Learning the prosodic structure of a foreign language with a pitch visualizer
Philippe Martin, Université Paris Diderot
This paper presents a new version of the pronunciation software program WinPitch LTL. This completely redesigned version is much more easier to use by the teacher and learner alike, and contains the regular function of prosodic real time display, variable speed playback, prosodic morphing, on screen teacher comment display, etc. New features include video capabilities (the program can process multimedia files in most formats) as well as automatic alignment of the learner’s imitation on the teacher’s models. This allows for an automated comparison and explanation on the differences analyzed on the segmental and suprasegmental levels. The new version of the software has a companion program for the preparation of lessons in any language (the program is Unicode compliant) allowing easy navigation by the learner between examples contained in each unit. Segments of prosodic curves can be highlighted in any color and text easily added for on screen explanation of specific melodic or rhythmic properties of the model.