Using Speech and NLP Resources to build an iCALL platform for a minority language, the story of An Scéalaí, the Irish experience to date

no code implementations • ComputEL (ACL) 2022 • Neasa Ní Chiaráin, Oisín Nolan, Madeleine Comtois, Neimhin Robinson Gunning, Harald Berthelsen, Ailbhe Ni Chasaide

This paper describes how emerging linguistic resources and technologies can be used to build a language learning platform for Irish, an endangered language.

Language Acquisition

Using the LARA Little Prince to compare human and TTS audio quality

no code implementations • LREC 2022 • Elham Akhlaghi, Ingibjörg Iða Auðunardóttir, Anna Bączkowska, Branislav Bédi, Hakeem Beedar, Harald Berthelsen, Cathy Chua, Catia Cucchiarin, Hanieh Habibi, Ivana Horváthová, Junta Ikeda, Christèle Maizonniaux, Neasa Ní Chiaráin, Chadi Raheb, Manny Rayner, John Sloan, Nikos Tsourakis, Chunlin Yao

Samples of audio totalling about five minutes, representing the same four passages taken from LARA versions of Saint-Exupèry’s “Le petit prince”, were provided for each language in both human and TTS form; the passages were chosen to instantiate the 2x2 cross product of the conditions dialogue, not-dialogue and humour, not-humour.

Automatic Speech Recognition for Irish: the ABAIR-ÉIST System

no code implementations • CLTW (LREC) 2022 • Liam Lonergan, Mengjie Qian, Harald Berthelsen, Andy Murphy, Christoph Wendler, Neasa Ní Chiaráin, Christer Gobl, Ailbhe Ní Chasaide

This paper describes ÉIST, automatic speech recogniser for Irish, developed as part of the ongoing ABAIR initiative, combining (1) acoustic models, (2) pronunciation lexicons and (3) language models into a hybrid system.

Automatic Speech Recognition Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) +2

Celtic CALL: strengthening the vital role of education for language transmission

no code implementations • CLTW (LREC) 2022 • Neasa Ní Chiaráin, Madeleine Comtois, Oisín Nolan, Neimhin Robinson-Gunning, John Sloan, Harald Berthelsen, Ailbhe Ní Chasaide

Given the key role of education for the transmission of all the Celtic languages, it is vital that digital technologies be harnessed to maximise the effectiveness of language teaching/learning.

AAC don Ghaeilge: the Prototype Development of Speech-Generating Assistive Technology for Irish

no code implementations • CLTW (LREC) 2022 • Emily Barnes, Oisín Morrin, Ailbhe Ní Chasaide, Julia Cummins, Harald Berthelsen, Andy Murphy, Muireann Nic Corcráin, Claire O’Neill, Christer Gobl, Neasa Ní Chiaráin

This paper describes the prototype development of an Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) system for the Irish language.

Reading Assistance through LARA, the Learning And Reading Assistant

no code implementations • READI (LREC) 2022 • Elham Akhlaghi, Ingibjörg Iða Auðunardóttir, Branislav Bédi, Hakeem Beedar, Harald Berthelsen, Cathy Chua, Catia Cucchiarini, Brynjarr Eyjólfsson, Nedelina Ivanova, Christèle Maizonniaux, Neasa Ní Chiaráin, Manny Rayner, John Sloan, Sigurður Vigfússon, Ghil’Ad Zuckermann

We present an overview of LARA, the Learning And Reading Assistant, an open source platform for easy creation and use of multimedia annotated texts designed to support the improvement of reading skills.

Constructing Multimodal Language Learner Texts Using LARA: Experiences with Nine Languages

no code implementations • LREC 2020 • Elham Akhlaghi, Branislav B{\'e}di, Fatih Bekta{\c{s}}, Harald Berthelsen, Matthias Butterweck, Cathy Chua, Catia Cucchiarin, G{\"u}l{\c{s}}en Eryi{\u{g}}it, Johanna Gerlach, Hanieh Habibi, Neasa N{\'\i} Chiar{\'a}in, Manny Rayner, Stein{\th}{\'o}r Steingr{\'\i}msson, Helmer Strik

LARA (Learning and Reading Assistant) is an open source platform whose purpose is to support easy conversion of plain texts into multimodal online versions suitable for use by language learners.