MultiPA: a multi-task speech pronunciation assessment system for a closed and open response scenario

The design of automatic speech pronunciation assessment can be categorized into closed and open response scenarios, each with strengths and limitations. A system with the ability to function in both scenarios can cater to diverse learning needs and provide a more precise and holistic assessment of pronunciation skills. In this study, we propose a Multi-task Pronunciation Assessment model called MultiPA. MultiPA provides an alternative to Kaldi-based systems in that it has simpler format requirements and better compatibility with other neural network models. Compared with previous open response systems, MultiPA provides a wider range of evaluations, encompassing assessments at both the sentence and word-level. Our experimental results show that MultiPA achieves comparable performance when working in closed response scenarios and maintains more robust performance when directly used for open responses.