11.640, Calls: Natural Lang Generation, Minority Language

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-11-640. Tue Mar 21 2000. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 11.640, Calls: Natural Lang Generation, Minority Language

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=================================Directory=================================

1)
Date:  Tue, 21 Mar 2000 16:05:07 -0700
From:  Svetlana Sheremetyeva <lana at crl.nmsu.edu>
Subject:  Analysis for Generation-International Conference on Natural Language Generation (INLG'2000)

2)
Date:  Tue, 21 Mar 2000 23:04:38 +0000
From:  Susan Foster-Cohen <pispoli at club-internet.fr>
Subject:  Minority Language Conference

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Tue, 21 Mar 2000 16:05:07 -0700
From:  Svetlana Sheremetyeva <lana at crl.nmsu.edu>
Subject:  Analysis for Generation-International Conference on Natural Language Generation (INLG'2000)

Attention: workshop DEADLINE EXTENDED

                     Call for papers

                  Analysis for Generation

                       a Workshop

                   in conjunction with

The International Conference on Natural
Language Generation INLG'2000 (June 13-14)

June 12, 20000, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel



1. The reasons why the workshop is of interest at this time.

The last decade has seen an explosion in the work done in the field of
NLG with the emphasis on the development of independent NLG
applications rather than generation modules of MT systems. While it
seems natural to consider problems of analysis and generation as two
sides of a coin in such NLP applications as MT, researchers working on
"pure" generation systems sometimes treat problems arising at every
stage of generation--content specification, sentence planning, and
surface realization--as independent. Time may be ripe for examining
the mutual utility of analysis and generation in greater detail. The
impetus is, as can be expected, the goal of minimizing system-building
efforts in language engineering.

2.  A brief technical description of the issues the workshop will address.

The workshop proposes to address:

     o issues connected to the needs of analysis in generation systems as well as

     o issues of interrelation between generation and analysis from
the standpoint of reusability and adaptability of analysis techniques
and tools for generation.

     o issues of reusability of analysis knowledge and methodology of its
acquisition for generation.

Analysis as part of generation. A wide range of complex problems which
are considered to be specific for generation--content specification,
planning, and grammaticalization--may lead one to believe that
generation is completely independent of analysis. Most generators
tacitly assume that an intermediate system module can use the output
of the preceding module as its input without any processing (that is,
analysis) of this output. This is not, however, the case in practice.

A modicum of analysis is, in fact, an essential part of every
generation system.  The input to generation systems such as raw data
in tables, lists, diagrams, elements of various databases or even text
snippets that are fed into the system directly by a user still must
first be somehow processed, that is, analyzed. The analysis is needed
to provide both the necessary content and, often, format for the
content specification (see, for example, Dale 1995, Robin 1994, Kukich
1988, McKeown et al. 1994, Bateman and Teich 1995). This problem
becomes especially important in those applications (including
multilingual ones) in which at least some input to generation is in
textual form (e.g., Sheremetyeva and Nirenburg 1996).  Many NLG
systems often use a variety of analysis techniques. The question
arises whether it is possible to develop criteria to better choose and
integrate analysis techniques which could be efficiently applied at
different stages of generation.

Reusability and adaptability of analysis techniques and tools for
generation. While it is not uncommon to believe that generation and
analysis are not reversible, a number of contributions over the years
have discussed reversibility of analysis and generation resources,
especially the grammars. Appelt 1987, Barnett and Mani 1990 and van
Noord 1993, among others, demonstrate how the use of reversible
grammars may lead to efficient and flexible natural language parsing
and generation systems. It is worth discussing constraints on
reversibility.

Reusability of analysis knowledge and methodology of its acquisition
for generation. Generation and analysis are closely related in that
both processes use many similar resources, and often it is less
expensive to reorganize an existing "analysis" resource (e.g., an
analysis lexicon) than to acquire one for generation from
scratch. (Allgayer et al. 1989, Viegas and Beale 1996, Sheremetyeva
and Nirenburg 1999a, 1999b). It is worth discussing how to establish
whether a resource built for analysis can be used for generation and
at what price.

In particular the workshop will seek to address the following issues:

I. Applications of analysis in generation and types of analysis
techniques used in NLG.

II. Reusability and adaptability of knowledge resources in generation
and analysis

- knowledge representation
     - lexicon format and indexing
     - rule writing format
- knowledge acquisition and adaptation
     - reversibility of grammars
     - use of microtheories
- architectural issues
     - converting (morphological, syntactic, semantic, etc.) analyzers into
generator modules
     - architectural peculiarities of systems involving both analysis and
synthesis and reusability of their modules.

