Bilingual Generation of Job from Quasi-Conceptual Descriptions Forms

The EXCLASS system (Expert Job Evaluation Assistant) is intended to provide intelligent support for job description and classification in the Canadian Public Service. The Job Description Module (JDM) of EXCLASS is used to create conceptual representations of job descriptions, which are used for job evaluation and bilingual generation of textual job descriptions. The design of these representations was subject to two opposing constIaints: (1) that they be deep enough to resolve the ambiguities present in textual job descriptions, and (2) that they be close enough to surface linguistic forms that they can be conveniently manipulated by users with little specialized training. The close correspondence of concepts to surface words and phrases, as well as properties of the job description sublanguage, permit a simplified generator design, whereby phrases are prepackaged with a certain amount of linguistic structure, and combined according to a small set of mostly language-independent rules. Text planning, consisting mainly of grouping and ordering of conjoined phrases, is performed manually by the user, and composition of conceptual forms is supported by a "continuous text feedback" function. 1 . G o a l s o f E X C L A S S The EXCLASS system (described on a more general level in Korelsky & Caldwell 1993) is intended to provide intelligent support for the process of describing and evaluating jobs in the Canadian Public Service. The Job Description Module (JDM) of EXCLASS, developed by CoGenTex for the Canadian Treasury Board, provides resources for the user to compose conceptual representations of job descriptions. The JDM generates textual job descriptions in both English and French from these representations; a Job Evaluation Module (JEM) also reasons on them to produce a classification and rating of a job, according to the government's evolving Universal Classification Standard. The first phase of the EXCLASS project resulted in a proof-of-concept prototype, based on a sample of some 30 job descriptions in the domain of procurement and asset management, in which the JDM and JEM are linked through a common graphical interface. The second phase, concluded in the spring of 1994, involved R&D in preparation for fielding and site testing of the system in a selected government department. EXCLASS is intended to eventually be used by thousands of managers across Canada, thus decreasing reliance on classification experts, while at the same time increasing the standardization, objectivity and comparability of job classifications across diverse occupational and organizational groupings. 2 . Functional Requirements The principal task of the JDM is to produce an unambiguous conceptual representation of a job description, which is suitable for (1) automatic reasoning by the job evaluation component, (2) bilingual text generation, and (3) manipulation by users with little or no training in knowledge representation. It must also provide various tools to facilitate such manipulation, and it must do this on a 386-class PC under Microsoft Windows. In the current standard format, public-service job descriptions consist of three basic types of statements, which describe a position in progressively greater detail: Client Service Results, Key Activities, and Substantiating Data. Substantiating Data is further classified into various Factors and Elements, e.g. Working Conditions: Environment, Risk to Health; Skill and Knowledge: Physical Demands, Communications. Figure 1 shows a sample of the job description format. CLIENT-SERVICE RESULTS • Procurement of military aircraft and airframes for the Department of National Defense.