Orientador: Dalton Soares Arantes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T15:09:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leite_HarleiMigueldeArruda_M.pdf: 3631088 bytes, checksum: b997adfa6f8915d31a23e0eb6daf0cc3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A principal contribuição desta dissertação é a proposta de uma metodologia de avaliação de voz sintetizada. O método consiste em um conjunto de etapas que buscam auxiliar o avaliador nas etapas de planejamento, aplicação e análise dos dados coletados. O método foi originalmente desenvolvido para avaliar um conjunto de vozes sintetizadas para encontrar a voz que melhor se adapta a ambientes de educação a distância usando avatares. Também foram estudadas as relações entre inteligibilidade, compreensibilidade e naturalidade a fim conhecer os fatores a serem considerados para aprimorar os sintetizadores de fala. Esta dissertação também apresenta os principais métodos de avaliação encontrados na literatura e o princípio de funcionamento dos sistemas TTS / Abstract: This thesis proposes, as main contribution, a new synthesized voice evaluation methodology. The method consists of a set of steps that seek to assist the assessor in the stages of planning, implementation and analysis of data collected. The method was originally developed to evaluate a set of synthesized voices to find the voice that best fits the environments for distance education using avatars. Relations between intelligibility, comprehensibility and naturalness were studied in order to know the factors to be considered to enhance the speech synthesizers. This thesis also presents the main evaluation methods in the literature and how TTS (Text-to-Speech) systems work / Mestrado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

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The prevailing speech therapy techniques for treating hypokinetic dysarthria in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) yields improvements within the clinical setting, however, maintenance and generalization of acquired behaviors continue to be a challenge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of portable therapeutic devices including Ambulatory Phonation Monitor with biofeedback (APM) and auditory masker in maintenance and carryover of improved speech. Our participant was an individual diagnosed with PD for the past 25 years who continued to display speech disturbances despite undergoing several behavioral speech therapy programs and neurosurgical procedures. Speech intelligibility and average intensity measures under automatic, elicited, and spontaneous speech tasks were recorded pre- and postusage of APM and auditory masker for a period of 1 week each. Preliminary findings showed no significant difference in the measures between means (P>0.05) across all tasks for both the devices. Suggestions for future research on therapeutic devices are discussed.

This study provides a literature review of the most effective ways to teach pronunciation to EFL secondary school students in Sweden. There is limited time allocated to pronunciation leading to a scarcity of available effective methods. This impacts the important role which intelligibility holds in pronunciation. Therefore, the objective of this review centres around finding the most effective ways to teach pronunciation in a Swedish EFL secondary school classroom, considering a variety of approaches. A selection of electronic databases were used consisting of specific search terms and limitations, concentrating on English language pronunciation. This resulted in eight articles, all of which experimented on finding ways to teach pronunciation. These studies are different in their methods and objectives, studies all lead to different results which we categorised into three themes: computer-assisted learning, social network learning and unconventional learning. Although all studies reported positive outcomes, only two were proven to be the most effective for this context. The results indicate that computer-assisted learning in combination with a teacher is the most effective way to teach pronunciation to EFL learners. This aligns with both the Swedish curriculum and two educational theories formulated by Krashen and Vygotsky. Our findings demonstrate an opportunity to implement this combination into the Swedish school context and allow for future research projects on pronunciation.

