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cogs.susx.ac.uk>EFFICIENCY IN LARGE-SCALE PARSING SYSTEMS a workshop to be held at Coling 2000, the 18th International Conference on Computational Linguistics Luxembourg, 5 August 2000 This workshop will focus on methods, grammars, and data to facilitate empirical assessment and comparison of the efficiency of large-scale parsing systems. Organisers John Carroll, University of Sussex; Robert C. Moore, Microsoft Research; and Stephan Oepen, Saarland University. Workshop Scope and Aims Interest in large-scale, grammar-based parsing has recently seen a large increase, in response to the complexities of language-based application tasks such as speech-to-speech translation, and enabled by the availability of more powerful computational resources and by efforts in large-scale and collaborative grammar engineering. There are two main paradigms in the evaluation and comparison of the performance of parsing algorithms and implemented systems: (i) the formal, complexity-theoretic analysis of how an algorithm behaves, typically focussing on worst-case time and space complexity bounds; and (ii) the empirical study of how properties of the parser and input (possibly including the grammar used) affect actual, observed run-time efficiency. It has often been noted that the theoretical study of algorithms alone does not (yet) suffice to provide an accurate prediction about how a specific algorithm will perform in practice, when used in conjunction with a specific grammar (or type of grammar), and when applied to a particular domain and task. Therefore, empirical assessment of practical parser performance has become an established technique and continues to be the primary means of comparison among algorithms. At the same time, system competence (i.e. coverage and overgeneration with respect to a particular grammar and test set) cannot be decoupled from the evaluation of parser performance, because two algorithms can only be compared meaningfully when they really solve the same problem, i.e. either directly use the same grammar, or at least achieve demonstrably similar competence on the same test set. The focus of the workshop is on large-scale parsing systems and precise, comparable empirical assessment. We envisage discussion at the workshop will centre on methods, reference grammars, and test data that will facilitate improved comparability. The workshop is intended to bring together representatives from sites working on grammar-based parsing (both in academic and corporate environments) to help the field focus and converge on a common, pre-standard practice in empirical assessment of parsing systems. The organisers solicit contributions (in the form of extended abstracts; see below) on the following topics: - descriptions of grammars and data used to assess parser efficiency; - methods and tools for empirical assessment of parser efficiency; and - comparisons of the efficiency of different large-scale parsing systems. Programme Committee John Carroll, University of Sussex, UK; Gregor Erbach, Telecommunications Research Centre Vienna, Austria; Bernd Kiefer, DFKI Saarbruecken, Germany; Rob Malouf, Rijkuniversitet Groningen, The Netherlands; Robert Moore, Microsoft Research, USA; Gertjan van Noord, Rijkuniversitet Groningen, The Netherlands; Stephan Oepen, Saarland University, Germany; Gerald Penn, Bell Labs Research, USA; Hadar Shemtov, Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre, USA; and Kentaro Torisawa, Tokyo University, Japan. Submission Requirements Submissions should be extended abstracts of not more than 4 pages. Submission is by email, to `elspsMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
cs.rochester.edu>----------------------------------------------- SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS FINITE-STATE PHONOLOGY : SIGPHON 2000 Fifth Meeting of the ACL Special Interest Group in Computational Phonology A full-day workshop held at COLING 2000 Luxembourg, 6 August 2000 ----------------------------------------------- WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION - ------------------ The workshop will focus on the growing role of finite-state methods in computational phonology. Excellent papers in other areas of computational phonology are also welcome. Sample topics: * Finite-state formalizations of phonological frameworks * Algorithms and theorems about finite-state phonological formalisms * Embedding finite-state phonology in NLP or speech systems * The application of finite-state methods to empirical description (including difficulties, representational encodings, and software tools) * Phonologically motivated extensions to finite-state techniques * Research bearing on whether the finite-state assumptions are empirically adequate or computationally necessary A principal goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers who are working in different phonological frameworks: Finite-state methods have been more-or-less persuasively applied to a range of frameworks, from derivational approaches to Optimality Theory. This shared formal underpinning exposes crucial differences among the frameworks (Frank & Satta 1998), and also suggests deep similarities (Karttunen 1998). We hope that the workshop's focus on formalizations using finite-state techniques, which are well understood in themselves, will facilitate further discussion of the theoretical and empirical virtues of different frameworks. We are particularly interested in the potential for new or hybrid frameworks. ORGANIZERS AND PROGRAM COMMITTEE - ------------------------------- Lauri Karttunen, Xerox Research Centre Europe (program chair) Markus Walther, University of Marburg (local chair) Jason Eisner, University of Rochester (organization) Alain Theriault, Universite de Montreal (administration) Daniel Albro, University of California at Los Angeles Steven Bird, University of Pennsylvania John Coleman, University of Oxford Dan Jurafsky, University of Colorado Andras Kornai, Belmont Research, Cambridge MA Reviewing will be blind. The program chair may invite additional reviewers as necessary to obtain relevant expertise and avoid conflicts of interest. More information about SIGPHON is available at http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/sigphon Questions and correspondence may be sent to: Jason Eisner Department of Computer Science University of Rochester P.O. Box 270226 Rochester, NY 14627 USA tel: +1 (716) 275-7230 fax: +1 (716) 461-2018 email: sigphon2000Mail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue