Computer-Assisted Listening and Speaking Tutor

Background

In Norwegian courses for foreigners at NTNU and elsewhere, there is generally not enough time for individualized pronunciation or listening training, since this would go at the expense of other, more basic language learning needs. These skills are however of great importance in many practical communicative situations, and can enhance their integration (academic studies, job market, social life).

Aims and activities

The project’s aim is to develop a virtual language tutor for Norwegian which students can use for individual training, as a useful complement to standard classroom teaching. The system is based on the computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) system VILLE which was developed for Swedish at KTH, Stockholm (please see www.speech.kth.se/ville/ for a description of the system).

VILLE-N, the Norwegian version of VILLE, shall

1. help beginning learners of Norwegian to acquire a basic vocabulary with the help of a talking face (virtual person) speaking words, while the L2-learner responds by clicking the corresponding picture (TASK 1).
2. help L2-learners to learn to perceptually distinguish sound categories which may not be familiar to the learner. Many languages do not distinguish between all the vowels in N. “bi - by - bu - bo”, for instance, so these sound classes must be learned (TASK 2).
3. enable self-evaluation of the learner’s pronunciation by direct comparison with the virtual teacher’s pronunciation (TASK 3).

The Swedish system will not only be adapted to Norwegian, it shall also be expanded to cater for the specific Norwegian situation. This is characterized by the lack of an accepted pronunciation standard (such as Hochdeutsch for German or Standard Southern English for British English) and the use of different dialects in all formal and informal situations, dependent on the speaker’s own background. This will be accommodated by recording a male and a female speaker for each of four different dialects spoken in Østlandet, Vestlandet, Trøndelag and North Norway.

The system will be used to complement pronunciation teaching in the Norwegian courses for foreign students and employees at NTNU and UiO, but also other, non-academic target groups at the Senter for voksenopplæring (SEVO) in Trondheim.