Linguistics 384
Language and Computers
Winter 2004
In the past decade, the widening use of computers has had a profound
influence on the way ordinary people communicate, search and store
information. For the overwhelming majority of people and situations,
the natural vehicle for such information is natural language. Text and
to a lesser extent speech are crucial encoding formats for the
information revolution.
In this course, you will be given insight into the fundamentals of how
computers are used to represent, process and organize textual and
spoken information, as well as tips on how to effectively integrate
this knowledge into working practice. We will cover the theory and
practice of human language technology. Topics include text encoding,
search technology,tools for writing support, machine translation,
dialog systems, computer aided language learning and the social
context of language technology.
Markus Dickinson
221 Oxley Hall
292-7343
| Tu |
12:00-1:00pm |
| W |
2:00-3:00pm |
| |
or by appointment |
MW 3:30-5:18pm
212 Enarson Hall (EN)
http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~dickinso/384/
5
none
There is no textbook for this course, but there will be readings
(mostly online) assigned periodically throughout the course.
I will be distributing the slides for each topic. If, however, you
are unable to attend, note that you can find the slides on the
schedule below.
There will be various reading selections throughout the quarter, but
most of the material will be introduced solely in the classroom.
There will be roughly one online quiz per week, to ensure the
material covered in class is mastered. And there will be
approximately one homework (exercise sheet) per week. These
assignments give the opportunity to explore new aspects of the topics
discussed in class.
Grades will be based on classroom discussion (10%), quizzes (20%),
homeworks (30%), a midterm exam (20%), and a final examination
(20%).
| PARTICIPATION |
10% |
|
| QUIZZES |
20% (8@2.5% each) |
|
| HOMEWORKS |
30% (8@3.67% each) |
|
| MITERM |
20% |
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 3:30pm |
| FINAL |
20% |
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 3:30pm |
- Homework assignments are due by the beginning of each class
(3:30pm)--you may hand them in or e-mail them to me. You can
work together on the homework assignments but write out your own
answers. Your homework grade will be based on both quality and
effort. LATE HOMEWORK POLICY: You will lose one (1) letter grade
(10 percentage points) for every 24 hour period after the turn-in
time.
- Quizzes are administered through WebCT and are due by midnight of the
day indicated. They will be shut off once the deadline is reached.
You will have ample time to complete the quiz, so DO NOT PUT IT OFF TO
THE LAST MINUTE!
- Because homeworks, quizzes, and exams reflect material covered
in class and because there will be much in-class discussion,
attendance is essential for doing well in the class.
- If you feel that I have graded anything incorrectly or
improperly, please contact me outside of class. I will be happy
to address your concerns.
(Scores in percentages)
| A |
93-100 |
B+ |
87-89 |
C+ |
77-79 |
D+ |
67-69 |
E |
0-59 |
| A- |
90-92 |
B |
83-86 |
C |
73-76 |
D |
63-66 |
|
|
| |
|
B- |
80-82 |
C- |
70-72 |
D- |
60-62 |
|
|
As you generally will have a week to take them, there are no make-ups
for the quizzes.
If you plan on missing either the midterm or final, you will have to
provide extensive documentation for your excuse. See me immediately
if this is the case.
To state the obvious, academic dishonesty is not allowed. Cheating on
tests or on other assignments will be reported to the University
Committee on Academic Misconduct. The most common form of misconduct
is plagiarism. Remember that any time you use the ideas or the
materials of another person or persons, you must acknowledge that you
have done so in a citation. This includes material that you have found
on the Web. The University provides guidelines for research on the Web
at http://gateway.lib.ohio-state/tutor/.
I expect you to respect one another, to respect me, and to respect
yourself. To that end, I expect you to obey the following rules:
- Do not read newspapers in class. Do not criticize others'
questions. Do not pack up early. Shut off your cell phone. If
for some reason, you must leave early or you have an important
call coming in, notify me before class.
- Participate: share experiences, ask questions, express your
opinions. Ask me to provide more information and see me during
office hours for help or clarification or recommendations for
further research.
- If you ever have a problem with the course or with me, I
prefer you see me during office hours (or schedule an
appointment). If, for some reason, you feel you cannot discuss
an issue with me, please take your concern to the TA Coordinator
(see below).
Students who need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability
should contact me to arrange an appointment as soon as possible to
discuss the course format, to anticipate needs, and to explore
potential accommodations. The instructor relies on the Office of
Disability Services for assistance in verifying the need for
accommodations and developing accommodation strategies. Students who
have not previously contacted the Office for Disability Services are
encouraged to do so (614-292-3307; www.ods.ohio-state.edu).
(unless otherwise noted, all links are to pdf files)
Quizzes are administered through WebCT
| Month |
Week |
Day |
Date |
Topic |
Assignments |
| January |
1 |
M |
5 |
Intro to class (handout) |
|
| |
|
W |
7 |
Text and speech encoding (slides, ASCII chart) |
|
| |
2 |
M |
12 |
Internet searching (slides, Boolean handout) |
HW1/Quiz1 due (M) |
| |
|
W |
14 |
Internet searching |
|
| |
3 |
M |
19 |
NO CLASSES, MLK DAY |
|
| |
|
W |
21 |
Spam filtering (slides) |
HW2/Quiz2 due (W) |
| |
4 |
M |
26 |
Spelling & Grammar correctors (slides) |
|
| |
|
W |
28 |
Spelling & Grammar correctors |
HW3/Quiz3 due (W) |
| February |
5 |
M |
2 |
Machine Translation (slides) |
|
| |
|
W |
4 |
Machine Translation |
HW4/Quiz4 due (W) |
| |
6 |
M |
9 |
Machine Translation |
|
| |
|
W |
11 |
MIDTERM (review sheet) |
|
| |
7 |
M |
16 |
Dialogue systems |
|
| |
|
W |
18 |
Dialogue systems (slides) |
HW5/Quiz5 due (W) |
| |
8 |
M |
23 |
Dialogue systems |
|
| |
|
W |
25 |
Dialogue systems (FSAs handout) |
HW6/Quiz6 due (W) |
| March |
9 |
M |
1 |
Computer-aided language learning (slides) |
|
| |
|
W |
3 |
Computer-aided language learning |
HW7/Quiz7 due (W) |
| |
10 |
M |
8 |
Social context of language technology use (slides) |
|
| |
|
W |
10 |
Social context of language technology use |
HW8/Quiz8 due (W) |
| |
11 |
W |
17 |
FINAL EXAM (review) |
3:30pm |
Rich Janda, 222 Oxley Hall, 292-4052
If you find yourself loving this material, I encourage you to come see
me or to contact one of our computational linguistics faculty.
Chris Brew
Detmar Meurers
This syllabus is subject to change. All important changes will be
made in writing, with ample time for adjustment. (Midterm and final
dates, however, will not change.)
This document was generated using the
LaTeX2HTML translator Version 2002-2-1 (1.70)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
Nikos Drakos,
Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999,
Ross Moore,
Mathematics Department, Macquarie University, Sydney.
The command line arguments were:
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The translation was initiated by Markus Dickinson on 2004-01-02
Markus Dickinson
2004-01-02