English Courses

Speech technology such as AI powered voice assistants on smart speakers and smartphones has become an integral part of everyday life. Development of speech technology requires a systematic understanding of human speech sounds. LANG 2091 introduces students to Phonetics, the scientific study of the physical properties of human speech sounds. Students will learn the physical (acoustic) properties of different components of human speech, how speech sounds are produced and how the knowledge of Phonetics can be useful to speech technology and its development. Students will be actively engaged throughout the course through lectures, interactive tasks, and hands-on practice and learning activities. They will also conduct computerized acoustic analyses of speech sounds using freely available software and explore topics in Phonetics (e.g. foreign accent) or speech technology (e.g. synthesized speech) which are of interest or relevance to students.

This course is a three-credit, one-semester broadening course for students in any discipline. It assumes no prior knowledge of Phonetics or speech technology. Students attend three hours of class per week.

Note: The course details are subject to revision and may change.