Text-to-Speech

Balajthy, E. (2005). Text-to-speech software for helping struggling readers. Reading Online, 8(4), 1-9.

For children and young people with reading difficulties, text-to-speech (TTS) software offers some of the benefits of a personal reader. The article provides an overview of the technology and its application, and then summarizes the research on benefits of TTS for struggling readers. The different kinds of TTS software available are described in three categories, according to sophistication, and information is given concerning how teachers can obtain electronic text materials for use with TTS. Finally, suggestions are provided for implementing TTS in the classroom.

Elkind, J., Black, M. S., & Murray, C. (1996). Computer-based compensation of adult reading disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia, 46(1), 159-186.

We studied the use of computer readers, and especially their speech synthesis component, as a compensatory tool for adults with dyslexia. We first explored the enhancement of reading skills in a group of college students and working adults. Their unaided reading was very slow, and most participants in the study could sustain reading for only short periods. Although their timed comprehension was poor, their untimed comprehension was above average. The computer reader enhanced the reading rate and comprehension of most participants and enabled them to sustain reading longer. The difference between aided and unaided reading rate was inversely proportional to the unaided rate. Slower readers experienced greater enhancement than faster ones. The enhancement of comprehension was also inversely proportional to unaided scores, and good predictions of the enhancement were obtained from multiple regression models that included scores from specific standard tests of auditory and visual cognitive abilities. We also explored the use of computer readers in the workplace and show through case studies that their use can have important positive effects on individual careers and self-confidence when specific conditions exist. Finally, we investigated the use of computer readers to supplement an adult remediation program. The readers allowed and motivated the students to read more and, as a result, to progress more rapidly.

Elkind, J., Cohen, K., & Murray, C. (1993). Using computer based readers to improve reading comprehension of students with dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 43, 238-259.

Twenty-eight middle school students with dyslexia read literature daily using a computer-based reading system. Seventy percent of the students read with greater comprehension. Fourteen percent showed lower comprehension scores, perhaps associated with kinesthetic motor weakness. The system did not provide a positive remediation benefit incremental to the school's intensive Slingerland remediation program.

Higgins, E. L., & Raskind, M. H. (1997). The compensatory effectiveness of optical character Recognition/Speech synthesis on reading comprehension of postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8(2), 75-87.

The most recent research in this area comes from a recently published study conducted by my colleague, Eleanor Higgins, and me (18). We researched a handheld OCR device for persons with reading difficulties which was introduced into the marketplace a few years ago. This device (Quicktionary Reading Pen II®) combines miniaturized OCR with synthetic speech and a liquid crystal display (LCD) in a battery-operated, handheld unit. The device allows the user to scan printed text either a word or line at a time. Scanned words appear on the screen within 1-3 seconds and are read aloud by a built-in speech synthesizer. Similar to the larger desktop systems, speech rate, volume, and speed may be adjusted.

We were interested in whether reading comprehension scores of children with LD would improve when using the technology as compared to reading without the technology. As previously suggested, OCR and speech synthesis may enable students with reading disabilities to bypass their phonological difficulties by hearing the printed word, and which may in turn enhance text comprehension. In the event that comprehension scores improved, we were also interested in determining whether the "interference effect" found in the previous studies would be present, since this handheld unit would be used to read aloud only single words rather than connected text.

Results of the study indicated that students with reading disabilities aged 10 to18 performed significantly better in reading comprehension tasks when using the device as compared to reading without it. Furthermore, unlike previous studies, this research did not indicate an "interference effect" for the readers with less severe deficits. This result is probably due to the fact that the reading pen user only scanned difficult words on an "as needed" basis, unlike the desktop unit user, to whom entire passages of text were read aloud, whether or not the user needed help with every word.

Higgins, E. L., & Raskind, M. H. (2005). The compensatory effectiveness of the Quicktionary reading pen II on the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 20(1), 29-38.

Thirty-seven college students with learning disabilities were given a reading comprehension task under the following conditions: (1) using an optical character recognition/speech synthesis system; (2) having the text read aloud by a human reader; or (3) reading silently without assistance. Findings indicated that the greater the disability, the more the technology elevated comprehension.

Horney, M., & Anderson-Inman, L. (1999). Supported text in electronic reading environments. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 15(2), 127-168.

