Computational Linguistics

Academic year: 2006-2007 Course code module BLGERM01O33010 Semester: 1st semester Credits: 6 Study load (hours) 168 Theory (hours): 45,00 Practice/Exercises(hours): Other (hours): Part-time program: Instructor(s) Walter Daelemans Guy De Pauw Language of instruction: Dutch Semester exam information: semester exam in January Contract restriction information: 1. Prerequisites *Algemene competenties None *Sequentiality 2. Objectives (expected learning outcomes) Knowledge of the terminology and concepts of the field. Insight into the possibilities and fundamental limitations of the field. Insight into the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two major approaches to computational linguistics (deductive and inductive). Understanding of the basic methods and techniques used in computational linguistics. Skills in applying the basic methods and techniques to concrete problems in computational linguistics. 3. Course content What is needed to make a computer understand natural language to such an extent that it would be able to answer questions, translate texts, engage in a dialogue etc. ? This course provides an overview of the different approaches, problems, and application areas of computational linguistics, the discipline concerned with the automatic processing of written natural language. It offers a description of the algorithms and formalisms used for the manipulation of linguistic objects (words, sentences and texts) at different levels of description (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic). The following modules are provided: (i) finite-state methods for phonology and morphology, (ii) rule-based and statistical parsing techniques for syntactic analysis and generation, (iii) computational lexicology, (iv) computational semantics and pragmatics. 4. Teaching method Direct contact: Lectures Exercise sessions Skills training Personal work: Assignments - individual 5. Assessment method Written assignment: Without oral presentation 6. Compulsory reading – study material Selection of chapters from textbooks and papers. 7. Recommended reading - study material SPEECH and LANGUAGE PROCESSING: An Introduction to Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics, and Speech Recognition, By  Daniel Jurafsky and  James H. Martin, Prentice-Hall, 2000, ISBN: 0-13-095069-6 8. Tutoring laatste aanpassing: last update: 01/06/2006 01:01 ecampus