The effect of timing errors on the intelligibility of deaf children’s speech

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Abstract
The effect of timing errors on the intelligibility of deaf children''s speech was studied. Deviant timing patterns were corrected in the recorded speech samples of 6 deaf children using digital speech processing techniques. The speech waveform was modified to correct timing errors only, leaving all other aspects of the speech unchanged. A 6-stage approximation procedure was used to correct the deviant timing patterns: original, unaltered utterances; correction of pauses only, correction of relative timing correction of absolute syllable duration; correction of relative timing and pauses; and correction of absolute syllable duration and pauses. Measures of speech intelligibility were obtained for the original and the computer-modified utterances. The highest intelligibility score was obtained when relative timing errors only were corrected. The correction of this type of error improved the intelligibility of both stressed and unstressed words within a phrase. Improvements in word intelligibility, which occurred when relative timing was corrected, appeared to be closely related to the number of phonemic errors present within a word. The 2nd highest intelligibility score was obtained for the original, unaltered sentences. On the average, the intelligibility scores obtained for the other 4 forms of timing modification were poorer than those obtained for the original sentences. Intelligibility improved, on the average, when only 1 type of error, relative timing, was corrected.

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