This study examined the pedagogical use of Google Translate (GT) and its associated text-to-speech synthesis (TTS) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) as tools to assist in the learning of second/foreign language Dutch vocabulary and pronunciation in an autonomous, self-directed learning setting. Thirty participants used GT (its translation,…

This study investigated the effects of using an online High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) program for university students whose first language is Japanese and who studied English as a foreign language. The target sounds were English fricatives, which many of the participants felt were challenging to distinguish and articulate. The training…

Technology integration has become increasingly prevalent in language education and technology teaching tools are currently used for English instruction. In line with this trend, it is also believed to be influential in teaching and learning pronunciation. To cast an empirical light on this issue, this study aimed to analyse the influence of…

Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Teaching (CAPT) provides EFL teachers with more alternatives to help learners who have serious problems in learning pronunciation. CAPT also provides EFL learners with a private, stress-free environment where they can have access to an enormous amount of input and repetitive practice pronunciation at their own pace.…

Video captioning has been investigated extensively in the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) literature to aid second language vocabulary acquisition. However, a little is known about how video captioning could foster learners' pronunciation, which is a component of second language vocabulary acquisition proposed by Nation (Nation,…

This research analyzes the acoustic characteristics and conducts a perception test of Thai tones produced by Chinese learners learning Thai through the "Thai Tone Application". A comparison of Thai tones pronounced by 40 Chinese learners learning Thai at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University with 40 Thai native speakers was also…

This one-group quasi-experimental study aimed to determine the effectiveness of using a gamified course management system with points, badges (and consequently competition) to facilitate the development of English phonology in a foreign language context in Japan. To implement this idea, we focused on the acquisition of English segments /r/ and /l/…

In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) situations, it is important for educators to improve learners' sound recognition skill due to the variation of English found in the world. Furthermore, perceptual skill is a foundation leading to intelligibility in production. This study examined the effects of using High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT)…

This study investigated the effects of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) on beginner level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Japanese learners' perceptions and productions of the English fricatives /f/, /v/ and /?/. With the use of the computer program 'English Accent Coach' (EAC, Thomson, 2017), two groups of participants were engaged…

This study examined the factors that influenced Iranian teachers' use of computer-assisted pronunciation teaching (CAPT) in teaching English pronunciation. Iranian teachers have serious problems in teaching pronunciation such as lack of enough time, knowledge, experience, training, and suitable pronunciation materials. In this study, the…

The study explored the pedagogical use of Text-To-Speech (TTS) synthesizers by comparing two groups of students learning the pronunciations associated with Regular Past Tense (RPT) marking in English (e.g. talk[t], clean[d], want[id]). While one group received TTS-based instruction, the other was taught RPT with teacher assistance. Our findings…

Pronunciation is one of the main problems in language teaching and learning and it gets little attention. Most of students underestimate the importance of pronunciation considering that pronunciation is less important than other aspects of language. Many researchers investigated the weakness of pronunciation among students in all stages. However,…

The use of technology, such as computer-assisted language learning (CALL), is used in teaching and learning in the foreign language classrooms where it is most needed. One promising emerging technology that supports language learning is automatic speech recognition (ASR). Integrating such technology, especially in the instruction of pronunciation…

This study investigated a computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) software that utilized automatic speech recognition (ASR) and accent conversion technology to improve pronunciation of second language learners. Such speech processing method is capable of addressing the typical shortcoming of ASR technology for second language pronunciation…

Many types of L2 phonological perception are often difficult to acquire without instruction. These difficulties with perception may also be related to intelligibility in production. Instruction on perception contrasts is more likely to be successful with the use of phonetically variable input made available through computer-assisted pronunciation…