Tag Archives: AAC users

English and Arabic Phonic Representations to aid Literacy Skills in AAC users

Over the past few weeks we have been trying to understand the importance of the various ways phonemes are represented to support literacy skills in Arabic and English and how best to show them alongside words or multiwords that are added to the dictionary via the Symbol Management system.   We have also discussed the need for recorded speech where synthesised speech or text to speech fails for both MSA and Qatari Arabic.   Research has shown how important phonemic awareness skills are for AAC users who go on to develop literacy skills and it appears that listening to the sounds and seeing the text highlighted helps reading skills as well as finger pointing (Vandervelden & Siegel 1999).

symbols with phonemic representationOne of the hardest problems in English is how to represent the sounds when the spelling of the words bears little resemblance to the spoken version.  Decisions have to be made as to whether one uses a system similar to that offered by the BBC where sounds are written as a combination of vowels or consonants that represent what is said such as /th a ng k / y oo/ or stay with the original spelling and just divide the word up into segments or syllables with the various blended or individual sounds e.g. th a n k | y ou

BBC phonics kit

BBC Phonics kit available at from the BBC website

Whilst discussing this matter with Professor Annalu Waller, Rolf Black, Andrea Kirton and Simon Judge at the Communication Matters Conference 2014 it was clear that the presentation should follow the way the phonics are being taught in schools by primary school teachers where the AAC users developing literacy skills could work alongside their classmates.  In UK such schemes as Jolly Phonics are being used and Andrea Kirton and Simon Judge are working on a phonic screen that might well be developed further to present the sounds with speech output in a similar way to the Macmillan app developed by Vivid Interactive to provide speech therapists with the phonetic alphabet.     It is possible that with the English section of the Arabic Symbol Dictionary we will need to take this further with clusters and blends being part of the segmentation to aid search and categorisation of words for example the listings provided in ‘Spotlight On Spelling: A Structured Guide To The Assessment And Teaching Of Spelling’ and the work of Cootes and Jamieson 

In Arabic some thought is needed as to how phonemes are represented with the various diacritical marks.  However, it is felt that by offering all the movements (diacritical marks) the text to speech (TTS) voices on offer will be able to provide acceptable pronunciation for most words even if they fail on individual phonemes were there will be the need for human recordings.

Below you will find 16 rows with 28 representations of the Arabic alphabet with possible phonemic variations which can be read using the Arabic version of ATbar. As the phonemes are used in written Arabic their letter shapes will change.  The shape of each letter altering depending on the position in the word and phrase.  Arabic keyboards achieve this automatically!  You are seeing all the letter combinations as if they are in their initial position.  I should point out that corrections to this table may still need to be made by our Arabic speaking experts, but this is just to show the type of discussions taking place at this stage in the research.

ي و ه ن م ل ك ق ف غ ع ظ ط ض ص ش س ز ر ذ د خ ح ج ث ت ب ا
يَ وَ هَ نَ مَ لَ كَ قَ فَ غَ عَ ظَ طَ ضَ صَ شَ سَ زَ رَ ذَ دَ خَ حَ جَ ثَ تَ بَ اَ
يُ وُ هُ نُ مُ لُ كُ قُ فُ غُ عُ ظُ طُ ضُ صُ شُ سُ زُ رُ ذُ دُ خُ حُ جُ ثُ تُ بُ اُ
يِ وِ هِ نِ مِ لِ كِ قِ فِ غِ عِ ظِ طِ ضِ صِ شِ سِ ذِ رِ ذِ دِ خِ حِ جِ ثِ تِ بِ اِ
يّْ وّْ هّْ نّْ مّْ لّْ كّْ قّْ فّْ غّْ عّْ ظّْ طّْ ضّْ صّْ شّْ سّْ زّْ رّْ ذّْ دّْ خّْ حّْ جّْ ثّْ تّْ بّْ اّْ
يَّ وَّ هَّ نَّ مَّ لَّ كَّ قَّ فَّ غَّ عَّ ظَّ طَّ ضَّ صَّ شَّ سَّ زَّ رَّ ذَّ دَّ خَّ حَّ جَّ ثَّ تَّ بَّ اَّ
يُّ وُّ هُّ نُّ مُّ لُّ كُّ قُّ فُّ غُّ عُّ ظُّ طُّ ضُّ صُّ شُّ سُّ زُّ رُّ ذُّ دُّ خُّ حُّ جُّ ثُّ تُّ بُّ اُّ
يِّ وِّ هِّ نِّ مِّ لِّ كِّ قِّ فِّ غِّ عِّ ظِّ طِّ ضِّ صِّ شِّ سِّ زِّ رِّ ذِّ دِّ خِّ حِّ جِّ ثِّ تِّ بِّ اِّ
يَا وَا هَا نَا مَا لَا كَا قَا فَا غَا عَا ظَا طَا ضَا صَا شَا سَا زَا رَا ذَا دَا خَا حَا جَا ثَا تَ بَا آ
يُو وُو هُو نُو مُو لُو كُو قُو فُو غُو عُو ظُو طُو ضُو صُو شُو سُو زُو رُو ذُو دُو خُو حُو جُو ثُو تُو بُو اُو
يِي وِي هِي نِي مِي لِي كِي قِي فِي ضِي عِي ظِي طِي ضِي صِي شِي سِي زِي رِي ذِي دِي خِي حِي جِي ثِي تِي بِي إِي
يَّا وَّا هَّا نَّا مَّا لَّا كَّا قَّا فَّا غَّا عَّا ظَّا طَّا ضَّا صَّا شَّا سَّا زَّا رَّا ذَّا دَّا خَّا حَّا جَّا ثَّا تَّا بَّا آ
يُّو وُّو هُّو نُّو مُّو لُّو كُّو قُّو فُّو غُّو عًّو ظُّو طُّو ضُّو صُّو شُّو سُّو زُّو رُّو ذُّو دُّو خُّو حُّو جُّو ثُّو تُّو بُّو اُّو
يِّي وِّي هِّي نِّي مِّي لِّي كِّي قِّي فِّي غِّي عِّي ظِّي طِّي ضِّي صِّي شِّي سِّي زِّي رِّي ذِّي دِّي خِّي حِّي جِّي ثِّي تِّي بِّي اِّي
يَة وَة هَة نَة مَة لَة كَة قَة فَة غَة عَة ظَة طَة ضَة صَة شَة سَة زَة رَة ذَة دَة خَة حَة جَة ثَة تَة بَة اَة
يَّة وَّة هَّة نَّة مَّة لَّة كَّة قَّة فَّة غَّة عَّة ظَّة طَّة ضَّة صَّة شَّة سَّة زًّة رَّة ذَّة دَّة خَّة حَّة جَّة ثَّة تَّة بَّة اَّة

