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WG1 workshop, Coimbra (Portugal), 5–6 Dec 2019

Crowdsourcing related to corpus examples for language learning


Dates: December, 5 (Thursday) – 6 (Friday), 2019

Venue: Coimbra, Portugal

Places:

Deadlines:

  • Monday, September, 16th: applications for participation (see below)
  • Sunday, September 22nd: hotel booking (see below)
  • Wednesday, September 25th: acceptance of e-COST invitation


General information


We invite people, who are interested in corpus examples for language learning, in connection with crowdsourcing techniques, to participate in the upcoming WG1 workshop in Coimbra.

Language learning by means of good examples from corpora is a theme explored by several projects within the action. In combination with crowdsourcing, it is highly relevant for our working group. Aspects that we want to address include

  • the suitability of examples for learning exercises (Task 1.3)
  • the design of those exercises (Task 1.4)
  • and the question how crowds can be employed to this end (Tasks 1.3, 1.4).

For an overview of WG1 tasks and deliverables, please see the WG1 web page.

As format, we opted for having discussions in small, diverse groups, for the most part.

The workshop is split into day one looking at corpus examples from a teacher's perspective and day two taking the opposite, the learner's perspective. More details will be provided below shortly.


Provisional schedule


Thursday 5th
9:00 –   9:30 Introduction
9:30 – 10:45 Presentations
Ildiko: Automatic corpus example selection for language learning exercises
Johannes: Parallel corpora for language learning
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 13:00 Group exercise
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch
14:30 – 16:30 Group reports & discussion
16:30 – 17:00 Coffee break
17:00 – 18:00 Learner survey
Çiler: What do learner survey results tell us about the place of crowdsourcing in language teaching and learning?
Elżbieta: Learner Survey progress report Reflections, comments and plans
Friday 6th
9:00 –   9:10 Introduction
9:10 – 10:00 Presentations
Kristina: Suitability of automatically selected example sentences for learners’ dictionaries: a Pybossa experiment
Tanara: Using crowdsourcing for corpus filtering
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break
10:30 – 12:15 Group exercise
12:15 – 12:45 Report on preliminary results
12:45 – 13:45 Lunch
13:45 – 15:15 Visit to the university
15:15 – 16:00 Crowd sourcing learners (discussion)
16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break
16:30 – 17:30 Use cases, experiments, conclusions, ideas
17:30 – 19:00 Break
19:00 – 22:00 Dinner at O Trovador

Impressions





Selection of participants


As places are limited by reason of finite funding, we require a short motivation letter information on the following subject:

  • WG memberships and
  • contribution to these working groups so far
  • language proficiency (L1, L2's plus self-assesed levels),
  • background in teaching and learning languages.

We also welcome any suggestion on literature that should be distributed to the participants up-front.


If you are interested in the topic and want to participate, please send us the motivation letter by mail (see Contact information below) until Monday, September, 16th, 2019; we will provide a response by the end of that week so that travel arrangements can be made before the end of September. This rather tight schedule allows us to benefit from special rates on accommodation and lower travel expenses. Which in turn might allow us to increase the number of participants. For now, we estimate that we will be 20 participants.


Accommodation


We have rooms reserved at the Hotel Riversuites (Map). They can be booked via email (geral@riversuites.pt) or phone (+351 915 843 782) and need to be paid until September 22nd.


How to get to the workshop (Faculdade de Letras, room TP2)


Take the bus (1,60€), a taxi (approx. 7€) or walk. The bus stop is right across the street of the Riversuites Hotel (Linha Botânico).

  • The TP2 room is on the Ground Floor of the Faculdade de Letras, i.e., the same level as the Faculty entrance.
  • As you enter the faculty, go through the lobby and past the glass doors, then turn right.
  • Go past an ATM (on your right) and then turn left.
  • At the end of this long corridor, you’ll see a clock on the wall with “ANFITEATRO III” written right below it. Go down this corridor all the way.
  • When you reach the end of the corridor, turn left. TP2 is the first door on your right.

How to get to Coimbra


The closest airports are in Porto (122 Km) and Lisbon (205 Km).

