Text Simplification (TS) Task

A Text Simplification (TS) Task is a natural language generation task that transforms a text item (typically a complex text) into a non-complex text-item.

• Context:
  • It can be solved by a Text Simplification System (that implements a text simplification algorithm).
  • It can (typically) aim to improve Text Readability and Text Understandability.
  • It can involve modifying syntax or lexicon of complex sentences
  • It can involve various techniques, such as lexical and syntactic simplification and the use of plain language, to enhance the clarity of texts.
  • It can address challenges in various domains including legal language, scientific articles, educational materials, and more, by making complex information more approachable.
  • It can utilize advanced natural language processing (NLP) models, like BERT models, to automate the simplification process, ensuring that the simplified text maintains the essential information and meaning of the original.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • TS("The precipitation in the region will predominantly be in the form of snow, potentially accumulating to significant depths, necessitating the deployment of snow-clearing equipment to ensure thoroughfares remain navigable.") => “It will mainly snow a lot in the area, and we might need snow plows to keep roads open.". (Meteorology).
  • TS("Utilizing a multifaceted approach to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change necessitates the implementation of sustainable practices across various sectors, including but not limited to renewable energy adoption, deforestation reduction, and enhancement of waste management protocols.") => “To fight climate change, we need to use many strategies like using more renewable energy, cutting down fewer trees, and managing waste better.". (Environmental Science).
  • TS("The subject exhibited a propensity for procrastination, often deferring tasks until the eleventh hour, which invariably led to a compounding of stress and a diminution in the quality of work produced.") => “The person often put off tasks until the last minute, causing more stress and lower quality work.". (Psychology).
  • TS("Contemporary advancements in artificial intelligence have precipitated a paradigm shift in data processing methodologies, thereby engendering unprecedented efficiencies in the analysis and interpretation of large data sets.") => “Recent progress in artificial intelligence has changed how we process data, making it much easier to analyze and understand big data sets.". (Computer Science).
  • Contract Text Simplification("In accordance with the provisions set forth in this agreement, the lessee shall not engage in any activity on the premises that could be deemed hazardous or increase the likelihood of property damage, thereby violating the terms of the lease and subjecting themselves to potential legal action and financial liabilities.") => “According to this agreement, the person renting cannot do dangerous activities on the property that could cause damage. If they do, they might face legal issues and have to pay for damages.". (Contract Law Domain).
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Machine Translation, where the primary goal is to convert text from one language to another rather than simplifying its linguistic complexity.
  • Text Summarization, which aims to shorten a text by extracting its most important information rather than reducing its linguistic complexity.
• See: Natural Language Processing, Readability, Long Sentnece, Complicated Sentence.

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References

2024

• (Justo & Recario, 2024) ⇒ Jenel M Justo, and Reginald Neil C Recario. (2024). “Text Simplification System for Legal Contract Review.” In: Future of Information and Communication Conference. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-53960-2_8
  • QUOTE: Given this, Text Simplification (TS) can be used to address legal language complexity. TS refers to the process of reducing the linguistic complexity of a text while retaining its original meaning [ 1 ]. Studies have shown that TS allows com - plicated documents to be accessible to non-native speakers or language learners [ 41–43 ], non-expert readers [ 20, 48 ] and more. By modifying the syntax or lexicon of complex sentences, TS can improve both readability and understandability [ 47 ]. This research aimed to develop a text simplification system for legal contracts that could enhance the readability and understandability of automated contract review outputs using BERT models.

2014

• (Shardlow, 2014) ⇒ Matthew Shardlow. (2014). “A Survey of Automated Text Simplification.” In: International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications (IJACSA),.
  • QUOTE: Text simplification modifies syntax and lexicon to improve the understandability of language for an end user. This survey identifies and classifies simplification research within the period 1998-2013. Simplification can be used for many applications, including: Second language learners, preprocessing in pipelines and assistive technology. There are many approaches to the simplification task, including: lexical, syntactic, statistical machine translation and hybrid techniques.

1996

• (Chandrasekar et al., 1996) ⇒ Raman Chandrasekar, Christine Doran, and B. Srinivas. (1996). “Motivations and Methods for Text Simplification.” In: Proceedings of the 16th conference on Computational linguistics - Volume 2. In: Proceedings of the 16th conference on Computational linguistics - Volume 2. doi:10.3115/993268.993361
  • QUOTE: Long and complicated sentences prove to be a stumbling block for current systems relying on NL input. These systems stand to gain from methods that syntactically simplify such sentences. To simplify a sentence, we need an idea of the structure of the sentence, to identify the components to be separated out.

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