A Principle-based Parser for Foreign Language Training in German and Arabic

Joe Garman, Jeffery Martin, Paola Merlo, Amy Weinberg


Abstract
In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of a parser for German and Arabic, which is currently being used in a tutoring system for foreign language training. Computer-aided language tutoring is a good application for testing the robustness and flexibility of a parsing system, since the input is usually ungrammatical in some way. Efficiency is also a concern, as tutoring applications typically run on personal computers, with the parser sharing memory with other components of the system. Our system is principle-based, which ensures a compact representation, and improves portability, needed in order to extend the initial design from German to Arabic and (eventually) Spanish. Currently, the parser diagnoses agreement errors, case errors, selection errors, and some word order errors. The parser can handle simple and complex declaratives and questions, topicalisations, verb movement, relative clauses — broad enough coverage to be useful in the design of real exercises and dialogues.
Anthology ID:
1993.iwpt-1.8
Volume:
Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Parsing Technologies
Month:
August 10-13
Year:
1993
Address:
Tilburg, Netherlands and Durbuy, Belgium
Venues:
IWPT | WS
SIG:
SIGPARSE
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
73–88
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/1993.iwpt-1.8
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Joe Garman, Jeffery Martin, Paola Merlo, and Amy Weinberg. 1993. A Principle-based Parser for Foreign Language Training in German and Arabic. In Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Parsing Technologies, pages 73–88, Tilburg, Netherlands and Durbuy, Belgium. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
A Principle-based Parser for Foreign Language Training in German and Arabic (Garman et al., IWPT 1993)
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PDF:
https://preview.aclanthology.org/update-css-js/1993.iwpt-1.8.pdf