Register in computational language research

Abstract

AbstractShlomo Argamon is Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Master of Data Science Program at the Illinois Institute of Technology (USA). In this article, he reflects on the current and potential relationship between register and the field of computational linguistics. He applies his expertise in computational linguistics and machine learning to a variety of problems in natural language processing. These include stylistic variation, forensic linguistics, authorship attribution, and biomedical informatics. He is particularly interested in the linguistic structures used by speakers and writers, including linguistic choices that are influenced by social variables such as age, gender, and register, as well as linguistic choices that are unique or distinctive to the style of individual authors. Argamon has been a pioneer in computational linguistics and NLP research in his efforts to account for and explore register variation. His computational linguistic research on register draws inspiration from Systemic Functional Linguistics, Biber’s multi-dimensional approach to register variation, as well as his own extensive experience accounting for variation within and across text types and authors. Argamon has applied computational methods to text classification and description across registers – including blogs, academic disciplines, and news writing – as well as the interaction between register and other social variables, such as age and gender. His cutting-edge research in these areas is certain to have a lasting impact on the future of computational linguistics and NLP.