Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE LIN1021

 
TITLE Talking Machines - A Practical Introduction 1

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 8

 
DEPARTMENT Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology

 
DESCRIPTION This unit is the first part of two units (LIN1020/LIN1021) that focus on HLT applications. This part serves as an introduction to the area and to the computational processing of text and speech, through a focus on core tasks such as:

- machine translation
- automatic summarisation
- information extraction
- text to speech synthesis.

The unit introduces basic concepts, terminology, and methodologies, in particular, highlighting the links and associations between the various areas, as well as providing the necessary theoretical grounding.

Study-unit Aims

The main aim to instill a strong degree of enthusiasm in the students for the area of study, namely, HLT. This unit introduces the students to the field of HLT through tasks such as machine translation, automatic summarisation, information extraction and text to speech synthesis. It provides them with an overview of the area of study, and, in particular, makes them aware of the practical applications of HLT. At the same time, the unit will help students associate the various strands involved in the twinning of linguistics and computer studies, thus providing a solid basis of knowledge in the area.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- understand basic concepts and terminology in HLT;
- be familiar with the various areas of research that fall under HLT;
- understand the links between linguistics and ICT on the basis of practical applications;
- identify the areas in which HLT plays a role in everyday life.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- evaluate the merits of different areas of research related to HLT;
- appreciate the contribution of HLT to communication and the breadth of scope of this field;
- analyse and compare different areas of study and research.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Jurafsky, Daniel & Martin, James H. (2009). Speech and Language Processing. (2nd edition). Indiana: Prentice Hall [available]

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Practicum

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Patrizia Paggio
Lonneke van der Plas

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit