10/22)
Summary


Introduction
Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working Groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Approach and expected impacts (11/22)
Approach
EnetCollect distinguishes crowdsourcing approaches as either:
- Explicit, i.e. the crowd intentionally participates (WG1),
- Implicit, i.e. the crowd is not necessarily aware of its participation (WG2).
EnetCollect will also research factors and conditions related to user-orientation,
usability, technology and practical application (WG3, WG4 and WG5).
EnetCollect has devised sophisticated Outreach, Dissemination and Exploitation
Plans with several mechanisms (e.g. Collective Workforce).
EnetCollect follows an Open Access, Open Data and Open Science logic.
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Approach and expected impacts (12/22)
Expected impacts
In the short term,
 an interdisciplinary core community with practical experience in collaborating,
 a R&I trend with a theoretical framework, prototypical data and a shared agenda.
In the short-to-long term,
 enhanced creation of language learning material and the enhanced production of
language-related datasets.
Because of its unique multilingual nature, the European area will be the main
beneficiary of such impacts!
Since a massive crowdsourcing potential is available for all language, lessresourced languages will be the ones benefitting the most!
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (13/22)
Summary

Introduction

Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Stakeholders and Working Groups (14/22)
Stakeholder groups
The relevant stakeholders belong to 4 profiles:
(1) content-creation experts (ranging from teachers to researchers),
(2) content-usage experts (teachers for most),
(3) crowdsourcing experts (researchers for most),
(4) Learning/Content Management System developers (LMS/CMS).
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Stakeholders and Working Groups (15/22)
Working Groups
[WG1] R&I on Explicit Crowdsourcing for Language Learning material production
Stakeholders: content-creation experts and crowdsourcing experts.
[WG2] R&I on Implicit Crowdsourcing for Language Learning materials production
Stakeholders: content-usage experts and crowdsourcing experts
[WG3] User-oriented design strategies for a competitive solution
Stakeholders: content-creation experts and content-usage experts
[WG4] Technology-oriented specifications for a flexible and robust solution
Stakeholders: CMS developers and crowdsourcing experts
[WG5] Application-oriented specifications for an ethical, legal and profitable solution
Stakeholders: all stakeholder groups
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (16/22)
Summary

Introduction

Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Relevance for lexicographers (17/22)
Relevance for lexicographers
WG1 gives room to research the most effective ways to collaboratively devise
lexicographic content as language learning content and assess its effectiveness.
WG2 gives room to research ways to generate exercise content from language
resources (e.g. lexica) and to crowdsource manual validation of automatically
generated new entries (e.g. neologisms).
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (18/22)
Summary

Introduction

Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Some interesting facts (19/22)
Some interesting facts
The network of proposers included
• 68 members from 34 countries
• the 4 targeted stakeholder groups,
• a wide variety of languages and linguistic backgrounds
(26 languages belonging to 8 different language families),
• a large spectrum of private and public institutions.
The network of proposers exhibited an appropriate balancing in
• gender (44% Males, 56% Females),
• seniority (39 “Early Career Investigators” out of 68 proposers),
• nationalities (34 countries),
• inclusiveness balancing (54.8% of “Inclusiveness Target Countries”).
The current Management Committee already includes 27 countries and around
hundred persons are ready to join the Action as soon as possible !
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Summary (20/22)
Summary

Introduction

Objectives

Approach and expected impacts

Stakeholder and Working groups

Relevance for lexicographers

Some interesting facts

Next steps
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
Next steps (21/22)
Next steps
(1) Kick-off meeting in Brussels on the 7th of March
(2) Kick-starting the organization of the WGs
(3) First annual Action-wide meeting within 6 months
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding
Cost Action enetCollect
(22/22)
Many thanks for your attention.
Any questions ?
Lionel Nicolas & Verena Lyding