UTASCILT 11 (2003)

Dates & Location

UTASCILT 11 is November 6-7, 2003, at UT Arlington.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Robin Lombard, U.S. Terminologist, Microsoft Corp.

"Terminology at Microsoft: Making Sense to a Global Audience"

Microsoft software, documentation, and Web sites are created with U.S. English as the source language and then localized into more than 40 languages. This means that U.S. English terminology has a big impact on three audience segments: the native speaker of English, the non-native speaker of English who is using the English version of a product, and the target-language speaker through the localizer, who is charged with translating that terminology into another language. Despite the impact of U.S. English terminology decisions on these three audiences, for more than 25 years Microsoft had no centralized terminology management strategy. This led to the creation of multiple terms for the same concept, term collisions across product groups, and an overall lack of consideration for the needs of a global audience.

Recent research at Microsoft has shown that it is difficult for the native speaker (especially novice) computer user to keep track of even the most basic computer terminology. How much more difficult is it then for the non-native speaker of English who is using the English product or Web site to understand Microsoft terminology? And how complex is the task of translating that terminology into target languages around the world? Microsoft is currently embarking on a strategy to document and track both U.S. English and target language terminology, to ensure that new terminology can be understood by a global audience, and to attempt to demystify terminology for novice users. This presentation outlines some of the linguistic challenges Microsoft faces in communicating a growing body of increasingly complex terminology to customers around the world.

Dr. Robin Lombard has been the U.S. Terminologist at Microsoft Corporation since 2001 and has worked for Microsoft since 1998. She is a member of the U.S. Delegation to ISO Technical Committee 37/SC4 Language Resources. Dr. Lombard has broad experience teaching English as a Second Language, both in the United States and the People's Republic of China. She holds a B.S. in Science from the Pennsylvania State University, and M.A. and PhD. degrees in Linguistics from the University of Texas-Arlington.

Conference Schedule

Take a look at the schedule for UTASCILT 11 (2003).

Yumi Nakamura Prize in Linguistics

The Yumi Nakamura Prize in Linguistics has been established to honor the memory of Ms. Yumi Nakamura, a Linguistics student who died at UT Arlington in January 2000. Her family and the Program in Linguistics have contributed funds to be awarded to the best student papers at the UTA Student Conference in Linguistics. A maximum of 3 prizes will be awarded in amounts up to $400 USD.

All students presenting papers are eligible to be included in the competition for the prize. The prize will be awarded at the Friday evening session.

Read more about the Yumi Nakamura Memorial Endowment at the department's Giving Opportunities page.

Purpose

The University of Texas at Arlington Student Conference in Linguistics & TESOL is a student-led conference specifically designed to give graduate students a chance to present their original research. This is a great opportunity to join students from across America and around the world to present research on language.