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Formal linguistics and Computational linguistics

Computational and formal linguistics

Research fields
The student who is interested in computational and formal linguistics studies may focus their research on the following fields:

morphology and syntax
semantics and pragmatics
formal treatment of context, discourse and dialogue
natural language processing
specific aspects of linguistic (monolingual, comparative) description

Groups and research projects
Research in this line is based on the following groups and projects:

"Advanced long-distance language education system (ALLES)". European Union - Information Society Program EU IST-2001-34246. 01 May 2002 - 31 April 2004. Principal researcher: Toni Badia. Other professors who work in this line of research who participate: Lourdes Díaz.
The goal of this project is to develop a system for the distance teaching of languages.
"Automatic preparation of documents (PrADo)". MCYT TIC2000-1681-C02-01. 28 December 2001 - 27 December 2003. Principal researcher: Toni Badia. Other professors who work in this line of research who participate: Àlex Alsina, Jenny Brumme, Carme Colominas, Josep M. Fontana, Louise McNally and Enric Vallduví.
This project, which is centered on the field of linguistic engineering, seeks to advance in the development of computer tools for the preparation of documents. One of the goals of the project is to develop two prototypes of grammar checkers (for Catalan and for Spanish), based on an already existing device for the superficial processing of text. Another goal of the project is to lay both the linguistic and the computational theoretical foundations so that, in a later stage, those grammar checkers can be converted into genuine style checkers (which, as far as possible, will incorporate other devices that assist in the preparation of documents).
"Knowledge of morphosyntax in the acquisition of Spanish as a second/foreign language. The development and analysis of a spoken corpus in Spain and Canada". MCYT BFF2000-0928. 19 December 2000 - 19 December 2003. Principal researcher: Lourdes Díaz. Other professors who work in this line of research who participate: Aurora Bel.
The goal of this project is to produce a spoken corpus that reflects the acquisition of Spanish as a second or foreign language and to use such a corpus to analyze the acquisition of the morphosyntax of Spanish as a second/foreign language.
"Context, information and interaction in computational linguistics: towards an automatic system of multilingual communication". Awarded a distinction by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia for promoting university research (2nd ed). 01 October 2001 - 31 September 2005. Principal researcher: Enric Vallduví.
Human language is a highly efficient communication system since it is able to make excellent use of all the contextual information that is available to the interlocutors from the outset in any situation of linguistic interaction (such as the purpose, the characteristics and the selfsame evolution of said interaction, the prior knowledge of each of the interlocutors on the subject, the persons and the objects mentioned, the relationship between the interlocutors, and so on). It is necessary to identify and parameterize the contextual phenomena that affect the processing of linguistic messages. We humans carry out this task of contextual integration without even thinking about it. However, machines need to be programmed and trained. This research is vital to be able to later develop applications that make communication between people and machines or information systems in monolingual and multilingual environments as natural as communication between people, without losing a single shred of efficiency.
Group for research on formal linguistics (GLIF).
This is an organization run by the teaching staff attached to the computational and formal linguistics line. The application has been processed for this to be recognized as a quality group by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. Its goal is to consolidate and activate formal linguistic studies with research projects and other activities that promote research. The scientific field of the GLIF is the study of the formal properties of natural language in all its dimensions. The GLIF's interests range from basic research in linguistic theory to research applied to the development of resources for computer treatment of language. The scientific goal is to understand, describe, parameterize and reproduce the way in which human communicative agents use the linguistic code in order to transmit information and this entails a detailed study of the various components of language regarded as a basic cognitive ability. One of the starting points of the research that is carried out in the GLIF is that the linguistic description and the development of formal treatments must be undertaken with a calling for interlinguistic validity in order to be able to respond to the demands of multilingual computer environments and machine translation. In this respect, the comparative approaches and the articulation of grammatical architectures - both formal and computational - are vital when such approaches and articulation make it possible to describe with flexibility the relationship between particular aspects of the structure of each language and common functionalities characteristic of language as a universal communicative tool.

Researchers
The professors of the department who work in this field and who are able to guide students in their research are: