Spoken Word Research Articles

Perforated Concave Earplug (pCEP): A Proof-of-Concept Earplug to Improve Sound Localization without Compromising Noise Attenuation.

Combat soldiers are currently faced with using a hearing-protection device (HPD) at the cost of adequately detecting critical signals impacting mission success. The current study tested the performance of the Perforated-Concave-Earplug (pCEP), a proof-of-concept passive HPD consisting of a concave bowl-like rigid structure attached to a commercial roll-down earplug, designed to improve sound localization with minimal compromising of noise attenuation. Primarily intended for combat/military training settings, our aim was an evaluation of localization of relevant sound sources (single/multiple gunfire, continuous noise, spoken word) compared to 3M™-Combat-Arms™4.1 earplugs in open-mode and 3M™-E-A-R™-Classic™ earplugs. Ninety normal-hearing participants, aged 20-35 years, were asked to localize stimuli delivered from monitors evenly distributed around them in no-HPD and with-HPD conditions. The results showed (1) localization abilities worsened using HPDs; (2) the spoken word was localized less accurately than other stimuli; (3) mean root mean square errors (RMSEs) were largest for stimuli emanating from rear monitors; and (4) localization abilities corresponded to HPD attenuation levels (largest attenuation and mean RMSE: 3M™-E-A-R™-Classic™; smallest attenuation and mean RMSE: 3M™-Combat-Arms™4.1; pCEP was mid-range on both). These findings suggest that the pCEP may benefit in military settings by providing improved sound localization relative to 3M™ E-A-R™-Classic™ and higher attenuation relative to 3M™-Combat Arms™-4.1, recommending its use in noisy environments.

Manual and non-manual sign language recognition framework using hybrid deep learning techniques

Sign language recognition is a significant cross-modal way to fill the communication gap between deaf and hearing people. Automatic Sign Language Recognition (ASLR) translates sign language gestures into text and spoken words. Several researchers are focusing either on manual gestures or non-manual gestures separately; a rare focus is on concurrent recognition of manual and non-manual gestures. Facial expression and other body movements can improve the accuracy rate, as well as enhance signs’ exact meaning. The current paper proposes a Multimodal –Sign Language Recognition (MM-SLR) framework to recognize non-manual features based on facial expressions along with manual gestures in Spatio temporal domain representing hand movements in ASLR. Our proposed architecture has three modules, first, a modified architecture of YOLOv5 is defined to extract faces and hands from videos as two Regions of Interest. Second, refined C3D architecture is used to extract features from the hand region and the face region, further, feature concatenation of both modalities is applied. Lastly, LSTM network is used to get spatial-temporal descriptors and attention-based sequential modules for gesture classification. To validate the proposed framework we used three publically available datasets RWTH-PHONIX-WEATHER-2014T, SILFA and PkSLMNM. Experimental results show that the above-mentioned MM-SLR framework outperformed on all datasets.

Radiological Assessment of Aphasia Outcome: A Case Report

Background Stroke is a leading cause of major adult disability, and aphasia is one of the most common consequences of stroke. It has been reported that 21%–38% of patients with stroke have aphasia in the acute stage. Case presentation A 64- year old Egyptian male diagnosed with recent ischemic stroke in the form of the form of inability to express himself in spoken words; Broca’s aphasia. Diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) was done to assess the integrity of the arcuate fasciculus in the acute stage as a method to predict the possible outcome of the patient aphasia. DTT showed affection of broca’s territory of the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and it could be reconstructed measured by fractionated anisotropy (0.469). The patient initial aphasia test measured (47). Three months later, the patient improved and follow up aphasia test measured (74.4). Results Reconstruction of the arcuate fasciculus by DTT in the early stage of aphasia as shown in our patient carries a good clinical prognosis. Our patient aphasia improved markedly at 3 months follow up visit. Conclusion DTT could be a helpful tool to assess the outcome of aphasia at the early stage of acute ischemic stroke.

