TESL/ALT Brown Bag Colloquium Series
Author: lskramer
The Use of ASR and NLP in the Teaching of Suprasegmental Features of Pronunciation: A Critical Literature Review
Erik Goodale, Tim Kochem, and Jeanne Beck
Technology has expedited new modalities in language learning, teaching, and assessment. However, much work is needed in developing tools for oral communication, specifically those which provide instruction for suprasegmental features of speech. This critical literature review examines the use of natural language processing (NLP) and automated speech recognition in the teaching of suprasegmentals. Conducting a thematic analysis of 30 texts from 1990-2020, we found that there have been great strides in producing tools that can assess suprasegmental features, but commercially available software is mostly nonexistent for language learners.