The ISLE corpus: Italian and German spoken learner's English

Abstract

speech recognition technology to improve the performance of computerbased English language learning systems, specifically for adult German and Italian learners of English. The English language teaching industry is showing increasing interest in and awareness of the relevance and potential of speech and language technology (Atwell 1999). The project conducted a detailed survey and analysis of prospective user requirements (Atwell et al. 2000): we sought expert advice and opinions from a range of prospective end-users (learners of English as a second language), as well as “meta-level experts ” or professionals and practitioners in English language teaching (ELT teachers and researchers) and industry experts in the ELT market (publishers of ELT resources, textbooks and multimedia). The ISLE project partners included representative users,