<p dir="ltr">Comprehensibility refers to the degree of effort that a listener requires to understand a speaker’s utterance (Derwing & Munro, 1997; Munro & Derwing, 1995; Derwing & Munro, 2005). Previous studies on L2 pronunciation have found that segmental errors could affect comprehensibility (Derwing et al., 1998; Derwing & Munro, 1997; Isaacs & Thomson, 2020; Saito et al., 2017). However, this finding only indicates a correlation between the number of segmental errors and lower comprehensibility. It is still unclear what aspects of pronunciation L2 learners need to practice in order to improve the comprehensibility of their speech. This thesis proposes that the degree of acoustic contrast may play a role in determining comprehensibility. More specifically, it investigates the relation between Mandarin speakers’ acoustic contrast between tense and lax vowels in English (i.e., [i] and [ɪ], [u] and [ʊ]) and the perceived comprehensibility of their speech.</p><p dir="ltr">A sentence production task and a comprehensibility rating task were conducted. In the sentence production task, 20 Mandarin speakers and 10 English speakers read aloud English sentences containing tense and lax vowels and were audio-recorded. The acoustic measurements of the vowels were taken in order to compare Mandarin speakers’ acoustic realization of the tense and lax vowels with English speakers’ productions. In the comprehensibility rating task, 48 English speakers transcribed the sentences recorded during the sentence production task and rated the comprehensibility of the sentences. The comprehensibility ratings were tested for correlation with the number of transcription errors, the degree of spectral and durational contrasts between vowels, and the speakers’ US residency length, in order to investigate the relation between intelligibility errors and comprehensibility, between acoustic contrast and comprehensibility, and between US residency length and comprehensibility.</p><p dir="ltr">The results of the linear-mixed effect model indicated that spectral contrast between [u] - [ʊ], but not [i] - [ɪ], was significantly reduced in Mandarin speakers’ productions compared to the English speakers, suggesting that Mandarin speakers under-differentiated the back vowel pair. A correlation test using Kendall’s <i>tau</i> indicated a significant negative correlation between number of intelligibility errors and comprehensibility, suggesting that intelligibility errors decreased comprehensibility. A correlation test using Kendall’s <i>tau</i> indicated a significant positive correlation between the degree of spectral contrast and comprehensibility rating for sentences with semantically meaningful context, suggesting that increasing the contrast between tense and lax vowels could help increase the comprehensibility of speech. Finally, a correlation test using Kendall’s <i>tau</i><i> </i>indicated no significant correlation between US residency length and comprehensibility, meaning that the relation between residency length and comprehensibility was not confirmed.</p><p dir="ltr">To sum up, acoustic contrast could be one of the contributors to speech comprehensibility. Therefore, directing English L2 learners to focus on increasing the acoustic distance between contrasting vowels could prove a fruitful strategy for improving the comprehensibility of L2 speech.</p>

Research on clear speech has shown that the type of clear speech produced can vary depending on the speaker, the listener and the medium. Although prior research has suggested that clear speech is more intelligible than conversational speech for normal-hearing listeners in noisy environments, it is not known which acoustic features of clear speech are the most responsible for enhanced intelligibility and comprehension. This thesis focused on investigating the acoustic characteristics that are produced in clear speech to foreigners and infants. Its aim was to assess the utility of these features in enhancing speech intelligibility and comprehension. The results of Experiment 1 showed that native speakers produced exaggerated vowel space in natural interactions with foreign-accented listeners compared to native-accented listeners. Results of Experiment 2 indicated that native speakers exaggerated vowel space and pitch to infants compared to clear read speech. Experiments 3 and 4 focused on speech perception and used transcription and clarity rating tasks. Experiment 3 contained speech directed at foreigners and showed that speech to foreign-accented speakers was rated clearer than speech to native-accented speakers. Experiment 4 contained speech directed at infants and showed that native speakers rated infant-directed speech as clearer than clear read speech. In the fifth and final experiment, naturally elicited clear speech towards foreign-accented interlocutors was used in speech comprehension tasks for native and non-native listeners with varying proficiency of English. It was revealed that speech with expanded vowel space improved listeners’ comprehension of speech in quiet and noise conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the Lindblom’s (1990) theory of Hyper and Hypoarticulation, an influential framework of speech production and perception.

Speech often occurs in challenging listening environments, such as masking noise. Visual cues have been found to enhance speech intelligibility in noise. Although the facilitatory role of audiovisual integration for perception of speech has been established in native speech, it is relatively unclear whether it also holds true for speech produced by nonnative speakers. Native listeners were presented with English sentences produced by native English and native Korean speakers. The sentences were in either audio-only or audiovisual conditions. Korean speakers were rated as more accented in audiovisual than in the audio-only condition. Visual cues enhanced speech intelligibility in noise for native English speech but less so for nonnative speech. Reduced intelligibility of audiovisual nonnative speech was associated with implicit Asian-Foreign association, suggesting that listener-related factors partially influence the efficiency of audiovisual integration for perception of speech produced by nonnative speakers. / text

En cette ère de la 4g et des microprocesseurs, la téléphonie sans-fil offre un accès constant au net en plus de permettre moult échanges via appels/textos ou autres applications. En réalité, le téléphone intelligent, à l’heure d’aujourd’hui, est bien plus qu’un outil communicationnel. Véritable couteau suisse des temps modernes, il permet de payer ses comptes, de retrouver son chemin, de vérifier l’heure et même de reconnaître la chanson audible dans un café. Sa prépondérance dans notre paysage quotidien en est telle qu’un peu plus d’une personne sur deux avoue qu’il ou elle ne saurait vivre sans son appareil (Smith, 2015). Ainsi, la présente recherche tente d’explorer les questions suivantes à l’aide d’une expérience de déstabilisation. Premièrement, est-il possible de toujours vivre 'normalement' tout en restant déconnecté? Plus précisément, qu'arriverait- il sur le plan de la représentation de soi alors que les attentes quotidiennes fondées sur l'instantanéité, l’accessibilité et l'hyper-efficacité ne pourraient pas être respectées? En ce sens, peut-on encore agir, interagir et fonctionner dans un monde hyperconnecté, ou une déconnexion prolongée altèrerait-elle aussi la façon dont nous percevons et donnons un sens à notre environnement? / In a world of 4g and microprocessors, wireless telephony offers constant web access in addition to allowing a plethora of interactive means via calls / text messages or other applications. In fact, today's smartphone seems to be much more than a communicational tool. A true modern day Swiss army knife, we can use it to pay our bills, find our way in the city, or check the time and even recognize the song currently audible in a coffee shop. In fact, its preponderance in our daily lives is such that a little more than a person out of two admits that he or she cannot live without his or her device for more than a day (Smith, 2015). Thus, this research attempts to explore the following questions through a breaching experiment. First, is it possible to always live 'normally' while remaining disconnected? Moreover, what would happen to the presentation of self in the everyday life when expectations based on immediacy, accessibility, and hyper efficiency could not possibly be met? Once disconnected, can we still properly act, interact, and function in a hyperconnected world or does a prolonged disconnection also alter what the way we may perceive and make sense of our surroundings?

The aim of the thesis is to explore depictions of sexuality in popular science fiction film and television through a focus on storytelling, narrative, characters and genre. The thesis analyses science fiction as a film and television genre with a focus on the conventions, interpretations, and definitions of genre as part of larger contexts. Central to the argumentation is films and television series, from Star Wars and Star Trek, to Firefly and Torchwood. The approach allows a consideration of how the storytelling conventions of science fiction are, and have been, affected by its contexts. Through a consideration of a historical de-emphasis on narrative complexity and character formation in science fiction, the thesis displays and analyses a salient tendency towards juvenile and heteronormative narratives. This tendency is represented by a concept that I call the Star’verses, through which this dominant idea of science fiction as a juvenile, techno-centred, masculine, and heteronormative genre became firmly established. This generic cluster has remained a dominant influence on science fiction film and television since the 1980s. However, as argued, a major discursive shift took place in science fiction at the turn of the millennium. This adult turn in science fiction film, and television in particular, is attributed to contextual changes, but also to the influence of television dramaturgy. It explains why science fiction in the 21st century is not as unfamiliar with depictions of sexuality as its predecessors were. This turn does not signal a total abandonment of what the Star’verses represent; it instead contributes to a change to this dominant idea of the generic identity of science fiction. While sexuality has been disassociated from much science fiction, it is also argued that the science fiction narrative has extensive queer potential. Generic conventions, such as aliens and time travel, invite both queer readings and queer storytelling; the latter however is seldom used, especially in science fiction film. A majority of the examples of science fiction narrative that use this queer potential can be found in television. In cinema, however, this progression is remarkably slow. Therefore, the thesis analyses whether the storytelling techniques of Hollywood cinema, to which science fiction film owes much of its dramaturgy, could be considered heteronormative. A comparison is made to television dramaturgy in order to display the possibilities for the serialised, character-focused science fiction narrative. Ultimately, the thesis investigate the possibility for subversive storytelling and whether a normative use of dramaturgy needs to be overthrown in order to tell a subversive story.

