Applying adaptive recognition of the learner’s vowel space to English pronunciation training of native speakers of Japanese

¹ University of Sydney
² Deakin University

Abstract

When native speakers of Japanese are taught English as a second language, there are difficulties with their training in pronunciation of American English vowels that can be ameliorated though adaptive recognition of the learner’s vowel space. This paper reports on the development of an online Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) environment that provides Japanese learners with customized target utterances of 12 single-syllable words that are synthesized according to an adaptive recognition of the learner’s vowel space. These customized target utterances provide each learner with examples of each of 12 American English monophthongs in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) context in order to sound as if they had been uttered by the learners themselves. This adaptive process was incorporated into a successfully developed tool for Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) which gave more appropriate pronunciation targets to each learner, rather than forcing the learners to attempt to match the formant frequencies of their own utterances to those of the target utterances as produced by a speaker exhibiting a different vowel space (i.e., a speaker with a different vocal tract length).