WO2007137457A1 - Système, procédé et appareil destinés à des exercices d'apprentissage d'une langue basés sur une competition - Google Patents

Système, procédé et appareil destinés à des exercices d'apprentissage d'une langue basés sur une competition Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007137457A1
WO2007137457A1 PCT/CN2006/001185 CN2006001185W WO2007137457A1 WO 2007137457 A1 WO2007137457 A1 WO 2007137457A1 CN 2006001185 W CN2006001185 W CN 2006001185W WO 2007137457 A1 WO2007137457 A1 WO 2007137457A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
language
user
drilling
spoken utterance
score
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PCT/CN2006/001185
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English (en)
Inventor
Ping Du
Nan N. Li
Original Assignee
Intel Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
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Publication date
Application filed by Intel Corporation filed Critical Intel Corporation
Priority to PCT/CN2006/001185 priority Critical patent/WO2007137457A1/fr
Publication of WO2007137457A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007137457A1/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
    • G09B19/00—Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass
    • G09B19/06—Foreign languages
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
    • G09B7/00—Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers

Definitions

  • the embodiments relate to evaluating spoken utterances for fluency in a competition based environment, and in particular to combining measurements of speed with measurements of accuracy, and ranking and awarding top performers.
  • CALL Computer Assisted Language Learning
  • CALL systems can then generate a score for presentation to the speaker or another party such as a teacher, supervisor, or guardian.
  • an automated score allows a student to practice speaking exercises and to be informed of improvement or regression.
  • CALL systems typically use a benchmark of accurate pronunciation, based on a model speaker or some combination of model speakers and then compare the spoken utterance to the model.
  • Efforts have been directed toward generating and providing detailed information about the pronunciation assessment.
  • a pronunciation assessment the utterance is divided into individual features, such as pronunciation and intonation of words or phonemes. Each feature is assessed against the model. The student may then be informed that certain words or phonemes are mispronounced or inconsistently pronounced. This allows the student to focus attention on the areas that require the most improvement.
  • the automated system may provide information on how to improve pronunciation, such as by speaking higher or lower or by emphasizing a particular part of a phoneme.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a client/server based assignment and assessment language learning system according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram describing an example of a method for enabling a student to perform oral practice assignments according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram describing an example of a method for performing an oral practice module assignment according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of an example of a screen shot of a user interface presenting an exercise according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 5 illustrates a diagram of an example of a screen shot of a user interface presenting an accuracy score and a speed score for an exercise according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example of a screen shot of a user interface presenting a fluency score for an exercise according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 7 illustrates a diagram of an example of a screen shot of another user interface presenting a score for accuracy, time used and fluency for an exercise according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 8 illustrates a flow diagram describing a method and apparatus for generating a fluency score according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 9 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example of a screen shot of word by word and phoneme by phoneme feedback and grading according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment
  • FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment of a diagram of an example of a screen shot of a user interface presenting level and credits
  • Fig. 12 illustrates a diagram of an example of a screen shot of most active users, overall ranking and a medal list according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 13 illustrates a block diagram illustrating an example of a system embodiment.
  • one embodiment includes a device s for competition based language drilling that has a processor coupled to a memory, an accuracy evaluation block to evaluate a spoken utterance for accuracy, a speed evaluation block to evaluate the spoken utterance for duration, a fluency evaluation block coupled to the accuracy evaluation block and to the speed evaluation block to assign a score to the spoken utterance based on the accuracy and the duration; and a comparison block to compare a score for the spoken utterance against other scores.
  • Another embodiment is a method for competition based language drilling that includes recording a spoken utterance, evaluating the spoken utterance for accuracy, evaluating the spoken utterance for duration, assigning a fluency score to the spoken utterance based on the accuracy and the duration, comparing the score to at least one other score, and crediting an account of a user.
  • the embodiments discussed herein generally relate a competition based virtual language tutor apparatus, system and method.
  • exemplary embodiments will now be described. The exemplary embodiments are provided to illustrate the embodiments and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates is a block diagram illustrating an example of a client/server based language learning system 100 according to an embodiment.
  • System 100 comprises a client side 102 and a server side 110.
  • Client side 102 comprises a virtual language tutor (VLT) online client 104 for enabling a student (or user) to interact with system 100.
  • the student (or user) can also use the web browser 106 to check the information related to their learning.
  • Server side 110 comprises a virtual language tutor (VLT) online server 112 for enabling a teacher to interact with system 100.
  • the teacher can use the web browser to assign task assignment or check the learning progress.
  • VLT virtual language tutor
  • VLT online client 104 and VLT online server 112 reside on a network, such as, for example, an Intranet or an Internet network, whether wireless, hardwired or a combination of both.
