INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM :
DISCOURSE AND DOCUMENT
CAEN (FRANCE) 15-17 JUNE 2006
http://discours2006.info.unicaen.fr/
In connection with the development of digital documents, discourse
linguistics, document engineering and NLP are increasingly converging:
a) applying corpus analysis methods to discourse calls for greater use
of NLP techniques; b) new modes of access to documents' contents place
more emphasis on exploiting discourse structure. This convergence is
manifest in a number of joint studies, and results in cross
fertilisation of the disciplines.
Text and discourse linguistics
Constructing a coherent interpretation of discourse involves delimiting
segments, and identifying hierarchical and semantico-pragmatic
relations. These processes may be approached via the notions of
discourse relations (cf. RST, SDRT), of theme or topic, of discourse
framing, etc. A major challenge for the field is to identify in corpora
linguistic correlates of specific discourse functions, taking into
account potential register- and domain-linked variation. Another
promising research area focuses on the global structure of documents:
role of titles, of "logical structure", of layout...
Document engineering and NLP
Access to the information stored in digitised documents is a major
issue, and recent approaches seek to take better account of the
organisation of the documents being processed - such as their thematic
and rhetorical structure. A growing number of applications are concerned
by this evolution: automatic summarisation, document browsing,
information retrieval (e.g. for passage extraction from selected
documents). In addition, hypertextual and composite documents raise new
questions about the interaction between semiotic functions (text-image
for instance).
The Discourse and Document Symposium will bring together researchers
interested in what can be termed the "document level" in discourse
linguistics, in computational linguistics, and in document engineering,
according to the following (preliminary) postulates:
The document is envisaged as a functional unit, situated in a specific
setting, and actualised in a medium (whatever its nature) which confers
on it material characteristics which are an integral part of the use and
sense made of it;
The expression "document level" signals a marked interest in coarse
grain structures, or "global" structures (so-called "logical" structure,
organisation in sections...), or in the interaction between local and
global structures (reference chains, topical chains, inter-propositional
relations, etc.). It indicates a specific interest in "top down"
approaches based on the exploitation of surface cues or markers.
Call for papers in the following areas (non-exhaustive list):
- Analysis of discourse structures; the setting-up of automatic
procedures for these analyses;
- Analysis of the structure of composite documents (text-images,
text-graphics); automatic procedures for these analyses;
- Impact of hypertextual or hyperdocument organisation on the way
documents are apprehended. Hypertext formatting, computational tools
based on NLP procedures;
- Reading models, discourse organisation models;
- Computational experimentation as a means of testing hypotheses on
corpora;
- Preliminary corpus studies: identification and annotation of
discourse structures;
- Computational devices for such experimental approaches (formalising
linguistic knowledge, ensuring re-usability of resources, articulating
levels of processing, visualising annotations);
- Articulating approaches using linguistic markers, domain knowledge,
statistical techniques;
- Applications: intra-document information retrieval, browsing aids,
document summarisation or synthesis, etc.
SYMPOSIUM LANGUAGES: English and French
SYMPOSIUM ORGANISATION:
The Symposium will include:
- A plenary conference (submitted and invited papers).
- A "young researchers' session", intended for doctoral and
post-doctoral students: short papers + poster presentations, followed by
discussion. Work in progress will be welcome, as the aim is to encourage
free exchange between participants, to facilitate possible future
collaborations.
- A demonstration session for the presentation of tools oriented
towards discourse processing and analysis, and of experiments making use
of such tools: descriptive approaches or concrete applications,
corpus-based evaluation of linguistic hypotheses or capitalisation of
linguistic knowledge, technical or formal tools, etc. Demos may be
stand-alone or a follow-up to a paper (at plenary or young researchers'
session). The organisers may propose a common task or corpus.
SUBMISSION OF PAPERS
Complete instructions, as well as an on-line submission and registration
service are available on the Symposium site.
Plenary conference:
Declaration of intention to submit: 200-word abstract + key words
indicating the themes of the proposed paper. Full papers will not exceed
10 pages (in accordance with the style sheets provided). Presentation of
full papers will conform to that for final versions.
Young researchers' session:
A two-page abstract and keywords.
Demonstration session:
A two-page abstract and keywords. References to existing on-line
demonstrations will be welcome. Authors will be contacted by the
organising committee on practical questions of hardware and software
installation on the Symposium's site.
PUBLICATION
A document containing all papers (including contributions to the young
researchers' and demonstration sessions) will be distributed to the
Symposium participants. A selection of articles will be submitted for
publication in an extended form in a relevant journal.
IMPORTANT DATES
- declaration of intention to submit (optional, 200 word abstract):
January 15th 2006
- submission of papers : February 15th 2006
notification of acceptance: April 15th 2006
- final versions to reach us by May 15th 2006
SYMPOSIUM'S SECRETARY, INFORMATION
Lydie Sauvé, Département d'informatique, Campus II, bd Maréchal Juin,
Université de Caen, 14032 Caen Cedex
Symposium website : http://discours2006.info.unicaen.fr/
Email (information) : discours2006@info.unicaen.fr
PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
Symposium's chairpersons: Marie-Paule Pery Woodley (U. Toulouse),
Patrice Enjalbert (U. Caen) , Mauro Gaio (U,Pau et Pays de l'Adour)
Plenary conference:
(Firts list of contacts, to be completed)
J. Bateman (U. Bremen, Germany), D. Battistelli (U. Paris 4, France), Y.
Bestgen (U. C. Louvain, Belgium), N. Bouayad-Agha (U. Pompeu Fabra,
Barcelona, Spain), F. Cerbah (Dassault Aviation, France), M. Charolles
(U. Paris 3, France), D. Cristea (U. Iasi, Romania), L. Degand (U. C.
Louvain, Belgium), P. Enjalbert (U. Caen, France), S. Ferrari (U. Caen,
France), O. Ferret (CEA, France), M. Gaio (U. Pau, France), B. Grau (U.
Paris-Sud, France), N. Hernandez (U. Caen, France), G. Lapalme (U.
Montréal, Québec, Canada), D. Legallois (U. Caen, France), N. Lucas (U.
Caen and CNRS, France), A. Max (U. Paris-Sud, France), J.-L. Minel (U.
Paris 4, France), M.-P. Pery Woodley (U. Toulouse 2, France), H. Saggion
(U. Sheffield, England), I. Saleh (U. Paris 8, France), S. Salmon Alt
(ATILF-CNRS, France), D. Scott (Open University, England).
Young researchers' session:
Frederic Bilhaut (U. Caen), Nicolas Hernandez (U. Caen, Mai Ho-Dac (U.
Toulouse 2), Marion Laignelet (U. Toulouse 2), Christophe Pimm (U.
Toulouse 2), Antoine Widlocher (U. Caen)
NLP workshop :
Frederic Bilhaut, Antoine Widlocher (U. Caen)
Oraganising Comittee
S. Ferrari (President), F. Bilhaut, N. Hernandez, A. Widlocher
-- Marie-Paule PERY-WOODLEY ___________________________________________________________________ ERSS / Sciences du Langage, Universite de Toulouse Le Mirail 5 allees Antonio-Machado, F-31058 TOULOUSE CEDEX http://www.univ-tlse2.fr/erss/ Tel.: 33(0)5 61 50 46 76/-36 09 Fax: 33(0)5 61 50 42 12
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