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This report explores the subject of speech synthesis. Information given includes a brief explanation of speech production in man, an historical view of speech synthesis, and four types of electronic synthesizers in use today. Also included is a brief presentation on phonetics, the study of speech sounds. An understanding of this subject is necessary to see how a synthesizer must produce certain sounds, and how these sounds are put together to create words. Finally a description of a limited text speech synthesizer is presented. This system allows the user to enter English text via a keyboard and have it output in spoken form. The future of speech synthesis appears to be very bright. This report also gives some possible applications of verbal computer communication.

Speech enhancement in multi-speaker babble remains an enormous challenge. In this study, we developed a binaural speech enhancement system to extract information pertaining to a target speech signal embedded in a noisy background for use in future hearing-aid systems. The principle underlying the proposed system is to simulate the perceptual auditory segregation process carried out in the normal human auditory system. Based on the spatial location, pitch and onset cues, the system can identify and enhance those time-frequency regions which constitute the target speech. The proposed system is capable of dealing with a wide variety of noise intrusions, including competing speech signals and multi-speaker babble. It also works under mild reverberation conditions. Systematic evaluation shows that the system achieves substantial improvement on the intelligibility of target signal, while it largely suppresses the unwanted background signal. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a person who was graduated from a state institution with the minimum requirements of that institution for a major in speech and who held a permanent high school certificate as prescribed by law, was qualified from the standpoint of subject matter knowledge to be a teacher of speech in the public schools.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

<p> This research study investigates the manifestations of the core deficits of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the writing process of three school-aged individuals diagnosed with this disorder. A qualitative research design was employed in order uncover the effects of the core deficits on the social interactions surrounding a constructivist approach to writing development. The ethnographic methods used during this investigation allowed the identification behavioral strategies employed as a result of the core deficits of ASD as they occurred during the authentic context of interest. The results of this study suggest underlying cognitive deficits described as an inaccurate locus of joint attention, rigid and restrictive conceptualizations of the writing process, and non-social use of the writing process. These underlying cognitive capacities decrease the ability of the individual with ASD to engage in the writing process in conventionally appropriate and effective manners. In response to a social constructivist approach to the writing process, the manifestations of the core deficits changed in each of the three participants followed in this study to include the establishment of joint action routines, integrated conceptualizations of the writing process, and the emergent use of writing for social purposes. The results of this research investigation support the theoretical standing of pragmatics as an emergent epiphenomenon (Perkins, 2005). For the three participants in this investigation, the social use of both the writing process and of written language emerged as other core capacities in social interaction and rigid conceptualizations responded to the social constructivist approaches employed in this study. As the writing process and written language became part of the social interactions of these IASD, the communicative functions of writing became apparent as a way to share their interests and experiences with others.</p>