  • VLT online server 112 is coupled to VLT online client 104.
  • a student may communicate with the VLT online client 104 via a student computing device (not shown), such as a personal computer (PC), a lap top computer, a notebook computer, a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand-held computer, a palm top computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a telephony device, cellular telephone, gaming device, etc.
  • a student computing device such as a personal computer (PC), a lap top computer, a notebook computer, a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand-held computer, a palm top computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a telephony device, cellular telephone, gaming device, etc.
  • Signals sent from VLT online client 104 to the student via the computing device include Assignment, Feedback, Grading, and Benchmark A/V signals.
  • Signals sent to VLT online client 104 from the student include oral recitations of the Benchmark A/V signals, shown in Fig. 1 as Utterance signals. Assignment
  • Virtual language tutor online server 112 comprises a virtual language tutor content management module 112a, a homework management module 112b, and a virtual language tutor learner information management module 112c.
  • VLT content management module 112a comprises content modules that may be used for assignments, or to prepare assignments. Content for an assignment may be obtained from a plurality of sources, such as, for example, lectures, speeches, audio tapes, excerpts from audio books, etc. The content may be imported into content management module 112a with the aid of an administrator of system 100.
  • Homework Management Module 112b allows the teacher to assign homework assignments to one or more students, one or more classes, etc. The homework assignments are selected by the teacher from content management module 112a.
  • each task has a corresponding language proficiency associated with it.
  • a user is assigned a certain language proficiency level based on language drilling performance. When a student/user achieves a predetermined score assigned to a next level, the student/user has their assigned language proficiency level upgraded to the next higher level.
  • VLT Learner Information Management Module 112c comprises learning histories for all students that have previously used system 100. When a homework assignment has been completed by a student or a task with an associated level is completed, the status of the homework assignment or task, as well as the feedback and grading/scoring that results from the analysis of the oral practice by VLT online client 104 are uploaded to VLT online server 112 and immediately becomes part of the student's learning history hi VLT Learner Information Management Module 112c. In one embodiment, the status of the homework assignment or task, including the feedback and grading/scoring of the oral practice are now accessible to the teacher. Learning histories may be provided to the individual student or to the teacher. Unless special permissions are provided, a student may only access his/her own learning history.
  • a student may communicate with VLT online server 112 via client web browser 106 using the computing device as well.
  • client web browser 106 may reside on the student computing device.
  • the student may select a language course or language level offered by VLT online server, receive learning histories or records from previous assignments or tasks performed by the student and receive feedback from the teacher for one or more previous completed assignments.
  • a teacher may communicate with VLT online server 112 via server web browser 114 using a teacher computing device (not shown), such as a personal computer (PC), a lap top computer, a notebook computer, a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand-held computer, a palm top computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a telephony device (e.g., a cellular telephone), etc.
  • server web browser 114 may reside on the teacher computing device.
  • Signals provided to the teacher from VLT online server 112 include student completion status and analysis reports.
  • Signals sent from the teacher (via the teacher computing device) to VLT online server 112 include homework design, assignment, and feedback. Student completion status, analysis reports, homework design, assignment, and feedback signals will be discussed in further detail below.
  • VLT online client 104 comprises client software that enables a student to obtain oral practice assignments assigned by the teacher, perform the oral practice assignments, and receive performance results or feedback and grading based on their performance of the oral practice assignments.
  • Fig. 2 is a flow diagram describing an example of a method for enabling a student to perform oral practice assignments on VLT online client 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The invention is not limited to the embodiment described herein with respect to flow diagram 200. Rather, it will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the teachings provided herein that other functional flow diagrams are within the scope of the invention.
  • the process begins with block 202, where the process immediately proceeds to block 204,
  • a student may log on to VLT online client 104 using a computing device, such as a personal computer (PC), a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand held computer, a palm top computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a telephony device, a network appliance, a convergence device, etc.
  • a computing device such as a personal computer (PC), a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand held computer, a palm top computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a telephony device, a network appliance, a convergence device, etc.
  • Login procedures consisting of the student providing a user identification (ID) and a password are well known in the relevant art(s).
  • decision block 206 it is determined whether a homework assignment or task is available for the student. If a homework assignment or task is not available for the student, then either the student has completed all of their current homework assignments or tasks, or the teacher has not assigned any new homework assignments or the student has not completed all tasks associated with a given level. In this case, the process proceeds to decision block 208.
  • decision block 208 it is determined whether other oral practice materials are available for training the student that the student may use as a practice module. If other oral practice materials are available for training the student, the process proceeds to block 210.
  • the student may select an oral practice module from the other oral practice materials and perform the module.
