Date: 01-Dec-2006
From: Marc Schröder <schroeddfki.de>
Subject: Paralinguistic Speech - Between Models and Data
Full Title: Paralinguistic Speech - Between Models and Data
Short Title: ParaLing'07
Date: 02-Aug-2007 - 03-Aug-2007
Location: Saarbrücken, Germany
Contact Person: Marc Schröder
Meeting Email: < click here to access email >
Web Site: http://www.dfki.de/paraling07
Linguistic Field(s): Phonetics; Psycholinguistics
Call Deadline: 15-Apr-2007
Meeting Description:
This two-day workshop is concerned with the general area of paralinguistic speech, and will place special emphasis on attempts to narrow the gap between 'models' (usually built making strong simplifying assumptions) and 'real data' (usually showing a high degree of complexity).
Papers are invited in a broad range of topics related to paralinguisticspeech. Papers can be submitted for oral or poster presentation; acceptancefor oral presentation is more likely for papers that explicitly address thegeneral theme of the workshop, i.e. ''bridging'' issues.
There are at least two different versions of bridging: a weak one and astrong one. The weak, more modest one aims at a better mutualunderstanding, the strong one at profiting from each other's work. We donot know yet whether after these two days, we really will be able to profitfrom each other in our own work; however, we do hope that we will havereached a level of mutual understanding that will make future co-operationeasier.
Workshop Theme:
Research on various aspects of paralinguistic and extralinguistic speechhas gained considerable importance in recent years. On the one hand, modelshave been proposed for describing and modifying voice quality and prosodyrelated to factors such as emotional states or personality. Such modelsoften start with high-intensity states (e.g., full-blown emotions) in cleanlab speech, and are difficult to generalise to everyday speech. On theother hand, systems have been built to work with moderate states inreal-world data, e.g. for the recognition of speaker emotion, age, orgender. Such models often rely on statistical methods, and are notnecessarily based on any theoretical models.
While both research traditions are obviously valid and can be justified bytheir different aims, it seems worth asking whether there is anything theycan learn from each other. For example: ''Can models become more robust byincorporating methods used for dealing with real-world data?''; ''Canrecognition rates be improved by including ideas from theoretical models?'';''How would a database need to be structured so that it can be used forboth, research on model-based synthesis and research on recognition?'' etc.
While the workshop will be open to any kind of research on paralinguisticspeech, the workshop structure will support the presentation and creationof cross-links in several ways:
- papers with an explicit contribution to cross-linking issues willstand a higher chance to be accepted as oral papers;- sessions and proceedings will include space for peer comments andanswers from authors;- poster sessions will be organised around cross-cutting issues ratherthan traditional research fields, where possible.
We therefore encourage prospective participants to place their researchinto a wider perspective. This can happen in many ways; as illustrations,we outline two possible approaches.
1. In application-oriented research, such as synthesis or recognition, aguiding principle could be the requirements of the ''ideal'' application: forexample, the recognition of finely graded shades of emotions, for allspeakers in all situations; or fully natural-sounding synthesis with freelyspecifiable expressivity; etc. This perspective is likely to highlight thehard problems of today's state of the art, and a cross-cutting perspectivemay lead to innovative approaches yielding concrete steps to reduce thedistance towards the ''ideal''.
2. A second illustration of attaining a wider perspective would be toattempt to cross-link work in generative modelling (e.g., expressive speechsynthesis) and analysis (e.g., recognition of expressivity fromspeech). Researchers on generation are invited to investigate the relevanceof their work for analysis, and vice versa. What methodologies, corpora ordescriptive inventories exist that could be shared between analysis andgeneration, or at least mapped onto each other? If certain parameters haveproven to be relevant in one area, to what degree is it possible totransfer them to the other area? Issues of relevance in this area mayinclude, among other things, personalisation, speaker dependencyvs. independency, links between voice conversion in synthesis and speakercalibration in (automatic) recognition or (human) perception, etc.
Topics:
Paper are invited in all areas related to paralinguistic speech,including, but not limited, to the following topics:
- prosody of paralinguistic speech- voice quality and paralinguistic speech- synthesis of paralinguistic speech (model-based, data-driven, ...)- recognition/classification of paralinguistic properties of speech- analysis of paralinguistic speech (acoustics, physiology, ...)- assessment and perception of paralinguistic speech- typology of paralinguistic speech (emotion, expression, attitude,physical states, ...)
While all papers must be related to paralinguistic speech, papersmaking the link with a related area, e.g. investigating the interactionof the speech signal with the meaning of the verbal content, areexplicitly welcome.
Important Dates:
1st call for papers: 1 December 20062nd call for papers: 1 February 2007Deadline for full-paper submission: 15 April (strict deadline!)Notification of acceptance: 1 JuneFinal version of accepted papers: 15 JuneWorkshop: 2-3 August 2007
Location and Registration Fees:
The workshop will take place at DFKI on the campus of SaarlandUniversity, Germany; on the same campus, the International Conferenceof Phonetic Sciences will take place during the following week.
