5pSWb1: Experience with computerized speech- perception training (SPATS-ESL) for speakers of other languages learning English
Dec 15, 2015
5pSWb1: Experience with computerized speech-perception
training (SPATS-ESL) for speakers of other languages
learning English
James D. Miller, Roy Sillings, Charles S. WatsonResearch Department
Communications Disorders Technology, Inc.Bloomington, IN 47401 (www.comdistec.com)
and
Isabelle Darcy and Kathleen Bardovi-HarligSecond Language Studies
Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405
SPATS-ESL
Speech Perception Assessment and Training System for ESL
learners
(Described yesterday.. Poster 4pSW26)
SPATS-ESL in Brief
A. Trains learners to identify the important syllable constituents of English: 45 onsets, 28 nuclei, & 36 codas.
B. Trains learners to quickly recognize spoken sentences.
SPATS-ESL in Brief
SPATS-ESL trains listeners in four tasks:
1. Identification of syllable onsets2. Identification of syllable nuclei3. Identification of syllable codas4. Recognition of sentences
Development of SPATS-ESL
• Originally for hearing-impaired speakers of English.
• Modified for ESL learners
based on class-room experience with 80 ESL students.
ESL Learners in Trials
L1 N %Arabic 5 6
Cantonese 1 1Japanese 5 6Kazahk 2 3Korean 27 34
Mandarin 5 6Mongolian 1 1Portuguese 8 10
Spanish 8 10Taiwanese 13 16
Turkish 1 1Vietnamese 4 5
Sum 80 100
• At least 12 L1s were represented.
• Some were enrolled in an Intensive English Program.
• Some were graduate students in degree programs.
• TOEFL (pbt) scores varied from below 500 to well over 600.
Data Analyses
• Trends for all 80 ESL students have been reviewed.
• Longitudinal analyses and fitting of learning curves is underway for the 30 ESL students that used the program in near final form.
• Summaries of completed analyses are shown. (All results are consistent with the data shown.)
Major Findings
• All have significant perceptual problems.• Improvement on all tasks is proportional to
practice time• Order of difficulty: 1) Nuclei, 2) Sentences, 3)
Codas, and 4) Onsets.• Near-native performance on all tasks is
achieved in ~(15-35) hours of SPATS-ESL training.
Longitudinal Analyses of Progress
1. Find Percent Correct (PC) and total time in SPATS practice (all kinds) at the end of each run as shown for syllable constituents at each cumulative level.
2. (Example on next slide on the next slide.)
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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Pe
rcen
t C
orr
ec
t (P
C)
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
Native Range (94-100)
C. L
ev
el
1
C. L
ev
el 2
C. L
ev
el 3
C. Level 4
Perceptual Indentificationof Syllable Constituents
Prior to Adjustment
Longitudinal Analyses of Progress
1. Adjust percent-correct scores (PCs) by multiplying by the proportion of items in the set. PCs for Level 1 are multiplied by 0.25; PCs for Level 2 are multiplied by 0.50; PCs for Level 3 are multiplied by 0.75; and those for Level 4 are multiplied by 1.0. See the next slide.
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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Native Range (94-100)
Perceptual Indentificationof Syllable Constituents
Data Adjustment Illustration
Pe
rcen
t C
orr
ec
t (P
C)
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Native Range (94-100)
Perceptual Indentificationof Syllable Constituents
Data Adjustment Illustration
Pe
rce
nt
Co
rre
ct
(PC
)
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
Longitudinal Analyses of Progress
1. Estimate time to near-native performance.
2. Sample and summary data are shown for Onsets, Codas, Sentences, and Nuclei on the following series of slides
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Pe
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C)
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
Perceptual Indentificationof 45 Syllable Onsets
Client 1502L1 Korean
Native Range (94-100)
0
1
2
3
4
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6
7
8
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Nu
mb
er
of
Le
arn
ers
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training for PC = 90%
OnsetsMean = 9.3 Hrs.
