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arXiv · 2410.02239

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

Haopeng Geng·Daisuke Saito·Nobuaki Minematsu
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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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Haopeng Geng, Daisuke Saito, Nobuaki Minematsu. 2024-10-03. A Pilot Study of Applying Sequence-to-Sequence Voice Conversion to Evaluate the Intelligibility of L2 Speech Using a Native Speaker's Shadowings. https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.02239

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