Text-to-speech technology: What does it offer to foreign language learners?

Abstract

Language teaching is a difficult process that requires careful work. Educators try to find ways to make this difficult process enjoyable for language learners. As technological developments came into use, language learning became more attractive. 'Text to Speech' (Speech synthesis) technology, one of these technological developments, is the process of synthesizing natural-sounding speech from any text via special computer programs. These programs can create the most realistic, human-sounding synthetic speech which is available today. This paper explores the possible uses, advantages, and disadvantages of this technology considering EFL learners.