The Use of ASR-Equipped Software in the Teaching of Suprasegmental Features of Pronunciation: A Critical Review

Technology has paved the way for new modalities in language learning, teaching, and assessment. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done to develop such tools for oral communication, specifically tools that address suprasegmental features in pronunciation instruction. Therefore, this critical literature review examines how researchers have tried to create computer-assisted pronunciation training tools using automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems to aid language learners in the perception and production of suprasegmental features. We used 30 texts from 1990 to 2020 to explore how technologies have been and are currently being used to help learners develop their proficiency with suprasegmental features. Based on our thematic analysis, a persistent gap still exists between ASR-equipped software available to participants in research studies and what is available to university and classroom teachers and students. Additionally, there seems to be more development in the production of speech software for language assessment. In contrast, the translation of these tools into instructional tools for individualized learning seems to be almost non-existent. Moving forward, we recommend that more commercialized pronunciation systems utilizing ASR should be made publicly available using the technologies that are currently developed or are in development for the purposes of oral proficiency judgments.