Speech Communication

The Experiential Basis of Speech and Writing As Different Cognitive Domains

by Alexander Kravchenko

Traditionally, writing is viewed as a code that stands in one-to-one correspondence to spoken language, which is... more Traditionally, writing is viewed as a code that stands in one-to-one correspondence to spoken language, which is therefore also viewed as a code. However, this is a delusion, which is shared by educators and has serious consequences for cognition, both on individual and on social levels. Natural linguistic signs characteristic for the activity of languaging and their symbolizations (graphic markings) are ontologically different phenomena; speech and writing belong to experiential domains of different dynamics. These dynamics impact differently
on the linguistic/behavioral strategies of individuals and communities, viewed as second- and third-order living systems operating in a consensual domain, as structure-determined systems. Failure to acknowledge this contributes to the
spread of functional illiteracy in modern societies, which may lead to cognitive/communicative dysfunction. Technology-enhanced new literacies challenge the value of traditional written culture, raising questions about the relationship between speech and writing and their roles in human evolution

Keywords: consensual domain, phenomenology, speech, structural determinism

Using the Film Rashomon to Teach Source Credibility and Narrative Indeterminacy

by Roy Schwartzman

Schwartzman, Roy. “Using the Film Rashomon to Teach Source Credibility and Narrative Indeterminacy.” Teaching Ideas for the Basic Communication Course. Vol. 4. Ed. Lawrence W. Hugenberg and Barbara S. Hugenberg. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt, 2000. 59-67.

Audible smiles and frowns affect speech comprehension

by Hugo Quené

Co-authored with Gün R. Semin and Francesco Foroni, in press in Speech Communication, 2012.

Highlights:
► Smiles and frowns may interfere with speech production and comprehension. ► Speech synthesis of words with positive and with negative meaning. ► Formants shifted up or down to simulate smiling and frowning. ► Incongruent smiling or frowning impedes speech comprehension. ► Interference due to motor mimicry of smiling and frowning gestures.

Keywords: Smiles; Speech comprehension; Emotion; Affect perception; Motor resonance

Motor resonance processes are involved both in language comprehension and in affect perception. Therefore we predict... more Motor resonance processes are involved both in language comprehension and in affect perception. Therefore we predict that listeners understand spoken affective words slower, if the phonetic form of a word is incongruent with its affective meaning. A language comprehension study involving an interference paradigm confirmed this prediction. This interference suggests that affective phonetic cues contribute to language comprehension. A perceived smile or frown affects the listener, and hearing an incongruent smile or frown impedes our comprehension of spoken words.

Developments of Swahili resources for an automatic speech recognition system

by Hadrien Gelas

Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke (2012 update)

by Marian Brady

Brady MC, Kelly H, Enderby P. Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (submitted)

Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke (2012 update)

by Marian Brady

Brady MC, Kelly H, Enderby P. Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (submitted)

Speech and language therapy versus placebo or no intervention for speech problems in Parkinson's disease

by Marian Brady

Clare P Herd, Claire L Tomlinson, Katherine HO Deane, Marian C Brady, Christina H Smith, Catherine Sackley, Carl E Clarke

Background
Parkinson's disease patients commonly suffer from speech and vocal problems including dysarthric... more Background
Parkinson's disease patients commonly suffer from speech and vocal problems including dysarthric speech, reduced loudness and loss of articulation. These symptoms increase in frequency and intensity with progression of the disease). Speech and language therapy (SLT) aims to improve the intelligibility of speech with behavioural treatment techniques or instrumental aids.

Objectives
To compare the efficacy of speech and language therapy versus placebo or no intervention for speech and voice problems in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Search methods
Relevant trials were identified by electronic searches of numerous literature databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL, as well as handsearching of relevant conference abstracts and examination of reference lists in identified studies and other reviews. The literature search included trials published prior to 11th April 2011.

Selection criteria
Only randomised controlled trials (RCT) of speech and language therapy versus placebo or no intervention were included.

Data collection and analysis
Data were abstracted independently by CH and CT and differences settled by discussion.

