This report addresses the problems of using natural language (English) as the communication language for advanced computer-based instructional systems. The instructional environment places requirements on a natural language understanding system that exceed the capabilities of all existing systems, including: (1) efficiency, (2) habitability, (3)…

This report summarizes a research program in modeling human communication ability. The methodology involved selecting a single, naturally occurring dialogue, instructing a human observer to extract certain aspects relative to its comprehension, and then using these aspects to guide the construction and verification of the model. The model assumes…

This report is part of ongoing research engaged in transforming knowledge of how human communication works into improvements in man-machine communication of existing and planned computer systems. The methodology includes having a trained "Observer" annotate transcripts of human communication in a prescribed manner. One of the issues,…

Focusing on languages for the Dublin Core, examines the experience of some related ways to seek semantic interoperability through simplicity: planned languages, interlingua constructs, and pidgins. Also defines the conceptual and organizational problem of maintaining a metadata standard in multiple languages. (AEF)

This computer program, a mechanization of the handsorted techniques which geographical dialectology has been using, increases the number of hypotheses that can be explored and the various correlations that can be made. It can draw several of the kinds of maps that dialectologists have used in direct atlases. The hardware, software, and program…

The five technical working papers that comprise the two volumes of this document are related to the problem of creating a valid process model of human communication in dialogue. In Volume 1 both papers consider reference as a phenomenon in text. The first surveys reference identification and resolution methods in various existing natural language…

The technical working papers that comprise the two volumes of this document are related to the problem of creating a valid process model of human communication in dialogue. In Volume 2, the first paper concerns study methodology, and raises such issues as the choice between system-building and process-building, and the advantages of studying cases…

An obstacle in Natural Language understanding is the existence of lexical gaps, i.e. words or word senses that are not in the lexicon of the system. This thesis describes the implementation of MURRAY, a learning mechanism which infers the properties of a new lexical item from its syntactical environment and infers its meaning based on context and…

Studies of natural dialogue indicate that people interact according to established patterns which are organized around the participants' goals. These patterns have been represented by a set of knowledge structures called "Dialogue-games" which are founded on conventional knowledge about communication and its uses to achieve goals. The…

The major objective of the Illinois Institute of Technology Retrieval Institute (IITRI) Computer Search Center (CSC) is to educate and link industry, academia, and government institutions to chemical and other scientific information systems and sources. The CSC is in full operation providing services to users from a variety of machine-readable…

The general goal of this research and development program was to facilitate man-machine communication in areas of high military impact, including on-line computing in communications, command, and control. Highlights of this research include: identification of major causes of man-machine communication difficulty for the computer-naive; discovery of…

Describes a computer-assisted research project into the writing errors of English as a second language college students. Sentences with error types and first languages of students were entered into a database and analyzed for the most common errors of all students and the most prevalent patterns within each language group. (Author/SED)