Tullah has also been carrying out research in this area and has discovered an iPad app called ‘Sawti‘ developed by Gadah Alofisan from King Saud University who has won awards for his work in this area and has presented at ICCHP .  This is one of the first apps to offer Arabic AAC support with symbols and their corresponding words being said by male and female children’s voices.  It offers users the chance to practice symbol / word recognition with free text being read aloud with the synthesised voice.   There are some colloquial Arabic words as well as MSA and the user can choose when to use speech feedback.

sawti ipad app

 

The only problem we have found is that the voice changes depending on the symbol being read which can be a little distracting and sometimes the way the word is pronounced was questioned by some Arabic speakers.

Both Arabic and English have such a wide range of pronunciation that we are going to have to agree on some guidelines for the way we work with voices / TTS and the way phonemes are presented.

References

Bayan Alarifi, Arwa Alrubaian, Ghada Alofisan, Nora Alromi, Areej Al-Wabil (2013) Towards an Arabic Language Augmentative and Alternative Communication Application for Autism, In proceedings of HCI International 2013 A. Marcus (Ed.): DUXU/HCII 2013, Part II, LNCS 8013, pp. 333-341. Springer, Heidelberg (2013).

Black R, Waller A, Pullin G, Abel E. Introducing the PhonicStick: Preliminary evaluation
with seven children. Montreal, Canada: ISAAC; 2008.  http://phonicstick.computing.dundee.ac.uk/publications/ 

Andrea Kirton, Simon Judge, P. B. (2014). Using Phonemes to Construct Utterances for Aided Communication. ISAAC 2014. doi:10.13140/2.1.3524.4162  http://openconf.faiddsolutions.com/modules/request.php?module=oc_program&action=summary.php&id=142

Trinh, H. (2011). Using a Computer Intervention to Support Phonological Awareness Development of Adults with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments. The 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Dundee, UK. Accessed 5th September 2014  http://src.acm.org/2012/HaTrinh.pdf

Trinh1, H. (2012). iSCAN: A Phoneme-based Predictive Communication Aid for Nonspeaking Individuals. Proceeding ASSETS ’12 Proceedings of the 14th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility. ccessed 5th September 2014  http://keithv.com/pub/iscan/iSCAN_Final.pdf

Vandervelden, M., & Siegel, L. (1999). Phonological Processing and Literacy in AAC Users and Students with Motor Speech Impairments. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 15(September), 191–211.  Accessed 5th September 2014  http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07434619912331278725 

 

 

A Participatory Approach to Research

The Arabic symbol dictionary research project is going to require a considerable amount of participation from all those taking part. Without the help and support of AAC uses and those expects and carers exploring the best way to help these individuals to communicate every day, this project will not succeed. Therefore at this juncture it is important to examine the various  ways of encouraging the types of participation that could support the way the team works with those who may be willing to help.

Members of the team working on this project have had experience of participatory research in the past and have published on the subject with a paper titled “Exploring the technology experiences of disabled learners in higher education: challenges for the use and development of participatory research methods” (download Word doc).  But as a way of introducing the subject on this blog it seemed to be easier to present a series of diagrams.

There have been several authors who have discussed the different ways of working in a participatory fashion and have highlighted some of the issues such as Zarb (2003) who writes

” Research cannot ever lead directly to the empowerment of disabled people (or any other group for that matter). As Mike Oliver points out, empowerment is not something that can be given, but something that people must take for them selves. The key issue – “is not how to empower people but, once people have decided to empower themselves, precisely what research can do to facilitate this process” (Oliver, 1992, p. 111)

As can be seen in the mindmap below and the outline notes there are many dilemmas in the quest to encourage a participatory approach to research with disabled individuals. 

Participatory Approach

Outline version

  • Research done with people rather than on people (Reason & Heron 1986)
      • Equality in research relationships but not reject expert knowledge
        • Ensure research owned by participants as well as researchers (Cornwell &Jewkes 1995:1667)
          • Participants encouraged to own the outcome by setting the goals and sharing in decisions about processes (Everitt et al 1992:50)
        • Make traditional research more effective and meaningful
    • Essential to be aware of the issues involved
      • Need clarity of agreed aims and objectives as well as the roles of the researchers and participants. (Ward & Trigler 2001 Pg 58)
        • An overemphasis on getting the process right in terms of inclusion, can lead to mistakes being made in locating methods to answer the questions.” (Walmsley, 2004 Pg 32)
      • Discuss and be aware of how the research may affect participants.
      • Not the same as emancipatory research that is controlled by participants.
        • Walmsley  (2004) says it is widely accepted that, in contrast to emancipatory research, in participatory research, non-disabled people have an enduring role.”
      • Outcomes must be more than just reconstructed stories or mere validations of research undertaken (Duckett & Pratt , 2007)
      • Participation at the outset will help reduce incorrect labelling (disability/ability) or assumptions being made as to learner preferences.
      • Awareness of Funder’s requirements & Time constraints affecting degree of participation and possible outcomes
        • Chapell argues that “participatory research can be understood better as a pragmatic compromise between conflicting pressures on researchers. ..” this is when compared to emancipatory research as described by Zarb (1992)
  • Semi-structured interviews

Degrees of Participation

As can be seen from the diagram below there are degrees of participant involvement and it was felt that for the symbol dictionary project, the only way forward would be if the team and researchers initiated ideas and shared their thoughts with participants.  Those participants using AAC Devices may not necessarily understand the linguistic elements of the project or be able to provide ideas if they have no knowledge of all the symbol systems on the market or the type of pictograms available in Arabic.  However, their support in making decisions about ideas presented will be essential, as will that all the experts and carers.  It would also be helpful to have the involvement of outside experts who could become critical friends as a way of seeking informal advice at times when concerns about particular issues arise.

participatory involvement

 

So in an adaptation of Fajerman and Treseder’s diagram (2000), the chosen methodology involves the researcher initiating concepts but there are shared decisions with participants. So the “researcher has the initial idea but participants are involved in every step of the planning and implementation. Not only are their views considered  but participants are also involved in taking the decisions.” 

References

Chappell, A (2000) Emergence of participatory methodology in learning difficulty research: understanding the context. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28, 38-43

Cocks E. & Cockram J. (1995) The participatory research paradigm and intellectual disability. Mental Handicap Research, 8: 25–37.

Cornwall, A. & Jewkes, R. 1995, “What is Participatory Research?”, Social Science and Medicine, vol. 41, no. 12, pp. 1667-1676.

Duckett, P. & Pratt, R. 2007, “The emancipation of visually impaired people in social science research practice”, British Journal of Visual Impairment, 25, 1, 5-20.

Everitt, A., Hardiker, P., Littlewood, J. and Mullender, A. (1992) Applied Research for Better Practice, Macmillan, London.

Fajerman, L. and Treseder, P. (2000) Children are Service Users too, Save the Children Publications, 17 Grove Lane, London, SE5 8RD.

French, S. & Swain, J. 2004, “Researching Together: A Participatory Approach,” in Physiotherapy: A Psychosocial Approach, 3rd edn, S. French & J. Sim, Eds., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Fischer, G., & Ostwald, J. (2002) “Seeding, Evolutionary Growth, and Reseeding: Enriching Participatory Design with Informed Participation, In Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference (PDC’02), Malmö University, Sweden, pp. 135-143.

Newell, A., Carmichael, J. & Morgan, M (2007) Methodologies for involving older adults in the design process. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Universal Access in HCI: http://www.springerlink.com/content/53t5026735v65721/fulltext.pdf

Radermacher, H. (2006) Participatory Action Research With People With Disabilities: Exploring Experiences Of Participation, Doctoral Thesis. Victoria University.

Richardson, M (2000) How we live: participatory research with six people with learning difficulties, Journal of Advanced Nursing 32, 6, 1383–1395.

Ward, K., & Trigler, J. S. (2001). Reflections on participatory action research with people who have developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation, 39, 57–59.

Zarb, G. (1992) On the Road to Damascus: First steps towards changing the relations of research production, Disability, Handicap and Society, 7, 2, 125 – 38.

Zarb G (2003) Running out of steam? The impact of research on disability policy and the disability rights agenda keynote paper presented at Disability Studies: Theory, Policy and Practice Conference Lancaster