From E-Content to E-Learning in Computational Linguistics

Localisation of Teaching materials for less processed languages

Kiril Simov*, Petya Osenova*,#, Nikolai Vazov#

* BulTreeBank Project, Linguistic Modelling Laboratory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

and# Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

2

Plan of the Presentation

• Our Research Expertise

• Our Teaching Expertise

• Combining Research and Teaching

• E-learning for Less Processed Languages

• Conclusion

3

Research Expertise

• Language Resources for Bulgarian– Text Archive, Treebank, Morphological

Lexicon, Gazetteers, Valency Lexicon, Semantic Lexicon

• Language Processors for Bulgarian– Morphological Analyser, Disambiguator,

Chunk Grammars• Language Processors for French

– Time Expression Grammar

4

Teaching Expertise

• CLaRK Programme:Tübingen-Sofia International Graduate Programme in

Computational Linguistics and Represented Knowledge

– Summer schools Tübingen (1999), Sozopol (2000) and Sozopol (2002)

– Electronic teaching materialsLecture notes in Computational Morphology, Declarative Knowledge

Representation and WordNets: Principles and Applications

– Project-oriented master’s and PhD student educationPOS disambiguation, XML Corpus Linguistics, Web-based materials

5

Combining Research and Teaching (1)

• Bachelor Seminar on Computational Corpus Linguistics at the Department for Bulgarian Language, the Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”

Formal languages, XML, Disambiguation, Chunk Grammars

• Master Programme in Computational Linguistics at the French Department, the Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”

A full programme covering Mathematical Methods, Logic, Linguistic Theories, Corpus Linguistics, Programming

6

Combining Research and Teaching (2)

• The best results have been achieved by students who were also involved in a research project

• In such an environment they receive:– support in acquiring additional knowledge– practical experience in solving research problems– possibilities for further realisation in academic or

industrial institutions

7

The main Problem of Teaching CL (in Bulgaria)

• There is no Institution devoted to research and education in Computational LinguisticsThe experts in the area work in different places

• Solution– Multi-institutional research and teaching teams– Distant E-learning– International co-operation

8

E-learning for Less Processed Languages (1)

• We consider the teaching in CL at two levels:– Basic level: mathematical methods in CL,

linguistic models, basic technologies– Advanced level: linguistic theories and

treatment of specific language phenomena, machine learning, applications

9

E-learning for Less Processed Languages (2)

• Basic levelExisting teaching materials (in other languages)

can be used directly or after translation

• Advanced levelExisting teaching materials need adaptation to

Bulgarian language

We call the process of adaptation to Bulgarian Localisation of teaching materials

10

From E-Content to E-Learning

We see our role in a joint project for distant learning in CL in the following way:

• Localisation of existing teaching materials to Bulgarian

• Providing Bulgarian Language Resources and Processing Modules

• Development of Multi-Lingual Resources and Applications for Distant Learning

11

Conclusion

• Distant learning in CL can cover the existing institutional and/or expertise gaps

• The less-processed languages can provide (interesting or different) language data and processing modules

• Localisation of teaching materials can be done through the development of multi-lingual applications