16.3581, Diss: Applied Linguistics: Handley: 'Evaluating Text...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-16-3581. Sat Dec 17 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.3581, Diss: Applied Linguistics: Handley: 'Evaluating Text...'

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1)
Date: 15-Dec-2005
From: Zoe Handley < zoe.handley at hotmail.com >
Subject: Evaluating Text-to-Speech (TTS) Synthesis for use in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 12:19:46
From: Zoe Handley < zoe.handley at hotmail.com >
Subject: Evaluating Text-to-Speech (TTS) Synthesis for use in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) 
 


Institution: University of Manchester 
Program: School of Informatics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2005 

Author: Zoe Louise Handley

Dissertation Title: Evaluating Text-to-Speech (TTS) Synthesis for use in
Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) 

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics


Dissertation Director(s):
Marie-Josée Hamel
Harold Somers

Dissertation Abstract:

Despite the fact that Text-to-Speech (TTS) synthesis has the potential to
bring a number of new possibilities to Computer-Assisted Language Learning
(CALL), it has not yet made an impact on CALL. It is believed that this is
because it has not been adequately evaluated for the purposes. With the aim
of validating this claim, an infrastructure for the evaluation of CALL
applications integrating TTS synthesis is put forward and evaluations
conducted to date are assessed with respect to it. This analysis indicates
that TTS synthesis has indeed not been adequately evaluated for the
purposes of CALL, specifically, that an important stage in the process of
evaluation has been omitted in all evaluations that have been conducted to
date, namely requirements analysis. With the aim of developing a benchmark
test for the evaluation of the adequacy of TTS synthesis systems for use in
CALL applications, this thesis looks to SLA research for indications of
what the requirements of TTS synthesis for use in CALL might be. This
literature review suggests that CALL applications place demands on the
quantity, quality and flexibility of the speech generated by TTS synthesis
systems. Regarding the demands that it is suggested that CALL applications
place on the quality of the speech generated, in order to validate these
requirements, two investigations are carried out. The results of these
investigations, which also attempt to determine whether the different roles
that TTS synthesis systems may assume in CALL applications impose different
requirements on the quality of the speech generated, suggest that, as
suggested by the SLA literature, CALL applications do place demands on the
comprehensibility, accuracy and naturalness of the speech generated by TTS
synthesis, but that, in addition, they also place demands on
intelligibility, choice of pronunciation, naturalness of voice,
expressiveness and register and that the different roles do indeed place
different demands on the quality of the speech generated by TTS synthesis
systems, but that teachers and CALL researchers have difficulty
differentiating between the different roles and their requirements. It is
believed that the results of these investigations imply that evaluations of
the adequacy of TTS synthesis systems for use in CALL applications ought to
address all of the aspects of the quality of the speech generated by the
TTS synthesis systems mentioned above. Regarding the different roles that
TTS synthesis systems may assume within CALL applications, it is believed
that they imply that, while the different roles do impose different
demands, it will not be possible to ask participants to differentiate
between these roles and their requirements. Rather, participants can only
be asked to rate the quality of the speech generated by TTS synthesis
systems for use in CALL applications in general. 




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