Proseminar Sociolinguistics A Computational Perspective

Let us start with a calculation: English ≠ English. What sounds like a paradox seems obvious on closer inspection. Normally, for example, a dialect can be easily assigned to Jamaica, the U.S. or Nigeria. Furthermore, differences do not only exist between multiple speakers, but the same speaker and his/ her English varies depending on the context. With our partners, for example, we speak in a different manner compared to the style we use with our boss. Sometimes the differences are not so obvious, though. Malicious gossip has it that women talk more and more complex than men. But is this true? Computational Linguistics can help us to answer questions like this. You could, for instance, create a corpus with female and male speakers to compare the syntax. On the other hand, computational applications have to consider the knowledge of Sociolinguistics, if they want to meet users demands. So, Siri, the dialog system on our iPhone, can probably -understand- us if we dictate: -He is working over there.- Perhaps it also understands -e is workin over dere-. However, it will very likely fail to transfer the following sentence into text without sociolinguistic knowledge: -im ah wok oba deh suh.- In this seminar, we will (re)search the opportunities and limits of computational-linguistic approaches in a sociolinguistic context. Relevant texts will be presented in the first lesson. Bemerkung Die Veranstaltung beginnt erst am 30.10.2013. Voraussetzungen Passed Introduction to Linguistics Leistungsnachweis In accordance with your Prüfungsordnung FB 02 Institut für Anglistik / Amerikanistik Passed Introduction to Linguistics In accordance with your Prüfungsordnung Uni Kassel WiSe 2013/14 Amerikanistik Becker Sonja