Using part-of-speech patterns to reduce query ambiguity

Query ambiguity is a generally recognized problem, partic-ularly in Web environments where queries are commonly only one or two words in length. In this study, we explore one technique that nds commonly occurring patterns of parts of speech near a one-word query and allows them to be transformed into clarication questions. We use a tech-nique derived from statistical language modeling to show that the clarication queries will reduce ambiguity much of the time, and often quite substantially