Most Relevant NLP Journals via NLPeople

This is a question and follow-up initiated by Eduardo César Garrido Merchán in the Linkedin NLPeople group.

Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL)
Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ISSN: 2307-387X)
European Chapter of the ACL (EACL)
North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics
International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING)
Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP)
Data & Knowledge Engineering.
IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering
Computational Linguistics
International Conference on Computational Linguistics and Intelligent Text Processing
Text REtrieval Conference (TREC)
International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing
SIGIR
ECIR
CICLing.org

NLP conference calendar: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/~tetreaul/conferences.html

Canadian Modern Language Review new online issue: Second Language Speech Perception and Production: Implications for LT

Volume 70, Number 4 / November 2014

Second Language Speech Perception and Production: Implications for Language Teaching / Perception et production de la parole : répercussions sur l’enseignement des langues secondes

This issue contains:

Editorial/Éditorial
The past decade has witnessed a steady increase in research on foreign- or second-language (L2) speech perception and production targeting varied populations of speakers, using different languages in various linguistic, educational, social, and political contexts. However, most of this research –whether it is carried out in areas of speech pathology, speech science, linguistics, psychology, or cognitive science – has been largely theoretical and has not been targeted toward researchers and teachers interested in the pedagogical aspects of L2 pronunciation teaching and learning. Motivated by this observation and the recent growth of research in the area, this special issue of the Canadian Modern Language Review /La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes (CMLR/RCLV) emphasizes the pedagogical implications and applications of research to L2 speech perception and production. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.70.4.editorial
http://bit.ly/cmlr704a

Changes in Second-Language Learners’ Oral Skills and Socio-Affective Profiles Following Study Abroad: A Mixed-Methods Approach
Debra M. Hardison  
Research on the effectiveness of short-term study-abroad (SA) programs for improving oral skills has shown mixed results. In this study, 24 L2 German learners (L1 English) provided pre- and post-SA speech samples addressing a hypothetical situation and completed surveys on cross-cultural interest and adaptability; L2 communication affect, strategies, perceived competence; and L2 contact. Native speakers (NSs) provided ratings for pronunciation, fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and accentedness. Results revealed significant improvement in all oral skills and positive changes in the socio-affective factors. Participants who reported more positive affect in interactions with NSs pre-SA tended to spend more hours in extended interactions with them while abroad. These hours were related to increased positive communication affect post-SA. No significant relationships were found between L2 contact and gains in oral skills. Homestay experiences were positive, providing opportunities for extended interactions and cultural knowledge. For classroom learners, findings suggest a role for e-languaging tasks with NSs. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.2202
http://bit.ly/cmlr704b

The Link between Pronunciation Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate in the Foreign-Language Classroom: The Polish EFL Context
Małgorzata Baran-Łucarz    
Anxiety and L2 self-confidence have been suggested as vital determinants of willingness to communicate (WTC) in a foreign-language (FL) learning environment. Studies also demonstrate that it is a concern over pronunciation mistakes that is particularly likely to cause embarrassment and apprehension in FL students. Linking these two facts may lead to an explanation for why many post-puberty learners avoid participating in speaking tasks in the FL classroom. The present article reports the outcomes of a study adopting a mixed-methods approach, which showed that pronunciation anxiety (PA) – conceptualized as pronunciation self-perception, fear of negative evaluation, and beliefs concerning the pronunciation of the target language – is related to WTC (r = −.60 at p < .001). Moreover, results of t-tests suggested that high-PA learners have statistically lower degrees of WTC than their low-PA classmates. A link between the two constructs was further observed through the following situational variables: level of familiarity with interlocutor(s), group size, type of task, and target-language proficiency level. The quantitative data were supported by answers to open-ended questions. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.2666
http://bit.ly/cmlr704c

Second-Language Learners’ Identification of Target-Language Phonemes: A Short-Term Phonetic Training Study
Juli Cebrian, Angelica Carlet
This study examined the effect of short-term high-variability phonetic training on the perception of English /b/, /v/, /d/, /ð/, /æ/, /#_x028C_#/, /i/, and /i/ by Catalan/Spanish bilinguals learning English as a foreign language. Sixteen English-major undergraduates were tested before and after undergoing a four-session perceptual training program involving a series of discrimination and identification tasks. Although some scores were already high at pre-test, there was improvement from pre-test to post-test, and this improvement generalized to novel words and a novel talker. An effect of word frequency was observed, but this effect was found to decrease after training. The results show that relatively advanced foreign-language learners in an instructional setting may improve in perception as a result of short-term high-variability phonetic training. The implications of these findings for the teaching of pronunciation are discussed. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.2318
http://bit.ly/cmlr704d

