Success for the virtual language teacher Ville

He is here now, the virtual language teacher Ville. He makes life easier for people who are learning a new language by using speech technology, games and special exercises based on linguistic and phonetic skills.

“Ville is an animated 3D model, a talking head. He creates a natural environment so you can practice pronunciation and other aspects of language,” says Preben Wik, researcher at the Department of Speech, Music and Hearing at KTH.

He has just defended his dissertation, ”The virtual language teacher” in which Ville features. He explains Ville’s existence with the fact that humans are used to talking to people.

“If we are to practice speaking it might be more natural to talk to a human being - real or virtual - rather than talking to a menu or a button,” says Preben Wik.

Ville also shows for example how the lips are formed with the vowels ”i” and ”y”, and uses movements of the head and eyebrows to visually highlight which syllable should be accentuated in the word in order to facilitate the learning process. Moreover, the students who have tried the program think that it has entertainment value. ”It makes things a little bit more fun and a less serious learning environment. It makes you more relaxed...” a student writes, for example, when Ville is evaluated.

The idea is that in the future, there will be ways for Ville to measure and provide feedback on all the major types of pronunciation mistakes, while creating a learning environment that is constructive and entertaining.

“A concept I believe a lot in, is ”Game-based learning”. The motivation to learn a new language is crucial to how well you succeed, and we have much to learn from those who produce computer games,” says Preben Wik.

A human teacher is obviously better than a virtual teacher in many ways, but the virtual teacher also has certain advantages over a real person. The computer’s ability to do millions of calculations per second can be used to produce precise measurements of what the student says, keep track of individual progress, and with a never tiring attitude provide consistent visual or explanatory feedback on the student’s efforts.

“When this is combined with knowledge of the most relevant phonetic contrasts there are in a new language, and a collection of relevant games and exercises tailored to each individual, the virtual teacher can actually offer a little more than a human being,” says Preben Wik.

On language courses, there is often neither the time nor sufficient knowledge to provide good pronunciation practice. The type of pronunciation problems a person has varies from person to person based on, among other things, their native language. Individual training with feedback on pronunciation mistakes is therefore almost impossible to implement in a classroom with 30 students.

“In addition, many beginners find it embarrassing to practice in front of others,” says Preben Wik.

Ville can already explain, analyze and provide feedback on several common pronunciation difficulties, and since he can offer students the opportunity to train at home, when it best suits them, it is not difficult to see that for many believe this opens up new ways and possibilities to learn languages.

The Norwegians have really taken to Preben’s program and a Norwegian version of Ville is being developed right now in cooperation with NTNU in Trondheim. In the Norwegian version, both well-educated and illiterate people can get help with the language.

“The Norwegians have the money,” says Preben Wik with a smile.
At the same time, he points out that an investment by, for example, the Migration Board on pronunciation training using Ville, could contribute to greater integration also in Sweden.

For more information, contact Preben Wik on 08-790 62 93 or preben@speech.kth.se.

Peter Larsson