The effectiveness of computer assisted pronunciation training for foreign language learning by children

Abstract

This study investigates whether a computer assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) system can help young learners improve word-level pronunciation skills in English as a foreign language at a level comparable to that achieved through traditional teacher-led training. The pronunciation improvement of a group of learners of 11 years of age receiving teacher-fronted instruction was compared to that of a group receiving computer assisted pronunciation training by means of a system including an automatic speech recognition component. Results show that 1) pronunciation quality of isolated words improved significantly for both groups of subjects, and 2) both groups significantly improved in pronunciation quality of words that were considered particularly difficult to pronounce and that were likely to have been unknown to them prior to the training. Training with a computer-assisted pronunciation training system with a simple automatic speech recognition component can thus lead to short-term improvements in pronunciation that are comparable to those achieved by means of more traditional, teacher-led pronunciation training.

Keywords:

• computer-assisted language learning (CALL)
• computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT)
• automatic speech recognition
• children's speech
• foreign language learning
• pronunciation assessment

Acknowledgements

A reduced version of this paper was presented at the 12^th International CALL Research Conference, 2006, Antwerp, Belgium. Ambra Neri's contribution to the research reported in this paper was made possible by a Frye Stipendium granted by the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

We would like to thank Sergio Amadori, for his constant cooperation throughout this study, the primary school Paride Lodron of Villa Lagarina (Italy), and above all the children who took part in the experiment described in this paper, for their dedication and enthusiasm. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

1. All assumptions (normality, homogeneity of variance and covariances) of the ANOVAs described in this study were met.