An Sc?ala?: autonomous learners harnessing speech and language technologies

Abstract

This paper presents an autonomous language learning platform which has speech and language technology at its core. An Scealaí ('the Storyteller') is a web-based interactive iCALL system that allows learners to compose their own text and correct it by listening to the text spoken with synthetic voices (aural proofing) and by responding to NLP prompts that detect errors. All learner interactions are logged and monitored, allowing researchers to observe the learning processes. A pilot study by 14 learners of Irish in the US was conducted to explore the efficacy of the corrective mechanisms currently implemented in the platform. The results of the pilot study indicate that both mechanisms currently on offer were effective in the development of writing skills but work in rather different ways. Aural proofing appears to generate an immediate corrective response which indicates that it is serving both to develop awareness of specific phonological contrasts as well as basic phonic rules of the language. In the case of the NLP prompts, corrections were also made, although the data suggest that this is a slower process and that learners may, at least initially, merely be satisfying the system's prompts rather than discovering the grammatical basis of the correction. The pilot has been useful in pointing towards future directions for platform development that can take the needs of this type of adult autonomous learner into account.