Description of Spanish and English Assistant Programmes 3.

The phrase select mechanism is similar in both versions of the Assistant Programmes. They rely on the well-known drop-down select lists used in many programmes and online HTML applications; the user clicks on a link to open a list of variables within a sentence and via another click makes a selection. In linguistic terms, this word-chain device has been referred to as a “finite-state” or “Markov” model (Pinker, 1994, p.91). Pinker has suggested that at any point after a word in a single sentence covering the entire scope of the English language there is an average of 20 possible variable single words which could be added (p.92). Naturally, a compiling machine of this nature cannot possibly deal with such a vast number of variables. However, by limiting the subject matter to business emails only, the plausible number of variables a user may wish to express is substantially reduced. Secondly, linguistic areas such as business English or business Spanish employ a large number of technical words and idiomatic expressions which are used repeatedly and greatly facilitate the task of the compiler/author to pre-empt the content of the emails the user will need to write. (More will be said about how the corpora have been compiled later on.) Indeed, the divisions made between variables in a sentence usually fall between compound word groups: noun phrases; verb phrases; prepositional phrases; time adverb phrases etc. and not, as a rule, between individual words. Let us consider the following sentence taken from Email Compiler in Spanish Assistant Business for writing in Spanish:

[The quality / does not coincide] / [with the product description] / in / [your advertisement.]

In the Compiler the phrase has been broken down thus:

Subject + ...

... verb

Prepositional phrase

(The above is a gramatical variable only.)

Non-variable preposition.

(Required for Spanish translation of different forms of YOUR)

Nouns and noun phrases.

Fig. 8

The variables could be divided into two main groups: semantic variables (where meaning is changed) and grammatical variables (necessary to handle variations of number and tense, for example. As might be expected, an exact correlation between English and Spanish is hard to achieve and indeed in many cases best avoided so as to obtain naturally sounding sentences in both languages. One major diference between the two languages is that Spanish requires the personal pronouns, possessive adjectives and verb forms to correspond with the register types: formal, informal, singular and plural. This major linguistic distiction necessitates a further sub-group variable: register. Use of register in Spanish must be explained to the user with help notes and drop-down lists inserted to allow for adaptation of the Spanish translation while the English remains constant. (Eg. see Fig. 8 where a code, explained to the user, allows for selection of possessive adjective TU, SU, VUESTRO, VUESTRA for the invariable English YOUR. Further notes tabbed onto the final complement phrase explain which entries are masculine and which are feminine thus determining whether the user should select VUESTRO or VUESTRA. Email Compiler therefore, deviates from machine translation devices in that the user is forced to study some linguistic characteristics of the foreign language in order to successfully write emails in the foreign language. However, it is important to add that the usage of register only need be appreciated. If a user is not interested in learning the conjugations of verbs depending on register types he/she may compile emails in Spanish without the need to memorize or acquire verb forms.

2.3.1 Handling other variables and anomalies.

In some examples, the drop-down selects cannot contend with the translations just by choosing from the lists so extra information must be added. One such example is when the gender of the sender or receiver of the email influences masculine and feminine adjective endings. In Spanish Assistant Business, notes are added via mouse-over labels: E = relating to English text; S = relating to Spanish text. In the following example, we can appreciate that the adjective DECEPCIONADOS should be adapted if the senders are all female (Fig. 9):

Fig. 9

The “S” note provides the user with the necessary information to make the changes manually (Fig. 10):

Fig. 10

Likewise, advice must be given about preposition + article union in Spanish, which must also be carried out manually by the user as whether it occurs or not depends on the combinations chosen from the lists. In Fig. 11 union is required between A and EL in the Spanish translation:

Fig. 11

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2.4 Tackling questions of style in textual expression.

An important concern when compiling phrase by phrase in the fashion explained above is that Email Compiler (having no intelligence of its own) cannot predict which sentences the user may select for his/her email. To allow for maximum flexibility, the user is encouraged to explore and locate sentences from various email subjects and unite them in one complete email. As a result, although the email may make sense and be understood by the receiver, the style may become awkward and read badly.

In an attempt to combat problems that may arise in the resulting style of a finished email, the user is provided with a menu of style help pages. In Spanish Assistant Business these can be seen on the top line in Fig. 12:

Fig. 12

The above links open the following style pages:

D + D: (Day and date) Help with writing the day and date accurately and how to insert and adapt the date into sentences. Eg. On the 3^rd of June; in May; since the 29^th etc.

Day: How to write and adapt the time of day eg. “tomorrow morning”; “the day after tomorrow”; later today etc.

Time: Writing the time correctly eg. “before 6 o'clock”; “from 1.30 to 5.30”; “at 6.00 am” etc.

Conj: (Conjuntions) Linking words in examples such as the following:

I have studied the price list for spare parts you sent us.

I find the prices too high.

Drop-down lists allow the user to insert suitable words to join the two sentences: however, unfortunately etc. allowing for better comprehension of the writer's feelings on the matter and a more agreeable written style. Notes are also appended as to how to insert the conjunctions correctly.

You: (As explained above). Discusses register and its use, when to use usted and tú depending on the writer's relationship with the receiver, geographical location etc. This section also has appended notes on the grammar of register to allow users who are interested to make their own register adaptations if they wish.

Filler: (Filler Phrases) More complex conjunctional phrases to help a seamlessly constructed email. Allows the user to insert nuances of meaning impossible to reflect in the Compiler Boxes of the general email topics. For example, from the Compiler Boxes we get:

Thank you for the samples you sent us.

