[LFG] Call for Participation: NLP for CALL and Language Acquisition, 16 Nov, Umeå, Sweden

[Elena Volodina]

[with apologies for cross-posting]


*Joint workshop on NLP for Computer-Assisted Language Learning & NLP for 
Language Acquisition*
Umeå, Sweden, 16 November 2016 (in connection to SLTC 2016)

https://spraakbanken.gu.se/eng/joint5thNLP4CALL-1stNLP4LA2016

*Call for participation*

We invite you to participate in the joint workshop on NLP for 
Computer-Assisted Language Learning and NLP for Research in Language 
Acquisition, NLP4LA. The program is published on the workshop webpage 
(see above). To register, please visit the SLTC conference site: 
http://sltc2016.cs.umu.se/?page_id=153

The goal of the joint workshop is to provide a meeting place for 
researchers working on language learning issues including both 
/empirical and experimental studies and NLP-based applications/.

*The workshop series on Natural Language Processing (NLP) for 
Computer-Assisted Language Learning (NLP4CALL)*is a meeting place for 
researchers working on the integration of NLP and Speech/Dialogue 
Technologies in CALL systems and exploring the theoretical and 
methodological issues arising in this connection.

  * The previous editions of this workshop series
    <https://spraakbanken.gu.se/eng/Research/icall/info> enjoyed wide
    participant geography, including researchers from Australia, Canada,
    Central, Southern and Northern Europe, Russia, USA. The workshops
    have shown the vast potential that Language Technology (LT) holds
    for language learning and – most importantly – the interest that LT
    researchers have for the domain of CALL.
  * The intersection of Natural Language Processing and Speech/Dialogue
    Technology with Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) brings
    “understanding” of language to CALL tools, thus making CALL
    intelligent. This fact has given the name for this area of research
    – Intelligent CALL, ICALL. As the definition suggests, apart from
    having excellent knowledge of Natural Language Processing and/or
    Speech/Dialogue Technology, ICALL researchers need good insights
    into the second language acquisition (SLA) theories and practices,
    as well as knowledge of second language pedagogy and didactics. This
    workshop invites therefore all ICALL-relevant research, including
    studies where NLP-enriched tools are used for testing SLA and
    pedagogical theories, and vice versa, where SLA theories/pedagogical
    practices are modeled in ICALL tools.
  * This year we invited papers:

  * that describe research directly aimed at ICALL,
  * that demonstrate actual or discuss potential use of existing Speech
    Technologies, NLP tools or resources for language learning,
  * that describe ongoing development of resources and tools with
    potential usage in ICALL, either directly in interactive
    applications, or indirectly in materials, application or curriculum
    development, e.g. collecting and annotating ICALL-relevant corpora;
    developing tools and algorithms for readability analysis, selecting
    optimal corpus examples, etc.
  * that discuss challenges and/or research agenda for ICALL
  * we are also interested in software demonstrations


*The workshop on NLP for Language Processing for Research in Language 
Acquisition (NLP4LA)*broadens the scope of this year’s joint workshop to 
also include theoretical, empirical, and experimental investigation of 
first, second and bilingual language acquisition.

  * We believe that this field will benefit from collaboration between
    the NLP, linguistics, psychology and cognitive science communities.
    The workshop is targeted at anyone interested in the relevance of
    computational techniques for first, second and bilingual language
    acquisition. Therefore, our aim is to bring together researchers
    from different fields with a shared interest in language acquisition.
  * For the track of NLP for Language Acquisition we invited papers on,
    but not limited to, the following topics:

  * Empirical studies on language learner data,
  * Computational models of first, second and bilingual language
    acquisition,
  * Empirical or experimental studies, or computational models of
    various aspects of language and their effect in language
    comprehension and acquisition,
  * Data resources and tools for investigating language acquisition,
  * Psycholinguistic and socio-linguistic investigations on first,
    second and bilingual language acquisition.


We especially encouraged submissions describing the above-mentioned 
themes for the Nordic languages; and papers that focus on different age 
groups, cultures, and language variation.

This year's joint NLP4CALL & NLP4LA workshop is aimed at bringing 
together competences from these areas for sharing experiences and 
brainstorming the future of the field.


*Important dates: *

  * *2 June*, Thursday: first call for papers
  * *22 August*, Monday: second call for papers
  * *16 September*, Friday: final call for papers
  * *27 September*, Tuesday: paper submission deadline (short and long)
  * *18 October*, Tuesday: notification of acceptance
  * *1 November*, Tuesday: camera-ready papers for publication
  * *16 November*, Wednesday: workshop date


For inquiries on NLP4CALL & NLP4LA, please email 
<nlp4call-nlp4la at easychair.org>
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