Orally Transferred Aphorisms of Dentistry

Dentistry has existed for millennia. Wisdom derived from experience has produced principles of practice that influence dentistry. Many of these are oral advisories circulate among dental health care workers in spoken words but are rarely written down. Aim: This article accumulates some of the important orally transferred aphorisms (OTA) and traditions, records them and deconstructs their implications, reasons and significance. Discussion: These oral advising principles have evolved from experience and each act as a dictating guide for policy and activities in the practice of dentistry. Conclusion: Orally transferred aphorisms have been passed down from generation to generation of dentists; those recorded here will be added to, as long as dentistry evolves as a profession to yield further accumulated wisdom of dental health care workers.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in pediatric cochlear implant recipients with complex needs: A scoping review.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) encompasses all forms of unaided and aided modes of communication, but typically excludes codified language such as spoken words or American Sign Language (ASL). In pediatric patients with a documented additional disability (population of interest), deficits in communication may pose a barrier to language development. While forms of AAC are frequently mentioned in the literature, recent innovations have permitted the use of high-tech AAC in the rehabilitation process. Our objective was to review the implementation of AAC in pediatric cochlear implant recipients with a documented additional disability. A scoping review of existing literature examining the use of AAC in pediatric CI recipients was conducted in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase databases. Studies with pediatric cochlear implant recipients with a concomitant diagnosis requiring additional therapeutic intervention outside the scope of standard post-CI follow-up care and rehabilitation from 1985 to 2021 met inclusion criteria (population of interest). Studies limited to spoken or formal sign language (e.g., American Sign Language, ASL) as communication modalities were excluded. Four hundred twenty studies were screened of which 29 were included. 13 were prospective, 10 were retrospective, 1 was cross-sectional, and 5 were case reports. Of these 29 studies, 378 patients met the inclusion criteria (age <18, CI user, additional disability, utilized AAC). Fewer studies (n=7) utilized AAC as the primary intervention for investigation. Autism spectrum disorder, learning disorder, and cognitive delay were frequently mentioned as additional disabilities in conjunction with AAC. Unaided forms of AAC included gesture/behavior, informal sign, and signed exact English, while aided AAC included a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCA), and touchscreen programs such as TouchChat® HD. Various audiometric and language development outcome measures were mentioned, most commonly the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) (n=4) and the Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition (PLS-4) (n=4). There is a gap in the literature regarding the use of aided and high-tech AAC in pediatric CI users with a documented additional disability. Given the use of multiple different outcome measures, additional exploration of the intervention of AAC is warranted.

The Use of Smartphones to Communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ

There have been many changes in the organisational structure, leadership style, and divisional groups of the Christian Church that form their own identity and brand. For each group, sect and denomination, the methods used differ widely. Musical instruments were also introduced into church worship over time. While many of these organisations have maintained the foundational message of Christ, many have begun to adopt newer technology to communicate both internally and externally about their ministry. Smartphones are ubiquitous, and they are an advancement in new media technology, particularly with the introduction of the Internet. The internet and WEB 2.0 applications made it possible for smartphones to emerge. As internet speeds increased, the experience of accessing information became more seamless. Making the gospel message visual and sharing it over social media through the use of smartphones allows the gospel message to reach a wider audience in a shorter period of time. When God spoke to Moses, he communicated with him visually. Through his prophets like Hosea 12:10, Numbers 12:6 and Isaiah 1:1 he also used visions, dreams, and the spoken word. The Bible also mentions an increase in knowledge, and new media innovations are part of that process. As a result, this paper investigated the use of smartphones to share messages during church services and whether such usage is a digital distraction. This paper employed a qualitative secondary data analysis as well as focus groups with pastors and congregational members. This paper was conceptualised using the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) which is essentially an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication. According to the findings, appropriate smartphone use can be a very effective communication device; however, not everyone uses them correctly. It is clear that new media is constantly evolving, and it would be advantageous for the local church to intentionally use smartphones to engage in ministry and share the gospel message. As a further study, it would be interesting to conduct comparative research on the use of smartphones and social media among other religious groups.

A single case neuroimaging study of tickertape synesthesia

Reading acquisition is enabled by deep changes in the brain’s visual system and language areas, and in the links subtending their collaboration. Disruption of those plastic processes commonly results in developmental dyslexia. However, atypical development of reading mechanisms may occasionally result in ticker-tape synesthesia (TTS), a condition described by Francis Galton in 1883 wherein individuals “see mentally in print every word that is uttered (…) as from a long imaginary strip of paper”. While reading is the bottom–up translation of letters into speech, TTS may be viewed as its opposite, the top–down translation of speech into internally visualized letters. In a series of functional MRI experiments, we studied MK, a man with TTS. We showed that a set of left-hemispheric areas were more active in MK than in controls during the perception of normal than reversed speech, including frontoparietal areas involved in speech processing, and the Visual Word Form Area, an occipitotemporal region subtending orthography. Those areas were identical to those involved in reading, supporting the construal of TTS as upended reading. Using dynamic causal modeling, we further showed that, parallel to reading, TTS induced by spoken words and pseudowords relied on top–down flow of information along distinct lexical and phonological routes, involving the middle temporal and supramarginal gyri, respectively. Future studies of TTS should shed new light on the neurodevelopmental mechanisms of reading acquisition, their variability and their disorders.

