Input Language Research Articles

Assessing Box Office Performance Using Movie Scripts: A Kernel-Based Approach

We develop a methodology to predict box office performance of a movie at the point of green-lighting, when only its script and estimated production budget are available. We extract three levels of textual features (genre and content, semantics, and bag-of-words) from scripts using screenwriting domain knowledge, human input, and natural language processing techniques. These textual variables define a distance metric across scripts, which is then used as an input for a kernel-based approach to assess box office performance. We show that our proposed methodology predicts box office revenues more accurately (29 percent lower mean squared error (MSE)) compared to benchmark methods.

On Separation by Locally Testable and Locally Threshold Testable Languages

A separator for two languages is a third language containing the first one and disjoint from the second one. We investigate the following decision problem: given two regular input languages, decide whether there exists a locally testable (resp. a locally threshold testable) separator. In both cases, we design a decision procedure based on the occurrence of special patterns in automata accepting the input languages. We prove that the problem is computationally harder than deciding membership. The correctness proof of the algorithm yields a stronger result, namely a description of a possible separator. Finally, we discuss the same problem for context-free input languages.

Parallel corpora make sense

We present a multilingual approach to Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD), which automatically assigns the contextually appropriate sense to a given word. Instead of using a predefined monolingual sense-inventory, we use a language-independent framework by deriving the senses of a given word from word alignments on a multilingual parallel corpus, which we made available for corpus linguistics research. We built five WSD systems with English as the input language and translations in five supported languages (viz. French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and German) as senses. The systems incorporate both binary translation features and local context features. The experimental results are very competitive, which confirms our initial hypothesis that each language contributes to the disambiguation of polysemous words. Because our system extracts all information from the parallel corpus, it offers a flexible language-independent approach, which implicitly deals with the sense distinctness issue and allows us to bypass the knowledge acquisition bottleneck for WSD.

Formal modeling and verification of an enhanced variant of the IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA protocol

In this paper, we present a formal method for modeling and checking an enhanced version of the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance protocol related to the IEEE 802.11 MAC layer, which has been proposed as the standard protocol for wireless local area networks. We deal mainly with the distributed coordination function (DCF) procedure of this protocol throughout a sequence of transformation steps. First, we use the unified modeling language state machines to thoroughly capture the behavior of wireless stations implementing a DCF, and then translate them into the input language of the UPPAAL model checking tool, which is a network of communicating timed automata. Finally, we proceed by checking of some of the safety and liveness properties, such as deadlock-freedom, using this tool.

Research on the Structure of Authentication Protocol Analysis Based on MSCs/Promela

To discover the existing or possibly existing vulnerability of present authentication protocol, we proposed a structure of authentication protocol analysis, which consist of white box analysis, black box analysis and indicator system as the three main functional components. White box analysis makes use of the transformation from MSCs (Message Sequence Charts) to Promela (Process Meta Language), the input language of the remarkable model checker SPIN; black box analysis is based on the attack platform of authentication protocol analysis; indicator system is decided by deducibility restraint methods. Compared with the UML modeling methods based on Promela, the MSC2Promela methods we figured out on the context have more advantages than its disadvantages. Finally, we proposed a structure of authentication protocol analysis based on the transformation from MSC2Promela, which makes sense to the later work on the area of authentication protocol analysis.

Solving the Inferential Frame Problem in the General Game Description Language

The Game Description Language GDL is the standard input language for general game-playing systems. While players can gain a lot of traction by an efficient inference algorithm for GDL, state-of-the-art reasoners suffer from a variant of a classical KR problem, the inferential frame problem. We present a method by which general game players can transform any given game description into a representation that solves this problem. Our experimental results demonstrate that with the help of automatically generated domain knowledge, a significant speedup can thus be obtained for the majority of the game descriptions from the AAAI competition.

초기 음소 지각 능력 발달에서 입력 언어의 역할 탐색

초기 음소 지각 능력 발달에서 입력 언어의 역할 탐색

Towards Verifying Safety Properties of Real-Time Probabilistic Systems

Using probabilities in the formal-methods-based development of safety-critical software has quickened interests in academia and industry. We address this area by our model-driven engineering method for reactive systems SPACE and its tool-set Reactive Blocks that provide an extension to support the modeling and verification of real-time behaviors. The approach facilitates the composition of system models from reusable building blocks as well as the verification of functional and real-time properties and the automatic generation of Java code. In this paper, we describe the extension of the tool-set to enable the modeling and verification of probabilistic real-time system behavior with the focus on spatial properties that ensure system safety. In particular, we incorporate descriptions of probabilistic behavior into our Reactive Blocks models and integrate the model checker PRISM which allows to verify that a real-time system satisfies certain safety properties with a given probability. Moreover, we consider the spatial implication of probabilistic system specifications by integrating the spatial verification tool BeSpaceD and give an automatic approach to translate system specifications to the input languages of PRISM and BeSpaceD. The approach is highlighted by an example.

