FYI: Training, Lang. & Gender, Multimedia Forum

Author:

Philip A. Bralich, Ph.D.

FYI Body:

In order to spur the development of the Ergo Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools for other languages we are seeking individuals, departments, and companies who would like to have training to create patented NLP tools like those of Ergo in other languages. We are currently not offering any funding for this, but we would be willing to be partners in such developments with other companies. We would also be willing to serve as consultants as the parsers are developed for other languages. We estimate that it will require from 18 to 24 months of work for 2 or 3 individuals to extend the Ergo tools to another language. Derek Bickerton and myself will both be available for the training and consultation. The tools that we have developed offer improvements in Navigation and Control, Dialoging, and Web and Database searching through enhanced grammatical analysis. Demos of the technology are available a http://www.ergo-ling.com . A more detailed discussion of the sorts of abilities that will be possible is presented at the VRML Consortium Web site as standards for the development of NLP tools for animations (http://www.vrml.org/WorkingGroups/NLP-ANIM). We recently won the Best Technology award at the VSMM '98 Multi Media and Virtual Reality conference in Japan. The languages we would most like to do first are Spanish, German, Russian, and Japanese. Though we will work with whatever languages serious researchers would like to work with. Our main requirement is that these be serious inquiries only and we would like to establish that the individuals or groups who would like this training are capable of completing the project. Please respond privately to the numbers below. Phil Bralich Philip A. Bralich, Ph.D. President and CEO Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 Tel: (808)539-3920 Fax: (808)539-3924 bralich@hawaii.edu http://www.ergo-ling.com Announcing a new series from Oxford University Press Oxford Studies in Language and Gender Series editor: Mary Bucholtz (Texas A&M University) In the past decade, the subfield of linguistics known as language and gender studies has undergone an intellectual renaissance. From its original concern with sexist language in the 1970s and the 1980s' debate over "difference" and "dominance" models, language and gender research in the 1990s has developed its links to feminist and social theory and expanded its scope to include the interaction of gender with race, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, nationality, and other dimensions of social identity. This new body of work builds on the foundations of earlier research while integrating key insights of recent theory. Oxford Studies in Language and Gender offers a broad-based interdisciplinary forum for the best new scholarship in the field. The mandate of the series is to encourage innovative work on language and gender, a goal that may be achieved through the revisitation of familiar topics from fresh vantage points, through the introduction of new avenues of research, or through new theoretical or methodological frameworks. Volumes may be authored by scholars in such disciplines as anthropology, sociology, literary studies, education, psychology, ethnic studies, and women's studies, as well as linguistics. In addition, monographs, textbooks, and edited collections that fit the series's emphasis on innovation will be appropriate for inclusion. Advisory board Penelope Eckert (Stanford University) Kira Hall (Yale University) Janet Holmes (Victoria University) Miyako Inoue (Stanford University) Don Kulick (University of Stockholm) Sally McConnell-Ginet (Cornell University) Marcyliena Morgan (University of California, Los Angeles/Harvard University) Deborah Tannen (Georgetown University) Ana Celia Zentella (Hunter College, City University of New York) Manuscripts are currently being solicited for publication in Oxford Studies in Language and Gender. Contact the series editor for further information: Mary Bucholtz Department of English Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4227 bucholtz@tamu.edu http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/bucholtz/oslg/ We will be holding the Second Multimedia Forum on New Technologies and their Impact on Second Language Teaching and Learning under the auspices of the 67th Congress de l'ACFAS at the University of Ottawa between May 10 and 14, 1999. For more information please email hknoerr@uottawa.ca. ***************************************************************** Hlne Knoerr Institut des langues secondes Universit d'Ottawa 600 King Edward OTTAWA, Ontario K1H 7P7 hknoerr@uottawa.ca (613) 562-5800/ 3475 (613) 562-5126 (fax) *****************************************************************