JP3851621B2 - Foreign language learning device, foreign language learning program, and recording medium recording foreign language learning program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a foreign language learning apparatus for performing foreign language learning, a foreign language learning program for causing a computer to execute a foreign language learning method, and a computer-readable medium recording the foreign language learning program.

  In recent years, there have been many attempts to use a character or speech input / output system implemented by a computer, a relational database system, or a speech recognition system for learning a foreign language. That is, in such a foreign language learning apparatus, the learner inputs an answer to the personal computer by a keyboard operation, a mouse operation, or a voice in accordance with a problem to be asked by the computer. The database system and the speech recognition system corresponding to the foreign language installed in the personal computer determine the learner's understanding and correctness of pronunciation and display the result as feedback to the learner. It is.

Also, the learner's pronunciation of the sentence is indicated for each word, and the pronunciation evaluation result for the learner's pronunciation of the foreign language sentence is efficiently used for the learner's pronunciation of the foreign language. A foreign language learning apparatus for feedback is also proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-265 211 A

  By the way, the speech information processing of the brain is achieved by functionally connecting higher order processing systems from the periphery. In understanding the meaning content of speech sounds, “bottom-up processing” by decoding from speech signals and “top-down processing” understood using context information are interrelated.

  That is, when listening to a language sound, both bottom-up information (acoustic information) and top-down information (linguistic context information) are used. Even when listening to foreign language audio, the situation is the same, but with existing foreign language learning methods, training is biased to one of these two systems of information processing, or There are many things that mix the differences between the two.

  However, when the phonological structures of the language sounds are very different, such as Japanese and English, for example, learning that is biased toward higher-level processing may not be sufficient.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its purpose is to provide a foreign language learning apparatus capable of systematically training bottom-up processing and top-down processing. A foreign language learning program for causing a computer to execute the language learning method, and a computer-readable medium on which the foreign language learning program is recorded.

In order to achieve such an object, the foreign language learning device of the present invention includes a storage device for storing data used by the foreign language learning device, and the storage device has a confusion of understanding by the learner in advance. prone pair of foreign words, and word storage means for a semantic information and audio information of each word is stored in association with each other, information for storing contexts information and non-contextual information respectively associated with pairs of words when and a storage means, presenting face down words as visual information, contextual information is information capable of estimating the words from the front and back of the context, non-contextual information, other word other than the word a word It is significant information even if it is replaced with a display means for outputting and presenting the task and options as visual information to the learner, and outputting and presenting the sound information as sound to the learner Let me An audio output means, and control means having an arithmetic unit for controlling the foreign language learning device, arithmetic device, meaning information and audio information word pair is an option, corresponding to any pair of words After presenting at least one of the above and presenting the learner with a first task that prompts the user to select one of the word pairs and determining that the learner has passed the first task, the pair of words is an option, and present either contextual information or non-contextual information associated with pairs of words, outputs a second challenge prompting to select one of the word pair for the learner Let

Preferably, the word pairs that are likely to cause confusion in the understanding of the learner correspond to pairs of foreign language phonemes that are prone to error by the learner.

  Preferably, the context information includes context phrase information, context sentence information, and context dialog information, and the non-context information includes non-context phrase information, non-context sentence information, and non-context dialog information. The means performs the second task in the order of a task related to context phrase information and non-context phrase information, a task related to context text information and non-context text information, a task related to context dialog information and non-context dialog information. , Output to learners.

According to another aspect of the invention, the learner a program for executing the processing of the foreign language learning for learning a foreign language in a computer having a storage device and computing device, foreign language learning programs, calculation apparatus words, the advance learner word pair-prone foreign language confusion understanding, prepared in the storage device in association with semantic information and audio information for each word to each other, the contexts information and non-contextual information comprising the step of pairs of a preparation in the storage device in association with each, when presented as visual information face down word, context information is information that can estimate the words from the front and back of the context, non-contextual information, word is significant information be replaced by other words other than the word, computing device, a pair of words is an option, small of the semantic information and audio information corresponding to one of the pairs of words While presenting the Kutomo, the steps of the first object to prompt the selection of one of word pairs to output for the learner by using the display unit and an audio output unit, arithmetic unit, first After the learner has passed the task, select a word pair by using a word pair as an option and presenting either contextual or non-contextual information related to the word pair. And a step of causing the learner to output the second problem for prompting the user using the display means and the sound output means.

Preferably, the word pairs that are likely to cause confusion in the understanding of the learner correspond to pairs of foreign language phonemes that are prone to error by the learner.

  Preferably, the context information includes context phrase information, context sentence information, and context dialog information, and the non-context information includes non-context phrase information, non-context sentence information, and non-context dialog information. The steps of outputting the two tasks include a step of outputting a task related to the context phrase information and the non-context phrase information, a step of outputting a task related to the context sentence information and the non-context sentence information, Outputting a task related to the context dialog information.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a foreign language learning program is recorded on a recording medium.

  According to the foreign language learning device, the foreign language learning program for causing a computer to execute the foreign language learning method, and the computer-readable medium storing the foreign language learning program, the bottom-up process and the top-down process are performed. Training can be performed systematically, and foreign language learning can be performed efficiently.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As will be described below, the tasks presented to the learner from the foreign language learning device are mainly presented with both sound information (A: Auditory Information) and semantic information (S: Semantic Information). In the case (hereinafter referred to as “AS” when abbreviated), the meaning information is presented without sound information (hereinafter referred to as “S” when abbreviated), and the sound information is represented without meaning information. A case of presenting (hereinafter, abbreviated as “A”) is considered.

  In the present invention, effective foreign language learning is realized by systematically presenting and training these cases in learning.

(System configuration of the present invention)
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a system 1000 using a foreign language learning apparatus to which a foreign language learning method and a foreign language learning program of the present invention are applied.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the system 1000 sequentially presents a learning task of a certain step to the learner 2 and gives the learner training for the step based on an answer to the task from the learner. Or the computer 100 for performing the process of showing the learning subject of the next step further to a learner is provided.

  Referring to FIG. 1, this computer 100 reads / writes information to / from a CD-ROM drive 108 and a flexible disk (hereinafter referred to as FD) 116 for reading information on a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory). A computer main body 102 including an FD drive 106, a display 104 as a display device connected to the computer main body 102, a keyboard 110 and a mouse 112 as input devices also connected to the computer main body 102, and a voice input device As a microphone 132 and a speaker 134 as an audio output device.

  Alternatively, the computer main body may be connected to the external server 300 via the network 310, and only the function as a client machine may be provided.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the computer 100. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 108 and the FD drive 106, the computer main body 102 constituting the computer 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 120 connected to the bus BS, and a ROM ( It includes a memory 122 including a read only memory (RAM) and a random access memory (RAM), a direct access memory device, for example, a hard disk 124, and an interface 128 for exchanging data with a microphone 132 or a speaker 134. A CD-ROM 118 is attached to the CD-ROM drive 108. An FD 116 is attached to the FD drive 106.

  As will be described later, when the foreign language learning program of the present invention operates, the database that stores information that is the basis of the operation will be described as being stored in the hard disk 124.

  The CD-ROM 118 may be another medium, such as a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc) or a memory card, as long as it can record information such as a program installed in the computer main body. In this case, the computer main body 102 is provided with a drive device that can read these media.

  The main part of the foreign language learning apparatus of the present invention is composed of computer hardware and software executed by the CPU 120. Generally, such software is stored and distributed in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM 118 or FD 116, read from the storage medium by the CD-ROM drive 108 or FD drive 106, and temporarily stored in the hard disk 124. Alternatively, when the device is connected to the network 310, it is temporarily copied from the server on the network to the hard disk 124. Then, the data is further read from the hard disk 124 to the RAM in the memory 122 and executed by the CPU 120. In the case of network connection, the program may be directly loaded into the RAM and executed without being stored in the hard disk 124.

  The computer hardware itself and its operating principle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are general. Therefore, the most essential part of the present invention is software stored in a storage medium such as the FD 116, the CD-ROM 118, and the hard disk 124.

  As a general tendency, various program modules are prepared as a part of a computer operating system, and an application program generally calls a module in a predetermined arrangement and advances the processing when necessary. In such a case, the software itself for realizing the foreign language learning device does not include such a module, and the foreign language learning device is realized only when the computer cooperates with the operating system. However, as long as a general platform is used, it is not necessary to distribute software including such modules, and the software itself not including these modules and the recording medium storing the software (and the software distributes on the network). Data signal) can be considered to constitute the embodiment.

  Note that a database that stores information serving as a basis for the operation of the foreign language learning program may be stored in an external storage device connected via the interface 128. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when connected to the server 300 via the network 310, the database that stores information that is the basis of the operation is stored in a hard disk (not shown) or the like in the server 300. It may be stored in the device. In this case, the computer 100 operates as a client machine, exchanges such database data with the server 300 via the network 310, and issues data to be given to the learner as described below from the server 300. It is good also as receiving and displaying this and returning the data of an answer to a server. In this case, the main part of the foreign language learning apparatus is composed of computer hardware of the server and software executed by the CPU of the server, and the server 300 manages the learning history information of the learner. Also do. Therefore, assignments and choices to the learner 2 and output of voice information are also output from the interface that outputs image information and voice information of the server 300 by a program operating on the server 300, and the computer 100 is connected via the network 310. It can also be set as the structure made to output to. On the other hand, on the computer 100, client software for communicating with the server 300 and displaying the assignment to the learner 2 and returning the answer to the server 300 operates.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the foreign language learning apparatus of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 120 includes a learning control unit 1202 that controls a learning flow as described later based on a foreign language learning program.

  Also, in the hard disk 124, a word database 1242 for storing words to be presented to the learner 2, and phoneme pairs and meaning pairs that are known in advance that the learner 2 is likely to make mistakes in general. , A speech file for words, a speech file for phrases, a speech file for sentences, a speech file for paragraphs, and a speech file for dialogs. An audio file database 1246 and a phrase / sentence / dialog database (phrase / sentence / dialog DB) 1248 for storing text data of phrases, sentences, and dialogs presented to the learner 2 are stored.

