2026Q3 Reports: SIGEL

Annual Report to ACL

June 16, 2026

MEMBERSHIP

SIGEL was officially approved on Oct. 4, 2019. After 7 years, its membership has grown to 240-265. Members must actively renew membership yearly. After a recent renewal, membership is currently at 245.

WORKSHOP (ComputEL-8)

Following seven preceding events, we organized the 8th Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages (ComputEL-8) (https://computel-workshop.org/computel-8/) on March 4–5, 2025, in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. The workshop was co-located with the 9th International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation (ICLDC9) and offered hybrid attendance options, enabling participants to join either in person or remotely.

As with previous editions, ComputEL-8 brought together computational researchers, documentary linguists, and community language practitioners to exchange ideas, methods, and resources that support the documentation and revitalization of endangered languages. We were pleased to return to Honolulu, marking the fifth time the workshop has been held alongside ICLDC.

We received 45 submissions in the form of papers or extended abstracts. After a thorough review process, 30 submissions were accepted for presentation and publication in the workshop proceedings. The accepted contributions reflected a broad range of topics and demonstrated the continued growth of computational approaches to endangered language research.

As we have done previously, we welcomed both in-person and remote participants in order to encourage broad participation from researchers, language practitioners, and members of language communities worldwide. The hybrid format lowered barriers to participation and enabled engagement from individuals who may not otherwise have been able to attend. Throughout the workshop, participants from diverse disciplinary and community backgrounds contributed to lively discussions and knowledge exchange.

Building on the success of previous thematic sessions, we organized a Special Session entitled “Building Tools Together.” This session focused on strategies for the collaborative development of language resources and technologies and highlighted approaches that bring together computational researchers, documentary linguists, and language community members. Three presentations were featured in this special session, each emphasizing partnership-driven approaches to supporting endangered language communities.

The Organizing Committee for ComputEL-8 consisted of members of the SIGEL Executive Board as well as other SIGEL members. The committee represented the three constituencies of SIGEL: computational linguists, community members, and documentary/descriptive linguists:

• Jordan Lachler, University of Alberta (chair)
• Godfred Agyapong, University of Florida (Deputy chair)
• Antti Arppe, University of Alberta
• Aditi Chaudhary, Google Research
• Sarah Moeller, University of Florida
• Shruti Rijhwani, Google Research
• Daisy Rosenblum, University of British Columbia

The Program Committee for ComputEL-8 is available in: https://computel-workshop.org/computel-8/

We extend our appreciation to all authors for their submissions, to the Program Committee for the thoughtful review of each proposal, and to the ICLDC9 organizers for their assistance in hosting the workshop. We hope that ComputEL-8 stimulates new discussions and collaborations that continue to advance endangered-language research and strengthen support for language communities worldwide.

We intend to hold the ninth ComputEL workshop in conjunction with ACL 2026 in San Diego, California. We plan to continue expanding participation across our three constituencies and to strengthen collaborations that support the development of computational methods, language resources, and community-centered approaches for endangered languages.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

In October 2022, we organized the first of the Speaker Series for SIGEL, which was well attended. We have continued this activity with irregular events over the rest of this year. The next events will focus on developing orthographies, fonts, and keyboards for new writing systems.

ENDORSEMENTS

During the last 12 months, we did not endorse any other events.

SIGEL WEBSITE

We have set up SIGEL's website (https://acl-sigel.github.io/). Our website contains information about our previous and planned future activities, as well as our governance (Executive Board) and up-to-date membership.

GOVERNANCE

• president: Lane Schwartz (lane.schwartz@alaska.edu),
• secretary: Godfred Agyapong (gagyapong@ufl.edu)
• members-at-large: Sarah Moeller, Alexis Palmer, Antti Arppe, Jordan Lachler, Hilaria Cruz & Aditi Chaudhary
• collective email: acl.sigel@gmail.com
• mailing group: sigel@googlegroups.com

3. members: 245 (reconfirmed, with full names)

4. elections (first, next): first/next elections planned to be completed by the summer 20.

6. events - future

• endorsement of the 1st SLTU-CCURL2020 (Spoken Language Technologies for Under-resourced languages + Collaboration and Computing for Under-Resourced Languages: http://sltu-ccurl-2020.ilc.cnr.it/) at LREC 2020 (May 2020)