New Technologies in Second Language Signed Assessment

In this chapter, two signed language technologies are introduced: signed language recognition and signed language synthesis/animation. The modality-specific challenges of these technologies are discussed, originating in the multichannel nature of signs and the lack of a standardized writing system. The state of research of each technology is outlined, demonstrating that the existing body of research is considerably smaller than that of the field of automatic spoken language processing. The chapter describes the combination of the two signed language technologies in real-world applications. Most importantly, it explores the potential application of each technology to second language (L2) signed language assessment. Finally, an example of an existing use case is given: the application of signed language recognition to a vocabulary test for adult L2 learners of Swiss German Sign Language.

Prolexbase: une ontologie pour le traitement multilingue des noms propres

Proper names often constitute a problem in translation. This contribution deals with an ontology which represents the basis for a multilingual database of proper names, Prolexbase. It is being set up for treatment of proper names in the framework of the Prolex project, a research programme supported by the French Ministry of Industry in collaboration with two firms working on the market of language technologies: Systran and Exalead. The aim of this collaboration is to create a multilingual database of proper names containing information applicable to machine translation, computer aided translation, data research as well as spelling dictionaries. These particular aims guided the creation of the ontology whose description will follow. Beside a set of language-dependent and language-independent relations associated with a logical model, the data- base is founded on a four level ontology: the level of instances (the proper names such as they appear in a written text in a specific language), the linguistic level (the level of so called “prolexemes”), the conceptual level (the numerical pivots) as well as the metaconceptual level (types and supertypes). We will describe here the different levels of the ontology and their implementation in the database using French and German examples.

Picking the crucial language technologies and how Wikipedia can help: the Welsh experience

When you're making plans to get people using your language as much and as often as possible, there's a list of things related to Wikipedia which can really help. I'll share our experience with the Welsh language. Supporting the Welsh-language Wikipedia community forms Work Package 15 of 27 in the Welsh Government's Welsh Language Technology Action Plan https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-12/welsh-language-technology-and-digital-media-action-plan.pdf. We like supporting Welsh language Wikipedia editing workshops, video workshops and other channels that encourage people to create and publish Welsh-language video, audio, graphic and text content because we're on a mission to try to help double daily use of Welsh by 2050. I'll share developments we're funding in speech, translation and conversational AI. The partners we're giving grants to publish what they develop under open licence. So we can share what we've funded with many companies. We think Microsoft might have used some to make their new synthetic voices in Welsh. We're excited by the potential Wikidata offers. We'll look at its potential in populating Welsh maps this year. We've already used Wikipedia search data as a way of prioritising the training of a Welsh virtual assistant. Welsh may not be spending as much as Icelandic and Estonian do on language technologies, but we'd like to share what we're learning as a smaller language about the important areas to focus on and how Wikipedia can help.

Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Sign Language

AI technologies can play an important role in breaking down the communication barriers of deaf or hearing-impaired people with other communities, contributing significantly to their social inclusion. Recent advances in both sensing technologies and AI algorithms have paved the way for the development of various applications aiming at fulfilling the needs of deaf and hearing-impaired communities. To this end, this survey aims to provide a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art methods in sign language capturing, recognition, translation and representation, pinpointing their advantages and limitations. In addition, the survey presents a number of applications, while it discusses the main challenges in the field of sign language technologies. Future research direction are also proposed in order to assist prospective researchers towards further advancing the field.

International Activities in the Field of Language Technologies and Resources

Describes the international organizations active in the field of language technologies and resources, as well as the projects they are implementing. The following areas are highlighted: computational linguistics in general, support for endangered languages, terminology and translation activities, standardization. Highlighted organizations and projects working in the technology of the Semantic Web and related open data. Organizations and projects in the field of language technologies and resources in Europe are considered separately.