Organization: Summer Institute of Linguistics Inc
Mission: SIL is a global faith-based nonprofit that works with ethnolinguistic communities to develop language solutions that expand their possibilities for a better life. Continue on Schedule O
Activities: Language Development and Translation Programs - SIL works with over 1,300 communities worldwide (impacting 1.07 billion speakers) as they build their capacity for sustainable development with their own languages. Language development involves ongoing planned actions that a language community takes to ensure that its language continues to serve its changing social, cultural, political, economic and spiritual needs and goals. SIL's expertise includes training and consulting in linguistic analysis, orthography and writing systems development, literature development (including translation) and mother tongue-based multilingual education and literacy. SIL publishes Ethnologue, an authoritative resource on world languages, referencing more than 7,000 languages. Continue on Schedule O.
Logistics - SIL works with non-dominant language communities who may reside in remote locations. It is often necessary for SIL to provide services to its staff that are unavailable in the local economy, such as housing, schools for dependent children, communications services, transportation, health care and access to food and supplies.
Materials Development and Publications - SIL works in partnership with non-dominant language communities to develop new written and oral materials in the languages they value most. The kind of materials is determined by the community. Content covers a variety of subjects, and might include print, audio or video items such as primers, folk stories, textbooks, health and hygiene guidelines, games, history, etc. In addition to new materials, local workers are trained to adapt or translate pertinent information from other languages on subjects such as nutrition, farming, health (e.g. HIV/AIDS, family planning, epidemic prevention, COVID-19 guidelines, etc.) and Scripture texts. SIL also works with communities to foster the effective use of these materials.
NTEE category: International, Foreign Affairs & National Security
Secondary category: Community Improvement & Capacity Building