Patent ID: 7225130

Claim:
A computing system for performing speech recognition comprising: one or more memory devices for storing information, including programming information; one or more processors for processing information in response to said programming information; one or more input devices for receiving inputs from a user that can be supplied to one or more of said processors; wherein said programming information includes programming, including both speech recognition programming and programming external to said speech recognition programming, for causing said computing system, under control of said one or more processors, to perform the following functions: using said speech recognition programming for: providing a user interface which allows a user to select, using said one or more input devices, between generating a first and a second user input; responding to the generation of the first user input by performing large vocabulary speech recognition on one or more utterances in a prior language context dependent mode, which recognizes at least the first word of an utterance depending in part on a language model context created by a previously recognized word from the previous utterance, if any; and responding to the generation of the second user input by performing large vocabulary speech recognition on one or more utterances in a prior language context independent mode, which recognizes at least the first word of an utterance substantially independently of any language model context created by a previously recognized word from the previous utterance, if any; wherein: as words are recognized by said speech recognition programming in both of said recognition modes such words are output to said programming external to said speech recognition programming for use by said external programming; and the response by said speech recognition programming to said first and second inputs by switching recognition modes is independent of the state of said external programming.