A Pilot Study of Applying Sequence-to-Sequence Voice Conversion to Evaluate the Intelligibility of L2 Speech Using a Native Speaker's Shadowings

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2410.02239v1
• Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2024 06:24:56 GMT
• Title: A Pilot Study of Applying Sequence-to-Sequence Voice Conversion to Evaluate the Intelligibility of L2 Speech Using a Native Speaker's Shadowings
• Authors: Haopeng Geng, Daisuke Saito, Nobuaki Minematsu,
• Abstract summary: An ideal form of feedback for L2 speakers should be so fine-grained that it enables them to detect and diagnose unintelligible parts of utterances. This pilot study utilizes a unique semi-parallel dataset composed of non-native speakers' (L2) reading aloud, shadowing of native speakers (L1) and their script-shadowing utterances. We explore the technical possibility of replicating the process of an L1 speaker's shadowing L2 speech using Voice Conversion techniques, to create a virtual shadower system.
• Score: 12.29892010056753
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Utterances by L2 speakers can be unintelligible due to mispronunciation and improper prosody. In computer-aided language learning systems, textual feedback is often provided using a speech recognition engine. However, an ideal form of feedback for L2 speakers should be so fine-grained that it enables them to detect and diagnose unintelligible parts of L2 speakers' utterances. Inspired by language teachers who correct students' pronunciation through a voice-to-voice process, this pilot study utilizes a unique semi-parallel dataset composed of non-native speakers' (L2) reading aloud, shadowing of native speakers (L1) and their script-shadowing utterances. We explore the technical possibility of replicating the process of an L1 speaker's shadowing L2 speech using Voice Conversion techniques, to create a virtual shadower system. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the VC system in simulating L1's shadowing behavior. The output of the virtual shadower system shows a reasonable similarity to the real L1 shadowing utterances in both linguistic and acoustic aspects.

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