3 Links for Natural Language Processing

Resources from Crash Course, Dan Jurafsky and Christopher Manning, and Emily Bender

Today’s 3 links are for natural language processing (NLP): 

Natural Language Processing with Crash Course

YouTube video

12 minute video of colorful, engaging slides with voiceover, occasionally interspersed with shots of the speaker. The content is a high-level introduction to NLP, suitable for beginners. Focuses on applications for both written and spoken language, tying to spectrograms for the latter. Closed captions in English and Korean.

Natural Language Processing Course with Dan Jurafsky and Christopher Manning 

YouTube video series

102 videos ranging from 3 to 31 minutes, from a Stanford online course. Annotated PowerPoint-style slides with voiceover, occasionally interspersed with shots of the speaker. The slides themselves are also available to download. The content is a detailed introduction to NLP, and many videos benefit from computational and/or mathematical knowledge. Closed captions are auto-generated.

The #BenderRule: On Naming the Languages We Study and Why It Matters by Emily Bender 

Article

Brief article, accessible even to beginner audiences, critiquing NLP’s reliance on English and a small number of other well-resourced languages. Includes a list of ways in which English is not representative of all languages, which should be of broad interest to linguistically-oriented readers. Ties to linguistic typology and language variation.

https://thegradient.pub/the-benderrule-on-naming-the-languages-we-study-and-why-it-matters/

A distraction:

via xkcd

While it probably wasn’t on your syllabus, one of the most important things you’re teaching your students this term is how to deal with unanticipated situations. Recognize the effort that you’re necessarily putting into that, and be gentle with yourself as you continue to adapt.

See you on Friday for a Resource Guide about IPA vowels.

Liz, Lauren, Gretchen, and Kate

About Mutual Intelligibility

Mutual Intelligibility is a project to connect linguistics instructors with online resources, especially as so much teaching is shifting quickly online due to current events. It's produced by Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch, with the support of our patrons on Lingthusiasm. Our 3 Links editor is Liz McCullough, and our Resource Guide contributor is Kate Whitcomb (Layman's Linguist).

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