LAMPS: A sketch recognition-based teaching tool for Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I

  • Authors:
  • Paul Taele;Tracy Hammond

  • Affiliations:
  • Sketch Recognition Laboratory, Texas A&M University, Richardson Building, Room 911, 3112 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA;Sketch Recognition Laboratory, Texas A&M University, Richardson Building, Room 911, 3112 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Visual Languages and Computing
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

The non-Romanized Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I (MPS1) system is a highly advantageous phonetic system for native English users studying Chinese Mandarin to learn, yet its steep initial learning curve discourages language programs to instead adopt Romanized phonetic systems. Computer-assisted language instruction (CALI) can greatly reduce this learning curve, in order to enable students to sooner benefit from the long-term advantages presented in MPS1 usage during the course of Chinese Mandarin study. Unfortunately, the technologies surrounding existing online handwriting recognition algorithms and CALI applications are insufficient in providing a ''dynamic'' counterpart to traditional paper-based workbooks employed in the classroom setting. In this paper, we describe our sketch recognition-based LAMPS system for teaching MPS1 by emulating the naturalness and realism of paper-based workbooks, while extending their functionality with human instructor-level critique and assessment at an automated level.