Two Phonetic-Training Procedures for Young Learners: Investigating Instructional Effects on Perceptual Awareness
Esther Gómez Lacabex, Francisco Gallardo del Puerto    
This study investigated the effect of two distinct computer-based phonetic training procedures administered in an English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classroom with young learners. Students’ perceptual awareness of the occurrence of an English schwa in an unstressed position in content words was tested in two experimental groups, which underwent differentiated training regimes (auditory discrimination/identification practice and listen-and-repeat practice), and a control group, which received no phonetic treatment. A training effect was shown by the significant improvement in the perception abilities of the two experimental groups only. In addition, both experimental groups exhibited comparable improvement in all the variables analyzed. Training effects were also found for the word-familiarity variable, which was mitigated after treatment. Results suggest a positive impact of both aural and imitation computer-based phonetic training on L2 sound perceptual awareness in classroom settings with young learners. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.2324
http://bit.ly/cmlr704e

What Predicts the Effectiveness of Foreign-Language Pronunciation Instruction? Investigating the Role of Perception and Other Individual Differences
Elizabeth M. Kissling
This study investigated second language (L2) learners’ perception of L2 sounds as an individual difference that predicted their improvement in pronunciation after receiving instruction. Learners were given explicit pronunciation instruction in a series of modules added to their Spanish as a foreign language curriculum and were then tested on their pronunciation accuracy. Their perception of the target sounds was measured with an AX discrimination task. Though the best predictor of pronunciation post-test score was pre-test score, perception made a unique and significant contribution. The other factors associated with better pronunciation of some L2 sounds were age, attitude, and time spent using Spanish outside the classroom. The results suggest that instructors should give adequate time for learners to hone their perception of target sounds at the outset of pronunciation instruction, because their initial ability to perceive the target sounds will, in part, determine how much they learn from such instruction. The results support models of L2 speech acquisition that claim that target-like perception is a precursor to target-like production, in this case in a formal learning context. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.2161
http://bit.ly/cmlr704f

Les effets de l’enseignement des phénomènes d’enchaînement sur la production orale des élèves dans un cours d’espagnol langue étrangère au Québec
Cristina Uribe, Henrietta Cedergren, Jessica Payeras        
Le présent article offre un aperçu d’une étude expérimentale réalisée dans le cadre d’un cours d’espagnol langue étrangère donné dans une école secondaire à Montréal. Cette étude avait deux objectifs : (a) vérifier l’impact d’une instruction explicite sur le fonctionnement de la synalèphe et de l’enchaînement sur la production orale des étudiants et (b) confirmer si la réalisation de ces phénomènes est associée aux évaluations de niveau d’aisance perçue par des locuteurs hispanophones natifs. Pour ce faire, une intervention pédagogique a été mise en place durant six semaines afin de montrer aux apprenants le fonctionnement desdits phénomènes. Cette étude a été menée selon un protocole expérimental pré-test/post-test auprès de deux classes ayant un niveau similaire de langue et la même charge horaire par semaine. L’une des deux classes formait le groupe témoin (n = 22) et l’autre, le groupe expérimental (n = 24). Trois locuteurs hispanophones natifs ont évalué, selon leur propre perception, la réalisation des phénomènes enseignés et le niveau d’aisance des énoncés produits par les apprenants. Notre analyse suggère que l’instruction explicite sur les deux phénomènes contribue à leur intégration dans la production orale des apprenants. Nous avons également trouvé une corrélation entre les variables « réalisation des phénomènes d’enchaînement » et « niveau d’aisance perçue » : les participants qui enchaînent les mots au cours de leurs productions ont été perçus comme ayant un niveau d’aisance plus élevé que ceux qui ne les enchaînent pas. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.2307
http://bit.ly/cmlr704g

Book and Software Reviews / Critiques de livres et de logiciels
A. Moyer (2013), Foreign Accent: The Phenomenon of Non-native Speech. reviewed by Annie Bergeron
DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.70.4.rev1
http://bit.ly/cmlr704h

