Automatic assessment of phonological processes
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising:
- (a) an alternative pronunciation (AP) generator adapted to (1) identify one or more phonological processes for one or more base phonemes/clusters in a target, (2) select one or more replacement phonemes/clusters corresponding to the one or more identified phonological processes, and (3) generate one or more alternative transcriptions for the target from different combinations of the one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target and the one or more replacement phonemes/clusters;
(b) a speech recognition (SR) engine adapted to (1) compare a user'"'"'s speech for the target to a list of possible transcriptions including a base transcription for the target and the one or more alternative transcriptions and (2) identify a transcription in the list that best matches the user'"'"'s speech; and
(c) a score management (SM) module adapted to characterize the identified transcription to identify one or more phonological processes, if any, associated with the user'"'"'s speech.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-based system generates alternative phonetic transcriptions for a target 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 speech with a list of possible transcriptions that includes the base (i.e., correct) transcription of the test target as well as the different alternative transcriptions, to identify the transcription that best matches the user'"'"'s. In a speech therapy application, the system identifies the phonological process(es), if any, associated with the user'"'"'s speech and generates statistics over multiple test targets that can be used to diagnose the user'"'"'s specific phonological disorders. The system can also be implemented in other contexts such as foreign language instruction and automated attendant applications to cover a wide variety and range of accents and/or phonological disorders.
40 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A computer system comprising:
-
(a) an alternative pronunciation (AP) generator adapted to (1) identify one or more phonological processes for one or more base phonemes/clusters in a target, (2) select one or more replacement phonemes/clusters corresponding to the one or more identified phonological processes, and (3) generate one or more alternative transcriptions for the target from different combinations of the one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target and the one or more replacement phonemes/clusters; (b) a speech recognition (SR) engine adapted to (1) compare a user'"'"'s speech for the target to a list of possible transcriptions including a base transcription for the target and the one or more alternative transcriptions and (2) identify a transcription in the list that best matches the user'"'"'s speech; and (c) a score management (SM) module adapted to characterize the identified transcription to identify one or more phonological processes, if any, associated with the user'"'"'s speech. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A computer-based method comprising:
-
(a) identifying one or more phonological processes for one or more base phonemes/clusters in a target; (b) selecting one or more replacement phonemes/clusters corresponding to the one or more identified phonological processes; (c) generating one or more alternative transcriptions for the target from different combinations of the one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target and the one or more replacement phonemes/clusters; (d) comparing a user'"'"'s speech for the target to a list of possible transcriptions including a base transcription for the target and the one or more alternative transcriptions in order to identify a transcription in the list that best matches the user'"'"'s speech; and (e) characterizing the identified transcription to identify one or more phonological processes, if any, associated with the user'"'"'s transcription. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A computer-based method for generating one or more alternative transcriptions for a target comprising, for one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target:
-
(a) identifying one or more phonological processes for the one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target; (b) selecting one or more replacement phonemes/clusters corresponding to the one or more identified phonological processes; and (c) generating the one or more alternative transcriptions for the target from different combinations of the one or more base phonemes/clusters in the target and the one or more replacement phonemes/clusters. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
-
Specification