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METROPOLITALIA : A CROWDSOURCING PLATFORM FOR LINGUISTIC FIELD RESEARCH

Traditional linguistic field research employs the costand time-consuming and possibly biased approach of gathering data by sending out researchers and filling in questionnaires. We improve linguistic field research using crowdsourcing techniques to remedy these issues and open research to a wider audience. On the online platform MetropolItalia, going public in August 2012, Italian native speakers are united to gather and assess linguistic data themselves. We focus on the Italian language because it is currently undergoing a divergence and in this aspect it differs from many other languages. In this article, Borsa Parole, the first game made public on this platform, is described and a short evaluation of its exploitation in a beta phase is presented. Two important requirements of game-based crowdsourcing – motivating enough users and gathering the data wanted – necessary for such a platform are discussed. The game Borsa Parole is shown to fulfil these requirements.