  In other words, in general, words corresponding to phoneme pairs and meaning pairs that learner 2 is likely to make mistakes in advance are considered to be “students are likely to confuse understanding” when learning. This is the basis for the options presented to the learner 2.

  As will be described below, the word database 1242, the pair relation database 1244, the voice file database 1246, and the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248 are relational databases associated with each other.

  In the following description, the present invention will be described by taking as an example the case where the learner 2 who speaks Japanese as a native language learns English. However, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a learner having another mother tongue learns a language other than the mother tongue.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of data stored in the word database 1242.

  Each word registered in the word database 1242 is associated with information for identifying each word called “word ID” such as “w00033”.

  Further, for example, the word record specified by the word ID “w00033” includes spelling information “pray” when written in the orthography and “phoneme R” which is a classification when the word is presented to the learner 2. The member ID and the pair ID “P009” which is information for specifying the word “pray” and the word to be presented as a pair when presented to the learner 2 are included.

  That is, in general, when learner 2 knows that it is easy to make a mistake when “phoneme R” and “phoneme L” are presented as speech, the word “pray” It is presented to the learner 2 as one of a group of words including “phoneme L”. The member information is information indicating a group in which the word “pray” is presented to the learner 2 in this way. The pair ID includes other words presented to the learner 2 as a pair with the word “pray” in the pair relation database 1244, a sentence including the word “pray”, or another word paired with the word. This information is used to identify sentences.

  Such a pair is formed not only in the case where the learner 2 easily makes a mistake as a phoneme, but also in a case where the learner 2 makes a mistake as a meaning. When the learner 2 makes a pair that is easy to make a mistake in meaning, “meaning R” or “meaning L” is stored as member information.

  Further, examples of phonological pairs that are easily mistaken include “b” and “v” and “s” and “th”. Also for these pairs, as in the case of “R” and “L”, the member information may indicate a case where the learner 2 makes a pair that is likely to be mistaken in terms of meaning.

  Furthermore, the word record identified by the word ID “w00033” includes phoneme string information (phonetic symbol information) “prey” and phoneme conflict classification information as pronunciation information of the word “pray”. “♪” at the head of the phoneme string information “prey” indicates that a voice file corresponding to this phoneme string is stored in the voice file database 1246. The word “RL” in the phoneme conflict information indicates that the word “pray” including the phoneme R is in an opposing relationship with the other word “play” including the phoneme L. On the other hand, in the word record specified by the word ID “w00035”, the phoneme conflict information is “RL-S” in the pronunciation information, so the word “preach” including the phoneme R Indicates that the word “work” and the phoneme are in conflict.

  Further, the word record specified by the word ID “w00033” includes the parallel translation “pray” and the part of speech information “verb” as the parallel translation information of the word “pray”.

  In addition, the word record specified by the word ID “w00033” includes a context phrase “CPH33” that can include the word “pray” and a non-context phrase “NPH33” that can include the word “pray”. Also in this case, the leading “♪” indicates that the audio file corresponding to these phrases is stored in the audio file database 1246. A “context phrase” is a phrase that can be used to estimate the word “pray” even if the word “pray” is concealed due to the context of the word other than the word “pray”. Indicates that there is. That is, the “context phrase” is a phrase having high semantic context.

  On the other hand, a “non-context phrase” is a phrase that makes sense even when the word “pray” of this phrase is replaced with a word other than the word “pray”. In general, the word “pray” is estimated from the context. Indicates that the phrase is not possible. That is, a “non-context phrase” is a phrase with low semantic context.

  In the record of the word database 1242, a specific example of the phrase “the time to pray at church” is stored as “CPH33”, and a specific example of the phrase “the area to __for” is stored as “NPH33”. It may be stored. Alternatively, the corresponding phrase in the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248 may be specified by “CPH33” and “NPH33”.

  Similarly, the word record specified by the word ID “w00033” includes a context sentence “CS33” that can include the word “pray”, a non-context sentence “NS33” that can include the word “pray”, and the word “ It includes a context dialog “CD33” that may include “pray” and a non-context dialog “ND33” that may include the word “pray”. Also in these sentences and dialogs, the leading “♪” indicates that the audio file corresponding to these phrases is stored in the audio file database 1246. Further, the meanings of “context” and “non-context” are the same as in the case of a phrase.

  In the record of the word database 1242, a specific example of the sentence “I went to the church to pray to God.” Is stored as “CS33”, and a specific example of the sentence “What letter does” is stored as “NS33”. __Start with? "May be stored. Alternatively, the corresponding sentence in the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248 may be specified by “CS33” and “NS33”.

  Similarly, in the record of the word database 1242, a specific example of the context dialog may be stored as “CD33”, and a specific example of another context dialog may be stored as “ND33”. Alternatively, the corresponding dialog in the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248 may be specified by “CS33” and “NS33”. A specific example of such a dialog will be described later. Although a dialog (dialogue) is stored here, the dialog is not necessarily limited as long as it is composed of a plurality of sentences (sentences), and may be a paragraph (paragraph). Therefore, in the following description, the term “dialog problem” is included even when it is simply referred to as “dialog problem”.

