Robust semantic analysis for adaptive speech interfaces

The DUMAS project develops speech-based applications that are adaptable to different users and domains. The paper describes the project's robust semantic analysis strategy, used both in the generic framework for the development of multilingual speech-based dialogue systems which is the main project goal, and in the initial test application, a mobile phone-based e-mail interface

Developing a distributed electronic health-record store for India

The DIGHT project is addressing the problem of building a scalable and highly available information store for the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of the over one billion citizens of India

EMBODIMENT IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING

This paper aims to elaborate the implementation of Embodiment as one of the concept of Cognitive Linguistics in second language learning and teaching. Cognitive Linguistics is simply pointed that language is all about meaning. It views the learner as a thinking being and an active processor of information. However, it is interesting as we found that mind and body are not separate entities. Involved in understanding what people say to us and what we read, Embodiment relates meanings directly to our physical experience; it emphasizes on the way cognition is shaped by the body and its sensorimotor interaction with the world. Furthermore, this paper is trying to show how the theoretical assumptions, basic units, and constructs used in Cognitive Linguistics offer a better understanding of the true nature of language and grammar, and how Embodiment may improve current second language teaching and learning methods

Tools for Terminology Processing

International audienceAutomatic terminology processing appeared 10 years ago when electronic corpora became widely available. Such processing may be statistically or linguistically based and produces terminology resources that can be used in a number of applications : indexing, information retrieval, technology watch, etc. We present the tools that have been developed in the IRIN Institute. They all take as input texts (or collection of texts) and reflect different states of terminology processing: term acquisition, term recognition and term structuring

Foreign language learning needs in higher education: Reasons for convergence and accountability

Needs analysis is a relevant issue in language teaching as its final aim is to enhance the language learning process by setting realistic course objectives. This paper briefly reviews past and present approaches to the concept of “needs” and “needs analysis” in foreign language (FL) methodology with particular reference to the higher education context and the post-Bologna reform. It discusses the complex interplay of addressing target and learning FL needs by gathering data from different stakeholder groups and making use of different data collection instruments. Then, it explores current trends in needs analysis research and explains how “competences” and “profiling” have surpassed “needs” and “needs analysis” in the educational systems under the European Space of Higher Education. Last, this study addresses the implications of adopting a more critical, quality-driven approach to FL needs analysis with a view to attaining a more participatory and accountable higher education

Proceedings of the COLING 2004 Post Conference Workshop on Multilingual Linguistic Ressources MLR2004

International audienceIn an ever expanding information society, most information systems are now facing the "multilingual challenge". Multilingual language resources play an essential role in modern information systems. Such resources need to provide information on many languages in a common framework and should be (re)usable in many applications (for automatic or human use). Many centres have been involved in national and international projects dedicated to building har- monised language resources and creating expertise in the maintenance and further development of standardised linguistic data. These resources include dictionaries, lexicons, thesauri, word-nets, and annotated corpora developed along the lines of best practices and recommendations. However, since the late 90's, most efforts in scaling up these resources remain the responsibility of the local authorities, usually, with very low funding (if any) and few opportunities for academic recognition of this work. Hence, it is not surprising that many of the resource holders and developers have become reluctant to give free access to the latest versions of their resources, and their actual status is therefore currently rather unclear. The goal of this workshop is to study problems involved in the development, management and reuse of lexical resources in a multilingual context. Moreover, this workshop provides a forum for reviewing the present state of language resources. The workshop is meant to bring to the international community qualitative and quantitative information about the most recent developments in the area of linguistic resources and their use in applications. The impressive number of submissions (38) to this workshop and in other workshops and conferences dedicated to similar topics proves that dealing with multilingual linguistic ressources has become a very hot problem in the Natural Language Processing community. To cope with the number of submissions, the workshop organising committee decided to accept 16 papers from 10 countries based on the reviewers' recommendations. Six of these papers will be presented in a poster session. The papers constitute a representative selection of current trends in research on Multilingual Language Resources, such as multilingual aligned corpora, bilingual and multilingual lexicons, and multilingual speech resources. The papers also represent a characteristic set of approaches to the development of multilingual language resources, such as automatic extraction of information from corpora, combination and re-use of existing resources, online collaborative development of multilingual lexicons, and use of the Web as a multilingual language resource. The development and management of multilingual language resources is a long-term activity in which collaboration among researchers is essential. We hope that this workshop will gather many researchers involved in such developments and will give them the opportunity to discuss, exchange, compare their approaches and strengthen their collaborations in the field. The organisation of this workshop would have been impossible without the hard work of the program committee who managed to provide accurate reviews on time, on a rather tight schedule. We would also like to thank the Coling 2004 organising committee that made this workshop possible. Finally, we hope that this workshop will yield fruitful results for all participants