Extracting aspects of determiner meaning from dialogue in a virtual world environment

We use data from a virtual world game for automated learning of words and grammatical constructions and their meanings. The language data are an integral part of the social interaction in the game and consist of chat dialogue, which is only constrained by the cultural context, as set by the nature of the provided virtual environment. Building on previous work, where we extracted a vocabulary for concrete objects in the game by making use of the non-linguistic context, we now target NP/DP grammar, in particular determiners. We assume that we have captured the meanings of a set of determiners if we can predict which determiner will be used in a particular context. To this end we train a classifier that predicts the choice of a determiner on the basis of features from the linguistic and non-linguistic context.Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (Rubicon grant, project nr. 446-09-011

Feasibility report: Delivering case-study based learning using artificial intelligence and gaming technologies

This document describes an investigation into the technical feasibility of a game to support learning based on case studies. Information systems students using the game will conduct fact-finding interviews with virtual characters. We survey relevant technologies in computational linguistics and games. We assess the applicability of the various approaches and propose an architecture for the game based on existing techniques. We propose a phased development plan for the development of the game

Research in the Language, Information and Computation Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania

This report takes its name from the Computational Linguistics Feedback Forum (CLiFF), an informal discussion group for students and faculty. However the scope of the research covered in this report is broader than the title might suggest; this is the yearly report of the LINC Lab, the Language, Information and Computation Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. It may at first be hard to see the threads that bind together the work presented here, work by faculty, graduate students and postdocs in the Computer Science and Linguistics Departments, and the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science. It includes prototypical Natural Language fields such as: Combinatorial Categorial Grammars, Tree Adjoining Grammars, syntactic parsing and the syntax-semantics interface; but it extends to statistical methods, plan inference, instruction understanding, intonation, causal reasoning, free word order languages, geometric reasoning, medical informatics, connectionism, and language acquisition. Naturally, this introduction cannot spell out all the connections between these abstracts; we invite you to explore them on your own. In fact, with this issue it’s easier than ever to do so: this document is accessible on the “information superhighway”. Just call up http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~cliff-group/94/cliffnotes.html In addition, you can find many of the papers referenced in the CLiFF Notes on the net. Most can be obtained by following links from the authors’ abstracts in the web version of this report. The abstracts describe the researchers’ many areas of investigation, explain their shared concerns, and present some interesting work in Cognitive Science. We hope its new online format makes the CLiFF Notes a more useful and interesting guide to Computational Linguistics activity at Penn

"Reflective conversation" in the virtual language classroom

In the Open University of the United Kingdom, the principle that distance language learners should be encouraged to reflect on their own learning has traditionally been central to the design of conventional (i.e., print, audio, and video) course materials. However, since computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies have created the possibility for learners to interact with each other and with teachers and native speakers--thus providing opportunities for practice and intrinsic feedback on communicative competence--an issue has risen around the continuing role of conscious reflection. Is conscious reflection, in fact, still necessary in a more interactive learning environment? We argue here that it is, and that a challenge is facing the developers of the virtual language classroom to combine the processes of conscious reflection with those of spontaneous interaction. In our view, the medium of asynchronous conferencing is particularly well suited to such a combination as it is flexible with regard to place and pace, and able to support both monologue- and conversation-like forms of written language exchange. Here we examine the kinds of reflectiveness and interactivity that are mediated through such exchanges, and discuss their value for learning. We examine some examples of CMC exchanges generated during an online course in French, and propose a pedagogy which focuses on the generation of what we are calling "reflective conversation," that is, computer-mediated asynchronous discussion around language topics and language-learning issues

An Epistemological Study of Goethe\u27s Novel The Sufferings of Young Werther: An Examination of Goethe\u27s Educational Philosophy as Reflected in an Analytical Study of the Character Werther

The research problem is to examine Goethe\u27s educational philosophy as identified through an analytical study of the character Werther in Goethe\u27s novel The Sufferings of Young Werther. The purpose of this study is to reveal the epistemological premises of the learning construct that are within the context of the novel, and to derive from these premises specific learning principles that can be applied to educational theory. Goethe\u27s concepts of the human will, the self, responsibility, choice, and growth are defined and subsequently utilized as the skeletal frame from which to construct the working principles of his thought process. By focusing on Goethe\u27s actual thinking and how he comes to know, the novel becomes a means, or mode, with which to illustrate the epistemological functioning of his mind. Within this short novel, the inherent potentiality for learning theory is substantial. Goethe was offering his reading public a learning construct by means of the relationship he established with himself and his literary creation. The nature of the relationship was such that both he and his readers would be provided with a learning methodology. To determine the premises of the learning construct from the medium of the novel and then to apply these premises to the formulation of specific learning principles becomes the means by which to isolate the educational application of Goethe\u27s epistemology. Six educational principles have evolved from Goethe\u27s epistemological premises as they were examined within the context of the novel. These principles of learning are identified and their significance as a totality for learning theory is considered. (1) Goethe realized that the subject matter of education is man, and he emphasized the nature of man and his characteristics as a self-determiner. The focus of education must therefore center upon the learner and his individuality. (2) Because the self is a unity and functions as a totality, learning becomes an experience of each distinct, or unique, self. Being a composite of the effects of its choices, the self perceives learning as an extremely personal matter. This means that education must recognize the value that man places on his self in his demand for self-cultivation. (3) Goethe knew that the self can choose to educate itself and actually proceed to bring this process about. Through determining the validity and reliability of that which it seeks to know, the learner is provided with an empirical base from which to begin his instruction. In this manner, the self becomes its own teacher and the learning act is identified as a process of self-examination. (4) It is the self that exerts its own inherent potentiality for knowing and learning. Goethe recognized the internal, or intrinsic, motivation of the self to seek knowledge and truth, and he demanded that the self actively confront its learning object. Education must acknowledge that the learner does indeed possess an inner vitality of his own. (5) Man is always in relation to that which confronts him as a determiner. All learning is creative because the learner is the creator of further learning. In his role as creator, the learner makes a multitude of decisions and must subsequently accept the inherent responsibility for the choices made and their implications. Goethe was fully aware that in actualizing its choices through application of their meanings, the self becomes an active agent in the process of learning. (6) In order to actively participate in the educational process, the learner must understand the social nature of man. A relationship of mutuality, based on dialogue and intercommunication, is a learning process. This process of learning is the application of knowledge in quest of meaning in a social context

Coverbal iconic gesture in human-computer interaction

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 1993.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-63).by Carlton James Sparrell.M.S

Designing Service-Oriented Chatbot Systems Using a Construction Grammar-Driven Natural Language Generation System

Service oriented chatbot systems are used to inform users in a conversational manner about a particular service or product on a website. Our research shows that current systems are time consuming to build and not very accurate or satisfying to users. We find that natural language understanding and natural language generation methods are central to creating an e�fficient and useful system. In this thesis we investigate current and past methods in this research area and place particular emphasis on Construction Grammar and its computational implementation. Our research shows that users have strong emotive reactions to how these systems behave, so we also investigate the human computer interaction component. We present three systems (KIA, John and KIA2), and carry out extensive user tests on all of them, as well as comparative tests. KIA is built using existing methods, John is built with the user in mind and KIA2 is built using the construction grammar method. We found that the construction grammar approach performs well in service oriented chatbots systems, and that users preferred it over other systems