This paper deals with the problem of reducing the computational complexity of ASR algorithms for embedded systems. Particularly, three methods for simplifying the computation of state observation likelihoods of continuous density based HMMs are proposed. Feature component masking, variable-rate partial likelihood update and density pruning all result in significant savings in the decoding compl...

Research has shown that a number of factors, such as maturational constraints, previous language background, and attention, can have an effect on L2 acquisition. One related issue that remains to be explored is what factors make an individual word more easily learned. In this study we propose that word complexity, on both the phonetic and semantic levels, affect L2 vocabulary learning. Two stud...

A large body of research shows that vocabulary does not develop independently of grammar, representing a better predictor of the grammatical complexity of toddlers' utterances than age. This study examines for the first time the characteristics of vocabulary and grammar development in Slovenian-speaking infants and toddlers using the Slovenian adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Dev...

Although previous studies have found a link between the quantity and quality of child-directed speech learners receive and their vocabulary development, no previous studies have found a parallel link between overheard speech measured at a very young age and vocabulary development (Shneidman & Goldin-Meadow, 2012; Shneidman, Arroyo, Levine, & Goldin-Meadow, 2013; Weisleder & Fernald, 2013). This...

Cross-linguistic similarities and differences in early lexical and grammatical development are reported for 1001 English-speaking children and 386 Italian-speaking children between 1;6 and 2;6. Parents completed the English or Italian versions of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences, a parent report instrument that provides information about vocabulary size, vo...

Sign language recognition has spawned more and more interest in human–computer interaction society. The major challenge that SLR recognition faces now is developing methods that will scale well with increasing vocabulary size with a limited set of training data for the signer independent application. The automatic SLR based on hidden Markov models (HMMs) is very sensitive to gesture's shape inf...

The purpose of the present study was to identify any significant relationship between critical thinking ability, L2 vocabulary knowledge, and L2 vocabulary learning strategies of Iranian EFL learners. To this aim, the productive vocabulary levels test was administered to measure the learner’s L2 vocabulary knowledge and observe homogeneity in terms of vocabulary knowledge. At the second stage, ...