Information for Students

Why should I participate in LBC?

As a student, learning about current language research will enhance your educational experience by giving you opportunities to interact with researchers, learn about topics beyond what you encounter in your class, and contribute meaningfully to science. In addition, your participation may help plant the seeds for future research, especially if you are a student interested in investigating language-related questions of your own, either as a research assistant to faculty or as a honor’s student writing a thesis. Beyond language and linguistics, your participation will give you insight into the process of scientific data collection, which is useful for any student of the social sciences, including data science, economics, marketing, and politics.

Finally, students enrolled in certain courses during the semester can earn course credit for their participation in LBC, per the guidelines outlined by their instructor. Participation in one LBC project counts toward credit for one course (i.e., a student cannot earn credit for two courses from participating in one project).

How do I participate in LBC?

Your instructor will provide you with details on how to earn course credit through LBC, but generally, there are two options.

Option 1: Participate in an LBC research project (e.g., an experiment, a survey, an interview) and complete the Project Participation Questionnaire. Research projects may be in-person or online, and typically last between 30-90 minutes. You must be 18 years or older to participate. All research projects have been approved by the UH Human Research Protection Program.

Option 2: Attend a Linguistics-related event, including (but not limited to) the Linguistics Department’s Tuesday Seminar or the SLS Department’s Thursday Brown Bag. Then, write an original 500-word paper (“Event Response”) that summarizes the event and describes how it relates to what you are learning in class. This option is generally provided for students who cannot participate in research due to disability or ineligibility, and may be restricted by your instructor.

How do I sign up for an LBC research project? (Option 1)

  1. Log in using your UH credentials via the link on the sidebar at the right.
  2. View the list of current LBC research projects.
  3. If you are eligible for a project, sign up using the link next to the project title.
  4. Once you sign up, a researcher will contact with you to provide you with the next steps (e.g., where and when to show up to participate, a link to an online questionnaire).
    • Note down the date, time, and place of the project you have signed up for. You may or may not be contacted by the researcher with a reminder. If you cannot make an activity you have signed up for, please notify the researcher as soon as possible.
    • Be on time! Researchers often have all of their slots filled up. If you are late, then you may have to reschedule.
    • Research project activities are typically scheduled at multiple times of the day, and can include evening and weekend hours.
  5. After you have finished participating, the researcher will give you authorization to access the Project Participation Questionnaire. Log in using your UH credentials and fill out the questionnaire. Once submitted, a copy with your name will be sent to your instructor (who will then give you course credit) and an anonymous copy will be sent to the researcher.

Important Information about Research Projects

  • The list of approved research projects may change during the semester, as new projects become approved or previously posted projects are completed.
  • Some projects are limited to certain types of people (e.g., “speakers of Japanese”, “people who are not Deaf/Hard of Hearing”). Please read the restrictions carefully before signing up.
  • LBC strives to ensure that at least one project per semester will be open to all students. However, there may be a limited number of participation slots available. If it is not clear from the project descriptions, please contact the LBC committee, who can help you identify a study that is appropriate for you.
  • Students are only allowed to use their participation in one LBC Project for one class. In other words, you may not submit the same Project Participation Questionnaire to two different instructors.

How do I attend a Linguistics-related event? (Option 2)

  1. Ask your instructor for information about the Linguistics and SLS Department’s regular events, including Tuesday Seminar and Thursday Brown Bag. Linguistics-related events beyond these regularly-scheduled events, such as special lectures, conferences, and community events, may be eligible for Option 2 as well, pending the pre-approval of your instructor.
  2. Attend an event. You must of course attend for the entire duration of the event and be able to prove that you attended. Take notes, which will help you with your response essay.
  3. Write a 500-word essay (“Event Response”) that summarizes the event and explains how it relates to what you’ve been learning in class. Try your best to tie the content of the event with a specific lesson, lecture, or assignment from your class. But if the event was not clearly related, a summary and your own personal reflection on what made the event interesting will suffice.
  4. Log in using your UH credentials via the link on the sidebar at the right.
  5. Submit your completed 500-word summary using the Event Response Form. It will be sent to your instructor for review; summaries will not be returned to you.

Questions and Problems

If you encounter any problems during an experiment or during an interaction with a researcher, you can report this to the LBC Committee, which consists of Linguistics/SLS faculty members. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about LBC, please contact the LBC committee. Our contact info can be found on the sidebar at the right (at the bottom on mobile).

If you have questions about the use of human subjects in research, please contact the UH Office of Research Compliance.