  • the results of the practice module are uploaded to VLT online server 112 (block 212).
  • the process then proceeds to decision block 214 to query the student as to whether the student desires to continue practicing. If the student desires to continue practicing, the process proceeds back to decision block 208 to determine whether another practice module is available.
  • decision block 208 if it is determined that there are no practice modules available, the process proceeds to block 216, where the process ends. Returning to decision block 214, if it is determined that the student does not wish to continue practicing, and then the process proceeds to block 216, where the process ends.
  • a homework assignment such as oral practice, task, or any other type of assignment
  • the process proceeds to block 218.
  • the student may perform the homework assignment or task on VLT online client 104.
  • the results of the homework assignment including status completion results, feedback and grading/scoring (that is, analysis results), are uploaded to VLT online server 112 (block 220). The process then proceeds back to decision block 206 to determine whether another homework assignment is available.
  • a CALL system such as the one shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 is limited if it focuses on pronunciation and vocabulary and even if it focuses on the accuracy of the spoken utterance.
  • the evaluation provided to the student is limited to the accuracy of pronunciation and perhaps intonation of particular sentences, words or phonemes in a passage.
  • This type of analysis and presentation do not accurately measure performance that would be obtained in real language speaking situations. Real speaking situations are often different in that the speaker may need to form ideas, determine how to best express those ideas and consider what others are saying all under time pressure or other stress.
  • Fluency may be more accurately evaluated by measuring not only accuracy but also speed.
  • a speaker that is comfortable speaking at normal speeds for the language may be better able to communicate in real speaking situations.
  • Adding a speed measurement to the quality measurement makes the fluency assessment more holistic and better reflects a speaker's ability to use learned language skills in a real speaking environment. It may be possible for a student to meet all the pronunciation, intonation and other benchmarks of a CALL system or other language tool simply by slowing down. However, if the student cannot accurately pronounce a passage at normal speaking speed, the student may still not be comprehensible to others. In addition, slow speech may reflect a slower ability to form sounds or even form thoughts and sentences in the language.
  • the fluency (F meI ) of an utterance of a user or student may be compared to a benchmark utterance as shown in the following example equation 1.
  • F 11561 represents a score for the fluency of an utterance of a user.
  • a 11581 . and A b6n represent the accuracy of the user's utterance and the accuracy of a benchmark utterance.
  • the benchmark is the standard against which the user or student is to be measured.
  • the accuracy values may be numbers determined based on pronunciation or intonation or both and may be determined in any of a variety of different ways.
  • the ratio (A 11561 ZA 138n ) provides an indication of how closely the user's utterance matches that of the benchmark.
  • D ben and D 11561 represent the duration of the benchmark and the duration of the utterance, respectively.
  • the utterance is a sentence or passage and native speakers are asked to read it at a relaxed pace. The time that it takes one or more native speakers to read the passage in seconds is taken as the benchmark duration for the utterance.
  • the ratio provides a measure of how close the user has come to the benchmark speed. By multiplying accuracy and duration together as shown in Equation 1, the fluency score can reflect achievement in both areas. While the two scores are being shown as multiplied together, they may be combined in other ways.
  • the fluency score is shown as being factored by 100%. This allows the student to see the fluency score as a percentage. Accordingly, a perfect score would show as 100%. However, other scales may be used. A score may be presented as value between 1 and 10 or any other number. The Fluency score may alternatively be presented as a raw unsealed score.
  • the fluency score may be calculated in a variety of different ways.
  • the benchmark values may be consolidated. If the benchmarks for any particular utterance are a constant, then A 116n and D ben may be reduced to a factor and this factor may be scaled on the percent or any other scale to produce a constant n.
  • the fluency score may then be determined as shown in Equation 2.
  • the user's fluency may be scored as the accuracy of the utterance divided by the amount of time used to speak the utterance. In other words it is the accuracy score per unit time.
  • Equation 3 Either or both ratios may be weighted to reflect a greater or lesser importance as shown in Equation 3.
  • a is a weight or weighting factor that is applied to adjust the significance of the user's accuracy in the final score and b is a weighting factor to adjust the significance of the user's speed in the final fluency score.
  • Weights may be applied to the two ratios in Equation 1 in a similar way. The weighting factors may be changed depending on the utterance, the assignment, or the level of proficiency in the language. For example, for a beginning student, it may be more important to stress accuracy in producing the sounds of the language. For an advanced student, it may be more important to stress normal speaking tempos.
  • FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing an example of a method for performing an oral practice or task assignment on a VLT online client or any other CALL system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein with respect to flow diagram 300, other functional flow diagrams are within the scope of the invention.
  • the process begins with block 302, where the process immediately proceeds to block 304.