  The word database 1242 stores the above records for each registered word.

  In the following, the above-mentioned “context phrase”, “context sentence” and “context dialog (or context paragraph)” are collectively referred to as “context information”, “non-context phrase”, “non-context sentence” and “Non-context dialog (or non-context paragraph)” is collectively called “non-context information”.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of data stored in the pair relation database 1244.

  Referring to FIG. 5, for pair ID “p009”, first, the opposing relationship is based on phonemes, such as R and L sounds, and the pair unit is a word, and the corresponding voice There are pairs with files. In this case, since there are only “words”, there is no distinction between “context” and “non-context”. The difficulty level at this time is “1”. For example, it is assumed that the difficulty level is higher as the difficulty level is higher. Furthermore, in the pair ID “p009”, secondly, there is a pair in which the conflicting relationship is based on the meaning, the unit of the pair is a word, the difficulty level is “5”, and there is a corresponding audio file. To do. Further, in the pair ID “p009”, the conflicting relationship is based on the sound, and the unit of the pair is a sentence, and each sentence is requested to be inserted with the word having a phonemic conflicting relationship as a hidden character. There is a pair with a difficulty level of “3” and no corresponding audio file. This sentence pair is a “context sentence” and is a sentence having high semantic context.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of audio file data stored in the audio file database 1246.

  Referring to FIG. 6, for example, for a word ID “w00033”, a voice word “AM001_w_RL_R_play” uttered by a speaker identified by the speaker ID “AM001” is assigned to the word corresponding to the word ID. .Wav ”and a voice file“ AF002_CS02_RL_R_play.wav ”uttered by a speaker identified by the speaker ID“ AF002 ”for the“ context sentence ”including the word corresponding to the word ID is stored. .

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of speaker data stored in the audio file database 1246.

  Referring to FIG. 7, for example, the speaker ID “AM001” has a gender “M”, that is, “male”, an age “41”, a mother tongue “AE”, that is, “American English”. The utterance indicates “professional”, for example, an announcer.

  FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of non-context phrase data stored in the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248.

  Referring to FIG. 8, for example, the phrase specified by phrase ID “nph001” has script information “the story of __”, and “word” is inserted in the portion “__” in this phrase. The inserted word is “noun” and the difficulty level is “21”. The same applies to phrases specified by other phrase IDs.

  FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of non-context sentence data stored in the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248.

  Referring to FIG. 9, for example, a sentence specified by sentence ID “NS001” has script information “Repeat __ after me.”, And “word” is inserted in the part of “__” in this phrase. The part of speech of the inserted word is not limited, and the difficulty level is “21”. The same applies to sentences specified by other sentence IDs.

  FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of non-context dialog data stored in the phrase / sentence / dialog DB 1248.

  Referring to FIG. 10, for example, a dialog specified by dialog ID “ND001” has the following script information.

A: What did you learn in school today?
B: I learned how to spell __ in English.
Furthermore, “word” is inserted in the portion of “__” in the dialog, the part of speech of the inserted word is not limited, and the difficulty level is “35”. The same applies to dialogs specified by other dialog IDs. In addition, although the dialogue script was shown as a dialog, it does not necessarily need to be a dialogue script, and in general, it can be applied to all of a plurality of sentences having some relationship.

  11 and 12 are flowcharts for explaining the flow of the foreign language learning method provided to the learner 2 by the foreign language learning device of the present invention.

  In the following training for the learner 2, the learner 2 will, in principle, be given an alternative choice, and the learner 2 will select one of them (click or learner 2). When the foreign language learning device determines whether the selection is correct or not, training is performed.

  First, referring to FIG. 11, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to the learner 2 is “word” and the object to be selected by the learner 2 is “word” (step S100). When this test is not passed (step S102), a word training task to be described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S104). On the other hand, when the test of step S100 is passed (step S102), the process proceeds to the next test (step S106).

  In step S106, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to the learner 2 is a "phrase", and the object selected by the learner 2 is a "word".

  If the test is not successful (step S108), a phrase training task described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S110). On the other hand, if the test of step S106 is passed (step S108), the process proceeds to the next test (step S112).

  In step S112, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to the learner 2 is “sentence”, and the object selected by the learner 2 is “phrase”. If the test is not successful (step S114), then a sentence training task to be described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S116). On the other hand, if the test of step S112 is passed (step S114), the process proceeds to the next test (step S118).

  In step S118, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to the learner 2 is “sentence” and the object to be selected by the learner 2 is “word”. If the test is not successful (step S120), a sentence training task to be described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S122). On the other hand, if the test of step S118 is passed (step S120), the process proceeds to the next test (step S124).

  In this way, first, in the range of learning in FIG. 11, what is presented to the learner is from learning based on only “acoustic information” in order, such as “word”, “phrase”, and “sentence”. , It goes on to learning including "linguistic context information". That is, the learning is designed so as to shift to learning corresponding to the top-down processing after passing learning corresponding to the bottom-up processing.

  Further, referring to FIG. 12, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to learner 2 is “paragraph” (or “dialog”) and the object to be selected by learner 2 is “sentence” (step S124). . If the test fails (step S126), a paragraph training task (or “dialog training task”) described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S128). On the other hand, if the test of step S124 is passed (step S126), the process proceeds to the next test (step S130).