"[H]is Voice Cannot be Heard; and Words Spoken, Even on Such an Awful Occasion, are Soon Forgotten": A Comparative Analysis of the Final Words of the Executed Prisoners in England 1840-68 and Texas 1982-2004 (by John Walliss and Laura Adnum): Review 3

"[H]is Voice Cannot be Heard; and Words Spoken, Even on Such an Awful Occasion, are Soon Forgotten": A Comparative Analysis of the Final Words of the Executed Prisoners in England 1840-68 and Texas 1982-2004 (by John Walliss and Laura Adnum): Review 3

"[H]is Voice Cannot be Heard; and Words Spoken, Even on Such an Awful Occasion, are Soon Forgotten": A Comparative Analysis of the Final Words of the Executed Prisoners in England 1840-68 and Texas 1982-2004 (by John Walliss and Laura Adnum): Review 2

"[H]is Voice Cannot be Heard; and Words Spoken, Even on Such an Awful Occasion, are Soon Forgotten": A Comparative Analysis of the Final Words of the Executed Prisoners in England 1840-68 and Texas 1982-2004 (by John Walliss and Laura Adnum): Review 2

THE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE STYLE USED IN MERRY RIANA’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL ON THE PLAYLIST ‘SPOKEN WORD’

The aim of this study was to find out the types of language styles and identify the dominant style of language used by Merry Riana in her selected motivational speech videos as a motivator. The data of this study were taken from Merry Riana’s YouTube Channel and the researchers chose 3 motivational speech videos in the "SPOKEN WORD" playlist. In analyzing the data, the researchers used descriptive qualitative method. The researchers used the theory proposed by Martin Joss (1967) to identify the types of language styles. According to Martin Joss (1967), there are five language styles: frozen style, formal style, casual style, consultative style, and intimate style. The researchers found that in Merry Riana’s motivational speech used three language styles from five language styles proposed by Martin Joss. There were 64 formal styles, 42 casual styles, and 4 intimate styles from the 117 sentences uttered by the speaker in the selected video. The most dominant style of language found in this study was the formal style.

Reimagining education with Rebekah Corlett: A whānau perspective on partnership and inclusion

Kia ora koutouKo Hikurangi te maungaKo Waiapu te awaKo Ngāti Porou te iwiKo Rongohaere te maraeKo Rebekah Corlett toku ingoa I’m a mum to Sophia who is fourteen. She was diagnosed as autistic at age 2 1/2; she is non- speaking and uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate which for her is an iPad with a communication app on it. She uses a mixture of a few spoken words, AAC, a few NZSL signs and lots of gestures. That’s how she makes herself known. We live on the Kapiti Coast which is about an hour north of Wellington. I live with my husband Jason and also our son Ryan who is eleven. Sophia is ORS funded, and she has moved in the last couple of years from a specialist primary school to a mainstream high school, which has been a massive undertaking and mostly successful. I write a blog Reasonable Accommodations with Rebekah which explains what those experiences and education are like, and gives a voice to whānau who are supporting and keeping their child or young person engaged in the education system.

Hesychia and Psalmody Today

The Romanian Patriarchate declared that the year 2022 was to be devoted to the commemoration of the Hesychast saints Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas, and Paisios of Neamț. This led us to the idea of discussing the connections between the tradition of Hesychasm and psalmody, even more so as Saint Paisios was one of the greatest supporters of psaltic music in the communities he shepherded. To what extent can we still speak of hesychia in psaltic chanting today, when many Orthodox parishes experience a state of stagnation or even degradation of chanting? Is hesychia an experience meant only for monks or can psalmody lead to hesychia even in the case of ordinary churchgoers?When we talk of psalmody, in the broad sense of chanting hymnographic texts, we refer to a sacred act of prayer expressed through different states of mind. These moods or ethe are the true music that springs from the inside and overflows outside through outward forms of expression such as one’s posture, facial expression, spoken words, and, finally, intoned melodies. All these forms expressing one’s inner ethe generate, in turn, different moods in the souls of those who listen and pray to the words and melodies of the chants. According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers of the Eastern Church, liturgical chanting creates a direct, extremely strong and mysterious connection between the inner experiences of the chanter and those who listen and receive these states of mind directly by audition. Therefore, the psaltis or chanter must know and be able to control all the objective or subjective factors that can create certain states of mind.