  • the student may be requested to first listen to the audio portion of a benchmark voice pronunciation and intonation of a sentence by playing a benchmark A/V (block 304).
  • the student may select voice pronunciations at variable speeds so that a user can compare the benchmark with pronunciations that are slower or faster.
  • VLT online client 104 plays one sentence of the benchmark A/V or pronunciation at a time when the student presses a play button.
  • the student also may have an option of repeating a sentence or moving to the next sentence by pressing a forward or reverse button, respectively.
  • the benchmark A/V or pronunciation may include a spoken expression or a visual component only,
  • the benchmark A/V may have only an audio recitation of a benchmark expression.
  • the audio may be accompanied by a visualization of a person speaking the expression or other visual cues related to the passage.
  • the student may be requested to read a passage.
  • the sentence, expression, or passage may be displayed on a screen or VLT online client may refer the student to other reference materials.
  • the student may be requested to compose an answer or a response to a question or other prompt.
  • the benchmark A/V may, for example, provide an image of an object or action to prompt the student to name the object or action.
  • VLT online client 104 may record the student's pronunciation of the sentence, separate the student's recorded sentence, word by word, and phoneme by phoneme (block 308), and perform any other appropriate operations on the recorded utterance.
  • VLT online client may then analyze the student's accuracy, by assessing for example the pronunciation and intonation of each word or phoneme by comparing it with the pronunciation and intonation of the benchmark voice or in some other way (block 310). This may be accomplished in any of a variety of different ways including using forced alignment, speech analysis, and pattern recognition techniques. VLT online client may also analyze the student's speed by measuring the elapsed time or duration of the recorded utterance and comparing it to the duration of the benchmark voice. The speed measurement may be determined on a per word, per sentence, per passage or total utterance basis. Alternatively, one or more of these speed measures may be combined.
  • VLT online client 104 After comparing the student's response with the benchmark voice, VLT online client 104 provides feedback and grading to the student (block 312). The feedback and grading may provide the student with detailed information regarding both accuracy and speed, which may aid the student in knowing which sentence, word or phoneme needs improvement.
  • the fluency of a spoken utterance may be measured when a student speaks into a computer, PDA or other device.
  • the utterance may be captured as audio, and the accuracy and speed of the utterance may be analyzed using the captured audio. If the student speaks a known text or passage, then the captured audio may be analyzed against a benchmark for the known text. The fluency analysis may then be provided to the student.
  • Fig. 4 shows an example of a display layout 402 that may be used with the process flow of Fig. 3.
  • the display is identified with a title bar 404.
  • the title bar indicates a name for a particular course, tongue twister 1.
  • title bar 404 displays a title of a task in an associated proficiency level. This is the course from which the speaking exercise is taken.
  • the title bar may be used to show a great variety of information about the display and the information in the display.
  • the display has a transcript display area 406 in which an expression, sentence or longer passage may be displayed. This may be the text that the student is asked to read. Alternatively, as mentioned above, a question or prompt may be displayed in the transcript display area or a picture or video sequence.
  • the display also has a fluency bar 408.
  • the control panel shows in this example, an identification of the sentence as 1/10 or the first often sentences.
  • An accuracy bar identified with an accuracy icon 410 indicates the accuracy of a spoken utterance, as identified as A 11561 . or (A 11561 / A ben ) above, and a time bar and accompanying icon 412 indicates the time used to speak the utterance, or in other words, the speed of the spoken utterance.
  • Additional buttons and controls may be added to the fluency rating bar. In one embodiment, an average time of all students performing the assignment or task is displayed next to the students tie for a comparison. The buttons may be made context sensitive so that they are displayed only when they are operable.
  • Fig. 4 shows a display toggle button 414 that may be selected to modify the buttons and indicators on the control panel.
  • the CALL system is ready for the student to practice speaking the passage.
  • the student has read the passage and the CALL system has provided a score.
  • the display 502 of Fig. 5 includes title bar 504, transcript display area 506, and fluency rating bar 508 like that of Fig. 4.
  • the accuracy bar 510 shows an accuracy score of 83 out of 100 and a horizontal line graphically indicates 83% of the window as filled in.
  • the time bar indicates a time of 5.8 seconds and a horizontal line graphically indicates the portion of the allowed time or benchmark time that the student used.
  • a quick look at the fluency rating bar in this example shows that the user has room to improve in accuracy and additional unused time to complete the passage.
  • similar bars display the average accuracy score and average time of other students.
  • the averages can be set to a particular class of students, particular age, daily average, weekly average, etc.
  • a student can select a graphical display (e.g., x-y graph) so the student can see their own progress or compare themselves with other students.
  • Fig. 6 illustrates an example of an alternative display.
