DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL, LINGUISTICALLY CONTROLLED TEACHING MATERIALS IN THE AREA OF ENGLISH SYNTAX TO FACILITATE ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH COMMUNICATION BY DEAF AND HARD-OF- HEARING STUDENTS

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HAS THE REQUIREMENT OF VISUAL, LINGUISTICALLY CONTROLLED TEACHING MATERIALS FOR THE PURPOSEOF TEACHING ENGLISH COMMUNICATION TO DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING STUDENTS. TWO ISSUES ADDRESSED ARE THE LABOR-INTENSIVE NATURE OF THIS TEACHING TASK, AND THE LACK OF IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK TO THE STUDENT CAUSED BY THE INABILITYTO HEAR HIS/HER OWN SPEECH. SYNETICS PROPOSED SOLUTION IS THE TALK TO ME COMPUTER WHICH WOULD COMBINE THE TECHNOLOGIES OF AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION AND ADVANCED GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES (GUI). THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WOULD PRESENT THE USER WITH A MULTI-COLOR SCREEN AND PROMPT FOR THE USER TO SPEAK A PHONEME, WORD, OR PHRASE. THE SPEECH RECOGNITION HARDWARE ANALYZES AND SCORES THE UTTERANCE. THE USER IS GIVEN VISUALFEEDBACK AS TO HOW WELL THE UTTERANCE WAS SPOKEN AND HOW TO CORRECT THE UTTERANCE BY PROPER PLACEMENT OF THE TONGUE AND LIPS. FUTURE EXTENSIONS OF THE USER FEEDBACK MIGHT ALSOINCLUDE PITCH, LOUDNESS, SPEECH TIMING, AND WAVEFORM IMAGES OF THE SPOKEN PHRASE. THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HAS THE REQUIREMENT OF VISUAL, LINGUISTICALLY CONTROLLED TEACHING MATERIALS FOR THE PURPOSEOF TEACHING ENGLISH COMMUNICATION TO DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING STUDENTS. TWO ISSUES ADDRESSED ARE THE LABOR-INTENSIVE NATURE OF THIS TEACHING TASK, AND THE LACK OF IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK TO THE STUDENT CAUSED BY THE INABILITYTO HEAR HIS/HER OWN SPEECH. SYNETICS PROPOSED SOLUTION IS THE TALK TO ME COMPUTER WHICH WOULD COMBINE THE TECHNOLOGIES OF AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION AND ADVANCED GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES (GUI). THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WOULD PRESENT THE USER WITH A MULTI-COLOR SCREEN AND PROMPT FOR THE USER TO SPEAK A PHONEME, WORD, OR PHRASE. THE SPEECH RECOGNITION HARDWARE ANALYZES AND SCORES THE UTTERANCE. THE USER IS GIVEN VISUALFEEDBACK AS TO HOW WELL THE UTTERANCE WAS SPOKEN AND HOW TO CORRECT THE UTTERANCE BY PROPER PLACEMENT OF THE TONGUE AND LIPS. FUTURE EXTENSIONS OF THE USER FEEDBACK MIGHT ALSOINCLUDE PITCH, LOUDNESS, SPEECH TIMING, AND WAVEFORM IMAGES OF THE SPOKEN PHRASE.