Say Anything: Automatic Semantic Infelicity Detection in L2 English Indefinite Pronouns
This addresses a nuanced language acquisition problem for non-native English learners, but it is incremental as it builds on existing error detection research.
The paper tackled the problem of detecting subtle semantic errors in English indefinite pronouns used by non-native speakers, demonstrating that deep learning architectures are promising for this task.
Computational research on error detection in second language speakers has mainly addressed clear grammatical anomalies typical to learners at the beginner-to-intermediate level. We focus instead on acquisition of subtle semantic nuances of English indefinite pronouns by non-native speakers at varying levels of proficiency. We first lay out theoretical, linguistically motivated hypotheses, and supporting empirical evidence on the nature of the challenges posed by indefinite pronouns to English learners. We then suggest and evaluate an automatic approach for detection of atypical usage patterns, demonstrating that deep learning architectures are promising for this task involving nuanced semantic anomalies.