Boosting language learning through ultrasound

By Wendy Chan posted on September 16th, 2016

The world of pronunciation can be mystifying for many of us. UBC researchers set out to make it a little less so when they created eNunciate, an innovative program that blends the best of linguistics and language teaching with ultrasound imaging. Using eNunciate, new language learners can actually see how their tongues should move when producing a given sound — and that takes language acquisition to a whole new level.

UBC linguistics professor Dr. Bryan Gick, postdoctoral fellow Heather Bliss and their colleagues recognized the gap and set out to bridge it. They knew they needed the expertise of language teachers, so they reached out across department lines to create a multidisciplinary team comprising faculty in linguistics, language sciences, computer science and Asian studies, giving rise to an integrated group working across UBC to improve student learning.

Read the full article: http://www.ubc.ca/stories/2016-fall/enunciate.html