FORMAT FOR SUBMISSION

Paper submissions should consist of full papers (maximum of 12 pages,
including references, 12pt font size). Each submission should include
a separate title page providing the following information: the title,
a short abstract, names and affiliations of all the authors, the full
address of the primary author (or alternate contact person), including
phone, fax, and email. Please send your electronic submission
(PostScript or PDF format) until March 20 to:

Svetlana Sheremetyeva
Computing Research Laboratory, New Mexico State University
USA Box30001/Dept.3CRL/Las Cruces New Mexico 88003-8001
505 646 5466 (voice)
505 646 6218 (fax)
lana at crl.nmsu.edu

IMPORTANT DATES

Paper submission deadline: APRIL,10 (extended)
Notification of acceptance: April 20
Final paper to workshop coordinator: April 28
Workshop: June 12
INLG 2000: June13 - June 16

3. Organizing Committee

Svetlana Sheremetyeva, Chair and contact person
Computing Research Laboratory, New Mexico State University, USA
lana at crl.nmsu.edu

Sergei Nirenburg
Computing Research Laboratory, New Mexico State University, USA
sergei at crl.nmsu.edu

Richard Kittredge
Department of Linguistics and Translation, University of Montreal
kittredge at IRO.UMontreal.CA

Anna Sagvall Hein
Department of linguistics, Uppsala University
Anna at ling.uu.se

Evelyne Viegas
Microsoft Corporation
evelynev at microsoft.com

Michael Zock
Language & Cognition LIMSI - CNRS
zock at limsi.fr



-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Tue, 21 Mar 2000 23:04:38 +0000
From:  Susan Foster-Cohen <pispoli at club-internet.fr>
Subject:  Minority Language Conference


Enseignement et acquisition des langues minoritaires de l'Europe :
Colloque multinational

Appel  communications - avec chance du 20 avril 2000

L'Institut Britannique de Paris, en collaboration avec el Instituto
Cervantes et l'Institut finlandais de Paris, organise un colloque sur
deux journes portant sur les questions sociolinguistiques,
psycholinguistiques et pdagogiques poses par l'enseignement de
langues europennes autochtones minoritaires. Nous entendons par
langues minoritaires des langues associes  des rgions
spcifiques de l'Europe, qui ont lutt dans le pass pour
leur survie, qui ne sont pas en rgle gnrale la langue, ou
l'une des langues officielles des pays o ils sont pratiqus, et
qui n'ont pas t introduites  la suite de mouvements
rcents d'immigration. Elles sont considres comme faisant
partie du patrimoine de la rgion o on les parle.  On peut
citer comme exemples, entre bien d'autres, le basque, le sami,
l'occitan.

A la diffrence d'importants travaux r rnts portant sur
l'enseignement dispens aux enfants dans les langues en question,
ce colloque se proccupera de l'enseignement de ces langues aux
adultes de tous de tges, dZ^fis d'un enseignement, du
rle qu'il joue dans la conservation de la langue, et de
l'valuation des enseignements, tant au niveau rgional qu'au
niveau europen.  Cet appel  communications porte sur tout
sujet se rapportant la situation qui vient d'crite,
et notamment sur :

 - la situation sociolinguistique de groupements autochtones
minoritaires en Europe et son rapport  l'acquisition et /ou la
pdagogie de la langue ;
 - le rle des programmes d'enseignement aux adultes dans la
conservation de la langue ;
 - les facteurs psycholinguistiques (ex: motivation, typologie et
traitement langagiers, style l'apprentissage) qui influent sur les
apprenants des langues en question ;
 - des comparaisons entre l'acquisition et/ou la pZ^dagoge ces
langues et celles de langues de grande communication ou appartenant
des groupements d'immigrs au sein d'un pays ou d'une zone langagire
europenne ;
 - l'laboration des programmes, les m modes ps pogiques et la
conception d'outils pour les apprenants des langues en question,
considres d'un point de vue thorique ;
 - les diffrences entre la pZ^et l'acquisition d'une deuxime
langue et la pdagogie et l'acquisition d'une langue trangtrangre se
rapportant aux situations que l'on vient de dcrire.

Ce colloque se tiendra  l'Institut Britannique de Paris, 11 rue de
Constantine, 75340 Paris Cedex 07, France [Esplanade des Invalides,
Mtro/RER Invalides].

Dates du colloque :   les vendredi 7 et samedi 8 juillet 2000

NB: La langue de travail sera le franais. Les auteurs de communications
sont vivement encourags  les prsenter en franais.

Toutes les communications (sauf celles de personnalits
invites) auront une dure de 20 minutes maximum, suivie de 10
minutes consacres aux questions. Les propositions de
communications devront tre faites sous la forme d'un rsum
d'une page, adress (en franais ou en anglais)  :

Dr. Susan Foster-Cohen, English Department, The British Institute in
Paris, 75340 Paris Cedex 07, France, ceci pas plus tard que le 20 avril
2000.   (Propositions sous forme lectronique  adresser  l'une des
adresses suivantes: fosterco at ext.jussieu.fr  /
pispoli at club-internet.fr.   P

ropositions par tlcopie  adresser comme suit : (+33) 1 45
50 31 55  l'attention de Susan Foster-Cohen).

Les droits d'inscription au colloque s'lveront  100FF. (Cette somme
comprend le djener, le caf et un cocktail-contact).  Afin d'assurer
la qualit des discussions, le nombre des participants sera limite
40. Il sera possible de participer  ce colloque sans y prsenter de
communication.

La revue Franco-British Studies, publie par l'Institut Britannique
de Paris, envisage de publier sous forme d'un nummo spcial une
slection des communications ^ ce colloque.

Ce colloque est organis grce  une subvention de l'Union
europopen,  cipation gale  celll'Institut
Britannique de Paris.

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