Sign Vocabulary in Deaf Toddlers Exposed to Sign Language Since Birth

Lexical comprehension and production is directly evaluated for the first time in deaf signing children below the age of 3 years. A Picture Naming Task was administered to 8 deaf signing toddlers (aged 2-3 years) who were exposed to Sign Language since birth. Results were compared with data of hearing speaking controls. In both deaf and hearing children, comprehension was significantly higher than production. The deaf group provided a significantly lower number of correct responses in production than did the hearing controls, whereas in comprehension, the 2 groups did not differ. Difficulty and ease of items in comprehension and production was similar for signing deaf children and hearing speaking children, showing that, despite size differences, semantic development followed similar paths. For signing children, predicates production appears easier than nominals production compared with hearing children acquiring spoken language. Findings take into account differences in input modalities and language structures.

The Effects of Type and Quantity of Input on Iranian EFL Learners’ Oral Language Proficiency

In the written texts on foreign language learning, a group of studies has stressed the function of learning context and learning chances for learners’ language input. The present thesis had two main goals: on the one hand, different types of input to which Iranian grade four high school EFL learners’ are exposed were looked at; on the other hand, the possible relationship between types and quantity of input and Iranian EFL learners’ oral proficiency was investigated. It was supposed that EFL learners who have access to more input will show better oral proficiency than those who do not have. Instruments used in the present study for the purpose of data collation included PET test, researcher- made questionnaire, oral language proficiency test and face- to -face interview. Data were gathered from 50 Iranian female grade four high school foreign language learners who were selected from among 120 students whose score on PET test were + 1SD from the mean score. The results of the Spearman rank –order correlation test for the types of input and oral language proficiency scores, showed that the participants’ oral proficiency score significantly correlated with the intended four sources of input including spoken (rho= 0.416, sig=0.003), written (rho= 0.364, sig=0.009), aural (rho= 0.343, sig=0.015) and visual or audio-visual types of input (rho= 0.47, sig=0.00). The findings of Spearman rank –order correlation test for the quantity of input and oral language proficiency scores also showed a significant relationship between quantity of input and oral language proficiency (rho= 0.543, sig= 0.00). The findings showed that EFL learners’ oral proficiency is significantly correlated with efficient and effective input. The findings may also suggest answers to the question why most Iranian English learners fail to speak English fluently, which might be due to lack of effective input. This may emphasize the importance of the types and quantity of input in EFL classes and syllabus designers.

Spatial metaphor in language can promote the development of cross‐modal mappings in children

Pitch is often described metaphorically: for example, Farsi and Turkish speakers use a 'thickness' metaphor (low sounds are 'thick' and high sounds are 'thin'), while German and English speakers use a height metaphor ('low', 'high'). This study examines how child and adult speakers of Farsi, Turkish, and German map pitch and thickness using a cross-modal association task. All groups, except for German children, performed significantly better than chance. German-speaking adults' success suggests the pitch-to-thickness association can be learned by experience. But the fact that German children were at chance indicates that this learning takes time. Intriguingly, Farsi and Turkish children's performance suggests that learning cross-modal associations can be boosted through experience with consistent metaphorical mappings in the input language.

Language-based software engineering

We present a language-centric view of the software development process. We argue that success of the domain-specific language (DSL) methodology depends on being able to rapidly craft a DSL's implementation infrastructure. We present logic programming as a rapid way of developing this implementation infrastructure. We also present a language-centric view of a software system as a processor of its input language.

UML-Checker: An Approach for Verifying UML Behavioral Diagrams

UML is a visual modeling language used for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting software artifacts. Despite having many features to model systems, conducting verifications and validations on UML models is not an easy task. In this paper, the problem of performing verification of UML models is discussed through a translation of UML behavioral diagrams into formal models to be verified by a symbolic model checker. An approach and tool (UML checker) is presented in order to conduct verifications on UML diagrams. The main ideas are: (a) provide an approach to perform the translation of activity, state and use case diagrams to the formal input language of the NuSMV checker; (b) automate the translation of UML diagrams to a formal language; and (c) provide a set of predefined validations that are used to check the diagrams.

Verification of Behavior-aware Privacy Requirements in Web Services Composition

Privacy has been acknowledged to be a critical concern for many collaborative business environments. Recently, verifying whether Web services composition satisfies privacy requirement is a hot spot for privacy protection. However, little research focuses on behavioral privacy requirement. This paper proposes an approach based on model checking to verify the satisfiability of behavior-aware privacy requirements in services composition. Firstly, we extract LTL specification from the behavior constrains of privacy requirements. On the other side, the behavior of BPEL process is modeled by extended interface automata, which supports privacy semantics. Then it is transformed to Promela description, the input language of the model checker SPIN. Finally, we illustrate the verification of privacy requirements with SPIN.