  In this step S130, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to the learner 2 is “paragraph” (or “dialog”) and the object to be selected by the learner 2 is “phrase”. If the test fails (step S132), a paragraph training task (or “dialog training task”) to be described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S134). On the other hand, if the test of step S130 is passed (step S132), the process proceeds to the next test (step S136).

  In step S136, a test is performed in which the unit to be presented to the learner 2 is “paragraph” (or “dialog”), and the object to be selected by the learner 2 is “word”. If the test fails (step S138), a paragraph training task (or “dialog training task”) to be described later is presented to the learner 2 (step S140). On the other hand, when the test of step S136 is passed (step S138), the learning is finished. If necessary, the process may be repeated from step S100.

  In FIG. 12, the target to be selected by the learner 2 is learned in the order of “sentence”, “phrase”, and “word”. In this way, since the learner 2 sequentially performs training from options with a large amount of information to select, it is easy to become familiar with even a task with a large amount of information such as “paragraph”.

  However, for example, in FIG. 12 as well, in the same manner as in FIG. 11, “language”, “phrase”, “sentence”, etc. You may design so that it may progress to learning including. In this case, also in the learning flow of FIG. 12, learning progresses so as to shift to learning corresponding to the top-down process after passing learning corresponding to the bottom-up process. For this reason, it is effective when a bottom-up training is first required due to the difference in phoneme configuration, such as a learner who learns English and who is native Japanese.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the “word training task” explained in FIG.

  In FIG. 13, for example, the CPU 120 determines a phoneme pair that is the same as the phoneme pair of the word used in the test as a training task (step S1000).

  Subsequently, the CPU 120 selects, for example, a word pair corresponding to the determined phoneme pair at random (step S1002), and further determines whether or not to present semantic information for the selected word pair. (Step S1004). Whether or not to present this semantic information is also performed, for example, at random.

  When the semantic information is not presented to the learner 2 (step S1006), subsequently, the learner 2 is presented with options (step S1008), and the stimulation sound is reproduced (step S1010).

  Here, FIG. 14A is a diagram showing a flow of stimulating sound reproduction in FIG. In the stimulating sound reproduction process, when there are audio files of a plurality of speakers for the same word, for example, the speakers are determined at random (step S2000), and the corresponding audio file is selected. Playback is performed (step S2002). Note that the speaker may be selected based on, for example, the learning history of the learner 2 and a speaker whose native language is easy for the learner 2 to be mistaken.

  FIG. 16A is a diagram showing the contents presented on the display 104 when presented in step S1008 and when stimulating sound is reproduced in step S1010. In the figure, a word indicated by a balloon indicates that voice is being output. As shown in FIG. 16A, options “pray” and “play” are displayed, and a voice corresponding to “pray” by a male speaker is output. As shown in FIG. 16A, a “replay” button may be displayed. In this case, when this button is clicked, audio output is repeated.

  Returning to FIG. 13, following the reproduction of the stimulation sound in step S1010, selection by the learner 2, that is, training is performed (step S1012).

  On the other hand, in the case where the semantic information is presented to the learner 2 in step S1006, the CPU 120 next determines at random whether to present the speech information to the learner 2, for example. The “semantic information” includes semantic information as a picture and semantic information as a character.

  When the speech information is not presented to the learner 2 (step S1016), the translation direction is determined (step S1020). Again, the translation direction is determined randomly, for example.

  As the translation direction, one of “semantic concept → English (E)”, “Japanese (J) → English (E)”, and “English (E) → Japanese (J)” is selected.

  Depending on the selected translation direction, any of the corresponding processes (steps S1024, S1026, S1028) described later is performed, and the learner 2 is trained (step S1012).

  FIG. 14B shows processing in the case of “semantic concept → English (E)”. In this case, the problem part is presented as a picture on the display 104 (step S2100), and English options are displayed (step S2102). FIG. 17E shows an example of a screen displayed on the display 104 in step 2100 and step S2102 in this case. “Picture of a woman praying” is displayed in the problem area, and options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  On the other hand, FIG. 15A shows processing in the case of “Japanese (J) → English (E)”. In this case, the problem part is presented in Japanese characters on the display 104 (step S2200), and further English options are displayed (step S2202). FIG. 17D shows an example of a screen displayed on the display 104 in step 2200 and step S2202 in this case. The characters “Pray” are displayed in the problem area, and options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  On the other hand, FIG. 15B shows processing in the case of “English (E) → Japanese (J)”. In this case, the problem part is presented in English characters on the display 104 (step S2300), and further Japanese options are displayed (step S2302). FIG. 16B shows an example of a screen displayed on the display 104 in step 2300 and step S2302 in this case. The characters “pray” are displayed in the problem area, and the choices “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  If it is determined in step S1016 in FIG. 13 that voice information is to be presented to the learner 2, the stimulation sound is reproduced (step S1018) and the voice information is not presented. Thus, processing from step S1020 to step S1012 is performed.