Canadian Modern Language Review online at:
CMLR Online – http://bit.ly/cmlronline
Project MUSE – http://bit.ly/cmlr_pm

For more information about CMLR/ RCLV (in print or online) or for submissions information, please contact
University of Toronto Press — Journals Division
5201 Dufferin St., Toronto, ON,
Canada M3H 5T8
tel: (416) 667-7810 fax: (416) 667-7881
Fax Toll Free in North America 1-800-221-9985
email: journals@utpress.utoronto.ca
www.utpjournals.com/cmlr
facebook.com/utpjournals
twitter.com/utpjournals

Posted by T Hawkins, UTP Journals
Through CALICO List

CFP Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature para estudiantes de Máster o Doctorado

Mensaje distribuido a través de la lista de la Asociación Española de Lingüística Aplicada (AESLA).

Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature es una revista electrónica plurilingüe, con evaluación externa, que trata temas relacionados con la investigación en didáctica de la lengua y de la literatura. La revista pertenece al Departamento de Didáctica de la Lengua, de la Literatura y la Ciencias Sociales de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (España). Está indexada en varias bases de datos internacionales.

El propósito de la revista es publicar investigaciones de alta calidad realizadas por estudiantes de postgrado (máster o doctorado) o investigadores post-doctorales (máximo de cuatro años desde la defensa de tesis). Se publican investigaciones empíricas (cuantitativas o cualitativas), reseñas de libros recientes, entrevistas con personas clave dentro del campo y monográficos. Se aceptan textos en catalán, español, francés e inglés.

Invitamos a la colaboración según los procedimientos siguientes:

Para artículos de investigación:
Los trabajos se deberán enviar en línea:
http://revistes.uab.cat/jtl3/about/submissions

Para proponer una reseña:
Se debe contactar con bellaterra.journal@gmail.com, indicando el nombre del libro que se quiere reseñar, los autores, la editorial, ISBN. Contactaremos con la editorial para pedir un ejemplar, el cual será obsequiado al autor de la reseña.

Para proponer una entrevista:
Se debe contactar con bellaterra.journal@gmail.com, indicando el nombre de la persona que se quiere entrevistar, su afiliación y datos de contacto.

Para proponer un monográfico:
Se debe contactar con bellaterra.journal@gmail.com con un resumen del contenido de cada artículo, los datos de contacto de los autores, el nombre de la persona a quien se va a entrevistar y el título del libro para la reseña. Se requiere que se incluyan recomendaciones de evaluadores especialistas en el campo del volumen monográfico.

CFP Research in Corpus Linguistics (RiCL)


Call for papers

(official journal of the Spanish Association for Corpus Linguistics AELINCO, published by Academy Publisher)

Research in Corpus Linguistics (RiCL, ISSN 2243-4712) is a peer-reviewed international scientific journal published annually, aiming at the publication of original research based on corpus data from different languages and language families and from different theoretical perspectives and frameworks, with the goal of improving our knowledge about the grammar and the linguistic theoretical background of a language, a language family or any type of cross-linguistic phenomena/constructions/assumptions.

RiCL invites previously unpublished research articles and book reviews in the field of corpus linguistics. Specific areas of interest include corpus design, compilation and typology; discourse, literary analysis and corpora; corpus-based grammatical studies; corpus-based lexicology and lexicography; corpora, contrastive studies and translation; corpus and linguistic variation; corpus-based computational linguistics; corpora, language acquisition and teaching; and special uses of corpus linguistics. The journal also publishes special issues on specific topics, with leading specialists in the field of corpus linguistics as guest editors.

Editors: Javier Pérez-Guerra (University of Vigo) and María José López-Couso (University of Santiago de Compostela)

Links:
– journal website: http://www.academypublisher.com/ricl/
– past issue: http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/ricl/issue/archive
– instructions for authors: http://www.academypublisher.com/ricl/authorguide.html

CFP Language Resources and Evaluation Journal, entitled “Under-resourced Languages, Collaborative Approaches and Linked Open Data: Resources, Methods and Applications”

Submissions for a Special Issue of the Language Resources and Evaluation Journal, entitled “Under-resourced Languages, Collaborative Approaches and Linked Open Data: Resources, Methods and Applications”.

