Computational morphology and Bantu language learning:an implementation for Runyakitara

Computationele morfologie speelt een belangrijke rol in hedendaags computer ondersteund taalleren (CALL), in het bijzonder in het uitbreiden van de woordenschat, de verwerving van de morfologie, lexicale toegang en het verbeteren van de leesvaardigheid. Echter, tot nu toe zijn alleen talen onderzocht die goed gedocumenteerd en wijdverbreid zijn en die veelvuldig onderwezen worden, zoals het Engels, Frans, Duits, Spaans en Japans. Deze dissertatie richt zich op computationele morfologie, toegepast op taalverwerving, in het bijzonder in relatie tot de Runyakitara-tak van de Bantutalen. Zoals andere Batutalen bezit het Runyakitara een opvallend complexe morfologie: een uitdaging voor taalleerders. Traditionele wijzen van taaltraining, met goed opgeleide docenten, is onhaalbaar vanwege een gebrek aan hoogopgeleide docenten in het Runyakitara en de hoge kosten die dit met zich meebrengt. In dit proefschrift hebben een analysesysteem voor de Runyakitara talen ontworpen en geïmplementeerd. Vervolgens hebben we dit systeem op een nieuwe wijze in computerondersteund taalleren ingezet, via oefeningen met inflectie en syntaxis van het Runyakitara.

Locative enclitics in Ruruuli-Lunyala, Runyankore-Rukiga and Luganda: Form and functions

In this article, we describe the form and functions of locative enclitics in Ruruuli-Lunyala, Runyankore-Rukiga and Luganda. We demonstrate that although locative enclitics play the role of locative references, there are other non-locative functions which have not yet been reported in these three languages. The article pursues two objectives: (1) To describe the form of locative enclitics in the three languages; and (2) to describe the locative and non-locative functions of enclitics. Data for Luganda and Runyankore-Rukiga were collected using interviews and focus group discussions. For Ruruuli-Lunyala, examples were drawn from a spoken corpus of Ruruuli-Lunyala, a Ruruuli-Lunyala dictionary and elicitations from two native speakers. The findings show that locative enclitics in Ruruuli-Lunyala, Runyankore-Rukiga and Luganda play the role of locative reference in addition to non-locative functions. The non-locative functions attested in the three languages include partitive, politeness, comparative, adverbial, tense and aspect. Some encliticised words have become lexicalised, while others are used in idiomatic expressions

Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in support of (re-)learning native languages:The case of Runyakitara.

This study presents the results from a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system of Runyakitara (RU_CALL). The major objective was to provide an electronic language learning environment that can enable learners with mother tongue deficiencies to enhance their knowledge of grammar and acquire writing skills in Runyakitara. The system currently focuses on nouns and employs natural language processing in order to generate a large base of exercise material without extensive tuning by teachers. Language learners used the system over 10 sessions and their improvements were charted. Besides this empirical evaluation, we also sought the opinions of Runyakitara experts about the system (as a judgmental evaluation). Results from the evaluation study indicate that RU_CALL has the ability to assess users’ knowledge of Runyakitara and to enhance grammar and writing skills in the language. This computational resource can be utilized by other interested learners of Runyakitara, and the idea can be extended to other indigenous languages with emigrant populations who wish to maintain their language skills