Suprasegmental characteristics of speech produced during simultaneous communication by inexperienced signers.

This study investigated suprasegmental variables of syllable stress and intonation contours in contextual speech produced during simultaneous communication (SC) by inexperienced signers. Ten hearing inexperienced sign language users were recorded under SC and speech-alone (SA) conditions speaking a set of sentences containing stressed versus unstressed versions of the same syllables and a set of sentences containing interrogative versus declarative versions of the same words. Results indicated longer sentence durations for SC than SA for all speech materials.

Effect of syllable-initial voicing on vowel duration during simultaneous communication.

Unlabelled: Vowel durations following the production of voiced and voiceless stop consonants produced during simultaneous communication (SC) were investigated by recording sign language users during SC and speech alone (SA). Under natural speaking conditions, or speaking alone (SA), vowels following voiced stop consonants are longer in duration than vowels following voiceless stops. Although the results indicated longer sentence durations for SC than SA, they showed no differences in the relative duration of vowels following voiced or voiceless stops.

Perception of the voicing distinction in speech produced during simultaneous communication.

Unlabelled: This study investigated the perception of voice onset time (VOT) in speech produced during simultaneous communication (SC). Four normally hearing, experienced sign language users were recorded under SC and speech alone (SA) conditions speaking stimulus words with voiced and voiceless initial consonants embedded in a sentence. Twelve hearing-impaired listeners participated, with three of them randomly assigned to audit the speech sample provided by each one of the four speakers under the SC and SA conditions.

Effects of noise and filtering on the intelligibility of speech produced during simultaneous communication.

Unlabelled: This study investigated the effects of noise and filtering on the intelligibility of speech produced during simultaneous communication (SC). Four normal hearing, experienced sign language users were recorded under SC and speech alone (SA) conditions speaking Boothroyd's forced-choice phonetic contrast material designed for measurement of speech intelligibility. Twenty-four normal hearing listeners audited the speech samples produced by the four speakers under the SC and SA conditions, three listeners in noise and three listeners in filtered listening conditions for each of the four speakers.

The effects of simultaneous communication on production and perception of speech.

This article reviews experiments completed over the past decade at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and the State University of New York at Geneseo concerning speech produced during simultaneous communication (SC) and synthesizes the empirical evidence concerning the acoustical and perceptual characteristics of speech in SC. Comparisons are drawn between SC and other modes of rate-altered speech that have been used successfully to enhance communication effectiveness. Of particular importance are conclusions regarding the appropriateness of speech produced during SC for communication between hearing and hearing-impaired speakers and listeners and the appropriateness of SC use by parents and teachers for speech development of children with hearing impairment.