This study explored the benefits and drawbacks of synchronous voice-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a blended course of English for specific purposes. Quantitative and qualitative data from two groups following the same syllabus, except for the oral component, were compared. Oral tasks were carried out face-to-face with same L1…

The Rose Report, commissioned by the Secretary of State for Education for England, recommended in March 2006 that early reading instruction must include synthetic phonics. This paper evaluates the extent to which research evidence supports this recommendation. In particular, a review of international research into the teaching of early reading…

Several studies have shown that the stress pattern of one's native language is applied to new linguistic stimuli. Regarding the segmentation of artificial synthesized speech, this idea has been supported by experiments with languages where the stress pattern coincides with word boundaries (i.e. English, Finnish and Dutch). In this study, we…

Requesting is often taught as an initial target during augmentative and alternative communication intervention in children with autism. Speech-generating devices are purported to have advantages over non-electronic systems due to their synthetic speech output. On the other hand, it has been argued that speech output, being in the auditory…

Computer-based interviewing systems could use models of respondent disfluency behaviors to predict a need for clarification of terms in survey questions. This study compares simulated speech interfaces that use two such models--a generic model and a stereotyped model that distinguishes between the speech of younger and older speakers--to several…

Advantages and disadvantages of means of access to microcomputers for blind persons are considered. Electronic braille, paper braille, OPTACON, synthesized speech, and enlarged print are discussed. Future improvements in access technology are projected. (CL)

The research investigated the ability of four blind children (11-13 years old) to comprehend synthetic speech as a result of practice in listening to it. Results suggested that, as exposure to synthetic speech increases, so does comprehension of synthetic speech. (Author/SW)

Purpose: To examine perceptual deficits as a potential underlying cause of specific language impairments (SLI). Method: Twenty-one children with SLI (8;7-11;11 [years;months]) and 21 age-matched controls participated in categorical perception tasks using four series of syllables for which perceived syllable-initial voicing varied. Series were…

Pitch-synchronous, time-domain operation on digitized waveforms of human speech produces artificial changes in prosodic parameters, especially fundamental frequency and rhythm. Pitch of voiced segments is raised or lowered by an algorithm which truncates or "pads," respectively, each pitch period in the stored vector by an appropriate…

This article describes a computer-based technology for generating speech called text-to-speech (TTS). This software is ready for widespread use by libraries, other organizations, and individual users. It offers the affordable ability to turn just about any electronic text that is not image-based into an artificially spoken communication. The…

A program structure based on recently developed techniques for operating system simulation has the required flexibility for use as a speech synthesis algorithm research framework. This program makes synthesis possible with less rigid time and frequency-component structure than simpler schemes. It also meets real-time operation and memory-size…

Comparison of two electronic braille notetakers found that the Braille 'n Speak was less expensive, easier to learn, and easier for both experienced users and beginners to operate than the BrailleMate, though the BrailleMate offers a unique alternative by including a braille display and a Random Access Memory card storage system. (JDD)

The difficulty that older listeners experience understanding conversational speech may be related to their limited ability to use information present in the silent intervals (i.e., temporal gaps) between dynamic speech sounds. When temporal gaps are present between nonspeech stimuli that are spectrally invariant (e.g., noise bands or sinusoids),…

In this research, synthesized speech sounds were presented to native speakers of various languages. The sounds were intended to systematically explore the front-to-back place of articulation dimension while holding voice and manner constant. Five types of initial consonants were investigated in these studies: voiced stops, voiceless stops,…

Four Dutch-English bilinguals were asked to imitate and to identify 64 isolated vowel stimuli. Imitation behavior turned out to be categorical to some degree, comprising vowel phonemes from both languages. A significant correlation was found between identification categories and imitation clusters. (Author/CFM)