語音合成技術在日語聽力教育之應用與其成效

The Use of Text-to-Speech Technology on Japanese Listening Instruction and Its Effect

隨著電腦科技的進步，利用人工的方式將文字轉換成合成語音的技術也日益蓬勃發展，時至今日可說已到達實用化的階段。例如利用合成語音進行電話自動應答、交通機關的語音導引抑或是ATM自動櫃員機的語音操作等領域，均可看到合成語音的應用，這些應用在我們的日常生活中也扮演著非常重要的角色。利用語音合成的系統可以在不依賴母語話者的協助，針對文字內容的修改進行立即語音化的處理，由於極具彈性，因此我們對其在日語教育方面之應用也寄予厚望。因此本文基於教育科技的觀點，以提升台灣日語學習者聽力為目標，開發出一套能搭配學習者程度與目的的聽力輔助學習系統LIPS，使其能夠進行自主學習。此系統由會話資料庫、語音合成系統以及附屬輔助學習系統（字典與形態素分析）構成。為了瞭解LIPS對學習產生何種影響，筆者以30名輔修日文之大學生為對象，進行前後測以及問卷調查。然後再以t檢定與Wilcoxon符號等級檢定對實驗結果進行分析。結果顯示前後測驗之間出現顯著差異。此外針對學習時間長度不同的學習者考察其學習效果是否有差異時，發現學習時間2年以上的學習者雖然沒有出現顯著差異，但學習時間2年內的學習者則有顯著的差異。而事後的問卷調查亦顯示學習者對本系統之輔助學習均有很高的評價。上述結果足以顯示本系統達到了提升台灣日語學習者聽力的預期目標。透過此次的學習效果評估，我們得以了解LIPS系統應用在日語聽力教育的確有其效果，今後筆者將針對此一應用進行更深入的探索。

With the advance of computer technology in recent years, the development of Text-to-speech Synthesis is also making a great deal of progress. Up to date, TTS Synthesis has been mature enough to apply to the practical use. The application of TTS Synthesis is prevailing in various fields, such as the automatic answering telephone system, and the voice guidance of the transportation institute, and ATM services. It is already playing an important role in our daily lives. As TTS Synthesis based systems have the advantage of converting text immediately without relying on native speakers, its application to Japanese language instruction seems to be very promising.Therefore, this paper aims to enhance the listening ability of Taiwanese learners of Japanese by developing a listening assisting system which allows learners to practice listening autonomously according to their own levels and purposes.To investigate how the use of the system influences learning results, the author conducted a pretest, posttest and a survey on 30 undergraduate students who minor in Japanese. There is a statistically significant difference between pretest and post test scores, and similar results were found for those who have been studying Japanese for less than 2 years. The results of the survey also showed that the system is highly evaluated by learners. Based on the findings of this study, the effectiveness of the proposed system for listening training is verified and confirmed. Hereafter, the author plans to explore the possibility of TTS Synthesis application for Japanese Education in a broader range.