Assessing fluency based on elapsed time

1. A computer based method comprising:

receiving audio input associated with a user reading a sequence of words, the sequence of words displayed on a graphical user interface, and including an assessed word and optionally a word preceding the assessed word;

determining an approximate amount of time corresponding to an absence of input associated with the assessed word, since receiving audio input identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words, or since the start of the audio file or buffer associated with the sequence of words if there is no preceding word;

displaying a visual intervention on the graphical user interface if the amount of time is greater than a first threshold; and

subsequent to displaying a visual intervention, generating an audio intervention if the amount of time since the visual intervention is greater than a second threshold, and audio input associated with the assessed word has still not been received.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the visual intervention includes applying a visual indicium to the assessed word.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the visual indicium includes a visual indicium selected from the group consisting of highlighting the assessed word, underlining the assessed word, or coloring the text of the assessed word.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining an approximate amount of time between the audio segment identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words and the audio segment identified as the assessed word in the sequence of words; and

presenting an indicium if the amount of time between the audio segment identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words and the audio segment identified as the assessed word is greater than a third threshold.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the presenting of the indicium is deferred until after the user has finished the text or has indicated to the tutoring software that he/she has stopped reading.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting a deferred indicium includes placing the assessed word on a review list.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting a deferred indicium includes coloring the text of the assessed word.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein generating an audio intervention includes generating an audio intervention selected from the group consisting of an audio file including a pronunciation of the assessed word and an audio file including an indication for the user to re-read starting with the assessed word.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a first report including words for which a visual intervention or deferred visual indicium was displayed.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a second report including words for which an audio intervention was generated.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first threshold is between about 1 and 3 seconds.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the second threshold is between about 1 and 8 seconds.

13. The method of claim 4 wherein the third threshold is between about 0.5 and 5 seconds.

14. The method of claim 4 wherein determining an approximate amount of time between the audio segment associated with a preceding word, and the audio segment associated with an assessed word, includes measuring an amount of time from the end of the preceding word to the beginning of the assessed word.

15. The method of claim 4 wherein determining an approximate amount of time between the audio segment identified as a preceding word, and the audio segment identified as an assessed word, includes measuring an amount of time from the end of the first word to the end of the second word.

16. The method of claim 4 further comprising adjusting the timing thresholds based on a timing gap between the end of the assessed word and the beginning of the word following the assessed word.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting the timing thresholds based on the position of the word in the sentence.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting the timing thresholds based on the proximity of the word to punctuation or a phrase boundary.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the timing thresholds are different for different word categories.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the timing thresholds are different for different texts or text reading levels.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the timing thresholds are different for different users, user ages, user reading levels, or the base or “trouble-free” reading rate of the user.

22. A computer program product residing on a computer readable medium comprising instructions for causing an electrical device to:

receive audio input associated with a user reading a sequence of words, the sequence of words displayed on a graphical user interface, and including an assessed word and optionally a word preceding the assessed word;

determine an approximate amount of time corresponding to an absence of input associated with the assessed word, since receiving audio input identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words, or since the start of the audio file or buffer associated with the sequence of words if there is no preceding word;

display a visual intervention on the graphical user interface if the amount of time is greater than a first threshold; and

subsequent to displaying a visual intervention, generate an audio intervention if the amount of time since the visual intervention is greater than a second threshold, and audio input associated with the assessed word has still not been received.

23. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the visual indicium includes a visual indicium selected from the group consisting of highlighting the assessed word, underlining the assessed word, or coloring the text of the assessed word.

24. The computer program product of claim 22 further comprising instructions for causing an electrical device to:

determine an approximate amount of time between the audio segment identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words and the audio segment identified as the assessed word in the sequence of words; and

present an indicium if the amount of time between the audio segment identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words and the audio segment identified as the assessed word is greater than a third threshold.

25. The computer program product of claim 22 further comprising instructions for causing an electrical device to generate a first report including words for which a visual intervention or deferred visual indicium was displayed.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 further comprising instructions for causing an electrical device to generate a second report including words for which an audio intervention was generated.

27. A device configured to:

receive audio input associated with a user reading a sequence of words, the sequence of words displayed on a graphical user interface, and including an assessed word and optionally a word preceding the assessed word;

determine an approximate amount of time corresponding to an absence of input associated with the assessed word, since receiving audio input identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words, or since the start of the audio file or buffer associated with the sequence of words if there is no preceding word;

display a visual intervention on the graphical user interface if the amount of time is greater than a first threshold; and

subsequent to displaying a visual intervention, generate an audio intervention if the amount of time since the visual intervention is greater than a second threshold, and audio input associated with the assessed word has still not been received.

28. The device of claim 27 wherein the visual indicium includes a visual indicium selected from the group consisting of highlighting the assessed word, underlining the assessed word, or coloring the text of the assessed word.

29. The device of claim 27 further configured to:

determine an approximate amount of time between the audio segment identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words and the audio segment identified as the assessed word in the sequence of words; and

present an indicium if the amount of time between the audio segment identified as the preceding word in the sequence of words and the audio segment identified as the assessed word is greater than a third threshold.

30. The device of claim 27 further configured to generate a first report including words for which a visual intervention or deferred visual indicium was displayed.

31. The device of claim 27 further configured to generate a second report including words for which an audio intervention was generated.