Workshop registration fees: To be calculated, but will be around ~150 EUR
Submissions:
The workshop will consist of oral and poster presentations. Submittedpapers will stand a higher chance of being accepted as oral presentationswhen the relevance to the workshop theme is evident.
Final submissions should be 6 pages long, and must be in English.Word+Latex+OpenOffice templates will be made available on the workshopwebsite.
Organising Committee:
Marc Schröder, DFKI GmbH, Saarbrücken, GermanyAnton Batliner, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, GermanyChristophe d'Alessandro, LIMSI, Paris, France
Programme Committee:
Noam Amir, Tel Aviv University, IsraelVéronique Aubergé, ICP, Grenoble, FranceTanja Bänziger, U. Geneva, SwitzerlandLouis ten Bosch, U. Nijmegen, NetherlandsFelix Burkhardt, T-Systems, GermanyNick Campbell, ATR, Tokyo, JapanRoddy Cowie, QUB, Belfast, UKLaurence Devillers, Limsi, FranceEllen Douglas-Cowie, QUB, Belfast, UKThierry Dutoit, Mons, BelgiumRaul Fernandez, IBM, USAChrister Gobl, TCD, Dublin, IrelandJulia Hirschberg, Columbia University, USAHideki Kawahara, Wakayama University, JapanJody Kreiman, UCLA, USASacha Krstulovic, DFKI, GermanyDiane Litman, U. Pittsburgh, USAParham Mokhtari, ATR, Tokyo, JapanRoger Moore, U. Sheffield, UKChristian Müller, ICSI, Berkeley, USAThierry Moudenc, France Telecom, FranceShrikanth Narayanan, UCLA, USAElmar Nöth, U. Erlangen-Nuremberg, GermanyBjörn Schuller, Tech. Univ. Munich, GermanyIzhak Shafran, OGI, Portland, USAElizabeth Shriberg, SRI, Menlo Park, USAJianhua Tao, Tsinghua Univ., Beijing, ChinaJürgen Trouvain, U. Saarland, GermanyEnrico Zovato, Loquendo, Italy
Message 2: Georgetown Linguistics Society: Language & Globalization
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Date: 30-Nov-2006
From: Rebecca Rubin <rer26georgetown.edu>
Subject: Georgetown Linguistics Society: Language & Globalization
Full Title: Georgetown Linguistics Society: Language & Globalization
Short Title: GLS 2007
Date: 30-Mar-2007 - 01-Apr-2007
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Contact Person: Rebecca Rubin
Meeting Email: < click here to access email >
Web Site: http://www.glsconf.com/
Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
Call Deadline: 15-Dec-2006
Meeting Description:
GLS 2007, Language and Globalization: Policy, Education and Media, will explore the interaction between language and the processes of globalization.
Second Call for Papers
Extended Deadline!
The Georgetown Linguistics Society is pleased to announce
GLS 2007Language and Globalization: Policy, Education and Mediawww.glsconf.com
March 30-April 1, 2007Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
GLS 2007, Language and Globalization: Policy, Education and Media, will explore the interaction between language and the processes of globalization. We invite papers that address the following questions:
Policy:- How is globalization driving implicit and explicit language policies?- What role does language play in the development and implementation of migrant/migration policy?- What is the relationship between transnationalism and language policy?- How are countries integrating language and citizenship requirements?- How has language policy influenced and been influenced by immigration and integration?
Education:- How does globalization affect critical language awareness in education?- What is the relationship between globalization and current trends in language education policy (especially in regards to the teaching of critical languages)?- What is the role of language assessment? What are its advantages and dangers, particularly in light of globalization?
Media:- How does globalization shape public discourse (and vice versa)?- How has language use in the public sphere (signage, verbal announcements, etc.) been influenced by globalization?- How has globalization impacted language commodification?
These topics are given as suggestions rather than limitations. Any papers relevant to the policy, education, and media effects of language related to globalization are welcome.
GLS 2007 is a conference run by the graduate students in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. The conference will include three days of oral and poster presentations by students as well as invited plenary addresses and panel discussions by established scholars. More information about the conference can be found at http://www.glsconf.com, where updates will also be announced.
Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
Dr. David BlockDr. Bonnie McElhinnyDr. Ron Scollon
Abstract Submission:
We invite submissions of abstracts for oral and poster presentations. Student papers will last 20 minutes with additional time for discussion. The EXTENDED deadline for submission of abstracts is December 15, 2006. We require both paper and electronic copies of your abstract.
Both paper and electronic submissions should include the following two documents:
1. Your abstract text (no longer than 500 words). Include a title. Do not include your name or any identifying information in the abstract document. Please submit five paper copies of your abstract text.2. A separate sheet of paper with your name, affiliation, title of abstract, email address, mailing address and phone number.
Paper abstract submissions should be sent to:
GLS 2007 ConferenceDepartment of LinguisticsGeorgetown University3700 ''O'' Street NWWashington, DC 20057
Electronic abstract submissions should be sent as an e-mail attachment to: gls2007georgetown.edu)
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