The Stories We Tell About Data: Surveying Data-Driven Storytelling Using Visualization.

The emerging practice of data-driven storytelling is framing data using familiar narrative mechanisms, such as slideshows, videos, and comics, to make even highly complex phenomena understandable. In this survey, we propose a taxonomy focused specifically on media types for the purpose of widening the purview of data-driven storytelling by putting more tools into the hands of designers. The classification shows that current data-driven storytelling practice does not yet leverage the full repertoire of media that can be used for storytelling, such as the spoken word, e-learning, and video games. Using our taxonomy as a generative tool, we also explore three novel storytelling mechanisms, including for live streaming, gesture-driven oral presentations, and data-driven comics.

Contextual effects on spoken word processing: An eye-tracking study of the time course of tone and vowel activation in Mandarin.

Lexical access is highly contextual. For example, vowel (rime) information is prioritized over tone in the lexical access of isolated words in Mandarin Chinese, but these roles are flipped in constraining contexts. The time course of these contextual effects remains unclear, and so here we tracked the real-time eye gaze of native Mandarin speakers in a visual-world paradigm. While listening to a noun classifier, before the target noun was even uttered, gaze to the target noun was already greater than looking to phonologically unrelated distractors. Critically, there was also more distraction from a cohort competitor (tone information) than a segmental competitor (vowel information) in more semantically constraining contexts. Results confirm that phonological activation in Mandarin lexical access is highly sensitive to context, with tone taking priority over vowel information even before a target word is heard. Results suggest that phonological activation in real-time lexical access may be highly context-specific across languages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Darijan Božič’s Musical Theatre Opus in the Context of the Slovenian Musical Theatre Scene: An Escape into the LiteraryDramatic in Opposition to the Desire for the Institutional

Among Slovenian modernist composers, Darijan Božič dedicated the largest part of his work to musical theatre. The genre classifications of his works show that the composer constantly searched for a new form of musical theatre. It would appear that he finally settled on a medium that could almost be designated as a “radio play”, with an emphasis usually on the spoken word, accompanied by occasional interventions of instrumental music. Over time, these interventions appeared to lose their modernist edge (harmonic clusters) and approach postmodernism by juxtaposing diverse elements. Thus, a characteristic of Božic’s works is their double imbalance: the language strongly dominates the music, while at the same time, the composer’s desire to implement avant-garde theatrical procedures in an institutional opera house seems unusual.

Darijan Božič’s Musical Theatre Opus in the Context of the Slovenian Musical Theatre Scene: An Escape into the LiteraryDramatic in Opposition to the Desire for the Institutional

Among Slovenian modernist composers, Darijan Božič dedicated the largest part of his work to musical theatre. The genre classifications of his works show that the composer constantly searched for a new form of musical theatre. It would appear that he finally settled on a medium that could almost be designated as a “radio play”, with an emphasis usually on the spoken word, accompanied by occasional interventions of instrumental music. Over time, these interventions appeared to lose their modernist edge (harmonic clusters) and approach postmodernism by juxtaposing diverse elements. Thus, a characteristic of Božic’s works is their double imbalance: the language strongly dominates the music, while at the same time, the composer’s desire to implement avant-garde theatrical procedures in an institutional opera house seems unusual.

Darijan Božič’s Musical Theatre Opus in the Context of the Slovenian Musical Theatre Scene: An Escape into the LiteraryDramatic in Opposition to the Desire for the Institutional

Among Slovenian modernist composers, Darijan Božič dedicated the largest part of his work to musical theatre. The genre classifications of his works show that the composer constantly searched for a new form of musical theatre. It would appear that he finally settled on a medium that could almost be designated as a “radio play”, with an emphasis usually on the spoken word, accompanied by occasional interventions of instrumental music. Over time, these interventions appeared to lose their modernist edge (harmonic clusters) and approach postmodernism by juxtaposing diverse elements. Thus, a characteristic of Božic’s works is their double imbalance: the language strongly dominates the music, while at the same time, the composer’s desire to implement avant-garde theatrical procedures in an institutional opera house seems unusual.

