Appendix K
Frame-based Dialogue Systems
Appendix: Frame-based Dialogue Systems, in Daniel Jurafsky and James H. Martin, Speech and Language Processing, 3rd edition draft, August 19, 2026.
Topics to learn
Page numbers refer to the linked chapter PDF.
- Frames p. 1
- Slots to fill for a task p. 1
- Evaluating whether the task was completed p. 3
- Dialogue state and policy p. 4
- Dialogue acts p. 4
- State tracking p. 4
- Choosing the next act p. 5
- Realizing that act as a sentence p. 6
FAQ
What is a frame in this appendix?
A task schema with slots, such as the fields needed for a reservation. Filling the frame is the system's goal. It is not FrameNet's semantic frame from the role-labeling chapter.
What does state tracking store?
The system's current belief about the filled slots and the dialogue act history that led there. The next policy reads that state. It should not have to recover every earlier turn from scratch.
Is the dialogue policy the same as sentence realization?
No. The policy chooses what act to take. Realization turns that act into words. A correct act can still be realized unclearly.
What should a task-based evaluation measure?
Whether the user's task was completed, not only whether a reply was fluent. The appendix separates task success from the surface sentence.