Main results
Three randomised controlled trials with a total of 63 participants were found comparing SLT with placebo for speech disorders in Parkinson's disease. Data were available from 41 participants in two trials. Vocal loudness for reading a passage increased by 6.3 dB (P = 0.0007) in one trial, and 11.0 dB (P = 0.0002) in another trial. An increase was also seen in both of these trials for monologue speaking of 5.4 dB (P = 0.002) and 11.0 dB (P = 0.0002), respectively. It is likely that these areclinically significant improvements. After six months, patients from the first trial were still showing a statistically significant increase of 4.5 dB (P = 0.0007) for reading and 3.5 dB for monologue speaking. Some measures of speech monotonicity and articulation were investigated; however, all these results were non-significant.

Authors' conclusions
Although improvements in speech impairments were noted in these studies, due to the small number of patients examined, methodological flaws , and the possibility of publication bias, there is insufficient evidence to conclusively support or refute the efficacy of SLT for speech problems in Parkinson's disease. A large well designed placebo-controlled RCT is needed to demonstrate SLT's effectiveness in Parkinson's disease. The trial should conform to CONSORT guidelines. Outcome measures with particular relevance to patients with Parkinson’s disease should be chosen and patients followed for at least six months to determine the duration of any improvement.

Rede als Führungsinstrument: Wirtschaftsrhetorik für Manager-ein Leitfaden

by Brigitte Biehl-Missal

Book Chapters

Biehl, B. (2008) ‘Zur Inszenierung der Rede’, in Bazil, V. and Wöller, R. (Hg.), Rede als Führungsinstrument. Wirtschaftsrhetorik für Manager – ein Leitfaden. Wiesbaden: Gabler, 157–172. (Herausgeber vom Verband d. dt. Redenschreiber)
— (2008) ‘Vom Architekten zum Kriegsherrn. Metaphern der Top-Manager’, in Bazil, V. and Wöller, R. (Hg.), Rede als Führungsinstrument. Wirtschaftsrhetorik für Manager – ein Leitfaden. Wiesbaden: Gabler, 189–202.

Novel VTEO Based Mel Cepstral Features for Classification of Normal and Pathological Voices

by Pallavi Baljekar

in Proc. of 12th Annual Conference of ISCA (INTERSPEECH'11), Florence, Italy, Aug. 28-31, 2011, pp 509-512.

In this paper, novel Variable length Teager Energy Operator
(VTEO) based Mel cepstral features, viz., VTMFCC are... more In this paper, novel Variable length Teager Energy Operator
(VTEO) based Mel cepstral features, viz., VTMFCC are proposed for automatic classification of normal and pathological voices. Experiments have been carried out using this proposed feature set, MFCC and their score-level fusion. Classification was performed using a 2nd order polynomial classifier on a subset of the MEEI database. The equal error rate (EER) on fusion was 3.2% less than EER of MFCC alone which was used as the baseline. Effectiveness of the proposed feature-set was also investigated under degraded conditions using the NOISEX-92 database for babble and high frequency channel noise.

Across-Language Perspective on Speech Information Rate

by François Pellegrino

Dimensions musicales de la voix parlée. Expression in speech and music

by Nicolas Obin

N. Obin,
Festival AGORA : L'icône, la Voix, IRCAM, Paris, France, 2008.

The analysis of expressivity in speech and musical performance are emerging and pluridisciplinary areas of scientific... more The analysis of expressivity in speech and musical performance are emerging and pluridisciplinary areas of scientific research. The recent parallelism in research of the role played by prosody (verbal and/or instrumental) in expressivity raises questions at the meeting point of these two areas. These questions are constantly raised, in a more or less direct manner, by an artistic community that has “handled” the expressive gesture for a long time. In order to bring together the many participants in the artistic and scientific domains, this colloquium focuses on two questions: How can one define the expressivities common to both speech and music (what are the semantic and categorical fields)? What are the acoustical elements common to both music and speech that make possible the description of these expressivities? These questions will be dealt with from the point of view ofthe composer, the scientific researcher, the performer and the musicologist.

Speech Communication In the Twentieth Century

by Thomas Benson

Speech event detection using multiband modulation energy

by Georgios Evangelopoulos

Gallant, L. M. (2006). An ethnography of communication approach to mobile product testing. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. 10(5), 325-332.

by Linda Gallant

Product testing of mobile communication technology has typically employed the same research methodologies that were... more Product testing of mobile communication technology has typically employed the same research methodologies that were traditionally applied to stationary technology. An approach that does not primarily rely on physical location to study mobile communication technologies is thus needed. The stable component of mobile communication technology is not physical space but human communication. Therefore, a research model is developed based on an ethnography of communication approach, which designates “talk” (i.e., symbolic communication) as the primary and essential unit of measurement while making stationary physical location secondary. This allows design teams to enter a user “speech community” anywhere. Eight participants tested both the stationary and mobile version of customer relationship management software for sales. All participants were professional salespeople, comprising a speech community. Users articulated their “local” speech community meaning systems in the form of scenarios of use, which can guide product design and marketing. The findings show that proof-of-concept testing of mobile versions of desktop software can be done in conjunction with the usability testing for stationary technology.

