Call for abstracts=> SLE2012 Functionally motivated computational approaches to models of language and grammar

[Brian Nolan]

Interested contributors should email Brian Nolan (brian.nolan at gmail.com) and Carlos Periñán Pascual (jcperinan at pdi.ucam.edu)

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSAL on:
 Functionally motivated computational approaches to models of language and grammar
Within the framework of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea, to be held on 29 August - 1 September 2012, at the Department of Linguistics, University of Stockholm, we would like to propose a workshop on functionally motivated work in computational approaches to models of language and grammar
Convenors:

Brian Nolan (Institute of Technology Blanchardstown Dublin Ireland)
Carlos Periñán Pascual (Universidad Católica de San Antonio, Murcia Spain) 
In this call for papers we propose to host a workshop under the 45th Annual Meeting of the SLE to examine and discuss recent and current work in the use of functional, cognitive and constructional approaches to the computational modelling of language and grammars.  A full day workshop hosted under last years 44th meeting of the SLE, at the Universidad de La Rioja (Logroño, Spain) was particularly successful.
We wish to examine in particular computational models that are linguistically motivated and that deal with problems at the interfaces between concept, semantics, lexicon, syntax and morphology. Many functionally oriented models of grammar, including Functional Grammar, Functional Discourse Grammar and Role and Reference Grammar have lent them selves to this work
The organisers of this workshop are a European group of linguists, computational linguists and computer scientists who, since the 2004 Role and Reference Grammar International Conference in Dublin have formulated computational proposals in different areas concerned with the lexicon and concept ontologies, and the computational processing of the syntax, morphology and semantics of a variety of languages. A consequence of this computational work has been the enrichment of the theoretical elements of the RRG theory, especially in its semantics and lexical underpinnings where they connect with concepts, and the building of frame based applications in software that demonstrate its viability in natural language processing. This computational work provides compelling evidence that functional approaches to grammar have a positive and crucial role to play in natural language processing.
The main topics of the workshop will include, but are not limited to, the following:
·      The deployment of functional models in parse and generation
·      The architecture of the lexicon,
·      The linking system between semantics, lexicon and morphosyntax
·      Interpretation of the linguistic model into an algorithm specification
·      Issues for the layered structure of the clause and word
·      Complexity issues
·      Concept formation
·      Linguistically motivated computational approaches to gesture in language
Abstracts are invited for 20 minute presentations with 10 minute discussion. Interested researchers and linguists are invited to email brian.nolan at gmail.com with their name, affiliation and provisional abstract of 500 words before the 10th November 2011.
Important dates
Submission of provisional abstract: 10 November 2011.
15 November 2011:             submission of workshop proposals (description+abstracts)
15 December 2011:             notification of acceptance/rejection
15 January 2012:                 submission of all abstracts
31 March 2012:                    notification of acceptance
If the workshop proposal is accepted then all abstracts will need to be submitted to SLE by 15th January 2012, via the SLE conference website: http://sle2011.cliap.es
Notification of acceptance:   31st March 2012
Registration:                            From April 2012 onwards
Conference:                             29 August-1 September 2012

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Dr. Brian Nolan
Head of Department of Informatics
School of Informatics and Engineering
Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
Blanchardstown Road North
Blanchardstown
Dublin 15
Ireland
email: brian.nolan at itb.ie
email: brian.nolan at gmail.com
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