Malay Word Pronunciation Application for Pre-school Children Using Vowel Recognition

In Malaysia, many researchers focus on developing independent speaker speech recognition systems that use Malay Language or Bahasa Malaysia. Accuracy, noise robustness and processing time are concerns when developing speech therapy systems especially for children. In this study, a Malay word pronunciation test application is developed using Spectrum Delta (SPD) features and Logistic Regression classification model in an effort to improve Malay word pronunciation for pre-school children aged between 3-6 years old. Based on the 6 vowel classification rate, vowel /i/ were found to achieved the highest classification rate of 98.33% and vowel /o/ achieved the worst with 92.29%. Overall classification rate obtained was 95.11%. Results showed that the pronunciation application can assist children to improve their Malay word pronunciation. Vowel /i/, /e/, /o/ and /u/ are often mispronounced due to pronunciation habits.