Abstract:
The objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive, self-directed framework for interactive English and Mandarin pronunciation learning, supported by Corpus and AI technology. Additionally, the project aims to create relevant teaching materials to accompany the framework. The foundation of this endeavour will be two speech corpora derived from the Dr. Rebecca Chen’s previous TDG projects: The Spoken Corpus of Hong Kong Learners of Mandarin (T0150, 2015-2017) and The Spoken English Corpus of Chinese and Non-Chinese Learners in Hong Kong (T0200; 2018-2020). These corpora provide learners with authentic speech samples from both native and non-native speakers in Hong Kong, enabling them to recognize distinctive phonological features of English and Mandarin. To facilitate the pronunciation classes, conversational and automatic speech recognition (ASR) AI tools such as Copilot, Murf and Immersive Reader will be integrated into the corpus-based learning environment. By incorporating these AI tools, the project will pioneer the use of AI in pronunciation learning, equipping frontline teachers with practical materials.
This initiative will greatly benefit Chinese multilingual learners, aiding them in overcoming pronunciation challenges in both their L2 and L3 languages, thereby improving their overall communication skills. Furthermore, the teaching deliverables generated by this project will contribute to the development of resources for pronunciation teacher training. These resources will assist in teaching L2 and L3 pronunciation effectively and will encourage collaboration between English and Mandarin language teachers. By doing so, they will enable these educators to collectively explore and address the pronunciation difficulties faced by L1 Cantonese learners.
Code:
T0274
Principal Project Supervisors:
Keywords provided by authors:
- English pronunciation learning
- Mandarin pronunciation learning
- Pronunciation teaching and learning in the multilingual context
- Self-directed pronunciation learning
- AI and corpus-aided pronunciation teaching
Start Date:
01 Nov 2023
End Date:
31 Dec 2024
Status:
Completed
Financial Year:
2023-24
Type:
TDG