Speech Training Systems Using Lateral Shapes of Vocal Tract and F1-F2 Diagram for Hearing-Impaired Children

Abstract

Three speech training systems for hearing-impaired children were designed and constructed using a minicomputer and a microprocessor. The first system displays the lateral shape of the vocal tract for each vowel estimated from the speech sound. In this system, three storages are prepared. One of them can be used to store a reference s~ape which may be estimated from a teacher's voice or a prepared standard shape. A child can articulate seeing the reference shape and re-articulate comparing his own first articulation with the reference shape. The system can also compare the estimated shape with the reference one and pr~duce instructions with animated cartoons which show where any articulatory defects exist. The second system displays successively the lateral shapes for articulation of any phoneme sequences containing consonants. The third system displays the first two formant frequencies extracted from speech as a spot on the Fl-F2 plane, where the regions of vowels are shown in color. Preliminary use of these devices has shown that they complement each other to form a more effective system of speech training.