1,679 research outputs found
A Computational Theory of the Use-Mention Distinction in Natural Language
To understand the language we use, we sometimes must turn language on itself, and we do this through an understanding of the use-mention distinction. In particular, we are able to recognize mentioned language: that is, tokens (e.g., words, phrases, sentences, letters, symbols, sounds) produced to draw attention to linguistic properties that they possess. Evidence suggests that humans frequently employ the use-mention distinction, and we would be severely handicapped without it; mentioned language frequently occurs for the introduction of new words, attribution of statements, explanation of meaning, and assignment of names. Moreover, just as we benefit from mutual recognition of the use-mention distinction, the potential exists for us to benefit from language technologies that recognize it as well. With a better understanding of the use-mention distinction, applications can be built to extract valuable information from mentioned language, leading to better language learning materials, precise dictionary building tools, and highly adaptive computer dialogue systems.
This dissertation presents the first computational study of how the use-mention distinction occurs in natural language, with a focus on occurrences of mentioned language. Three specific contributions are made. The first is a framework for identifying and analyzing instances of mentioned language, in an effort to reconcile elements of previous theoretical work for practical use. Definitions for mentioned language, metalanguage, and quotation have been formulated, and a procedural rubric has been constructed for labeling instances of mentioned language. The second is a sequence of three labeled corpora of mentioned language, containing delineated instances of the phenomenon. The corpora illustrate the variety of mentioned language, and they enable analysis of how the phenomenon relates to sentence structure. Using these corpora, inter-annotator agreement studies have quantified the concurrence of human readers in labeling the phenomenon. The third contribution is a method for identifying common forms of mentioned language in text, using patterns in metalanguage and sentence structure. Although the full breadth of the phenomenon is likely to elude computational tools for the foreseeable future, some specific, common rules for detecting and delineating mentioned language have been shown to perform well
This Table is Different: A WordNet-Based Approach to Identifying References to Document Entities
Writing intended to inform frequently con-tains references to document entities (DEs), a mixed class that includes orthographically structured items (e.g., illustrations, sections, lists) and discourse entities (arguments, sug-gestions, points). Such references are vital to the interpretation of documents, but they of-ten eschew identifiers such as "Figure 1 " for inexplicit phrases like "in this figure " or "from these premises". We examine inexplicit references to DEs, termed DE references, and recast the problem of their automatic detec-tion into the determination of relevant word senses. We then show the feasibility of ma-chine learning for the detection of DE-relevant word senses, using a corpus of hu-man-labeled synsets from WordNet. We test cross-domain performance by gathering lemmas and synsets from three corpora: web-site privacy policies, Wikipedia articles, and Wikibooks textbooks. Identifying DE refer-ences will enable language technologies to use the information encoded by them, permit-ting the automatic generation of finely-tuned descriptions of DEs and the presentation of richly-structured information to readers.
Libraries, Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence: J. C. R. Licklider and the Libraries of the Future
In 1965, J. C. R. Licklider published a book regarding the “Libraries of the future”. This book was soon almost forgotten when a different paradigm of computing, partially created by Licklider himself, became dominant. However, a re-reading of the book, in hindsight, not only gives a glimpse of a seminal moment in the history human interaction with computers but allows a chance to see in a different light many issues still relevant to the field.In 1965, J. C. R. Licklider published a book regarding the “Libraries of the future”. This book was soon almost forgotten when a different paradigm of computing, partially created by Licklider himself, became dominant. However, a re-reading of the book, in hindsight, not only gives a glimpse of a seminal moment in the history human interaction with computers but allows a chance to see in a different light many issues still relevant to the field
Instructors’ Views towards the Second Language Acquisition of the Spanish Subjunctive
abstract: The study of Spanish instructors’ beliefs is a recent development and the body of work is
small with little research conducted on their insights on the acquisition of any grammar form. Still, Spanish grammar includes the notoriously difficult subjunctive, a grammatical irrealis mood that is affixed to verbs. A national survey was conducted on Spanish professors and instructors (N=73) who teach at institutions randomly selected from a representative sample of American institutions of higher education. The survey was conducted to inquire on their beliefs regarding the most complex forms in Spanish, the causes of the subjunctive difficulty, and their preferred methods of teaching the form. The results first indicate that participants rated the subjunctive the most difficult grammar form. They attributed the cause of difficulty to be primarily interference from the first language and its abstractness. For instructing the subjunctive, participants generally supported form-oriented instruction with a metalanguage approach that focuses on forms. However, the participants disagreed greatly on whether meaning-focused instruction was valuable and dismissed drilling instruction of the subjunctive. Data from the participants provides a distribution of overextended tense, moods, and aspects in lieu of the Spanish subjunctive. However, instructors indicated that their students’ competence of the subjunctive was higher than their performance and that comprehension was not necessarily reliant on correct usage of the subjunctive as it was for proficiency. Moreover, they provided qualitative data of effective methods and pedagogical challenges of the subjunctive. This study illuminates some of the contributing factors of subjunctive difficulty and preferred pedagogical approaches for teaching it. It also has implications that meaning may not be obstructed if students do not use subjunctive.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Linguistics and Applied Linguistics 201
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It's just a word : CALL, French verbs and mixed-ability pupils
This thesis follows the trail of a perennial problem in the written work of pupils studying GCSE French, and suggests a CALL solution. The motivation for the research lies in the decline of grammatical accuracy, particularly in verb use, in the French produced by mixed-ability pupils and university students alike.Theories of language acquisition are assessed and a limited amount of guidance emerges. French GCSE Examiners' Reports then provide a firm foundation for research with their suggestion that the rise in oral work has affected written standards. A review of the literature reveals a wide range of barriers to verb learning. These can be classified as linguistic, psycholinguistic and pedagogic.One of the most impenetrable barriers is the redundancy of many verb endings. Empirical evidence from written and interview data is presented to show the startling kinds of misconceptions held by many pupils about verbs,and the complex of systems learners devise to solve problems.The thesis then proposes an explicit grammar-teaching approach based on principles of pedagogical grammar. Current Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) approaches to verb teaching offer admirable formal practice for able pupils but do not cater for the difficulties experienced by less able learners, who may therefore be disenfranchised. Detailed proposals are given for the creation of 'mixed-ability CALL' for verb learning, followed by a description of the design and production processes of three new programs aimed at less able pupils. Further empirical work is undertaken with GCSE pupils in order to assess the effects of tutorial, game and 'cognitive' CALL approaches. The quantitative data show that written performance can improve after using these programs. However, the most striking result of CALL intervention is the transformation of weak pupils' spoken metalanguage from restricted grammatical expression to accurate verb articulation within a short space of time
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