Abstract:

Those learning foreign languages often experience problems in generating correct intonation. Therefore, several attempts have been made to support the teaching of intonation with the help of devices that display the pitch of speech. This paper deals with the development of a visual intonation-display system. In this system, the visual feedback of intonation is given as a continuous representation of the pitch contour containing only the perceptually relevant aspects of the pitch contour. The course of the pitch contour is approximated by a small number of straight lines. This pitch-contour representation is supposed to facilitate the interpretation of the visual feedback of the pitch contour. In many languages, correct positioning of the pitch movements with respect to the vowel onsets is crucial to proper intonation. Vowel onsets are therefore measured and displayed, too. A description of this visual-intonation display system is given, and its possible uses for teaching intonation are discussed.

Author: Gerard W. G. Spaai, Dik J. Hermes