  • a student may switch between the display of Fig. 5 and the display of Fig. 6 by selecting the display toggle button 514, 614.
  • both displays may be combined in a single fluency rating bar or similar information may be provided in a different way.
  • the fluency rating bar 608 has been changed to provide an overall combined fluency score using a score bar 616 similar to the accuracy bar 510 and the time bar 512 of Fig. 5. This score may correspond to the fluency score F 11561 . described above.
  • the fluency bar provides a numerical (1.10) score and a graphical horizontal line score, indicating that there is room for the student to improve.
  • the accuracy, speed and fluency bars are provided as an example of how to present scores to a student in both a numerical and graphical form.
  • a great variety of different types of indicators may be used, such as vertical lines, analog dials, pie charts, etc.
  • the bars may be scaled in any of a variety of different ways and the numerical values may be scaled as percentages, represented by letters, or provided as numbers without scaling.
  • the bars may also be used to provide additional information.
  • the horizontal indicator of the time bar may be used to indicate the speed of the benchmark utterance.
  • the horizontal window may be empty or blank as shown in Fig. 4.
  • the filling in of the window may be timed so that at the end of the time required by the benchmark utterance, the window is completely filled. This gives the student a rough idea of how to pace the exercise.
  • timing markers may also be used, for example, a marker may be superimposed over the text so that the user can try to speak the text at the same rate that the text is colored over or that a cursor advances along the text.
  • the time bar the student is encouraged to read the text before the time bar is completely filled with, for example a blue color. If the text is completed before the window is filled, as shown in Fig. 5, then the student has read faster than the benchmark. If the student reads slower than the benchmark, then the time bar may change color to red, for example, after the time bar is filled with blue and the allotted time has expired. The red bar may also advance horizontally across the window to indicate how much extra time the student has used. As shown in Fig. 5, the student may be able to improve the accuracy score of 83 by speaking more slowly and using more than 5.8 seconds of the allotted time. This may increase the fluency score shown as 1.10 in Fig. 6.
  • Fig. 7 shows another approach to displaying speed and fluency to a user.
  • a title bar 704 provides information about the display such as the sentence concerned, its difficulty and any bonus points that may be applied for its completion.
  • a rank bar 706 may display a student's ranking with respect to previous attempts or with respect to other students. In the present example, the rank bar, shows the student's ranking for the last attempt at the sentence, the best ranking for any attempt by the student at the sentence and an amount of course credit for the student's effort.
  • a credit bar 708 may be used to track overall progress through a course of study and in this example shows the total credit earned.
  • a history window 710 is provided in Fig. 7 to allow a user to compare results for speaking a particular passage.
  • the history window shows results that ty, tzhu2 and Maggie are the last three users with best performance to speak sentence 10792.
  • the history window provides a fluency score 712, a speed score 714, in terms of the amount of time used to speak the passage, and an accuracy score 716. Any number of additional features may be provided in the display.
  • Fig. 7 shows speaker icons 718 to allow the student to listen to prior attempts at the passage, and a "Top" tab 720 to allow the student to view different information.
  • the "Top" tab may allow the student to see results of the top performers in a class.
  • Maggie provides as the three best performers for sentence 10792. It provides their fluency score, the duration used to speak the sentence (the speed of the speech), their speed score, the number of speaking attempts used to attain the score and the date on which the score was achieved. For example, the best fluency score, 1.29, is for the user ty. This user achieved this score on the 4th attempt to speak the sentence, speaking the sentence in only 10.43 seconds.
  • This display allows a user to compare performances with others in a group. In another display, a user can compare the user's different attempts to each other as well as other students.
  • the credit gained is computed by the following equation.
  • the more difficult a sentence is the more credit points are given to a student if he practices it.
  • a student user can get extra bonus credit if they become one of the top three (3) best performers. It would be more and more difficult to break the record of a specific sentence after several times of record breaking, in order to keep the attraction to users, in one embodiment the bonus is relevant to how many times the record is updated. The larger the number is, the more credit will be given to the user when they break the record.
  • the bonus credit is shown in the following equation:
  • n represents the number of times the records are updated by all users, means the smallest integer which is no smaller than n/3 and k means the exact placement that the user places.
  • a block diagram is presented showing a process flow through various hardware or software modules to generate a fluency score.
  • the fluency score may be presented to the user or student in any of a variety of different way including using the user interface examples of Figs. 4-7.
  • a user utterance is captured.
  • the utterance may be provided in response to a user interface such as the one shown in Fig. 4.
  • the utterance may be recorded for processing as shown in Fig. 8.
  • the user utterance is provided to an accuracy evaluation block 804 and a speed evaluation block 806.