N = 19
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Pe
rfo
rman
ce S
core
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
Perceptual Indentificationof 36 Syllable Codas
Client 303L1 Vietnemese
Native SpeakerRange (88 -100)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Nu
mb
er
of
Le
arn
ers
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training for PC = 85%
CodasMean = 11.4 Hrs.
N = 18
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Native Speaker Range (90-100)
Eff
ec
tive
Perc
en
t C
orr
ec
t (e
PC
)
Total Hours of SPATS TraIning
SNRs5, 0, -5, -10, -15
Sentence LearningClient 1403L1 Arabic
0
1
2
3
4
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Nu
mb
er o
f L
earn
ers
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training for PC = 90%
SentencesMean = 15 Hrs.
N = 10
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Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
Pe
rce
nt
Co
rre
ct
(PC
)
Perceptual Identification of 28 Syllable Nuclei
Client 800L1 Taiwanese
Native Range (94-100)
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4
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0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Nu
mb
er
of
Le
arn
ers
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training for PC = 90%
NucleiMean = 18.4 Hrs.
N = 19
0
1
2
3
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
All Four TasksM = 24.4 Hrs.
N = 10
Nu
mb
er
of
Le
arn
ers
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training for Near-Native PC
Onsets Codas Sentences Nuclei A llMean 9.3 11.4 15.0 18.4 24.4
Median 6.2 8.2 15.1 17.0 23.0N 19 18 10 19 10
Total Hours to Near-Native Performance
Users’ Subjective Evaluations
Do you think that other ESL programs should use SPATS? 90% yes
Would you recommend SPATS to friends or relatives learning English? 90% yes
Did drill on speech sounds improve your participation in everyday conversation? 80% yes
Did sentence work improve your participation in every day conversation? 85% yes
Will SPATS training improve your pronunciation of English? 90% yes
Summary
English learners with a basic knowledge of spoken and written English have significant problems perceiving spoken English.
The unique training provided by SPATS-ESL appears to enable the ESL learner to approach the perceptual skill of native speakers.
By reasonable inference and user reports, SPATS training enables the ESL learner to acquire more knowledge of English through conversation and oral instruction and provides a necessary foundation for the improvement of pronunciation through self monitoring and instruction.
Supplemental Class Fall 2007
• SPATS • Original HI Nucleus Seq.• Shift to ESL Nucleus Seq.
Late in Sess.• Onsets: 4 trials/item• Nuclei: 4 trials/item• Codas: 4 trials/item• Sent. Task: Adaptive*• Max. Classes: 4 per
week/7 weeks
Japanese 1Korean 4
Mandarin 3Spanish 2
Taiwanese 3Vietnamese 1
Sum 14
Class Make UP
Degree Students at IU
IEP Class Spring II 2008
• SPATS Almost Default • ESL Nucleus Seq.• Onsets: 4 trials/item• Nuclei: 6 trials/item• Codas: 5 trials/item• Sent: Random(5 to -15)
• Max. Classes: 2 per week/5 weeks
Class Make UP
IEP Students at IU
Arabic 2Korean 7
Portuguese 1Spanish 1
Taiwanese 1Turkish 1
Vietnamese 1Sum 14
SPATS-ESL in Brief (Con’t)
C. For each constituent type, training progresses from:
Cumulative Level 1: 25% of the items, to
Cumulative Level 2: 50% of the items, to
Cumulative Level 3: 75% of the items, to
Cumulative Level 4: 100% of the items.
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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training
Eff
ecti
ve P
erc
ent
Co
rrec
t (e
PC
)Native SpeakerRange (90-100)
Sentence LearningClient 1502L1 Korean
SNR AdaptiveCorrected to 0 dB Ave.
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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Native SpeakerRange (90-100)
Sentence LearningClient 1503
L1 PortugueseSNRs
5, 0, -5, -10, -15
Eff
ec
tive
Perc
en
t C
orr
ec
t (e
PC
)
Total Hours of SPATS-ESL Training