Application of the Speech Recognition Technology in Language Education

Abstract

As technology advances and innovative communication products emerge, the interaction between people, globally, changes. Therefore, technology plays a major role in influencing both language and culture. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how the speech recognition technology available on the smartphones and tablets can support language learning. The very latest and advanced features of the smartphones such as the speech recognition capabilities were utilised in experimenting with language learning. The languages included French, German, Italian, Japanese and Mandarin. In all cases, the established learning concepts such as learning by guidance were considered. This paper has demonstrated how the latest technologies such as speech recognition can be utilised to produce effective educational materials for immersive language education. It is concluded that Technology can enable a learner to simulate the learning by guidance approach in the absence of the tutor or the opportunity of being in the actual environment.