  • the two blocks each produce a score that may independently be provided to a user and the two scores may be combined to generate a fluency score at block 808.
  • All three scores may be provided to a user as shown in Figs. 5-7 or in any other way. Additional scores may be generated in other blocks (not shown) that evaluate other aspects of the user's utterance. The utterance and scores may be saved in memory (not shown) for reference later.
  • the utterance may be segmented at block 810 into sentences, words, syllables, phonemes, or any other portions.
  • An accuracy analysis may then be performed at block 812 on each of the portions. Different evaluations may be performed on different types of portions. For example, words may be evaluated for pitch changes and phonemes may be evaluated for pronunciation. A great variety of different tests of pronunciation or other aspects of the utterance may be evaluated.
  • a score is generated at block 814 that provides a characterization of the accuracy of the utterance as compared to the benchmark utterance. A single score may be produced or multiple scores for different aspects of the evaluation may be produced together with a combined accuracy score. In the description above, this accuracy score is represented by A 11561 ZA b6n .
  • the user utterance is also provided to the speed evaluation block 806.
  • the total duration of the utterance is compared to the duration of a benchmark utterance at block 818.
  • the comparison is applied to generate a score at block 820.
  • any one or more of the portions generated from the segmentation block 810 may be applied to a segment duration comparison at block 816.
  • the segment duration comparison may be used to compare the duration of each sentence, word or syllable to the benchmark. Such a comparison may be used to ensure that a speaker speaks at an even tempo or that some words are not spoken more quickly than other words.
  • the segment duration block is coupled to the score generation block 820.
  • the score generated here is represented in the description above by D use /D ben .
  • the accuracy score and the duration score are combined to generate the fluency score at block 808.
  • the fluency score and any one or more of the other final or intermediate scores may be recorded and presented to the user as described above in the context of Figs. 5-7.
  • Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen shot 900 of feedback and grading provided by VLT online client 104 after a response to a sentence.
  • Fig. 9 shows a sentence from the transcript 902 (that is, the transcript of the benchmark audio portion), the pronunciation results for each word 904 and phoneme 906 (shown as phones in the display), and the intonation results for each word in the form of duration 908, stress 910, and pitch 912.
  • a thumb up means a good intonation result. More information will be prompted if the intonation of the work is not as good as the benchmark.
  • Screen shot 900 also includes an overall sentence score 914 and an overall phoneme score 916.
  • a student may position his/her mouse above a score bar to see details about each word or phoneme.
  • a student may also hear their recorded voice for each word by a left click of the mouse on the word score bar.
  • a right click of the mouse on the word score bar enables the student to hear the benchmark voice of the word.
  • the student may select the "Your Voice" button 918 and to hear the benchmark voice, the student may select the "Benchmark" button 920.
  • Fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a process of an embodiment for a VLT in a competition based environment.
  • Process 1000 begins with block 1005 where a user/student initiates a session.
  • the user/student is prompted to read either a sentence or a passage.
  • the user's/student's voice is recorded.
  • block 320 see Fig. 3 and associated description
  • the user's/student's speech fluency is evaluated and a score is determined.
  • Process 1000 continues with block 1020.
  • the user/student is presented with their score and ranking information on a display.
  • the score is stored in server, remote server, local device or portable device.
  • the ranking information is determined by comparing the user's/student's score with all other users/students. In one embodiment, the comparison is determined by class, level, age group, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
  • the score information is stored in one or more databases. The databases can be stored on a server, a remote server, local device, or in memory on a portable device.
  • block 1030 compares the current user's/student's score to other users currently online or whether the current user/student scored high enough to place in the top three placements. If it is determined the current user/ student did score over online users/students or placed in the top three, the user/student is awarded a bonus (see Eq. 5) and a top performer list is updated for all users/students to see. Process 1000 then continues with block 1035. If it is determined that the current user/ student did not perform over other online users/students or high enough to place in the top three, the user/student is awarded credit and process 1000 continues with block 1050.
  • the user's/student's total credit (including any bonus credit if awarded) is compared to a predetermined credit amount associated with a level of language proficiency. If the user's/student's total credit meets or exceeds the predetermined credit amount for the next level, the user/student is moved up to tasks/assignments associated with the next highest level in block 1060 and process 1000 continues with block 1070. If the user's/student's total credit does not meet the amount necessary to move to the next level, process 1000 continues with bock 1070.
  • a user/student is prompted as to whether or not the user/ student want to continue. If the user/student wants to continue, process 1000 continues with block 1010. If the user/student decides not to continue, process 1000 continues with block 1080 where process 1000 ends.
  • Fig. 11 illustrates another embodiment of a user/student display. Display
  • Display 1100 is a modified version of display illustrated in Fig. 7.
