Defining a Core Body of Knowledge for the Introductory Computational Linguistics Curriculum

Discourse in and about computational linguistics depends on a shared body of knowledge. However, little content is shared across the introductory courses in this field. Instead, they typically cover a diverse assortment of topics tailored to the capabilities of the students and the interests of the instructor. If the core body of knowledge could be agreed and incorporated into introductory courses several benefits would ensue, such as the proliferation of instructional materials, software support, and extension modules building on a common foundation. This paper argues that it is worthwhile to articulate a core body of knowledge, and proposes a starting point based on the ACM Computer Science Curriculum. A variety of issues specific to the multidisciplinary nature of computational linguistics are explored.