Cepstral analysis of vocal dysperiodicities in disordered connected speech

by Ali Alpan

Dysarthria following stroke – the patient’s perspective on management and rehabilitation. Clinical Rehabilitation. 2011;25:935-952. doi:10.1177/0269215511405079.

by Marian Brady

Brady MC, Clarke A, Dickson S, Paton G, Barbour R.

Objective: To explore the perceptions of people with stroke-related dysarthria in relation to the management and... more Objective: To explore the perceptions of people with stroke-related dysarthria in relation to the management and rehabilitation of dysarthria.

Design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews.

Setting: Community setting

Subjects: Twenty-four people with an acquired dysarthria as a result of a stroke in the previous three years. All were living at home at the time of the interview. None exhibited a co-existing impairment (for example, aphasia, apraxia or cognitive impairment) that might have contributed to their communicative experiences.

Results: Participants described the considerable efforts they made to maximize their communicative effectiveness prior to, and during, communicative interactions. Activities described included careful articulation and vocal projection as well as more inconspicuous strategies including pre-planning interactions, focused, effortful speech and word substitution. Communication was facilitated by a range of strategies including drafting, rehearsal, manoeuvring and ongoing monitoring and repair. Self-led speech rehabilitation activities were functionally based and often undertaken regularly. Some novel reading-aloud and speaking-aloud activities were described.

Conclusion: The quantity and nature of inconspicuous, internalized, cognitive activities people with dysarthria engage in to maximize their communicative effectiveness should be considered in evaluating the impact of dysarthria following stroke. Focusing upon externally observable characteristics alone is insufficient. Challenging, functionally relevant, patient-focused activities, materials and targets are more likely to be perceived by the patient as relevant and worthwhile and are thus more likely to ensure adherence to recommended rehabilitation activities.

The Development of the Semantic System.

by Philip Salem

Salem, P. J. (1980, May). The development of the semantic system. Paper presented to the International Communication Association convention, Acapulco, Mexico. (Abstract available in Resources in Education, 1983, 18 (2), 51 ) (Full document is ERIC No. ED 220-886, 27 p.)

The Development of Higher Mental Processes In the Generation of Meaning

by Philip Salem

Salem, P. J. (1975). The development of higher mental processes in the generation of meaning. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section A. The Humanities and Social Sciences, 35(07), 4731.

Selected quasi-lexical and non-lexical units in Polish map task dialogues

by Maciej Karpinski

The present study is focused on selected types of fillers, quasi-words and non-lexical words that are generally... more The present study is focused on selected types of fillers, quasi-words and non-lexical words that are generally categorized as expressing positive or negative response in Polish task-oriented dialogues. Basic phonetic properties of such units are analyzed with a special focus on intonation. Some of their possible realizations are shown and some relations between their intonational form and meaning are
hypothesized. A brief note on comparative background from our recent work is also provided and some implications for speech technology are mentioned. Key words: dialogue, intonation

The Science of Orality: Implications for Rhetorical Theory

by Brett Lunceford

Lunceford, Brett. “The Science of Orality: Implications for Rhetorical Theory.” Review of Communication, 7, no. 1 (2007): 83-102.

Although the Ancients placed great emphasis on delivery, modern rhetorical scholars often overlook the oral dimensions... more Although the Ancients placed great emphasis on delivery, modern rhetorical scholars often overlook the oral dimensions of speech. Speech is powerful because of its ability to elicit a somatic response. Scholars in other disciplines are examining how speech affects the body, but contemporary rhetorical scholarship often overlooks their findings. This essay reviews scholarship both inside and outside of communication studies that demonstrates the interplay between rhetoric and orality, paying particular attention to how scientific scholarship can inform our conception of ethos and pathos. By drawing together scientific and rhetorical scholarship, scholars in all disciplines can gain a greater understanding of how speech affects the mind, body, and soul.