  FIG. 16C shows an example of a screen displayed on the display 104 when voice information is presented and the process of “English (E) → Japanese (J)” in step S1028 is performed. . The voice corresponding to “pray” by the male speaker is output, the letters “pray” are displayed in the problem area, and the choices “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the “phrase training task” shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 18, the CPU 120 determines, for example, a phoneme pair that is the same as the phoneme pair of the word used in the previous test as a training task (step S3000).

  Subsequently, CPU 120, for example, randomly selects a word pair corresponding to the determined phoneme pair (step S3002), and whether or not to present a phrase having semantic information for the selected word pair. Is determined (step S3004). Whether or not to present a phrase having this semantic information is also performed, for example, at random. The “phrase having semantic information” is a “context phrase”, and the “phrase without semantic information” is a “non-context phrase”.

  If a phrase having semantic information is not presented to the learner 2 (step S3006), then a neutral phrase (non-context phrase) to be presented to the learner 2 is selected from the phrases corresponding to the selected word pair. (Step S3008), the learner 2 is presented with alternative choices in English (Step S3010), and the stimulation sound is reproduced (Step S3012). Next, it is determined whether or not to present character information to the learner 2 (step S3014). Whether or not to present such character information is also determined by CPU 120, for example, at random.

  When presenting character information (step S3014), characters other than the target word (word to be selected) are displayed for the problem part in English (step S3016). On the other hand, when the character information is not presented (step S3014), the problem part is displayed as a hidden character (step S3018). Thereafter, selection by the learner 2 is performed and training is performed (step S3020).

  FIG. 19A is a conceptual diagram illustrating information displayed on the display 104 and information output to the speaker 134 in steps S3010, S3012, and S3018 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 19 (a), the voice information of a neutral phrase “the area to pray for all” by a female speaker is output, and the question text is displayed in obscure characters in the question section, and the option “pray” is displayed. And “play” are displayed. It should be noted that the position where the target word is to be inserted is highlighted (indicated by black in the figure).

  Returning to FIG. 18 again, in the case where a phrase having semantic information is presented to the learner 2 in step S3006, among the phrases corresponding to the selected word pair, the semantic phrase to be presented to the learner 2 is subsequently presented. A pair (context phrase pair) is selected (step S3022). Next, it is determined whether voice information is also presented to the learner 2 (step S3024). Whether or not the audio information is presented is also randomly performed by the CPU 120, for example.

  When presenting audio information, the process proceeds to step S3010. FIG. 19C shows information displayed on the display 104 and information output on the speaker 134 when it is determined in this case that character information is presented in step S3014 and the process proceeds to step S3016. It is a conceptual diagram. As shown in FIG. 19 (c), voice information of a semantic phrase “the time to pray to God” by a female speaker is output, and a problem sentence other than the target word is displayed in characters in the problem part. Options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  Returning to FIG. 18 again, if no audio information is presented in step S3024, whether or not to display “both allowed” as an option is determined and determined, for example, at random (step S3026). In the case of displaying “both allowed”, a three-choice display in which the option of “both allowed” is added in addition to the choice of word pair is performed (step S3028).

  On the other hand, if “both allowed” is not displayed, an alternative display of English words is performed (step S3030), and the process proceeds to step S3014. FIG. 19B is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on the display 104 when it is determined that character information is presented in step S3014 and the process proceeds to step S3016. As shown in FIG. 19B, in the problem part, a problem sentence other than the target word is displayed in characters, and options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the “text training task” shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 20, the CPU 120 determines, for example, a phoneme pair identical to the word phoneme pair used in the previous test as a training task (step S4000).

  Subsequently, CPU 120, for example, randomly selects a word pair corresponding to the determined phoneme pair (step S4002), and whether or not to present a sentence having semantic information for the selected word pair. Is determined (step S4004). Whether or not to present a sentence having this semantic information is also performed, for example, at random. “Sentences having semantic information” are “contextual sentences”, and “sentences having no semantic information” are “non-contextual sentences”.

  When the sentence having semantic information is not presented to the learner 2 (step S4006), the neutral sentence (non-context sentence) presented to the learner 2 is subsequently selected from the sentences corresponding to the selected word pair. (Step S4008), the learner 2 is presented with alternative choices in English (Step S4010), and the stimulation sound is reproduced (Step S4012). Next, it is determined whether or not to present character information to the learner 2 (step S4014). Whether or not to present such character information is also determined by CPU 120, for example, at random.

  When presenting character information (step S4014), characters other than the target word (word to be selected) are displayed as the problem part in English (step S4016). On the other hand, when the character information is not presented (step S4014), the problem part is displayed as a face-down character (step S4018). Thereafter, selection by the learner 2 is performed and training is performed (step S4020).

  FIG. 21A is a conceptual diagram illustrating information displayed on the display 104 and information output to the speaker 134 in steps S4010, S4012, and S4018 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 21 (a), the voice information of the neutral sentence “What letter does pray start with?” By the male speaker is output. "And" play "are displayed. It should be noted that the position where the target word is to be inserted is highlighted (indicated by black in the figure).

