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| Semester | spring semester 2019 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Steven Elijah Duman (steve.duman@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Language and gesture are playing an increasingly critical role in our everyday interactions with computers. We have speech recognition interfaces on our phones and in our homes, such as Siri and Alexa, and we have devices and wearables that track our nuanced gestures, from the Fitbit to the wearable Levi jacket. With this increase in functionality and daily integration comes a wide range of questions with regard to language, embodiment, and human-computer interaction, most of which remain largely unanswered. For example, does our language reveal our perceptions of human-like interfaces like Siri and Alexa? To what extent do such interfaces influence our language, cognition, and behavior? What are some linguistic pitfalls that people encounter when engaging with these products? How can these devices be better designed to align with our natural linguistic and physical behaviors? This class aims to examine these questions by bridging the fields of Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Human-Computer Interaction and demonstrate the insights to be gained from examining: (1) The language and embodied strategies people use to describe interactions with human-like interfaces (e.g., voice user interfaces, robots, etc.) (2) The impact of such interfaces on human language, cognition, and behavior (3) Techniques or design decisions that could help improve these interfaces Importantly, this is not a course in which we write programs that process natural language. Rather, it presumes that such technology is advanced enough that it has an impact on our perceptions and behaviors, and we will develop scientific approaches to observing and understanding that impact. |
| Learning objectives | (1) Examine the landscape of language and gesture-based interfaces and devices (2) Learn about cutting-edge research bridging the domains of Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Human-Computer Interaction (3) Develop skills in methodologies and tools critical to the fields (4) Examine real-world data to answer research questions regarding the impact of language and gesture-based products on language, cognition, and behavior (5) Further improve abilities in writing a research paper |
| Bibliography | All texts will be made available on ADAM. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | This seminar is for students of the MA English, MA Sprache und Kommunikation and BA students who have completed ALL three introductory modules (including the proseminar papers). |
| Course application | In order to ensure a good learning environment, we aim at no more than 25 students per class (3 classes). We ask you to register via the following doodle link and recommend that you create a doodle account https://doodle.com/poll/w22dmfcv6tz3e8w4. **Please only register for a maximum of TWO seminars and only for more than one if you really intend to take the course.** Should you have not made it into one of the courses and you are only able to register for the waiting lists, we guarantee that we will take you in the course with the least student numbers. The doodle will close on **February 11** in order to finalise student distribution in the week before term starts. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Advanced English Linguistics (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: English Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Forschungspraxis und Vertiefung (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Modul: Sprache und Gesellschaft (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Student evaluations will be based on: (1) A research paper consisting of an initial proposal, data collection, and a final write-up (2) A class presentation |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |