Text-to-speech (TTS) is a very popular assistive technology in which a computer or tablet reads the words on the screen out loud to the user. This technology is popular among students who have difficulties with reading, especially those who struggle with decoding. By presenting the words auditorily, the student can focus on the meaning of words instead of spending all their brain power trying to sound out the words. While this can help students work around their reading difficulties and access the classroom material, this technology does not assist students in developing reading skills.
In recent years there has been a steady increase in the amount of TTS software available on both Android and Apple devices (Csapo, 2015). It has also gained popularity in workplace settings as a tool to help users proofread their work.
What the exploration says about text-to-speech
In spite of the developing fame, the exploration on text to discourse is to some degree muddled
While this innovation permits understudies to get to the study hall material, a few specialists have discovered blended outcomes on how well understudies can understand the content being perused to them (Dalton and Strangman, 2006). Besides, another group of scientists found that content to-discourse advancements didn’t affect juvenile understudies capacity to fathom the perusing, anyway the understudies detailed that they esteem the expanded autonomy that the TTS programming gave them (Meyer, 2014).
Notwithstanding, one examination found that understudies who have been determined to have dyslexia profited with the utilization of TTS programming. This group offered understudies preparing in TTS programming in a little gathering design for about a month and a half, and saw upgrades in inspiration to peruse, further developed appreciation, and further developed familiarity (White, 2014). Likewise, positive outcomes were found in another investigation in which TTS was observed to be viable in permitting understudies to get to the understanding material and was additionally seen well by the understudies who utilized it, particularly understudies in grades 6–8.
Capitalizing on text-to-Speech
While the exploration is obviously blended, there are some approaches to guarantee that TTS will work for your understudies. One such thought is guarantee that understudies track down the right TTS voice. Having a great TTS voice that sounds like a human voice will further develop understanding appreciation; the less automated, the better (Cunningham, 2011). To see various TTS voices and assist figure with trip which one is most prefered by your understudy, visit the Acapela Group site to pay attention to choices.
Another significant thought is the speed at which the PC presents the content. Numerous understudies will set the voice to extremely high velocities to complete the readings as fast as could be expected, anyway it has been shown that having the PC present the words at a rate between 140–180 words each moment is an ideal speed for understudies (Cunningham, 2003, Cunningham, 2011). While choosing a book to-discourse program, you should choose one that has a bi-modular understanding setting. Bi-modular perusing is the point at which the PC features the introduced word as it is introduced so anyone can hear (Montali and Lewandowski, 1996). Introducing the words outwardly and detectably helps the understudy center around the understanding errand and energizes further cognizance.
Ultimately, when utilizing a TTS program, just select a limited quantity of text at any one time. In the event that an understudy chooses an excessive amount of text at one time they may lose center mid-stream which will contrarily affect cognizance.