  Returning to FIG. 20 again, in the case where a sentence having semantic information is presented to the learner 2 in step S4006, subsequently, the semantic sentence presented to the learner 2 among the sentences corresponding to the selected word pair. A pair (context sentence pair) is selected (step S4022). Next, it is determined whether voice information is also presented to the learner 2 (step S4024). Whether or not the audio information is presented is also randomly performed by the CPU 120, for example.

  When presenting audio information, the process proceeds to step S4010. FIG. 21C shows information displayed on the display 104 and information output to the speaker 134 when it is determined in this case that character information is presented in step S4014 and the process proceeds to step S4016. It is a conceptual diagram. As shown in FIG. 21 (c), the voice information of the meaning sentence “I went to the church to pray to God” by the male speaker is output, and the problem sentence other than the target word is written in the problem part. The options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  Returning again to FIG. 20, on the other hand, if no audio information is presented in step S4024, whether or not to display “both allowed” as an option is determined and determined, for example, at random (step S4026). When “both allowed” is displayed, a three-choice display is performed in which the option “both allowed” is added in addition to the word pair option (step S4028).

  On the other hand, if “both allowed” is not displayed, an alternative display of English words is performed (step S4030), and the process proceeds to step S4014. FIG. 21B is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on the display 104 when it is determined that character information is presented in step S4014 and the process proceeds to step S4016. As shown in FIG. 21B, a question sentence other than the target word is displayed in characters in the question part, and options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the “paragraph training task” shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 22, the CPU 120 determines, for example, a phoneme pair identical to the word phoneme pair used in the previous test as a training task (step S5000).

  Subsequently, CPU 120, for example, randomly selects a word pair corresponding to the determined phoneme pair (step S5002), and whether or not to present a paragraph having semantic information for the selected word pair. Is determined (step S5004). Whether or not to present a paragraph having this semantic information is also performed, for example, at random. The “paragraph having semantic information” is a “context paragraph”, and the “paragraph without semantic information” is a “non-context paragraph”.

  When a paragraph having semantic information is not presented to the learner 2 (step S5006), a neutral paragraph (non-context paragraph) to be presented to the learner 2 is selected from among the paragraphs corresponding to the selected word pair. (Step S5008), the learner 2 is presented with alternative choices in English (Step S5010), and the stimulation sound is reproduced (Step S5012). Next, it is determined whether or not to present character information to the learner 2 (step S5014). Whether or not to present such character information is also determined by CPU 120, for example, at random.

  When presenting character information (step S5014), characters other than the target word (word to be selected) are displayed for the problem part in English (step S5016). On the other hand, when the character information is not presented (step S5014), the problem part is displayed as a hidden character (step S5018). Thereafter, selection by the learner 2 is performed and training is performed (step S5020).

  FIG. 23A is a conceptual diagram illustrating information displayed on the display 104 and information output to the speaker 134 in steps S5010, S5012, and S5018 of FIG. As shown in Fig. 23 (a), "A: It's a nice Sunday, isn't it? Your son's around here? B: Oh, he's going out now. He really likes to pray." The voice information of the neutral paragraph is output, and the question text is displayed in a hidden form in the question part, and choices “pray” and “play” are displayed. It should be noted that the position where the target word is to be inserted is highlighted (indicated by black in the figure).

  Returning to FIG. 22 again, in the case of presenting a paragraph having semantic information to the learner 2 in step S5006, among the paragraphs corresponding to the selected word pair, the semantic paragraph to be presented to the learner 2 is continued. A pair (context paragraph pair) is selected (step S5022). Next, it is determined whether voice information is also presented to the learner 2 (step S5024). Whether or not the audio information is presented is also randomly performed by the CPU 120, for example.

  When presenting audio information, the process proceeds to step S5010. FIG. 24 is a conceptual diagram illustrating information displayed on the display 104 and information output to the speaker 134 when it is determined that character information is presented in step S5014 and the process proceeds to step S5016 in this case. is there. As shown in Figure 24, "A: It's a nice Sunday, isn't it? Your son's around here? B: Oh, he's in his room now. He won't pray. A: Incredible! He Voice information of the meaning paragraph "won't be a priest in the future." is output, the question sentence other than the target word is displayed in characters in the problem part, and the choices "pray" and "play" are displayed Is done.

  Returning to FIG. 22 again, if no audio information is presented in step S5024, whether or not to display “both allowed” as an option is determined and determined, for example, at random (step S5026). When “both allowed” is displayed, a three-choice display is performed in which the option “both allowed” is added in addition to the word pair option (step S5028).

  On the other hand, when “both allowed” is not displayed, an alternative display of English words is performed (step S5030), and the process proceeds to step S5014. FIG. 23B is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on the display 104 when it is determined that character information is presented in step S5014 and the process proceeds to step S5016. As shown in FIG. 23 (b), in the question part, question sentences other than the target word are displayed in characters, and options “pray” and “play” are displayed.

  As described above, the foreign language learning apparatus of the present invention can systematically train the bottom-up process and the top-down process, and can efficiently learn a foreign language. .

