Spring 2002
TTh 9:30-10:50 a.m., 127A Cooke, Reg. #475069
Prerequisites: CSE 4/572 or CSE 676 or permission of instructor
We are developing a computational theory of how natural-language-understanding systems can automatically acquire new vocabulary by determining from context the meaning of words that are unknown, misunderstood, or used in a new sense.
We propose:
(a) to extend and develop algorithms for computational contextual vocabulary acquisition (CVA): learning, from context, meanings for "hard" word: nouns (including proper nouns), verbs, adjectives, and adverbs,
(b) to unify a disparate literature on the topic of CVA from psychology, first- and second-language (L1 and L2) acquisition, and reading science, in order to help develop these algorithms, and
(c) to use the knowledge gained from the computational CVA system to build and to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational curriculum for enhancing students' abilities to use deliberate (i.e., non-incidental) CVA strategies in their reading of science, math, engineering, and technology texts at the middle-school and college undergraduate levels: teaching methods and guides, materials for teaching and practice, and evaluation instruments.
The knowledge gained from case studies of students using our CVA techniques will feed back into further development of our computational theory.
The work involves using natural-language-processing techniques, such as ATN (augmented-transition-network) grammars, and the SNePS knowledge representation and reasoning system.
For more information on the project, see:
Further information on SNePS can be found at the SNePS homepage.
Further information on ATNs can be found in the SNePS Manual.
The work involves using natural-language-processing techniques such as ATN (augmented-transition-network) grammars, and/or the LKB system, and/or information extraction systems (e.g., TextPro) to parse hospital discharge summaries into a SNePS representation for further processing by SNePS's reasoning facilities, possibly with an eye towards "translating" the discharge summary (intended as a means of communication between medical professionals) into plain English for lay persons (e.g., patients and their families) to be able to understand.
Further information on the project can be found at:
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/mednlp.ps.