Darijan Božič’s Musical Theatre Opus in the Context of the Slovenian Musical Theatre Scene: An Escape into the LiteraryDramatic in Opposition to the Desire for the Institutional

Among Slovenian modernist composers, Darijan Božič dedicated the largest part of his work to musical theatre. The genre classifications of his works show that the composer constantly searched for a new form of musical theatre. It would appear that he finally settled on a medium that could almost be designated as a “radio play”, with an emphasis usually on the spoken word, accompanied by occasional interventions of instrumental music. Over time, these interventions appeared to lose their modernist edge (harmonic clusters) and approach postmodernism by juxtaposing diverse elements. Thus, a characteristic of Božic’s works is their double imbalance: the language strongly dominates the music, while at the same time, the composer’s desire to implement avant-garde theatrical procedures in an institutional opera house seems unusual.

Auditory processing disorders in children – diagnosisand management

Introduction: Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is a syndrome characterized by impairment of the perception of soundsverbal and non-verbal ones, and weakening cognitive abilities such as auditory attention and auditory memory. This symptoms occur despite correct functioning of the peripheral part of the organ of hearing. Aim: A review of the current literature on diagnostic criteria of APD and its subtypes, clinical symptoms in children, diagnostic procedures and methods and therapeutic interventions. Methods: The study was based on the guidelines of the British Audiological Society (BSA), the guidelines of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Society (ASHA) as well as a literature review in the PubMed database. Results: APD is divided into developmental (without an established cause), acquired (with an established cause) and secondary (a consequence of long-term peripheral hearing loss). Symptoms that indicate the likelihood of APD in schoolaged children include: poor school performance, problems with learning to read and write and understanding speech, difficulties in repeating and remembering information given by hearing and maintaining attention on the spoken word. APD diagnosis should be made by a specialist in audiology and phoniatrics based on a full battery of tests and consultations with a speech therapist, psychologist and pedagogue. The set of behavioral diagnostic tests should include both verbal and non-verbal tests, from at least three groups of tests: dichotic (e.g. dichotic digit test; DDT), evaluating temporal aspects of hearing (e.g. Frequency Pattern Test; FPT and Duration Pattern Test; DPT ) and low redundancy speech tests. The diagnosis can be made when the child is at least 7 years old, the result is below the norm in at least two tests evaluating different auditory processes and the child has previous been excluded from intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. The therapeutic procedure is based on active auditory training, specific for the deficit shown in the tests. It is important to improve the acoustic environment at school (FM systems) and to treat comorbidities. Conclusions: Diagnostics and therapy of APD requires a highly qualified team of specialists and should be carried out in centers specially prepared for this purpose.

Modality-Specific Perceptual Learning of Vocoded Auditory versus Lipread Speech: Different Effects of Prior Information.

Traditionally, speech perception training paradigms have not adequately taken into account the possibility that there may be modality-specific requirements for perceptual learning with auditory-only (AO) versus visual-only (VO) speech stimuli. The study reported here investigated the hypothesis that there are modality-specific differences in how prior information is used by normal-hearing participants during vocoded versus VO speech training. Two different experiments, one with vocoded AO speech (Experiment 1) and one with VO, lipread, speech (Experiment 2), investigated the effects of giving different types of prior information to trainees on each trial during training. The training was for four ~20 min sessions, during which participants learned to label novel visual images using novel spoken words. Participants were assigned to different types of prior information during training: Word Group trainees saw a printed version of each training word (e.g., "tethon"), and Consonant Group trainees saw only its consonants (e.g., "t_th_n"). Additional groups received no prior information (i.e., Experiment 1, AO Group; Experiment 2, VO Group) or a spoken version of the stimulus in a different modality from the training stimuli (Experiment 1, Lipread Group; Experiment 2, Vocoder Group). That is, in each experiment, there was a group that received prior information in the modality of the training stimuli from the other experiment. In both experiments, the Word Groups had difficulty retaining the novel words they attempted to learn during training. However, when the training stimuli were vocoded, the Word Group improved their phoneme identification. When the training stimuli were visual speech, the Consonant Group improved their phoneme identification and their open-set sentence lipreading. The results are considered in light of theoretical accounts of perceptual learning in relationship to perceptual modality.