Speech and Language Processing (Second Edition) by Dan Jurafsky and James Martin (ISBN 978-0-13-605234-0)
Check out this page to see the differences between the 1st and 2nd editions.
We will be using the online learning platform Piazza as the main repository for all course-related communication, including announcements and discussion.
The CMSC723 piazza page is here.
You must be able to program. You must find language interesting. Anyone who has taken and undergrad AI course, a machine learning course, an algorithms course, or LING 689/889 (Computational Psycholinguistics) should be able to do well in this course.
That said, it is also a prerequisite that you be willing to work hard and catch up on things you don't know on your own. In particular, the following are considered background material:
We will work extensively with probability, statistics, and mathematical functions such as logarithms and differentiation. You should be comfortable manipulating these concepts.
We will make extensive use of the Python programming language. It is assumed that you know or will quickly learn how to program in Python. The programming assignments will be oriented toward Unix-like operating systems (Linux, OS X). It may be possible to complete the course using other operating systems, but you will be responsible for troubleshooting any issues you encounter.
The purpose of assignments & grading is to provide extra incentive to help you keep up with the material and assess how well you understand it, so that you have a solid background in computational linguistics by the end of the semester.
Your overall grade in the class will be based on the following scale: 90+ (A), 80+ (B), 70+ (C), 60+ (D). If you're in the "012" range (eg, 90-92) then you'll get a "minus"; if you're in the "789" range (eg., 87-89) you'll get a "plus." These letter grades are lower bounds: I may adjust them up, but will not adjust them down.
Your grade will be based on:
Participation (5%): Participate actively in class or on Piazza. If you participate on Piazza, every question you answer well will get you 1% credit (marked by "instructor approved answer"); every question you ask will get you 0.5% credit (marked as "good question" by me). You can also earn extra participation credit by attending a CLIP colloquium, and sending me a report. Each good report is worth 1%, and I will consider at most 3 over the course of the semester.
Homework (10%): The homeworks are to be completed individually. They are graded on a high-pass (100%), low-pass (50%) or fail (0%) basis. There are 10 homeworks, and each counts for 1% of your grade.
Projects (35%): There are three projects, respectively worth 10% 10% and 15% of your final grade. You will be graded on both code correctness as well as your analysis of the results. These must be completed in teams of two or three students, with cross-department (eg., CS to linguistics) teams highly encouraged.
Midterm exam (20%): There will be an in-class midterm exam.
Final exam (30%): There will be an in-class final exam.
Late homeworks are not allowed. Period. No exceptions. The time deadlines are automatic and unforgiving.
Late projects are allowed: you get two extra days. However, once the project is 1 minute late, you lose 25% (absolute). We will post notes on Piazza when assignments have been graded.
If you handed something in and do not get a score for an assignment, you have one week to let us know about the issue.
Religious holidays: please send the instructor a list of all holidays you observe during the semester by the end of the first week of classes, so they can be taken into account in the course schedule.
Any student eligible for and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide, to the instructor in office hours, a letter of accommodation from the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS) within the first TWO weeks of the semester.
Any homework or exam that is handed in must be your own work. However, talking with one another to understand the material better is strongly encouraged. Recognizing the distinction between cheating and cooperation is very important. If you copy someone else's solution, you are cheating. If you let someone else copy your solution, you are cheating. If someone dictates a solution to you, you are cheating. Everything you hand in must be in your own words, and based on your own understanding of the solution. If someone helps you understand the problem during a high-level discussion, you are not cheating. We strongly encourage students to help one another understand the material presented in class, in the book, and general issues relevant to the assignments. When taking an exam, you must work independently. Any collaboration during an exam will be considered cheating. Any student who is caught cheating will be given an E in the course and referred to the University Student Behavior Committee. Please don't take that chance - if you're having trouble understanding the material, please let us know and we will be more than happy to help.
The open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate are central to the aims and goals of this course. These require a community and an environment that recognizes the inherent worth of every person and group, that fosters dignity, understanding, and mutual respect, and that embraces diversity. Harassment and hostile behavior are unwelcome in any part of this course. This includes: speech or behavior that intimidates, creates discomfort, or interferes with a person’s participation or opportunity for participation in the course. We aim for this course to be an environment where harassment in any form does not happen, including but not limited to: harassment based on race, gender, religion, age, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Harassment includes degrading verbal comments, deliberate intimidation, stalking, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention. Please contact an instructor or CS staff member if you have questions or if you feel you are the victim of harassment (or otherwise witness harassment of others).
We welcome your suggestions for improving this class, please don’t hesitate to share it with the instructor or the TA during the semester! You will also be asked to give feedback using the CourseEvalUM system at the end of the semester. Your feedback will help us make the course better.
Although every effort has been made to be complete and accurate, unforeseen circumstances arising during the semester could require the adjustment of any material given here. Consequently, given due notice to students, the instructor reserves the right to change any information on this syllabus or in other course materials.