  • Display 1100 includes level indicator 1110 and level bar 1120.
  • Level indicator 1110 indicates the current level of the user/student. In this example, the level is 9.
  • Bar 1120 indicates the user's/ student's level completion status. Bar 1120 compares user/student level against the total number of levels in a selected group of tasks/assignments. In another embodiment, bar 1120 indicates a user's/student's progress towards the amount of credit necessary to move up to the next level.
  • Fig. 12 illustrates an embodiment of a screen shot of most active users/students 1210, overall ranking 1220 and a medal list 1230.
  • Most active users/students list 1210 is based on the credit point a user gained during a recent period (e.g. the recent 2 weeks).
  • the user's/student's names and amount of credit is listed in most active user/student list 1210.
  • the user's/student's log in time and their log out time are stored.
  • the amount of time per session is added to a running total and stored in database in a server, remote server, local device or portable device memory. All of the user/student total times are compared and displayed in order in most active user/student list 1210.
  • the most active user/student list can be selected by level, class, age, etc.
  • Overall ranking list 1220 displays lists of users/students ranked by highest level achievement. The user's/ student's names and current level are displayed. In another embodiment, overall ranking list 1220 can display rank by credits and/or bonus points awarded. In another embodiment, overall ranking list can display ranking per class, level, weekly, monthly, etc.
  • Medal list 1230 displays the number of times a user/student placed first, second and third (depicted as gold 1231, silver 1232 and bronze 1233 medals).
  • Medal list 1230 is ordered by the number of first placements, followed by the number of second placements and third placements. In another embodiment, medal list 1230 can display medal rankings by class, level, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
  • the displays illustrated in Figs. 11-12 are displayed on a homepage to recognize the top achievers.
  • the displays are shown to a current user/student for a predetermined time when the user/student starts and/or finishes a session.
  • the competition based language learning embodiments is set in a gaming environment that makes the boring learning process exciting and intensive by the competition and interaction with other users in a community.
  • the competition environment showed an increase in proficiency of 1.5 ⁇ 2 times those in a non-competition based environment. Additionally, tests have shown that the average usage time increases 60% ⁇ 90%
  • the system may comprise a VLT online module that is coupled to a hard disk drive and/or a removable storage drive, such as a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc.
  • a removable storage drive such as a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc.
  • Removable storage drives read from and/or write to removable storage units, such as a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc., in a well-known manner.
  • both the student and teacher may interact with the VLT online module.
  • assignments/tasks may be in the form of a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc.
  • Student histories may be stored on the hard disk drive, which may be accessible to both the student and the teacher.
  • Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. In one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein.
  • An example implementation of a computer system 1300 is shown in Fig. 10. Various embodiments are described in terms of this example of a computer system 1300, however other computer systems or computer architectures may be used.
  • Computer system 1300 includes one or more processors, such as processors
  • Computer system 1300 also includes a main memory 1305, such as local random access memory (RAM), synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), fast page mode DRAM (FPM DRAM), Extended Data Out DRAM (EDO DRAM), Burst EDO DRAM (BEDO DRAM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) also known as Flash memory, etc., and may also include a secondary memory 1310.
  • Secondary memory 1310 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 1312 and/or a removable storage drive 1314, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc.
  • Removable storage drive 1314 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 1318.
  • Removable storage unit 1318 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc., which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 1314.
  • removable storage unit 1318 may include a machine readable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data.
  • secondary memory 1310 may include other ways to allow computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system 1300, for example, a removable storage unit 1322 and an interface 1320.
  • Examples may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip or card (such as an EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), or flash memory) and associated socket, and other removable storage units 1322 and interfaces 1320 which allow software and data to be transferred from removable storage unit 1322 to computer system 1300.
  • Computer system 1300 may also include a communications interface 1324.
  • Communications interface 1324 allows software and data to be transferred between computer system 1300 and external devices.
  • Examples of communications interface 1324 may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA (personal computer memory card international association) slot and card, a wireless LAN (local area network) interface, etc.
  • Software and data transferred via communications interface 1324 are in the form of signals 1328 which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 1324. These signals 1328 are provided to communications interface 1324 via a communications path (i.e., channel) 1326.
  • Channel 1326 carries signals 1328 and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, a wireless link, and other communications channels.
  • Computer system 1300 can also include display 1330 for displaying the various graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and user displays.
  • Display 1330 can be an analog electronic display, a digital electronic display a vacuum fluorescent (VF) display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, a plasma display (PDP), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a high performance addressing (HPA) display, a thin-film transistor (TFT) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, a heads-up display (HUD), etc.
