Language and speech technology

The fields of language and speech technology study the computational modeling of language and speech production, understanding, and learning in context. More than any other field in linguistics, the fields are driven by technology and are at the forefront of computational modeling, big data, and machine learning. The fields have produced everyday products such as Google Translate, Apple Siri and autocorrection. None of these technologies are perfect, yet their potential is universally recognized, and with more training data and faster computers they get better each year. This technological drive does not mean the fields have lost their connection to their linguistic and cognitive roots. Data-driven models of language (i.e. the patterns and regularities that computers discover when confronted with massive amounts of language or speech) can shed new light on how language is structured and stored in the cognitive systems. These discoveries connect well with developments in e.g. usage-based linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and communication studies.

Relevant courses are listed below.

For courses offered by Tilburg University as part of the Linguistics and Information Sciences programme, see under TiU courses.