James A. Smith
Degrees
- M.A., Applied Linguistics, Northern Territories University, Australia, 2002
- B.Sc. (Hons.) Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Surrey, UK, 1978
Current positions
- International Literacy and Education Consultant (2010– )
- SIL Asia Area Multilingual Education and Literacy Consultant (2003–present)
- Multilingual Education (MLE) and Literacy Consultant (1998–present)
Other experience
- Tutor/Instructor: Multilingual Education for Minority Language Contexts course, ETP, Horsleys Green, Buckinghamshire, England (April 2010)
- Consultant and Trainer: MLE Kindergarten Materials Production Workshop – 5 languages; Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (December, 2008)
- Consultant/Organizer/Facilitator: First Malaysian Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (MIPCE) (April 23–30, 2007)
- Consultant and Trainer: MLE Materials Production. 5 language groups, 4 sponsoring NGOs; Dhaka, Bangladesh (August 13–17, 2006)
- Coordinator and Organizer: Sabah Lexicography Workshop for 16 Language Groups; Rampayan Laut, Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia (June 6–17, 2005)
- Consultant and Trainer: Beginning Indigenous Writers’ Workshops series. Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia; March, April, May, 4 weeks total (2004)
- Instructor: Asia SIL, Literacy Courses, Darwin, Australia (2002)
- Consultant and Presenter: Seminar/Workshops on Translation Principles, Literacy Issues, Cultural Anthropology and Language Learning. Caribbean Island Nations of Barbados, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago (January–October 2001)
Languages
- English
- Malay
- Jamaican Creole
Research interests
- Multilingual Education
- Materials production in Indigenous Languages
- Orthography
Selected publications
Smith, James A., Karla J. Smith and Pandikar Padi. 2010. Making a dictionary. In The Iranun of Sabah: Language and culture of an endangered minority in Malaysia, eds. James Chin and Karla J. Smith, 179-186. Selangor, Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications, in press.
Smith, James A., Karla J. Smith and Jang Ismail, co-authors, eds. and compilers. 2010. Iranun children readiness material: Pre-primer and primer; Texts and workbooks. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: BKI, in press.
Smith, James A. and Karla J. Smith, eds. and compilers. 2005. Gu’up a iringa’ Iranun a ikaisa – Vol. 1 Bilingual (Iranun traditional stories) Kota Kinabalu: BKI.
———. 2005. Iranun kamus bergambar. (Iranun trilingual picture dictionary). Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: Sabah National Museum.
Selected papers presented
Smith, James A. and Pandikar Padi. 2006. Let’s make a dictionary. Paper presented at the Eighth Biennial Conference of the Borneo Research Council (BRC,) 31 July–August 1, in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Smith, James A. 2006. Language decision making among the Iranun of Sabah. Paper presented at the First World Congress on the Power of Language, 22–25May, in Bangkok, Thailand.
———. 2005. Beyond bedtime stories. Paper presented at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference Education (WIPCE), 27 November–1 December, in Hamilton, New Zealand.
———. 2005. To speak or not to speak: Iranun language. Paper presented at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference Education (WIPCE), 27 November–1 December, in Hamilton, New Zealand.