We are preparing to host the 2024 NACLO Invitational Round! Details are provided below.


What is NACLO?

The North American Computational Linguistics Open (NACLO) is a contest in which high school and middle school students solve problems relating to linguistics and computational linguistics. No prior knowledge of linguistics or of other languages is necessary. The Linguistics Department at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is hosting a site for the competition. More information about NACLO can be found at the official NACLO site.

  • Information Session--Canceled for Fall 2023

    Date: Canceled for Fall 2023 • Time 1:00-3:00 PM
    Liberal Arts Building 2 (LA 2)• Room 120 @CSULB

    The information session planned for November 11, 2023 has been canceled. Practice sessions include information relevant to the competition as well as problem solving strategies and practice working through data sets. If you would like to attend, please RSVP by November 3, 2023 via email to Dr. Michael Ahland.

Competition

  • Open Round

    Thursday, January 25, 2024 • 9:00AM
    Sato High School • Room 105

    As noted above, we have had to move the location of our Open Round to Sato High School. The competition will be held in Room 105 at Sato (in the first building on the left as you enter the main entrance to the campus--there will be signs posted). Please check your emails for additional information re: parking and directions. It is recommended that you arrive between 8am and 8:30am. First round is open to all registered participants and will be held on Thursday, January 25, 2024. The contest begins promptly at 9:00 AM PST and runs three hours until 12:00 PM PST. Students must be present at least 15 minutes (recommended: 45 minutes) before the start of the competition in order to hear the reading of the rules, instructions, and announcements. Students who arrive after that time will not be provided additional time to have instructions or announcements repeated for them. Well-performing students from the first session will be invited to the second (invitational) round, which is scheduled to take place on March 14, 2024.

  • Invitational Round

    Thursday, March 14, 2024 • 9:00AM
    Karl Anatol Center • AS Building

    The invitational (second) round (March 14, 2024) is open only to top performing students. From these students, the top scorers (from across the USA) will have an opportunity to join the national team and represent the United States at the international level.

Registration

Participation in the event is free, however you must register first. We ask that you register online ahead of time to ensure availability. The deadline for online registration is TBD. Register online by clicking on the button below to reserve your place ahead of time.

Highlights of 2018-2019 Year: Local NACLO Participant Earns Spot on National Linguistics Team!

Our own Katherine He (from Palos Verdes) was among the top 8 scorers in the 2019 Invitational Round and earned a spot on Team USA. Katherine represented the US at the International Linguistics competition in Yongin, South Korea, in July 2019. She was awarded Honorable Mention for her performance. Way to go, Katherine!

In January of 2019, we hosted the Open Round of the NACLO competition at CSULB. A total of 16 highschool students from across the southern California area participated in the three-hour competition. They are now awaiting their scores and the announcements for the Invitational Round. Last year (January 2018), CSULB Linguistics hosted 13 students from the local area high schools during the open round of competition. The competition was held in real-time across the nation where students attempted to solve eight problem sets in three hours for a chance to win a seat at the invitational round and eventually a seat on the U.S. team at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Prague, Czech Republic. We are excited to be building this partnership and to get the opportunity to work with such bright future linguists, computer scientists, and scholars!

This year, our activities have included multiple practice sessions on and off the CSULB campus. In fact, we have been particulary excited about a new NACLO group that has been organized at Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science in Long Beach. We have enjoyed working with teachers and students at Sato to practice our problem-solving skills. It is our hope that we'll be able to facilitate more Lingusitics-related clubs and practice sessions in area schools in the coming years. As always, if you have any questions, you are welcome to contact our local organizer, Dr. Michael Ahland, here.

About CSULB Linguistics

Linguistics (/lɪŋˈgwɪstɪks/) is the study of human languages. It is divided into a number of subfields including:

  • Syntax
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Phonetics
  • Phonology
  • Morphology
  • Semantics
  • Pragmatics
is the study of
  • linguistic structures
  • language in society
  • physical properties of speech sounds
  • organization of speech sounds
  • word formation
  • meaning
  • language use

Directions

  • Information Session: Liberal Arts Building 2 (LA2): Room 100 • For a Campus Map, please click here. The LA2 building is located along West Campus Drive, just north of the Library.
  • Open and Invitational Competition Rounds: The Open Round is now going to be moved to Sato High School, Room 105, at 1100 Iroquois Ave, Long Beach, CA 90815. The Invitational round location will still be on the CSULB Campus in the Academic Senate (AS) Building: Anatol Center • For a Campus Map, please click here. The AS building is located at the southern end of campus (east of the Library) and the Anatol Center is in the southeast corner of the AS building.
  • Recommended Parking Lots: Closest visitor parking lots are the 'G' General Lots G1, G3, G4, and G5. These lots are equipped with self-pay stations. For a map of additional parking areas click here.

NACLO @ CSULB Sponsors

  • • CSULB Department of Linguistics
  • • CSULB College of Liberal Arts
  • • CSULB 49er Shops