2003 SLA Annual Report

December 12, 2003

TO: American Anthropological Association
FROM: Elinor Ochs

President, Society for Linguistic Anthropology

RE: Annual Report, 2002-2003

1. Officers:
In the past academic year, the officers of the SLA have been:

Elinor Ochs, President

Leanne Hinton, President-Elect
Betsy Rymes, Secretary Treasurer
Niko Besnier, Member at Large
Bambi Schieffelin, Member at Large
Mark Peterson, AN column co-editor
James Stanlaw, AN column co-editor
Elizabeth Keating, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology co-editor
Mary Bucholtz, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology co-editor
Jack Sidnell, Program Chair
Stanton Wortham, Nominations Chair
William Beeman, SLA representative to the AAA Executive Committee

After the 2003 AAA Meeting, the officers of the SLA are:

Leanne Hinton, President

Betsy Rymes, Secretary Treasurer

Niko Besnier, Member at Large

Bambi Schieffelin, Member at Large

Lori Johns, Graduate Student Representative

James Stanlaw, AN column co-editor

Mark Peterson, AN column co-editor

Elizabeth Keating, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology co-editor

Mary Bucholtz, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology co-editor

Asif Agha, Program Chair

William Beeman, SLA representative to the AAA Executive Committee

2. Year's Activities:

A. Membership and Budget:
The membership of the SLA has slightly decreased this year (30 members/- 4%). Subscription to the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology also decreased by 3% (from 146 to 136 subscribers). As of September 30, 2003, revenues totaled $21,231, and expenses totaled $15,338. The major expense of SLA is the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. Projected costs for the journal will rise with the transition to UC Press and AAA's mandate to convert to digital format within the AAA Portal. These budgetary changes are projected to leave SLA short of $4,000. The SLA Executive Committee voted to raise SLA regular membership fees from $30 to $40.

B. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology:
Elizabeth Keating and Mary Bucholtz have co-edited the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology with efficiency and imagination. The co-editors report an increase in number and quality of submissions, with a consequent decline in acceptance rate. The increase in submissions is in part due to the decision to publish one special topic volume a year. In 2002 a special issue was published on Visual Communication. Out of 24 manuscripts currently under review for 2003, 14 are submissions for special issues. Even with the increase, the journal has maintained a quick turn around time for accepted articles (4 months). Book reviews were published online and in print, in response to SLA membership feedback. The co-editors urge SLA to consider publishing longer journal volumes to accommodate the rise in quality submissions.

The co-editors' three-year tenure is scheduled to end at the end of August 2004. A search committee has been formed and has been actively fielding possibilities for new leadership for the journal.

C. Anthropology News Column:
This past year has been relatively successful for the SLA regarding service to members and section exposure in the Anthropology News column. Through judicious use of persuasion, AN column co-editors Mark Peterson and James Stanlaw have continued to get more space than most other sections for the SLA. In addition to relaying informational items and business news, they continued a format of interviews with noted linguists and anthropologists, and encouraged members to submit pieces covering their own research interests.

D. Prizes and Awards:
SLA Student Essay Prize:
Members-at-large Niko Besnier and Bambi Schieffelin served as the committee to judge papers submitted for the 2002-2003 SLA Student Essay Prize. Eight papers were submitted (7 graduate students, 1 undergraduate). The prize was awarded to Joseph Sung-Yul Park, graduate student in the Department of Linguistics, UC-Santa Barbara, for an essay entitled "Ideological Aspects of Korean English yumeo." The essay examines manifestations of jokes that South Koreans make about their difficulties with English or problems and double-entendres that arise in contexts of bilingual interaction. The award was announced at the 2003 SLA business meeting. Announcements for the 2003-2004 SLA Student Essay Prize have been publicized in the Anthropology News and on appropriate email lists and departmental bulletin boards.

E. Program:
This year Program Chair Jack Sidnell received 14 single session panel proposals and 5 double session panel proposals. Also received were 29 individually volunteered paper proposals. These proposals were evaluated jointly by Jack Sidnell and the incoming SLA program chair, Asif Agha.

Of the 19 panels proposed, 17 were accepted by the AAA program chair. This included all 5 of the SLA double session panels. In addition, 4 single session panels consisting of individually volunteered papers were accepted for inclusion on the program. Our rate of acceptance within the section for this year was 93%, up from last year's 67%. The sharp increase in acceptance rate was due to a smaller number of submissions, yet SLA presence on the program rose from 39.5 hours last year to nearly 47 hours this year. The invited sessions this year included the Joint SSILA and SLA session organized by Elinor Ochs and Leanne Hinton and the panel on Language and Materiality organized by Jill Cavanaugh and Shalini Shankar.

F. Nominations:
The SLA Nominations Committee, including Stanton Wortham (Chair), Kit Woolard and Debra Spitulnik, report that due to the excellent efforts of their predecessors, SLA members currently occupy not only all the designated linguistic seats but also many undesignated seats on AAA committees. Of the 7 available openings on AAA committees in this nominations cycle, one was a designated Linguistic seat on Ethics. Joe Errington and Bonnie McIlhenny agreed to run for this seat. In addition, David Samuels and Angie Reyes agreed to run for the Long Range Planning Committee and the Minority Issues in Anthropology Committee, respectively. The nominations will now go to the AAA Nominations Committee. The only SLA sectional position to be elected in the coming cycle is President-Elect (for a term running from November 2004 through November 2006). Jim Collins and Joel Kuipers have agreed to run for this position. Stanton Wortham will be stepping down after 2 years of highly commendable service.

G. Relations between SSILA and SLA:
Leanne Hinton reported on efforts to enhance the relationship between the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of America (SSILA) and the SLA, in the aftermath of SSILA's decision not to meet bi-annually at AAA meetings and instead meet annually at the Linguistic Society of America meetings. A number of SSILA members continue to affiliate with AAA and SLA. One possible future move would be to constitute SSILA as a Special Interest Committee of SLA, which would allow them to have a meeting room (if available) but not require membership in AAA. At the 2003 AAA meetings, SSILA and SLA successfully held a double invited session on endangered languages, which serves as prototype for future scholarly collaborations between the two organizations. Additionally, with the assistance of SLA representative Alexandra Jaffe, the AAA Long Range Planning Committee is considering a SLA-proposed agenda concerning endangered languages.

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