Important: More detailed information will be made available in September 2014. For more information please contact the guest editors.

PRELIMINARY SUBMISSION DATE: November 15, 2014

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Under-resourced languages are generally described as languages that suffer from a chronic lack of available resources, from human, financial, and time resources to linguistic ones (language data and language technology), and often also experience the fragmentation of efforts in resource development. This situation is exacerbated by the realization that as technology progresses and the demand for localised languages services over digital devices increases, the divide between adequately- and under-resourced languages keeps widening. Given that most of the world’s almost 7000 languages are not adequately resourced, much work needs to be done in order to support their existence in the digital age.

Although the destiny of a language is primarily determined by its native speakers and broader cultural context, the technological development of an under-resourced language offers such a language a strategic opportunity to have the same “digital dignity”, “digital identity” and “digital longevity” as large, well-developed languages on the Web.

The Linked (Open) Data framework and the emerging Linguistic Linked (Open) Data infrastructure offer novel opportunities for under-resourced languages. On the one hand, Linked Data offers ways of exposing existing high quality, albeit small, language resources in the Semantic Web and, on the other hand, allows for the development of new state-of-the-art resources without necessarily having to rely on the availability of sophisticated language processing support.

This special issue arises from the imperative to maintain cultural and language diversity and from the basic right of all communities, languages, and cultures to be “first class citizens” in an age driven by information, knowledge and understanding. In this spirit, this special issue focuses on three strategic approaches to augment the development of resources for under-resourced languages to achieve a level potentially comparable to well-resourced, technologically advanced languages, viz. a) using the crowd and collaborative platforms; b) using technologies of interoperability with well-developed languages; and c) using Semantic Web technologies and, more specifically, Linked Data.

We invite original contributions, not published before and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that address one or more of the following questions by means of one or more of the three approaches mentioned above:

• How can collaborative approaches and technologies be fruitfully applied to the accelerated development and sharing of high quality resources for under-resourced languages?

• How can such resources be best stored, exposed and accessed by end users and applications?

• How can small language resources be re-used efficiently and effectively, reach larger audiences and be integrated into applications?

• How can multilingual and cross-lingual interoperability of language resources, methods and applications be supported, also between languages that belong to different language families?

• How can existing language resource infrastructures be scaled to thousands of languages?

• How can research on and resource development for under-resourced languages benefit from current advances in semantic and semantic web technologies, and specifically the Linked Data framework?

GUEST EDITORS
Laurette Pretorius – University of South Africa, South Africa (pretol AT unisa DOT ac DOT za)
Claudia Soria – CNR-ILC, Italy (claudia.soria AT ilc DOT cnr DOT it)

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Sabine Bartsch, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
Delphine Bernhard, LILPA, Strasbourg University, France
Peter Bouda, CIDLeS – Interdisciplinary Centre for Social and Language Documentation, Portugal
Paul Buitelaar, Insight Centre for Data Analytics, NUIG, Ireland
Steve Cassidy, Macquarie University, Australia
Christian Chiarcos, Frankfurt University, Germany
Thierry Declerck, DFKI GmbH, Language Technology Lab, Germany
Mikel Forcada, University of Alicante, Spain
Dafydd Gibbon, Bielefeld University, Germany
Yoshihiko Hayashi, Graduate School of Language and Culture, Osaka University, Japan
Sebastian Hellmann, Leipzig University, Germany
Simon Krek, Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Tobias Kuhn, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
Joseph Mariani, LIMSI-CNRS & IMMI, France
John McCrae, Bielefeld University, Germany
Steven Moran, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
Kellen Parker, National Tsing Hua University, China
Patrick Paroubek, LIMSI-CNRS, France
Taher Pilehvar, “La Sapienza” Rome University, Italy
Maria Pilar Perea i Sabater, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Laurette Pretorius, University of South Africa, South Africa
Leonel Ruiz Miyares, Centro de Linguistica Aplicada (CLA), Cuba
Kevin Scannell, St. Louis University, USA
Ulrich Schäfer, Technical University of Applied Sciences Amberg-Weiden, Bavaria, Germany
Claudia Soria, CNR-ILC, Italy
Nick Thieberger, University of Melbourne, Australia
Eveline Wandl-Vogt, Austrian Academy of Sciences, ICLTT, Austria
Michael Zock, LIF-CNRS, France