By train

When you buy train tickets to go to Coimbra, there are two railway stations to choose from:

  • Coimbra-B is the main station where all the trains from Lisbon and Porto stop. It is about 2km (1 ¼ miles) from the city centre. From Coimbra-B to the city centre you can go on foot (although it’s a long walk, it’s flat), by local train (to Coimbra station, which is in the city centre), by a local bus (bus information is only in Portuguese) or by taxi (a ride from there to the Riversuites Hotel should cost less than 5€). There is no Uber in Coimbra.
  • Coimbra is the city centre station. If the final destination in your ticket is Coimbra (and not Coimbra-B), you will need to get off at Coimbra-B and take a local train to Coimbra. The price for this short trip (2 minutes) is already included in the fare.
By coach

The coach station is about 1 Km away from the city centre. The coach company is Rede Expressos, and you can buy tickets online.

By shuttle service

There is also a door-to-door shuttle service that needs to be booked in advance.

From Porto airport to Coimbra

By train

Take the METRO DO PORTO Line E from the Airport (Aeroporto) to Campanhã station. That will take about 33 minutes and cost €2.60. More details at the METRO DO PORTO website. If you are planning to use the underground again in Porto, don't throw away your 'ANDANTE' underground ticket, since it is rechargeable. This will save you €0.60 on each subsequent ticket of the same type that you’ll buy. Tickets are sold at the Airport tourist office or directly at the underground stations, on ticket machines.

At Campanhã underground station, walk round to Campanhã railway station. That takes only a minute.

One-way second-class fare by fast train is €13,60 (Intercidades) or €17,20 (Alfa-Pendular), which takes approximately 1h10 and 1h respectively.

Although you can buy tickets on the spot at the station, it is highly recommended that you do it in advance, because: a) there might not be seats available; b) you get 40% discount when you purchase online more than 5 days in advance. You can choose between two types of trains, the Intercidades (Intercities) and Alfa-Pendular. The former tends to have more stops and take longer, while the latter is more comfortable and usually non-stop.

By coach

The city coach station is Campo 24 de Agosto. It is outside the city centre by the metro station of the same name. One-way fare to Coimbra is currently €11,90 and the journey takes about 1hr 30 minutes. There are coaches about once every two hours, every day. The TRANSDEV bus company runs a bus once each hour from the airport to the city coach station. Details at https://www.getbus.eu/en/porto-airport-porto/.

By shuttle service

The fare for the shuttle service is €29.

From Lisbon airport to Coimbra

By train

Take the Metro Red Line (Linha vermelha) from the Airport (Aeroporto) to Oriente station. That will take about 5 minutes and cost €1,50. If you are planning to use the underground again in Lisbon, don't throw away your 'Viva viagem' card, since it is rechargeable. Tickets are sold on ticket vending machines and ticket offices at the stations.

One-way second-class fare by fast train is €19,80 (Intercidades) or €23,50 (Alfa-Pendular), which takes approximately 2h and 1h30 respectively.

Although you can buy tickets on the spot at the station, it is highly recommended that you do it in advance, because: a) there might not be seats available; b) you get 40% discount when you purchase online more than 5 days in advance. You can choose between two types of trains, the Intercidades (Intercities) and Alfa-Pendular. The former tends to have more stops and take longer, while the latter is more comfortable and usually non-stop.

By coach

Take the Metro Red Line (Linha vermelha) from the Airport (Aeroporto) to São Sebastião station, then take the Blue Line (Linha azul) to Jardim Zoológico station. Sete Rios Coach Station is a one-minute walk from Jardim Zoológico station. That journey will take about 25minutes and cost €1,50. If you are planning to use the underground again in Lisbon, don't throw away your 'Viva viagem' card, since it is rechargeable. Tickets are sold on ticket vending machines and ticket offices at the stations.

Sete Rios is the main coach station in Lisbon. A one-way coach fare to Coimbra costs €13,80 and takes about 2h15. The latest coach leaves at 22h30.

You can also take coaches from Oriente station (see above). Price and time are the same, but the latest coach leaves at 16h50.

By shuttle service

The fare for the shuttle service is €36.



Contact information


If you have any questions, please contact

  • iztok . kosem @ trojina . si
  • johannes . graen @ svenska . gu . se