Automatic assessment of phonological processes for speech therapy and language instruction
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising:
- (a) an alternative pronunciation (AP) generator adapted to generate one or more alternative pronunciations for a target;
(b) a speech recognition (SR) engine adapted to (1) compare a user'"'"'s pronunciation of the target to a list of possible pronunciations comprising a base pronunciation for the target and the one or more alternative pronunciations and (2) identify a pronunciation in the list that best matches the user'"'"'s pronunciation; and
(c) a score management (SM) module adapted to characterize the identified pronunciation to identify one or more phonological processes, if any, associated with the user'"'"'s pronunciation.
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Abstract
A computer-based system generates alternative pronunciations for a test word or phrase corresponding to specific phonological processes that replace individual phonemes or clusters of two or more phonemes with replacement phonemes. The system compares a user'"'"'s pronunciation with a list of possible pronunciations that includes the base (i.e., correct) pronunciation of the test target as well as the different alternative pronunciations to identify the pronunciation that best matches the user'"'"'s. The system identifies the phonological process(es), if any, associated with the user'"'"'s pronunciation and generates statistics over multiple test targets that can be used to diagnose, in a speech therapy context, the user'"'"'s specific phonological disorders.
39 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising:
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(a) an alternative pronunciation (AP) generator adapted to generate one or more alternative pronunciations for a target;
(b) a speech recognition (SR) engine adapted to (1) compare a user'"'"'s pronunciation of the target to a list of possible pronunciations comprising a base pronunciation for the target and the one or more alternative pronunciations and (2) identify a pronunciation in the list that best matches the user'"'"'s pronunciation; and
(c) a score management (SM) module adapted to characterize the identified pronunciation to identify one or more phonological processes, if any, associated with the user'"'"'s pronunciation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer-based method comprising:
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(a) generating one or more alternative pronunciations for a target;
(b) comparing a user'"'"'s pronunciation of the target to a list of possible pronunciations comprising a base pronunciation for the target and the one or more alternative pronunciations in order to identify a pronunciation in the list that best matches the user'"'"'s pronunciation; and
(c) characterizing the identified pronunciation to identify one or more phonological processes, if any, associated with the user'"'"'s pronunciation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-based method for generating one or more alternative pronunciations for a target comprising, for one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target:
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selecting one or more replacement phonemes/clusters corresponding to one or more phonological processes; and
generating the one or more alternative pronunciations from different combinations of base phonemes/clusters and replacement phonemes/clusters. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification