1. A speech recognition apparatus comprising a microphone for converting speech into a sequence of electrical aural signals; a first processor which is provided with a first operation control circuit for computation processing to extract features of said sequence of aural signals and obtain feature patterns thereof and a first memory which is controlled by said first operation control circuit and stores said feature patterns, and which carries out feature extraction processing in sequence; a second processor which is provided with a second memory for previously storing a plurality of reference patterns and a second operation control circuit carrying out computation processing for comparing the feature patterns obtained by said first processor with said reference patterns to match each of said feature patterns to a similar reference pattern, and which carries out comparison and distinction processing in sequence; and an interface for transferring said feature patterns from the first processor to the second processor, said interface being controlled by said first and second operation control circuits, said first and second processors operating in parallel with said second processor carrying out said comparison and distinction processing for a feature pattern which has previously been extracted by said first processor while the first processor extracts features of a succeeding portion of aural signals.