From E - Content to E-Learning in Computational Linguistics

1. From E-Content to E-Learning in Computational Linguistics Localisation of Teaching materials for less processed languages Kiril Simov*, Petya Osenova*,#, Nikolai Vazov# * BulTreeBank Project, Linguistic Modelling Laboratory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and # Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

2. Plan of the Presentation • Our Research Expertise • Our Teaching Expertise • Combining Research and Teaching • E-learning for Less Processed Languages • Conclusion

3. Research Expertise • Language Resources for Bulgarian • Text Archive, Treebank, Morphological Lexicon, Gazetteers, Valency Lexicon, Semantic Lexicon • Language Processors for Bulgarian • Morphological Analyser, Disambiguator, Chunk Grammars • Language Processors for French • Time Expression Grammar

4. Teaching Expertise • CLaRK Programme: Tübingen-Sofia International Graduate Programme in Computational Linguistics and Represented Knowledge • Summer schools Tübingen (1999), Sozopol (2000) and Sozopol (2002) • Electronic teaching materials Lecture notes in Computational Morphology, Declarative Knowledge Representation and WordNets: Principles and Applications • Project-oriented master’s and PhD student education POS disambiguation, XML Corpus Linguistics, Web-based materials

5. Combining Research and Teaching (1) • Bachelor Seminar on Computational Corpus Linguistics at the Department for Bulgarian Language, the Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski” Formal languages, XML, Disambiguation, Chunk Grammars • Master Programme in Computational Linguistics at the French Department, the Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski” A full programme covering Mathematical Methods, Logic, Linguistic Theories, Corpus Linguistics, Programming

6. Combining Research and Teaching (2) • The best results have been achieved by students who were also involved in a research project • In such an environment they receive: • support in acquiring additional knowledge • practical experience in solving research problems • possibilities for further realisation in academic or industrial institutions

7. The main Problem of Teaching CL(in Bulgaria) • There is no Institution devoted to research and education in Computational Linguistics The experts in the area work in different places • Solution • Multi-institutional research and teaching teams • Distant E-learning • International co-operation

8. E-learning for Less Processed Languages (1) • We consider the teaching in CL at two levels: • Basic level: mathematical methods in CL, linguistic models, basic technologies • Advanced level: linguistic theories and treatment of specific language phenomena, machine learning, applications

9. E-learning for Less Processed Languages (2) • Basic level Existing teaching materials (in other languages) can be used directly or after translation • Advanced level Existing teaching materials need adaptation to Bulgarian language We call the process of adaptation to Bulgarian Localisation of teaching materials

10. From E-Content to E-Learning We see our role in a joint project for distant learning in CL in the following way: • Localisation of existing teaching materials to Bulgarian • Providing Bulgarian Language Resources and Processing Modules • Development of Multi-Lingual Resources and Applications for Distant Learning

11. Conclusion • Distant learning in CL can cover the existing institutional and/or expertise gaps • The less-processed languages can provide (interesting or different) language data and processing modules • Localisation of teaching materials can be done through the development of multi-lingual applications