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ICT in support of multi-lingual clinical communication

Febe de Wet & Ilana WilkenHuman Language Technology

Meraka Institute

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ICT

• Human Language Technology– Text Technology– Speech Technology

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Speech2Speech

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HLT4Sp2Sp

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Context: Clinical communication

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Clinical communication

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Clinical communication

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Clinical communication in South Africa

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Clinical communication in South Africa

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Responding to the challenge

• Language courses at South African Universities

• Projects– Stellenbosch University (Xhosa)– Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

– University of Pretoria (Northern Sotho)– Department of African Languages– Faculty of Health Sciences

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Aim: HLT-enabled MALL

• Mobile app

• Course content

• Silent (Text only)• Listen (TTS)• Speak (ASR)

© CSIR 2015

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Feedback

© CSIR 2015

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System overview

© CSIR 2015

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Challenges

• Ethical clearance

• Software development & maintenance

• Teacher support

• Student availability & participation

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User study

• Similar app, no HLT• Focus:

– vocabulary– user preference

• Silent• Listen• Speak

© CSIR 2015

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Future work

• User study with HLT-enabled app• More languages• More content• More universities• More domains• More applications

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Thank you

Febe de Wet (fdwet@csir.co.za)