Using automatic speech processing for foreign language pronunciation tutoring: Some issues and a prototype

In this article I will discuss the possible use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) for training students to improve their accents in a foreign language.Principles of good language training as well as the limits of the use of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and how to deal with them will be discussed first.I will then use the example of the Carnegie Mellon FLUENCY system to show concretely how such a system may function.Prosody training as well as phonetics will be emphasized.Finally, I will underscore the importance of having a system that adapts to the user, again using the FLUENCY system as an example.