An Introduction to Computers and Languages 2012.
Well, it's almost the end of 2011, so now is the time to lay down some new foundations for SML209, Computers and Languages, 2012. Some of you may be wondering what this course is all about, so I thought I should provide a short overview and some pointers to things you can explore in preparation for the course - assuming you manage to grab a few moments of time over Christmas and New Year! First of all, let me try to define what this course is all about. In a nutshell, the course explores some of the areas in which computing overlaps with (or meets) language, language learning and literature. It's important at this stage to clarify what I mean by 'computing' - a brief investigation into the meaning of this word defines it as, "to determine by calculation; to reckon; to count" (Webster, 1913), and is derived from the Latin 'computare' meaning 'to count'. However, more modern usage of the word 'compute' includes the meaning of "t