Questions for class discussion
Teaching and assessing pronunciation by O'Brien
1. Sunjoo's question: Benefits of ASR
On page 384-387, O'Brien explains advantages and disadvantages of the various software with ASR. What do you think general benefits of ASR are for learners or teachers?
2. Koral's question: Evaluation of Connected Speech
What are the five issues to consider when evaluating CAPT courseware?(Hint: See section three, page 381) How would you evaluate Connected Speech based on the 5 evaluation criteria discussed in section three?
3. Abby's question: Error correction and feedback in Connected Speech
When it comes to error correction and feedback within Connected Speech, what challenges might your students, and you as the teacher encounter and how would you deal with them?
4. Nancy's question: Is using Connected Speech worth it?
As O'Brien says in Section 4.2 ASR software is notoriously unreliable and may give learners incorrect feedback. Is it worth it to take the chance on your students getting bad feedback from a CAPT software or is it worth taking the time to spend time working on listening to students recordings of their pronunciation work?
5. Bill's question: Comparison: CAPT/ Connected Speech vs. Highly trained native speaker
Based on the technology that is currently available (as reviewed in the chapter), how does the effectiveness of CAPT compare to the effectiveness of a HTNS (Highly trained native speaker)? Going forward, how to you think this comparisons will look in 5 years? How about in 10 years? When making predictions, try to be as specific as possible.
6. Lindsay's question: Ideal communicative CAPT software
In your opinion, what does the 'ideal' communicative CAPT look like?
Teaching and assessing pronunciation by O'Brien
1. Sunjoo's question: Benefits of ASR
On page 384-387, O'Brien explains advantages and disadvantages of the various software with ASR. What do you think general benefits of ASR are for learners or teachers?
2. Koral's question: Evaluation of Connected Speech
What are the five issues to consider when evaluating CAPT courseware?(Hint: See section three, page 381) How would you evaluate Connected Speech based on the 5 evaluation criteria discussed in section three?
3. Abby's question: Error correction and feedback in Connected Speech
When it comes to error correction and feedback within Connected Speech, what challenges might your students, and you as the teacher encounter and how would you deal with them?
4. Nancy's question: Is using Connected Speech worth it?
As O'Brien says in Section 4.2 ASR software is notoriously unreliable and may give learners incorrect feedback. Is it worth it to take the chance on your students getting bad feedback from a CAPT software or is it worth taking the time to spend time working on listening to students recordings of their pronunciation work?
5. Bill's question: Comparison: CAPT/ Connected Speech vs. Highly trained native speaker
Based on the technology that is currently available (as reviewed in the chapter), how does the effectiveness of CAPT compare to the effectiveness of a HTNS (Highly trained native speaker)? Going forward, how to you think this comparisons will look in 5 years? How about in 10 years? When making predictions, try to be as specific as possible.
6. Lindsay's question: Ideal communicative CAPT software
In your opinion, what does the 'ideal' communicative CAPT look like?