We'd like to place an order for 200 items.

How long will the order take to arrive?

With help from the Conjunction and Filler Phrase sections, the user can adapt the above to:

Thank you for the samples you sent us.

If at all possible, we'd like to place an order for 200 items.

However, what I'd like to know is, how long will the order take to arrive?

Naturally, the conjunctions and filler phrases at the user's disposal must be examples which do not cause grammatical difficulties in Spanish. For example, a phrase such as:

I don't think that...

may cause problems because of the need for the subjunctive of the verb in Spanish in the main clause.

Not included in the style help pages (but mentioned here because of the similarity with the above) is the drop-down list of expressions to create indirect questions. This section is found in the Qreg section (direct questions in different registers) in the main menu (Fig.12). It enables the user to adapt direct questions to indirect questions thereby producing a less demanding effect on the reader. For example, the direct question:

When are you going to send the outstanding payment?

Can be modified to:

Could you tell us when you are going to send the outstanding payment?

or,

Would you be so kind as to tell us when you are going to send the outstanding payment? etc.

The conversion from direct to indirect questions can be a tricky test for the best of intermediate students of English as it involves auxiliary omissions and adaptations of subject and auxiliary. However, in Spanish Assistant Business (for learners of Spanish) we can include it here as a simple and invaluable modification for introducing a better style into emails. Spanish uses no auxiliary subject inversion so the user only needs to insert the translation:

¿Cuándo enviará usted el importe? (direct question)

¿Me podría decir cuándo enviará usted el importe pendiente? (indirect question)

Sub: (Substituting words) The user is warned of possible repetition of words which may occur when compiling emails (Fig. 13):

Fig. 13

Drop-down lists are used in conjuction with appended notes as to how to convert repeated words in Spanish to: dicho + noun or el mismo, la misma etc. Or how to use the equivalent in Spanish of: it, they, them.

M / F: (Masculine and feminine) The user finds drop-down lists translating articles and adjectives such as a, an, the, my, our, this, that, these, those etc. How to deal with gender and number varaiations. In another section, general rules are made regarding how to decide the gender of nouns by their endings.

3^rd pers: (Third person) This section takes advantage of the fact that Spanish verbs are conjugated the same in the usted/ustedes forms as in the 3^rd person singular/plural forms. Via brief instructions the user is able to convert a huge number of 2^nd person phrases in to the 3^rd person:

Ustedes pueden cancelar cuando quieran.

Can adapt to...

Ellos / Ellas pueden cancelar cuando quieran.

Returning to English Assistant Business, a lot of emphasis has been placed on helping the user recognise different registers of expresión. As suggested in Email English these are three: informal, neutral and formal. At the style link:
, users can learn how to identify these different registers so as not to mix styles which could lead to confusion for the receiver of the email especially if a native speaker of English. See Fig. 14.

Fig.14

2.4.1 Final comments on the style help pages.

Unlike machine translation, the user of Email Compiler is presented with a number of linguistic characteristics regarding the new language which must be understood to take full advantage of the Assistant Programme and its writing tools. The strategy chosen for this process is the following: the characteristics of the tools offered are of a highly practical nature to assist the user in producing a better finished document in the foreign language. They must be simple in execution and assume no need to memorise lexical or grammatical items on behalf of the user. For example, tasks such as 2^nd to 3^rd person conversion, direct question to indirect question conversion are straightforward word substitution and insertion tasks. Later we will see there are further or deeper layers of user involvement, where, by the user's own choice he/she begins a process of making a conscious effort to learn lexical and/or grammatical items.

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2.5 Search for phrases not found in the General Email Subjects section.

The Compiler Boxes in the General Email section make general assumptions about what the user will want to express in his/her emails. These assumptions have been taken from business letter writing publications (see Corpora sections of this dissertation where this is discussed in more detail). For example, under the section - Ordering Goods and Services, the sub-sections area:

Placing an order, subscribing, leasing.
Asking for information about the order.
Invoicing terms.

However, the user may not always want to follow this standard email/letter format and may wish to include other information not included in the General Email section. For this reason a Search Page has been designed which includes two types of glossaries:

All phrases from the General Email section.
All phrases from the Specific Email section or Questions and Answers section.

The sections listed in (2) include a large glossary of single sentences either in question or answer form designed to be inserted into the general email or used separately for emails on other subjects (See below in Corpora section for more detail).

An example of use of the extra glossaries could be the following email for placing an order:

With reference to our verbal agreement yesterday we should like to place an order for the following items:

However, we should like to make the following changes:

Please reply as soon as possible confirming acceptance of this order and whether everything can go ahead according to our terms.

What the General Email section cannot offer (due to the necessity to reduce space to user-friendly proportions) is the large number of variables of what those changes may be. The user can then either use the on-page search feature to find chosen words or refer to the categories of single sentences. (See Fig. 15)

Fig.15

Then, a sentence such as: “We'll need (?) by (day + date)” can be located, adapted to first person singular or plural and the appropriate register for the Spanish translation selected. The resulting email could then read:

With reference to our verbal agreement yesterday we should like to place an order for the following items:

1000 Deluxe Teddy bears model: 123/789

However, we should like to make the following changes: We'll need 200 by 12^th December.

Please reply as soon as possible confirming acceptance of this order and whether everything can go ahead according to our terms.

Note that at the top right of the Compiler screen the user always has access to the General email category links so that he/she can return to the main subject at any time and continue writing.

2.6 Dialogue emails.

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