From Sentiment to Interpretation: Teaching NLP for Literary Understanding Across Educational Contexts

Karl-Emil Kjær Bilstrup, Kirstine Nielsen Degn, Morten Schultz, Alexander Conroy, Jens Bjerring-Hansen, Daniel Hershcovich


Abstract
We developed Litteraturmaskinen, a graphical annotation and exploration interface that enables students to collaborate on labeling sentiment in literary passages, comparing their decisions with model predictions, and justifying their interpretations. We deployed the system in two educational settings: A university module on computational literary studies and regular teaching by two first-language high school teachers. Based on observations, collected teaching plans, and interviews, we find that tensions between epistemic and academic traditions are both a barrier for integration and a productive entry point for literary reflection and argumentation. We conclude with recommendations for integrating NLP into literature and first-language curricula.
Anthology ID:
2026.teachingnlp-1.16
Volume:
Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop on Teaching Natural Language Processing (TeachNLP 2026)
Month:
March
Year:
2026
Address:
Rabat, Morocco
Editors:
Matthias Aßenmacher, Laura Biester, Claudia Borg, György Kovács, Margot Mieskes, Sofia Serrano
Venues:
TeachingNLP | WS
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
118–128
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2026.teachingnlp-1.16/
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Karl-Emil Kjær Bilstrup, Kirstine Nielsen Degn, Morten Schultz, Alexander Conroy, Jens Bjerring-Hansen, and Daniel Hershcovich. 2026. From Sentiment to Interpretation: Teaching NLP for Literary Understanding Across Educational Contexts. In Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop on Teaching Natural Language Processing (TeachNLP 2026), pages 118–128, Rabat, Morocco. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
From Sentiment to Interpretation: Teaching NLP for Literary Understanding Across Educational Contexts (Bilstrup et al., TeachingNLP 2026)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2026.teachingnlp-1.16.pdf