JustSpeak: Automated, User-Configurable, Interactive Agents for Speech Tutoring

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (EICS) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Xinlei Zhang ◽  
Takashi Miyaki ◽  
Jun Rekimoto
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Feedback Mechanisms ◽  
Speech Recognizers ◽  
Speech Training ◽  
Speech Learning

Conversational agents are widely used in many situations, especially for speech tutoring. However, their contents and functions are often pre-defined and not customizable for people without technical backgrounds, thus significantly limiting their flexibility and usability. Besides, conventional agents often cannot provide feedback in the middle of training sessions because they lack technical approaches to evaluate users' speech dynamically. We propose JustSpeak: automated and interactive speech tutoring agents with various configurable feedback mechanisms, using any speech recordings with its transcription text as the template for speech training. In JustSpeak, we developed an automated procedure to generate customized tutoring agents from user-inputted templates. Moreover, we created a set of methods to dynamically synchronize speech recognizers' behavior with the agent's tutoring progress, making it possible to detect various speech mistakes dynamically such as being stuck, mispronunciation, and rhythm deviations. Furthermore, we identified the design primitives in JustSpeak to create different novel feedback mechanisms, such as adaptive playback, follow-on training, and passive adaptation. They can be combined to create customized tutoring agents, which we demonstrate with an example for language learning. We believe JustSpeak can create more personalized speech learning opportunities by enabling tutoring agents that are customizable, always available, and easy-to-use.

scholarly journals User Experiences from L2 Children Using a Speech Learning Application: Implications for Developing Speech Training Applications for Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Uther ◽  
Anna-Riikka Smolander ◽  
Katja Junttila ◽  
Mikko Kurimo ◽  
Reima Karhila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Automatic Speech Recognition ◽  
English Language ◽  
Sound Quality ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
User Experiences ◽  
Ui Design ◽  
Speech Training ◽  
Speech Learning

We investigated user experiences from 117 Finnish children aged between 8 and 12 years in a trial of an English language learning programme that used automatic speech recognition (ASR). We used measures that encompassed both affective reactions and questions tapping into the children' sense of pedagogical utility. We also tested their perception of sound quality and compared reactions of game and nongame-based versions of the application. Results showed that children expressed higher affective ratings for the game compared to nongame version of the application. Children also expressed a preference to play with a friend compared to playing alone or playing within a group. They found that assessment of their speech is useful although they did not necessarily enjoy hearing their own voices. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for user interface (UI) design in speech learning applications for children.

Learning opportunities in peer-peer interaction: A case study of two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Dan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning

AbstractThe roles of interaction have been studied for several decades. Recent studies have turned to investigate “the details of which components of interaction might be more or less effective in which contexts with which learners” (Loewen, Shawn & Masatoshi Sato. 2018. Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 51(3). 285–329: 286). This case study, based on three unstructured interactions outside the classroom between two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners, investigates the learning opportunities these interactions brought about in terms of helping them to increase in control over forms that had already been encountered inside the classroom. Using the concept of the language-related episode (Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 1998. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal 82(3). 320–337), this study sets focus on learning opportunities for lexis- and grammar-related items. It finds learning opportunities arise as the two peers negotiate for meaning motivated by the need to comprehend, strive to use the L2 to express/co-express themselves, and improve their form through the other’s feedback. In addition, lexis-related learning is found to be very positive in this study. The dictionary played an indispensable role in facilitating the learners when they encountered lexis-related issues. Further, it enabled the learners to learn new vocabulary when driven by communicative needs. In comparison, the grammar-related learning is found to be relatively complicated. And the fact the learners had nowhere to resort to concerning grammatical issues attributed to it. In terms of the different types of interactions, compared to learning through negotiation for meaning and feedback, output and co-construction/collaboration were found to be most productive in promoting the learning.

scholarly journals Logbook: a Tool for Learning Inside and Outside the Language Class

EL LE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcella Menegale
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Language Class

One of the aims of language learning is that learners can apply outside the classroom what they learn at school and, vice versa, can use in classroom what comes from their experience in ‘real’ life, that is, outside school walls. However, as nearly a century of experimental research on the field has proved, knowledge transfer does not occur spontaneously, on the contrary, this capacity seems to be particularly complicated and difficult to encourage. It is therefore crucial to help learners gain awareness and make use of existing language learning opportunities as well as the learning strategies they can employ so to increase their capacity to make connections. Among the different tools that can be used to enhance both language competence and metacognitive awareness, logbook is considered one of the most handy and purposeful. This paper will try to explain what a logbook is and how it can be used with students with the intention to promote their language learning both in and out of the classroom.

Using an Interactive Feedback Tool to Enhance Pronunciation in Language Learning

2008 ◽  
pp. 1042-1057
Author(s):  
F. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Speech Analysis ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Feedback Mechanisms ◽  
Interactive Feedback

This chapter focuses on the effect of a learning environment in which biological, physical and technological ways of perceiving Mandarin Chinese sounds have been used. One of the most important tools of this environment is the use of a speech analysis tool for audio and visual feedback. This is done by way of incorporating a visual representation of student’s production that can be easily compared to the speech of a native speaker. It is the contention of this chapter that such an interactive feedback tool in conjunction with other feedback mechanisms can provide opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of feedback in language learning.

