Overview
Natural Language Processing (NLP) develops methods for making human language accessible to computers. This course aims to provide you with a theoretical understanding of the models and algorithms that power modern NLP, and with practical experience in applying them to realistic problems. The course focuses on methods based on deep learning.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course, you should be able to:
- explain central concepts, models, and algorithms of NLP
- implement NLP algorithms and apply them to realistic problems
- evaluate NLP components and systems with appropriate methods
- identify, assess, and make use of NLP research literature
Course content
The course covers
- state-of-the-art algorithms for the analysis and interpretation of natural language
- relevant machine learning methods with a focus on deep neural networks
- validation methods
- NLP applications
- NLP tools, software libraries, and data
- NLP research and development
in the following areas: language models, representation learning, and structured prediction.
Course format
We teach this course through video lectures, on-campus teaching sessions, tutored computer labs, and supervision in connection with a final project. We expect you to also study independently, both individually and in groups. When you plan your time for the course, you should calculate approximately
- 30 hours to watch the video lectures and work with the quizzes
- 18 hours to attend the on-campus sessions
- 56 hours to prepare for, work on, and reflect on the labs
- 56 hours to plan, work on, and reflect on the project
Course literature
Natural language processing is a fast-moving field, and there is currently no single textbook that covers the course content. However, we will assign individual sections from the following books:
Jacob Eisenstein. Introduction to Natural Language Processing. MIT Press, 2019. Pre-print version available online
Daniel Jurafsky and James H. Martin. Speech and Language Processing. An Introduction to Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics, and Speech Recognition. Draft chapters in progress, January 2023.
Course evaluations
The most recent course evaluations are available below: