A pronunciation Scoring System Embedded into Children’s Foreign Language Learning Games with Experimental Verification of Learning Benefits

Reima Karhila, Sari Ylinen, Anna-Riikka Smolander, Aku Rouhe, Ragheb Al-Ghezi, Yaroslav Getman, Tamas Grosz, Maria Uther, Mikko Kurimo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

Over the years, language technology has become a valuable asset for foreign language learners. In this work, we introduce pronunciation feedback scoring systems for 6-12 year old children. The scoring systems were embedded in second-language (L2) English learning games that were designed to prompt children to repeat words. Speech and phone recognition models were used to validate utterances and extract phoneme-wise statistics, which were used to compute feedback scores of 0-5 stars. The scoring systems were trained to mimic the preferences of a single expert who evaluated all the training data. Our automatic scoring system reached a correlation of 0.59 to the human annotation. This system was also tested in a learning experiment, where EEG measurements indicated that children who played our learning game with our scoring engine for pronunciation feedback improved their perception of speech sounds. We release the game codes and the speech data used to train the scoring system.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication9th Workshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education (SLaTE)
PublisherInternational Speech Communication Association (ISCA)
Number of pages5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Aug 2023
MoE publication typeA4 Conference publication
EventWorkshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education - Dublin, Ireland
Duration: 18 Aug 202320 Aug 2023

Publication series

NameISCA International Workshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education
ISSN (Electronic)2311-4975

Workshop

WorkshopWorkshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education
Abbreviated titleSLaTE
Country/TerritoryIreland
CityDublin
Period18/08/202320/08/2023

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