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The situation of Linguistic Data Processing |
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In our program, we do not have a special branch
for Linguistic Data Processing (LDP). Courses concerning LDP are given
by the Linguistic theory and translation section of our department (http://rosetta.helsinki.fi/ikk-en.htm).
The main research interests of the subject lie in computer aided translation
and machine translation. But obligatory courses for students of translation
and interpreting are minimal (15 ECTS credits). LDP courses are recommended,
but not obligatory. On the basic level, courses include "Electronic documents"
dealing with word processing, picture and file management, and one about
computer aided translation, which deals with electronic dictionaries, term
management, translation memory and the Internet. At the intermediate level,
a course about machine translation and about multilingual corpus are offered.
The courses are partly held as teleteaching courses with HyperNews forums
(http://rosetta.helsinki.fi/hnroot.html).
One forum is a terminology exchange on the Web, based on the relational
term database Valter3 (for more information http://rosetta.helsinki.fi/HyperNews/get/Walter3.html,
look under "help").
The English, Swedish, Russian and German sections of our department do not offer any special LDP courses. The use of computers, integrated with traditional classes, usually depends on individual teacher. On the other hand, the technical equipment (about 400 users and 22 Computers for students, from which 5 only for E-mail use) limits use. So teachers give advice about using word processing programs, internet research, and mailing-lists without having formal lessons on the topic. This teaching may happen outside of classes and depends on the student's and the teacher's individual knowledge and interest. In the German section (http://rosetta.helsinki.fi/isafi.html) translation tasks usually are distributed and returned by E-mail. Before translating students are advised to look for parallel texts in the Web. The teacher reads and criticise the translation on the computer. In German studies, students are given tasks which require Internet research. In special language courses, Multiterm is used for terminology work. The Multiterm database created by students is used for special language translations integrated with Word for Windows. As well, bilingual translation units are gathered into Translator's Workbench as a bilingual concordance tool. The German language teaching uses this bilingual concordance tool too. Typical incorrect expressions - included those in spoken language - are gathered and corrected by the teacher, translated back into Finish by the students and retrievable in our intranet. In conclusion I would like to say that LDP belongs to our every day life, but usually outside the classes and without a systematic curriculum. |