Bringing Automated Model Checking to PLC Program Development — A CERN Case Study —

Verification of critical software is a high priority but a challenging task for industrial control systems. Model checking appears to be an appropriate approach for this purpose. However, this technique is not widely used in industry yet, due to some obstacles. The main obstacles encountered when trying to apply formal verification techniques at industrial installations are the difficulty of creating models out of PLC programs and defining formally the specification requirements. In addition, models produced out of real-life programs have a huge state space, thus preventing the verification due to performance issues. Our work at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) focuses on developing efficient automatic verification methods for industrial critical installations based on PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) control systems.In this paper, we present a tool generating automatically formal models out of PLC code. The tool implements a general methodology which can support several input languages, like the PLC programming languages defined in the IEC 61131 standard, as well as the model formalisms of different model checker tools. The tool supports the three main stages of model checking: system modelization, requirement formalization and counterexample analysis. In addition, a verification case study of a PLC program, written in Structured Text (ST) language implemented at CERN is described. The paper shows that the verification process is automatized and supported by the proposed tool, thus its difficulty is completely hidden for the control engineer.

Using SPIN for Verification of Multi-agent Data Analysis

The paper presents an approach to formal verification of multi-agent data analysis algorithms for ontology population. The system agents correspond to information items of the input data and the rule of ontology population and data processing. They determine values of information objects obtained at the preliminary phase of the analysis. The agents working in parallel check the syntactic and semantic consistency of tuples of information items. Since the agents operate in parallel, it is necessary to verify some important properties of the system related to it, such as the property that the controller agent correctly determines the system termination. In our approach, the model checking tool SPIN is used. The protocols of agents are written in Promela language (the input language of the tool) and the properties of the multi-agent data analysis system are expressed in the liner time logic LTL. We carried out several experiments to check this model in various modes of the tool and various numbers of agents.

Constructing a schema: Word-class changing morphology in a usage-based perspective

AbstractThis paper discusses how collostructional analysis can be applied to the study of word-formation patterns. Drawing on a diachronic corpus study of German ung-nominalization and Infinitival Nominalization using the GerManC Corpus, it is shown that a cross-tabulation analysis comparing the frequencies of word-formation products to those of their respective bases can give valuable clues to the input language users rely on when abstracting a schema (i.e., a word-formation construction) from a quite heterogeneous array of instantiations.

Learning two languages from birth shapes pre-attentive processing of vowel categories: Electrophysiological correlates of vowel discrimination in monolinguals and simultaneous bilinguals

Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we measured pre-attentive processing involved in native vowel perception as reflected by the mismatch negativity (MMN) in monolingual and simultaneous bilingual (SB) users of Canadian English and Canadian French in response to various pairings of four vowels: English /u/, French /u/, French /y/, and a control /y/. The monolingual listeners exhibited a discrimination pattern that was shaped by their native language experience. The SB listeners, on the other hand, exhibited a MMN pattern that was distinct from both monolingual listener groups, suggesting that the SB pre-attentive system is tuned to access sub-phonemic detail with respect to both input languages, including detail that is not readily accessed by either of their monolingual peers. Additionally, simultaneous bilinguals exhibited sensitivity to language context generated by the standard vowel in the MMN paradigm. The automatic access to fine phonetic detail may aid SB listeners to rapidly adjust their perception to the variable listening conditions that they frequently encounter.

Father Input and Child Vocabulary Development: The Importance of Wh Questions and Clarification Requests

Individual differences in children's language skills have been shown to stem in part from variations in the quantity and quality of parent speech input. However, most research focuses on mothers' input whereas less is known about the effects of variability in father input. In this article, we review the relation between parent input and child language development with a focus on low-income families, and review general findings about similarities and differences in mother and father speech. Within this review, we highlight conversation-eliciting speech, such as wh questions and clarification requests, which occur, on average, more frequently in father input than mother input. Conversation-eliciting speech is challenging for 2-year-old children and has been shown in research with mothers to relate to child vocabulary development. We then report a study examining whether fathers' use of conversation-eliciting speech relates to children's developing vocabulary skills at 24 months of age within a sample of low-income African American families. Understanding that speech input varies among fathers, and specific strengths that fathers bring to interactions with their young children can help speech-language pathologists develop and implement more effective interventions.

Is bilingual babbling language-specific? Some evidence from a case study of Spanish–English dual acquisition

This paper contributes to current investigations of the nature of babbling in infants raised bilingually by analyzing the babbling of a child raised in a Spanish–English environment. Examination of syllable structure shows the expected preponderance of open syllables in both language contexts while other phenomena point to important differences dependent on language context. While some of the differences relate to general features of the input languages, others coincide with individual features of the parents’ input. These results offer some evidence of distinct babbling according to language context and suggest a possible influence of the type of input.