Method and apparatus providing hypothesis driven speech modelling for use in speech recognition

A speech recognition system having an input for receiving an input signal indicative of a spoken utterance that is indicative of at least one speech element. The system further includes a first processing unit operative for processing the input signal to derive from a speech recognition dictionary a speech model associated to a given speech element that constitutes a potential match to the at least one speech element. The system further comprised a second processing unit for generating a modified version of the speech model on the basis of the input signal. The system further provides a third processing unit for processing the input signal on the basis of the modified version of the speech model to generate a recognition result indicative of whether the modified version of the at least one speech model constitutes a match to the input signal. The second processing unit allows the speech model to be modified on the basis of the recognition attempt thereby allowing speech recognition to be effected on the basis of the modified speech model. This permits adaptation of the speech models during the recognition process. The invention further provides an apparatus, method and computer readable medium for implementing the second processing unit.