IELS: A computer assisted pronunciation training system for undergraduate students

IELS, which abbreviates Interactive English Learning System, is a computer assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) system for Chinese learners of English whose mother language is Mandarin. The system provides instant feedback of mispronunciations of phoneme, word, lexical stress, and a score of the student´s overall pronunciation quality. The system employs client-server architecture, in which the client provides friendly interface and audio I/O function, the server takes charge of speech processing, including HMM-based speech recognition, SVM-based lexical stress detection and speech scoring. IELS has been used by 52 freshmen in a Chinese University. A questionnaire survey result among a class of 31 students in the university shows that the system helps to improve their pronunciation.