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the system 1000 using the foreign language learning apparatus with which the foreign language learning method and foreign language learning program of this invention are applied. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the computer 100 in a block diagram format. It is a figure which shows the structure of the foreign language learning apparatus of this invention with a functional block. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of data stored in a word database 1242. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the structure of the data stored in the correlation database 1244. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the structure of audio file data stored in an audio file database 1246. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the structure of the speaker data stored in the audio | voice file database 1246. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the structure of the non-context phrase data stored in phrase * sentence * dialog DB1248. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the structure of the non-context sentence data stored in phrase * sentence * dialog DB1248. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the structure of the non-context dialog data stored in phrase * sentence * dialog DB1248. It is a 1st flowchart for demonstrating the flow of the foreign language learning method which the foreign language learning apparatus of this invention provides to the learner. It is a 2nd flowchart for demonstrating the flow of the foreign language learning method which the foreign language learning apparatus of this invention provides to the learner. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the “word training task” described in FIG. 11. It is a figure which shows the display processing flow in case the flow of stimulation sound reproduction | regeneration and a translation direction are "semantic concept-> English (E)". It is a figure which shows the display processing flow in case a translation direction is "Japanese (J)-> English (E)" and "English (E)-> Japanese (J)". It is a figure which shows the content displayed on the display. It is a figure which shows the content displayed on the display. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of the "phrase training task" shown in FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on a display 104 and / or information output on a speaker 134. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining processing of a “text training task” shown in FIG. 11. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on a display 104 and / or information output on a speaker 134. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of the "paragraph training task" shown in FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on a display 104 and / or information output on a speaker 134. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing information displayed on a display 104 and / or information output on a speaker 134. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  100 computer, 102 computer main body, 104 display, 106 FD drive, 108 CD-ROM drive, 110 keyboard, 112 mouse, 114 wireless communication device, 118 CD-ROM, 120 CPU, 122 memory, 124 hard disk, 128 communication interface, 132 Microphone, 134 speakers, 1000 system.

Claims (7)

A foreign language learning device for a learner to learn a foreign language,
A storage device for storing data used by the foreign language learning device;
The storage device
A word storage means for storing in advance the learner paired words prone foreign language confusion understanding, in association with semantic information and audio information of each said word to each other,
The contexts information and non-contextual information includes an information storage means for storing in association each pair of said word, when presented as a visual information face down the words, the context information, the word before and after Information that can be estimated from the context, the non-context information is significant information even if the word is replaced with another word other than the word,
Display means for outputting and presenting assignments and options as visual information to the learner;
Voice output means for causing the learner to output and present the voice information as voice;
Control means having an arithmetic unit for controlling the foreign language learning device,
The arithmetic unit is:
A first prompting to select one of the word pairs by using the word pair as an option and presenting at least one of the semantic information and the audio information corresponding to any of the word pairs After presenting an assignment to the learner and determining that the learner has passed the first assignment, the word pair is an option, and the context information or the non-related information related to the word pair is selected. presents one of the contextual information, to output the second challenge prompting to select one of said word pair to the learner, foreign language learning device. The learner pairs of prone said word confusion of understanding, the learner corresponding to mistakable pair of foreign language phoneme when listening, foreign language learning apparatus according to claim 1. The context information includes context phrase information, context sentence information, and context dialog information,
The non-context information includes non-context phrase information, non-context sentence information, and non-context dialog information,
The control means performs the second task as a task related to the context phrase information and the non-context phrase information, a task related to the context sentence information and the non-context sentence information, the context dialog information and the non-context. The foreign language learning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the learning language is output to the learner in the order of tasks related to the dialog information. A program for causing a computer having a storage device and a computing device to execute a foreign language learning process for a learner to learn a foreign language,
Said arithmetic unit, prepared in advance the learning's pair of words prone foreign language confusion understanding, in the storage device in association with each other semantic information and the audio information of each of the words, and contexts Information comprising the steps of preparing in the memory device a non-contextual information each associated pair of said word,
When the word is faced down and presented as visual information, the context information is information that allows the word to be estimated from previous and subsequent contexts, and the non-context information replaces the word with another word other than the word Even if it is significant information,
The computing device uses the word pair as an option, presents at least one of the semantic information and the audio information corresponding to any of the word pairs, and selects any of the word pairs A step of causing a learner to output a first task for prompting a learner using display means and voice output means;
After the arithmetic unit determines that the learner has passed the first task, the word pair is used as an option, and either the context information or the non-context information related to the word pair is selected. A foreign language learning method, including the step of causing the learner to output, using the display means and the voice output means, a second task that prompts the user to select one of the word pairs A foreign language learning program to make a computer execute. The learner is paired prone said word confusion of understanding, the learner corresponding to the pair of mistakable foreign language phoneme when listening, claim 4 foreign language learning program according. The context information includes context phrase information, context sentence information, and context dialog information,
The non-context information includes non-context phrase information, non-context sentence information, and non-context dialog information,
The step of outputting the second task includes:
Outputting a task related to the context phrase information and the non-context phrase information;
Outputting a task related to the context sentence information and the non-context sentence information;
5. A foreign language learning program according to claim 4, further comprising a step of outputting a task related to the context dialog information and the non-context dialog information.   The recording medium which recorded the foreign language learning program as described in any one of Claims 4-6.

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