human+voice+Tech-Cheryl

Human Voice Technology Human voice technology includes both the synthesis of human speech and human voice recognition. (We all know how irritating the automated answering technology can be.) Voice technology recognition is the digital recognition of words, phrases and continuous speech. Human voice recognition technology is being developed for translation by systems such as Google translator, but perfection is not yet in sight. Discrete word systems are easiest to create, but the speaker must pause between each word. Connected voice systems allow multiple word phrases, but the speaker must still pause between words. Continuous speech is the most difficult level of recognition to perfect. Human voice technology has the potential to be used in Tesol as a translation aid from the L1 to English or vice versa. It could read words, sentences or even books (as in Kindle) to (or with) learners. It also could be used as an immediate feedback tool for ELLs to perfect their pronunciation. Some universities are already using it in this way with students accessing files through their mobile devices.

My idea: Whether or not you use the "recognition" feature of the voice technology, students can use this for practice and imitation. The teacher can record a word list (or perhaps examples of minimal pairs) and students can access these and pronounce them after class. Students could also record words and phrases and the teacher can evaluate them. A record can be kept so that students can listen to their progress over time.

Comment: I could see this being a good way for students to work on a practice pronunciation list of those tricky words, e.g. a list of l, r and th words! Lynda Howe

Comment: I like the idear of using human voice Tech. for my students who can't read. It would be an excellent use of technology for the students to listen, and practice the pronounciation of vocabulary.