Category: CALL

3rd workshop on NLP for computer-assisted language learning

SLTC workshop, November, 13, 2014, Uppsala, Sweden

2nd Call for papers

Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL), i.e., the integration of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Speech Technologies (ST) in language learning applications, is a rapidly developing area which has started to attract increased attention from the Language Technology (LT) community. ICALL research has generated a number of successful applications for alleviating a variety of (mechanical) tasks that teachers face daily in their work, for example grammar or spelling error marking, essay grading, preparation of text questions for reading activities, creating tests and exercises, etc.

However, reusing NLP/ST methods or tools (developed for other than pedagogical purposes) in pedagogical applications is not always pedagogically justifiable since they need to be adapted to the educational tasks, e.g. readability measures for legal texts adapted to the second language learning context. Thus, LT researchers who intend to re-use their algorithms and techniques in CALL applications need new datasets, specifically designed corpora, databases, etc. to fine-tune their tools for new target groups – the design and compilation of which are both critical for achieving good results and time-consuming.

There are other challenges that the area of NLP-based CALL faces: re-use and sharing of existing NLP/ST components, copyright issues, standardization of pedagogical framework, lack of collaboration with end-users – to name just a few. Probably the most significant challenge is to make sure that the research results reach actual end-users in the form of tools which can become a part of the educational process, and which are both easy of use and have a pedagogically sound basis.

This workshop aims to bring together (computational) linguists involved in research aiming at integrating NLP/ST in CALL systems and exploring the theoretical and methodological issues arising in this connection, with the purpose to share experiences, achievements and setbacks, and to discuss potential ways of addressing the challenges that need to be overcome.

This year we welcome papers

that describe research directly aimed at ICALL
that demonstrate actual or discuss potential use of existing NLP/ST tools or resources for language learning
that describe ongoing development of resources and tools with potential usage in ICALL, either directly in interactive applications, or indirectly in materials, application or curriculum development, e.g. collecting and annotating learner corpora; developing tools and algorithms for readability analysis, selecting optimal corpus examples, etc.
that discuss challenges and/or research agendas for ICALL
we are also interested in software demonstrations
We especially invite submissions describing the above-mentioned themes for the Nordic languages.

Submission information

We are using Nodalida 2013 template for the workshop this year. Authors are invited to submit papers between 7 and 14 pages of content, excluding title, abstract, references and author affiliations. Only pdf files will be accepted. Submissions will be managed through the electronic conference management system EasyChair. Final camera-ready versions of accepted papers will be given an additional page to address reviewer comments.

Papers should describe original unpublished work or work-in-progress. Every paper will be reviewed by at least 2 members of the program committee. As reviewing will be blind, please ensure that papers are anonymous. Self-references that reveal the author’s identity, e.g., “We previously showed (Smith, 1991) …”, should be avoided. Instead, use citations such as “Smith previously showed (Smith, 1991) …”. Submissions will be judged on appropriateness, clarity, originality/innovativeness, correctness/soundness, meaningful comparison, significance and impact of ideas or results. Accepted papers will be published in a NEALT Proceeding Series and, additionally, made available through ACL anthology.

Please note that NoDaLiDa 2013 format adopts a single-column, smaller page format, optimized for on-screen reading. In terms of actual word counts, the above page numbers correspond to approximately 4-8 pages, in a ‘classic’, two-column conference proceedings layout.

Important dates:

June, 16: first call for papers
August, 8: EasyChair opens for submissions
August, 14: second call for papers
September, 14: final call for papers
September, 25: paper submission deadline, via EasyChair
October, 16: notification of acceptance
October, 30: camera-ready papers for publication. You are also required to submit the NEALT transfer of copyright agreement (signed at least by the corresponding author and scanned) with your final submission.
November, 13, 9.00-12.00: workshop date

Invited speaker

We are happy to announce that our invited speaker will be

Prof. Detmar Meurers, University of Tübingen, Germany

Program committee:

Lars Ahrenberg, Linköping University, Sweden
Lars Borin, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Antonio Branco, University of Lisboa, Portugal
Simon Dobnik, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Robert Eklund, Linköping University, Sweden
Katarina Heimann Mühlenbock, DART, Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset, Göteborg, Sweden
Thomas Francois, UCLouvain, Belgium
Arne Jönsson, Linköping University, Sweden
Sofie Johansson Kokkinakis, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Ola Knutsson, Stockholm University, Sweden
Chris Koniaris, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Peter Ljunglöf, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Hrafn Loftsson, Reykjavik University, Iceland
Montse Maritxalar, University of the Basque country, Spain
Detmar Meurers, University of Tübingen, Germany
Martí Quixal, The Universty of Texas at Austin, US
Mathias Schulze, University of Waterloo, Canada
Joel Tetreault, Yahoo! Labs, US
Trond Trosterud, Universitetet i Tromsø, Norway
Cornelia Tschichold, Swansea University, UK
Francis Tyers, The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Elena Volodina, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Workshop organizers

Elena Volodina, Språkbanken, Department of Swedish, University of Gothenburg; elena dot volodina at svenska dot gu dot se (Organizing chair)
Lars Borin, Språkbanken, Department of Swedish, University of Gothenburg; lars dot borin at svenska dot gu dot se
Ildikó Pilán, Språkbanken, Department of Swedish, University of Gothenburg; ildiko dot pilan at svenska dot gu dot se

For all inquiries, please email Elena Volodina