Improving foreign language reading technique using neural text-to-speech technology

Abstract

Introduction. The intensification and technical development of the country, the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-crisis phase have led to the active integration of digital resources into the educational process, which has led to a new stage of development of the modern Russian education system – its digitalization. At present, new digital technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies, are being developed and introduced into the teaching of foreign languages. This article considers the use of text-to-speech technology functioning via neural networks to improve the reading technique in English and German of students of linguistic and non-linguistic specialties. Reading skills in a foreign language can be improved with the help of Natural Reader and TTSFree speech synthesizers, which students can use on their own. Due to application of the new FES HVE (Federal Educational Standards of Higher Vocational Education) of 2018 the volume of classroom work with students has decreased and the volume of independent work of students and students number in educational groups have increased, according to this matter the practical use of speech synthesizers in a foreign language classes seems relevant and important. Materials and Methods. Conducting an experiment to determine the effectiveness of the use of Natural Reader and TTSFree speech synthesizers to improve reading skills of linguistic and non-linguistic specialties students, calculating the number of phonetic errors when reading a foreign text before and after using of the voice generator, summarizing and interpreting the results obtained. Results. The list of publications studied in the process of scientific research makes 40 Russian and foreign works. These materials allowed to study the application of TTS technology with the use of neural networks, as well as Natural Reader and TTSFree speech synthesizers in foreign language classes at the university, which allowed to prove in practice the effectiveness of the analyzed services to improve the reading technique in English and German. Discussion and Conclusions. On the basis of theoretical research of scientific sources, as well as studying the experience of practical application of speech synthesizers Natural Reader and TTSFree, the conclusion about the great didactic potential of TTS technology is formulated. Possible applications of speech synthesis include the creation of an authentic language environment, the automation of reading, listening and speaking skills, as well as the self-control of students with their written language, voiced by TTS technology.