Carnegie Speech: Software Uses Immediate Feedback to Improve Language Learning
More than 20 years ago, while teaching English as a second language in France, Dr. Maxine Eskenazi dreamed of a tool that her students could use to practice their spoken-English exercises by themselves, but with personalized instruction and immediate language feedback.
“Speaking is a very muscle memory-oriented skill, sort of like a sport,” explains Angela Kennedy, president and CEO of Carnegie Speech. “When learning a new language, you need feedback within three to five seconds about exactly what you did right and wrong and how to fix it in order to effectively improve your speech.”
Carnegie Speech’s technology dynamically configures itself to an individual learner’s native language and proficiency level in order to provide an individualized curriculum for each learner. This maximizes training effectiveness and minimizes training time. “Our products are available in 31 languages and 15 countries,” says Kennedy. “They are used in the adult education, outsourcing, corporate training, government, aviation and health care markets, as well as within large clients such as Ernst & Young and Hewlett Packard. We also have a partnership with Heinle-Cengage, which was formerly Thomson Learning.”
Born in a University
Dr. Eskenazi incorporated the concept of immediate feedback into her research at Carnegie Mellon University, and in 2001, Carnegie Speech was born, making her longtime dream a reality. About 200 researchers had worked on the component technologies for more than 20 years.
“The company’s initial technology was launched from Carnegie Mellon University’s Language Technologies Institute,” says Kennedy. “We are very lucky to have access to the breadth and depth of speech recognition, computer assisted language learning and intelligent tutoring technology that the institute provides.”
Invaluable Assistance in the Early Stages
Carnegie Speech ascended to its present position as a global leader in speech instruction technology in part because of early-stage funding and critical business support from the Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP).
“Early on, BFTP helped us focus our business through market and strategic analysis. I remember one of their executives in residence working with me until two o’clock in the morning on the first big pilot report to a Global 50 customer that we were trying to attract as the initial reference client for the product,” she says. “They have shown us a lot of dedication.”
Kennedy adds that BFTP has been important not only for Carnegie Speech, but for the investment community as a whole. “These days, the investments that used to be made by early-stage venture capitalists are being done by angel groups,” she says. “I think that without organizations like BFTP to provide seed-stage capital, the whole process of funding small businesses just won’t happen. It is a very appropriate use of taxpayer money to do this kind of economic stimulus. After all, it builds incredibly exciting and economically productive companies like Carnegie Speech in our local economy.”
Growing and Evolving to Meet Market Needs
Carnegie Speech’s core business is teaching and assessing English. But Kennedy says the company is now responding to a growing need in the United States government for foreign languages speakers. “We just delivered a product to train people to speak Iraqi Arabic based on the same speech recognition and artificial intelligence properties. And I’m sure we will build up more languages as time goes on,” she says.
As Carnegie Speech has evolved into a successful company with 14 employees, BFTP has continued to support its changing needs. “BFTP has been tremendously helpful to us as we have grown the company-they are an infinite source of support, ideas and contact networks,” Kennedy says. “For example, they have helped us find qualified senior execs looking for jobs in the high-tech industry in Pittsburgh.”
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