Natural Language Interfaces

        Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:58:39 +0000
        From: "David L. Gants" <dgants@english.uga.edu>
        Subject: CfP: Natural Language Interfaces: Dialogue and Partner  Modelling

>> From: Bernhard Schroeder <B.Schroeder@IBM.rhrz.uni-bonn.de>

           NATURAL LANGUAGE INTERFACES

          DIALOGUE AND PARTNER MODELING

Workshop at the Fachtagung fuer Kuenstliche Intelligenz,

Bonn, Germany

13.9.-14.9.1999

Theme of the Workshop

Natural language interfaces allow users to interact verbally with
dialogue systems. Users can ask a question via keyboard or microphone
and receive an answer in spoken or in written form. Such interfaces have
been around for a while; the challenge right now is to make them as
robust and efficient as possible without limiting syntax and vocabulary
more than necessary.

How can new approaches to dialogue and partner modelling help to reach
this goal? To what extent can results from underspecification theory,
dynamic semantics, rhethorical structure theory or centering theory be
useful? We are especially interested in approaches which have already
been integrated into existing system and whose implementation has been
evaluated.

The workshop is intended as an oppertunity for a lively dialogue between
linguists and computer scientists, between theory and practice. For this
reason,

-- presentations are limited to 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes
discussion
-- a final discussion of about one and a half hours is planned.

Abstract Submission

Participants who would like to give a talk are asked to submit an
extended abstract of max. 2 pages per e-mail to the organizers
Bernhard Schroeder (b.schroeder@uni-bonn.de) und Maria Wolters
(wolters@ikp.uni-bonn.de) in .ps or .pdf format.
Each received abstract is acknowledged.

The languages of the workshop are English and German. Authors are
notified of acceptance on 31 May. From mid June on, all extended
abstracts will be accessible from this web page. We will also create a
mailing list for participants and other interested researchers. We plan
to publish the proceedings of this workshop as a book.


Schedule
15.5.1999: deadline for receipt of extended abstracts
31.5.1999: notification of acceptance
14.6.1999: deadline for revised extended abstracts
13./14.9.1999: Workshop in Bonn

Committee

Organizing Committee

Bernhard Schroeder, Maria Wolters
Institut fuer Kommunikationsforschung
und Phonetik
Universitaet Bonn
Poppelsdorfer Allee 47
D-53115 Bonn

Tel.: +49 228 735621 (Schroeder);
      +49 228 733081 (Wolters)
Fax: +49 228 735639

e-mail: b.schroeder@uni-bonn.de

        wolters@ikp.uni-bonn.de



Programme Committee

Elisabeth Andre, Saarbruecken
Harry Bunt, Tilburg
Paul Dekker, Amsterdam
Roland Hausser, Erlangen
itzeman, Edinburgh
Winfried Lenders, Bonn
Paul McKevitt, Aalborg