Defines "electronic books" and shares examples of prior research on the use of such environments to improve the reading fluency and comprehension of students with reading difficulties. Presents a taxonomy of the types of supportive resources that have emerged from efforts to design and research the use of electronic books, and presents an overview of one of these projects.

Lonigan, C. J., Driscoll, K., Phillips, B. M., Cantor, B. G., Anthony, J. L., & Goldstein, H. (2003). A computer-assisted instruction phonological sensitivity program for preschool children at-risk for reading problems. Journal of Early Intervention, 25(4), 248-262.

Previous research has demonstrated that phonological sensitivity is an important causal skill for decoding. This study evaluated the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to provide training in phonological sensitivity skills to preschoolers at-risk for reading problems. Forty-five children ranging in age from 44 to 64 months (M = 55.1, SD = 6.07) were randomly assigned to a CAI group or a control group. Children exposed to CAI made significantly greater gains on rhyming and elision skills compared to the control group. Expressive vocabulary scores were predictive of pre- to posttest growth. Children in the CAI condition positively rated participation in the training program. Results provide preliminary support for CAI to improve the phonological sensitivity skills of preschoolers who are at-risk.

McKenna, M. C., Reinking, D., Labbo, L. D., & Kieffer, R. D. (1999). The electronic transformation of literacy and its implications for the struggling reader. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 15(2), 111-126.

This article examines how changes in the nature of text, brought about by its electronic representation, will increasingly affect the circumstances of struggling readers. It is argued that the textual transformation now in progress holds great promise for such readers. The emerging view of reading disability based on developmental stage theory is discussed, and this perspective is used to recommend instructional approaches that are appropriate to successive stages of reading acquisition.

Mioduser, D., Tur-Kaspa, H., & Leitner, I. (2000). The learning value of computer-based instruction of early reading skills. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 16(1), 54-63.

This study examined the unique contribution of computer-based instruction when compared with more conventional modes of instruction (i.e. teacher instruction with textbooks) to early reading skills acquisition, as well as the effects of specific features of computer technology on early reading skills performance. Forty-six pre-school children (aged 5–6), at high risk for learning disabilities, participated in the study. They were assigned to one of three study groups that received different treatments. Three dependent variables were defined, i.e. children's phonological awareness, word recognition and letter recognition skills measured prior and after the treatment. Results clearly indicated that children at high risk who received the reading intervention program with computer materials significantly improved their phonological awareness, word recognition, and letter naming skills relative to their peers who received a reading intervention program with only printed materials and those who received no formal reading intervention program. The results are discussed in detail, with reference to the features of the computer-based materials that contributed to the acquisition of critical early reading skills.

Montali, J., & Lewandowski, L. (1996). Bimodal reading: Benefits of a talking computer for average and less skilled readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(3), 271-279.

Reading comprehension of average and below average readers in grades 8 and 9 was compared under three conditions: reading with text-to-speech, reading onscreen without text-to-speech, and listening to the passage read by digitized voice. Below average readers in the bimodal condition outperformed peers reading onscreen without text-to-speech or just listening to the passage, while above average readers in the bimodal condition outperformed peers in the auditory condition.

Rose, D. H., & Dalton, B. (2002). Using technology to individualize reading instruction. In C. C. Block, L. B. Gambrell & M. Pressley (Eds.), Improving comprehension instruction: Rethinking research, theory, and classroom practice (pp. 257-274). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Publishers.

Modern technology is radically changing the ways in which we can study human learning and the ways in which we can foster it. In this chapter the authors examine both of these radical changes as they relate to the future of teaching reading comprehension.

Strangman, N., & Dalton, B. (2005). Using technology to support struggling readers: A review of the research. In D. Edyburn, K. Higgins & R. Boone (Eds.), The handbook of special education technology research and practice (pp. 545-569). Whitefish Bay, WI: Knowledge by Design.

Strangman, N., & Hall, T. E. (2002). Text Transformations. Wakefield, MA: NCAC. http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_textrans.html.

These two critical analyses of the research literature reveal that bimodal reading with text-to-speech can promote significant improvements in reading fluency and comprehension. Variability was found in the reported impact of text-to-speech on struggling readers' comprehension, possibly relating to differences in reading ability and type of reading difficulty. Whole word, syllable, sub-syllable, onset-rime, and single-grapheme-phoneme feedback have all been found to be effective.

NOTE: “Using technology to support struggling readers: A review of the research” also appears in the references for Universal Design for Learning.