  • GUIs graphical user interfaces
  • Display 1330 can be an analog electronic display, a digital electronic display a vacuum fluorescent (VF) display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, a plasma display (PDP), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a high performance addressing (HPA) display, a thin-film transistor (TFT) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, a heads-up display (HUD), etc.
  • VF vacuum fluorescent
  • LED light emitting dio
  • computer program product may refer to removable storage units 1318, 1322, and signals 1328. These computer program products allow software to be provided to computer system 1300. Embodiments of the invention may be directed to such computer program products.
  • Computer programs also called computer control logic
  • Computer programs are stored in main memory 1305, and/or secondary memory 1310 and/or in computer program products. Computer programs may also be received via communications interface 1324. Such computer programs, when executed, enable computer system 1300 to perform features of embodiments of the present invention as discussed herein.
  • the computer programs when executed, enable processor 1303 to perform the features of embodiments of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of computer system 1300.
  • the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer system 1300 using removable storage drive 1314, hard drive 1312 or communications interface 1324.
  • the control logic when executed by processor 1303, causes processor 1303 to perform functions described herein.
  • the invention is implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) using hardware state machine(s) to perform the functions described herein.
  • ASICs application specific integrated circuits
  • the invention is implemented using a combination of both hardware and software.
  • VLT Voice over IP
  • utterance assessment and scoring process or computer system than the examples described above may be preferred for certain implementations. Therefore, the configuration and ordering of the examples provided above may vary from implementation to implementation depending upon numerous factors, such as the hardware application, price constraints, performance requirements, technological improvements, or other circumstances. Embodiments of the present invention may also be adapted to other types of user interfaces, communication devices, learning methodologies, and languages than the examples described herein.
  • embodiments of the present invention may include Chinese as the native language and English as the second language, the invention is not limited to these languages not to teaching a second language. Embodiments of the invention may be applicable to native language training as well.
  • Embodiments of the present disclosure described herein may be implemented in circuitry, which includes hardwired circuitry, digital circuitry, analog circuitry, programmable circuitry, and so forth. These embodiments may also be implemented in computer programs. Such computer programs may be coded in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language. The program(s), however, can be implemented in assembly or machine language if desired. The language may be compiled or interpreted. Additionally, these techniques may be used in a wide variety of networking environments.
  • Such computer programs may be stored on a storage media or device (e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, read only memory (ROM), CD-ROM device, flash memory device, digital versatile disk (DVD), or other storage device) readable by a general or special purpose programmable processing system, for configuring and operating the processing system when the storage media or device is read by the processing system to perform the procedures described herein.
  • a storage media or device e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, read only memory (ROM), CD-ROM device, flash memory device, digital versatile disk (DVD), or other storage device
  • ROM read only memory
  • CD-ROM device compact disc-read only memory
  • flash memory device e.g., compact flash memory
  • DVD digital versatile disk
  • Embodiments of the disclosure may also be considered to be implemented as a machine-readable or machine recordable storage medium, configured for use with a processing system, where the storage medium so configured causes the processing system to operate in a specific and predefined manner to perform the functions described herein.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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  • Educational Technology (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
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Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif comprenant un bloc d'évaluation de précision destiné à évaluer la précision d'une émission de parole, un bloc d'évaluation de vitesse destiné à évaluer la vitesse d'une émission de parole, un bloc d'évaluation de fluidité verbale relié au bloc d'évaluation de précision et au bloc d'évaluation de vitesse pour attribuer un score à l'émission de parole en fonction de la précision et de la vitesse. Un bloc de compétition permet aux utilisateurs de comparer un score correspondant à une émission de parole à d'autres scores, aux meilleures émissions de parole et aux meilleurs utilisateurs; et de récompenser les utilisateurs en conséquence, dans un environnement compétitif.
PCT/CN2006/001185 2006-06-01 2006-06-01 Système, procédé et appareil destinés à des exercices d'apprentissage d'une langue basés sur une competition WO2007137457A1 (fr)

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Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20030037004A1 (en) * 2001-08-14 2003-02-20 Chuck Buffum Dialog-based voiceprint security for business transactions
CN1519752A (zh) * 2003-01-20 2004-08-11 黄致辉 一种自然语言语法分析器及其方法
JP2005038329A (ja) * 2003-07-18 2005-02-10 National Institute Of Information & Communication Technology 程度語の意味数値化方法及び装置

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20030037004A1 (en) * 2001-08-14 2003-02-20 Chuck Buffum Dialog-based voiceprint security for business transactions
CN1519752A (zh) * 2003-01-20 2004-08-11 黄致辉 一种自然语言语法分析器及其方法
JP2005038329A (ja) * 2003-07-18 2005-02-10 National Institute Of Information & Communication Technology 程度語の意味数値化方法及び装置

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