We created a Web application system for pronunciation instruction and practice support in special education classes for language-disabled children. We developed our system for practical use by solving problems revealed during our previous study. We introduced a new consonant distinction method, which led to improvement in distinction performance. We simplified access to the students' speech and exercise records for speech and language therapists (STs) by extending our previous system into a Web application. In this system, users are assigned one of the following authorizations: student, teacher, ST, or speech evaluator. The teachers, STs, and speech evaluators are grouped by the student to whom they are linked and can access exercise records and student speech sounds over the Internet. The results of our practical field test indicate that our system promotes the cooperation of teachers and STs for more effective instruction.

We developed a support system for pronunciation teaching and practice in special education classes for language-disabled children. It allows exercises to be individually tailored to each child's pronunciation needs. Three speech evaluation methods were prepared for each type of presented words: automatic speech recognition, phonemic discrimination between the correct and the probable error pronunciation of a consonant period, and articulation tests from speech-language-hearing therapists. For about 3 or 4 months, we performed practical field tests with nine students in special education classes in four elementary schools. All of the teachers believed that our system helped improve their students' pronunciation, and the speech-language-hearing therapist felt that it simplified observation of the improvement process of the students' pronunciation.