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Using Technology to Teach Pronunciation A review of the research from Melike Yücel Eleonora Frigo Laurie Wayne Ling 578, Winter 2010, Dr. Arnold.

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Presentation on theme: "Using Technology to Teach Pronunciation A review of the research from Melike Yücel Eleonora Frigo Laurie Wayne Ling 578, Winter 2010, Dr. Arnold."— Presentation transcript:

1 Using Technology to Teach Pronunciation A review of the research from Melike Yücel Eleonora Frigo Laurie Wayne Ling 578, Winter 2010, Dr. Arnold

2 Using Technology for Pronunciation: a Brief History Early years: "repeat after me" Goals - accent reduction, native-like pronunciation Technology was used for listening or for providing a native-speaker amodel ASR provided limited feedback - technology is/was limited to awords/phones Past 20+ years: "talk to me" Pedagogical emphasis on intelligibility Used for interaction with software or other speakers Connected speech, suprasegmentals and internet-enabled xcommunication

3 FluSpeak (A part of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Software) English pronunciation, intonation, dialog practice with pronunciation testing Research Question: Is FLuSpeak software reliable in terms of teaching pronunciation? Pilot study participants: 36 Korean EFL college students Method: Students recorded voices, ASR analysis was compared to NS instructor scores Analysis: WinSPASS program run on the four kinds of pronunciation ratings. Correlations between FluSpeak scores and NEI scores weak to zero at the intonation level.

4 FluSpeak (A part of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Software) Results ASR Software can be used as a valuable tool for teaching pronunciation to EFL students where Native English Speakers are not available. Keep in mind: ASR pronunciation software Saves energy, time, and effort for creative activities. Promotes learner autonomy.

5 four- point scale, with no midpoints between the whole numbers, is used. Rating Scale Least Native-like |----------------|---------------|----------------| Native-like 0 1 2 3 Pronunciation Accuracy Rubric 0 Many pronunciation errors and foreign accents and intonation patterns that cause the speaker's pronunciation of the sentence to be completely unintelligible. 1 Frequent pronunciation errors and foreign [non native-like] accents and intonation patterns that cause the speaker's pronunciation of the sentence to be somewhat unintelligible.

6 2 Some consistent pronunciation errors and foreign [non native-like] accents and intonation patterns, but the speaker's pronunciation of the sentence is intelligible only with some effort. 3 Occasional nonnative pronunciation errors, but the speaker's pronunciation of the sentence is clearly intelligible with effort from the listener. Sample Scoring Sheet Item 2 6 7 8 10 13 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 Important points to be aware of when rating students' pronunciation: Be consistent across all items and all students in rating students' pronunciation. If you are not sure of a student' pronunciation, listen to the item again.

7 Using Praat and Moodle for Teaching Segmental and Suprasegmental Pronunciation. Ian Wilson Vowel length (code vs. coat) VOT for /p/ vs. /b/ (peas vs. bees)

8 Using Praat and Moodle for Teaching Segmental and Suprasegmental Pronunciation. Ian Wilson Choice activity: VOT of English /p/ Choice results for VOT of /p/

9 Conclusion Technology can support many pedagogical goals: It's your friend! Visit our Wiki to see this presentation and our bibliography


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