Use of Text-to-speech Software to Improve Reading Skills of High School Struggling Readers

The purpose of this paper is to present research findings on the effectiveness of a TTS software intervention in two pilot studies with approximately 104 high school students (grades 9-12) with a disability and at-risk for referral to special education services because of reading difficulties. The c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProcedia computer science Vol. 14; pp. 359 - 362
Main Authors Stodden, Robert A., Roberts, Kelly D., Takahashi, Kiriko, Park, Hye Jin, Stodden, Norma Jean
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 2012
Subjects
High School
Learning Disabilities
Struggling Readers
Text-to-speech (TTS)
High School
Text-to-speech (TTS)
Struggling Readers
Learning Disabilities
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ISSN1877-0509
1877-0509
DOI10.1016/j.procs.2012.10.041

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Summary:The purpose of this paper is to present research findings on the effectiveness of a TTS software intervention in two pilot studies with approximately 104 high school students (grades 9-12) with a disability and at-risk for referral to special education services because of reading difficulties. The conceptual framework underlying the research is that the use of TTS software with content reading materials (e.g., social studies) for a minimum of 30 minutes per week improves subjects’ reading performance when they are not using the software. Improved reading is also expected to improve subjects’ academic performance and aspirations. The results indicated that study participants had significantly improved reading skills in the two pilot studies. The researchers attribute this improvement to students’ exposure to more text and incidental vocabulary learning through the use of the TTS software.
ISSN:1877-0509
1877-0509
DOI:10.1016/j.procs.2012.10.041