Language choice and second language learning opportunities in learners’ social networks

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 5.1-5.18
Author(s):  
Naomi Kurata
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
On Line ◽  
Natural Interactions

This paper examines the patterns of language choice and the construction of L2 learning opportunities in foreign language learners’ social networks by focusing on how these patterns and opportunities are socially structured in a Japanese language learner’s natural interactions. It is based on a range of data, including a script of on-line chat occurring in natural environments as well interview data. Drawing on Cummins’ (1996) concept of interpersonal space, the findings indicate that there were a number of social and contextual factors that seemed to affect the learner’s language choice and L2 learning opportunities in complex ways. Most of these factors appeared to be related to the learner’s and/or his network interactants’ identity as an adequate L2 user and their perception of each other’s L2 proficiency and/or role. This paper provides insights into how to create environments that promote the learners’ opportunities for L2 use and learning.

scholarly journals Speaking Their Sex: A Study of Gender and Linguistic Space in an ESL Classroom

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allyson Jule
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Linguistic Variable ◽  
Esl Classroom

This study is an exploration of the amount of talk (also referred to as "linguistic space," Mahony, 1985) used by girls as opposed to boys in a grade 2 ESL classroom located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The focus was on the amount of language used by the girls in teacher-led classroom lessons. Data were collected through videotaped observations, which were then transcribed, measured by counting words, and analyzed for conversational opportunities. The findings revealed that being a girl may have affected participation in the classroom lessons, and by extension affected language-learning opportunities. The particular lack of linguistic space in the girls' experience suggests that the girls in this classroom may be limited in language use. Their silence appeared partly influenced by the teacher's response to their comments. The article concludes with a discussion of gender as a significant linguistic variable in an ESL experience.

scholarly journals STUDYING UKRAINIAN IN PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MULTILINGUALISM

2019 ◽  
pp. 105-116
Author(s):  
Valentyna Trunova
Keyword(s):  
Life Experience ◽  
School Students ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Speech Training ◽  
Speech Learning ◽  
Working Out ◽  
Preparatory Work ◽  
Speech Situation ◽  
Selection Of

It was established that the level of minimum requirements for the speech training of elementary school students should be the same, regardless of the school in which the students study - with the Ukrainian language of instruction or another (in Russian, Bulgarian, Moldavian, etc.). The study of research on the problem revealed the place of speech situations in the language lessons, literary and extracurricular reading. By a speech situation, the author understands an artificially created situation where the student feels with the hero, or instead of the hero. Types of speech learning situations (real, imaginary, built on the basis of the read text, selected illustrations, drawings) are highlighted. The structural components of the speech situation (the description of the scene, participants in the conversation, the speaker’s life experience, speech patterns, speech task, stimulus, motive, speech reaction) are disclosed and a description of each structural component is given. It is determined that the condition for the effectiveness of the use of speech situations is the selection of speech material that meets certain criteria, principles and approaches, and the preparatory work of the teacher: clarifying the dictionary, working out the pronunciation of words, making phrases, etc.

scholarly journals Governmental partnerships for language learning: A commercial language platform for young workers in Colombia

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Garcia Botero ◽  
Jacqueline Garcia Botero ◽  
Frederik Questier
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Young Workers ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
Learning Policies ◽  
Free Language

<p>In June 2015, the Colombian government via the Labor Ministry announced a project for young workers called 40.000 Primeros Empleos. In the framework of this project, the Ministry of Labor signed an alliance with the language platform Duolingo as a strategy to provide participants with English learning opportunities and a free language certificate. With the help of a monitoring and evaluation perspective, this study describes Colombian English language learning policies and their relationship with the labour market. The discussion presented here intends to maximize the outcomes of these kinds of agreements and to provide insights for researchers and national stakeholders willing to carry out similar projects in their countries. Certification is also thoroughly analyzed as a means of estimating the possible impact of this partnership.</p>

scholarly journals The Pedagogy of Learner Autonomy: Lessons from the Classroom

2017 ◽  
pp. 102-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Cotterall
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Written Narratives ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
The Relationship

Learner autonomy in language learning has been the focus of enthusiastic investigation for the last 25 years. Research has focused on three key areas: the nature of autonomy, efforts to foster learner autonomy and the relationship between learner autonomy and effective language learning (Benson, 2011). This article focuses on the second area – the pedagogy of learner autonomy – and reports on insights gained from a career spent exploring learners’ efforts to learn a language. The paper is organized around a pedagogical model (Cotterall & Murray, 2009; Murray, 2013) which aims to enhance learner engagement and autonomy. The model consists of five affordances – engagement, exploration, personalization, reflection and support – which emerged from analysing the interviews and written narratives of Japanese university students engaged in independent language learning. The paper first discusses each of the five affordances and the way they contribute to the quality of language learning opportunities (Crabbe, 2003) in a given environment. Next, the affordances are illustrated in relation to five different learning contexts in an attempt to highlight the diverse ways in which learner autonomy can be promoted. Rather than prescribe particular classroom activities, the model identifies principles which can guide pedagogical decision-making. The paper concludes by considering the model’s potential as a set of guidelines for teachers who wish to promote learner autonomy.

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