On the Effective Use of ASR Programs in a College Class of English Phonetics and Phonology

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of applying Automatic Speech Recognition(ASR) program to a college class of English phonetics and phonology and its effective uses. Although phonetic and phonological acquisition can be more effectively approached by realistic practice, most Korean college students do not have any opportunity to practice what they learned in class. This paper tries to show the need to develop a more innovative and specific way to give students chances to practice actual pronunciation for segmental English sounds as well as supra-segmental features like stress, rhythm, and intonation. The paper presents a pilot study for designing a practical college course of English phonetics and phonology in which students are given an extra assignment to improve their English pronunciation in a computer program assisted environment, provided that multimedia-assisted English education is the best possibility among more practical courses in the field. Two ASR programs, one CD-Rom based and the other the Internet based, were introduced to the students and compared in their use in order to search for the more effective application of the program in college classes of English phonetics and phonology.