New tools for old tasks An introductory course in computational linguistics
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Abstract
The course on which this paper is based was developed and taught at Hofstra University, Hempstead, Long Island. Its primary innovation is the introduction of NLP (Natural Language Processor; Heidorn 1972, 1975), a computer programming language that is especially designed for handling natural (human) languages. Because the statements of NLP are phrase structure rules, the language is particularly congenial to linguists and linguistics students. It allows for explicit and direct reflection of linguistic intuitions, and it implements them with the speed and processing of the computer. This introductory course has twin goals: (a) to further the study of linguistics and natural language, by giving its students a new tool which will demand precision and encourage insight; (b) to further computational studies, by developing programs that can do interesting and productive things with natural language. The course was centered around the study of syntax. However, NLP could equally well be used as a vehicle for a course in semantics, morphology, phonology, or any other rule-governed aspect of the human language system.
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