Voice fonts are created and stored for a speaker, to be used to synthesize speech in the speaker’s voice. The most important descriptors of voice fonts are spectral envelope for acoustic units and prosodic features such as fundamental frequency and average speaking rate. In this paper, we present a new approach to model the speaking rate so that it can be easily incorporated in voice fonts and ...

While many institutions have utilized TOEFL scores for international admissions for many years, a speaking section has never before been a required part of TOEFL until the development of the iBT/Next Generation TOEFL. So institutions will need to determine how to set standards for the speaking section of TOEFL, also known as TOEFL Academic Speaking Test (TAST). International Teaching Assistant ...

objectives: the percentage of vowel correct (pvc) is one of the indices in the development of articulation and phonological skills in children that can be measured with speech samples that could be extracted from the single word or connected speech tests. the aim of this study is to introduce the pvc scale in persian speaking children and investigate its validity and reliability. methods: this ...

In applied linguistics, washback, or backwash, refers to the influence of tests on teaching and learning. Though there is now a large body of research investigating the impact of tests on educational processes and outcomes, the possible effect of language tests on the psychological environment of language classrooms remains underexplored. This study examined the effect of IELTS on the classroom...

This paper describes the modeling of various emotional expressions and speaking styles in synthetic speech using HMM-based speech synthesis. We show two methods for modeling speaking styles and emotional expressions. In the first method called style-dependent modeling, each speaking style and emotional expression is modeled individually. In the second one called style-mixed modeling, each speak...

Sentences spoken "clearly" (and slowly) are significantly more intelligible than those spoken "conversationally" for hearing-impaired listeners in a variety of backgrounds [Picheny, Durlach, and Braida, J. Speech Hear. Res. 28, 96-103 (1985); Uchanski et al., J. Speech Hear. Res. 39, 494-509 (1996); Payton, Uchanski, and Braida, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 1581-1592 (1994)]. However, it is unknown ...

English as a tool of communication has been playing an important part in acquiring cultural, scientific and technical knowledge, for collecting worldwide information and carrying out international exchange and cooperation. Improving college students’ oral English level has become more and more important. Based on Richard E. Mayer’s theory of motivation and the advantages of role-play on the asp...

This paper investigates the comparability of test scores recorded for high-stakes English language Speaking Tests administered face-to-face in either a traditional centre-based mode (TM) or an online proctored (OLP). The data comprise large sample takers taking at four CEFR (the 'Common European Framework Reference Languages') levels – B1 to C2 via TM OLP. were analysed using descriptive statis...