Die chirurgische und strahlentherapeutische Behandlung oropharyngealer Tumoren führt häufig zu einer Beeinträchtigung des Schluckens und Sprechens. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung des Schweregrades der Schluck- und Sprechprobleme bei Patienten, die wegen Tumoren der Regio tonsillaris nach unterschiedlichen Operationsmethoden behandelt wurden. 54 Patienten mit oropharyngealen Tumoren (unterteilt nach den Operationsmethoden: A: Tumortonsillektomie; B: Oropharynxteilresektion mit primärem Wundverschluß; C: Oro-pharynxteilresektion mit plastischer Rekonstruktion) wurden mittels Befragung, mit einem standarisierten Fragebogen, einem kompletten HNO-Status inklusive transnasaler Endo-skopie, mit drei unterschiedlichen Sprachverständlichkeitstests und einer Röntgenkine-matographie untersucht. Die besten funktionellen Resultate (sowohl der Schluck- als auch der Sprechfunktion) zeigten sich in Gruppe A, während sich in den Gruppen B und C deutlich schlechtere Ergebnisse fanden. Zwischen den Gruppen B und C ließen sich nur geringe Unterschiede feststellen. Die statistische Analyse konnte eine positive Korrelation der Ergebnisse innerhalb der Sprach-verständlichkeitstests sowie der drei Tests untereinander nachweisen. Die Arbeit zeigt, daß durch Oropharynxteilresektionen mit primärem Wundverschluß und mit plastischer Rekonstruktion annähernd gleichwertige Resultate erzielt werden, obwohl der operationsbedingte Gewebedefekt vor plastischer Rekonstruktion deutlich größer ist. Diese Ergebnisse widersprechen einigen Literaturangaben, die schlechtere funktionelle Ergebnisse nach plastischer Rekonstruktion beschreiben. Die Arbeit zeigt außerdem, daß sich die drei verwendeten Sprachverständlichkeitstests für die Untersuchung der beeinträchtigten Sprech-funktion nach operativer Behandlung oropharyngealer Tumoren eignen. / The surgical and radiotherapeutical treatment of oropharyngeal tumors often results in swallowing and speech malfunction. The purpose of this study is to investigate the severity of swallowing and speech malfunction in patients with tumors of the tonsillar region, which were treated by different surgical strategies. 54 Patients with oropharyngeal tumors (seperated according to the surgical strategy: A: radical tonsillectomy; B: partial oropharyngectomy and primary closure; C: partial oropharyngectomy and plastic reconstruction) were investigated by interrogation, a standardized questionaire, a full otorhinolaryngological examination including transnasal endoscopy, three different speech tests and a radiographic swallow examination. The best functional results (regarding swallow- as well as speech function) were found in group A. The functional results in group B and C were distinctly worse, but only minimal differences could be found between these two groups. Statistical analysis confirmed a positive correlation of the results of the three speech tests and beetween the three speech tests. The study shows very similar functional results after partial oropharyngectomy with primary closure and partial oropharyngectomy with plastic reconstruction, although the tissue defect before plastic reconstruction was distinctly greater. These results differ from some results in the literature, which describe worse functional results after plastic reconstruction. The study also shows the usability of the three speech tests to assess variant degrees of speech malfunction after surgical and radiotherapeutical treatment of oropharyngeal tumors.