1. A method comprising: receiving, by a computer, an image of a handwritten item; performing, by said computer, a word segmentation process on said image to produce a set of sub-images; extracting, by said computer, a set of feature vectors from each sub-image using said computer; computing, by said computer, a first log-likelihood score of said feature vectors using a word model having a first structure; computing, by said computer, a second log-likelihood score of said feature vectors using a background model having a second structure different than said first structure using said computer; computing, by said computer, a final score for said sub-image by subtracting said second log-likelihood score from said first log-likelihood score; comparing, by said computer, said final score against a predetermined standard to produce a word identification result; and outputting, by said computer, said word identification result.