[CL+NLP Lunch] Tuesday 2/8: Na-Rae Han on ESL Error Correction Models

[Nathan Schneider]

We are pleased to announce February's CL+NLP lunch:

*Tuesday, Feb. 8 @ noon*
GHC 4405
Lunch will be provided.

*Na-Rae Han*
Lecturer, Linguistics; Director, Robert Henderson Language Media Center,
University of Pittsburgh

*Building ESL (English as a Second Language) Error Correction Models*

*Abstract:*
For many ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign
Language) students, interacting with computerized applications is an
integral part of their learning experience. NLP-based language models can be
a valuable tool in assisting teachers and students alike by providing prompt
feedback on certain aspects of language. Recent research in this area has
been towards the development grammar correction applications specifically
targeting learners of English.

In this talk, I will first present work on determiner correction using a
statistical model trained on well-formed texts written by native English
speakers. However, such an approach is limited in that constructing a large
enough error-annotated corpus to support a statistical approach is
time-consuming and labor intensive. I will therefore describe a newer study
focusing on preposition errors in which error correction models are trained
exclusively on an error-annotated corpus produced by ESL learners. We
address the design issues and the logistical problems that arise from the
partially annotated nature of our data set.

*Bio:*
Na-Rae Han is currently Lecturer in the Linguistics department and Director
of Robert Henderson Language Media Center, which promotes use of technology
in language instruction, at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her
Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 after
completing her M.S.E. in Computer and Information Science there. She has
previously worked as a researcher in the Automated Scoring and Natural
Language Processing Group of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton,
NJ, and as a research professor at Korea University in Seoul, Korea.


See you on Tuesday,
Nathan & Ben
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