Terblanche Camryn Claire, Pascoe Michelle, Harty Michal
Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa.
Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2025 Jan-Feb;60(1):e13152. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.13152.
There is a global need for synthetic speech development in multiple languages and dialects, as many children who cannot communicate using their natural voice struggle to find synthetic voices on high-technology devices that match their age, social and linguistic background.
To document multiple stakeholders' perspectives surrounding the quality, acceptability and utility of newly created synthetic speech in three under-resourced South African languages, namely South African English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.
METHODS & PROCEDURES: A mixed methods research design was selected. After the creation of naturalistic synthetic child speech which matched the vocal identity of three children with expressive communication difficulties, those three children answered questions about the quality, acceptability and utility of the synthetic voices using a pictographic three-point scale. A total of 11 adults who are known to the children participated in subjective quality assessments in the form of mean opinion scores, intelligibility tests and focus group discussions.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Despite the synthetic adult voices appearing more natural, stakeholders were accepting of all the synthetic voices. Although personalization of the voices is important, intelligibility is prioritized and standard dialects are often preferred. When communication partners have adequate training and are willing to model and support children in all environments, children with expressive communication difficulties thrive, but when augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) use is inconsistent, there is reduced vocabulary development and poor system transitioning, and AAC abandonment is greater.
CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: This research suggests that stakeholders from low- and middle-income countries are interested in the development of synthetic voices in their home languages. Our research highlights that children would prefer to incorporate these voices on their high-tech devices, and adults would prefer them for their children, learners and/or clients' devices, rather than using British or US English voices.
What is already known on this subject Caregivers, service providers, peers and other communication partners play a substantial role in a child AAC user's early communicative success, and their acceptance of AAC ultimately influences the effectiveness of the intervention. When communication partners advocate and support the inclusion of specific speech-generating devices, AAC applications, and suitable synthetic voices, children are more willing to consistently utilize the technology. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge As literature focusing on stakeholder perspectives from low- and middle-income countries is less common than research from high-income countries, and often lacks input from multi-perspective stakeholders, our study offers a unique perspective from South African children with expressive communication difficulties, caregivers of those children, their speech-language pathologists and teachers, about the quality, acceptability and utility of synthetic speech in under-resourced languages. What are the potential or clinical implications of this work? Our research highlights that stakeholders would prefer South African languages and dialects on South African speech-generating devices, rather than relying on devices that only incorporate British or US English voices. The development of synthetic speech in under-resourced languages has the potential to support marginalized AAC communities. Children with expressive communication difficulties would finally be able to participate in class and do so with a voice that matches their age, gender and social and linguistic background. This paper highlights the importance of providing a variety of synthetic voice options and emphasizes the significance of introducing novel voices for high-tech AAC to children in a manner that respects and aligns with their linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
全球都需要开发多种语言和方言的合成语音，因为许多无法用自然声音进行交流的儿童很难在高科技设备上找到与他们的年龄、社会和语言背景相匹配的合成语音。
记录多个利益相关者对新创建的南非三种资源匮乏语言（即南非英语、南非荷兰语和科萨语）合成语音的质量、可接受性和实用性的看法。
选择了混合方法研究设计。在创建了与三名有表达性沟通困难儿童的声音特征相匹配的自然主义合成儿童语音后，这三名儿童使用象形三点量表回答了关于合成语音的质量、可接受性和实用性的问题。共有11名儿童认识的成年人以平均意见得分、可懂度测试和焦点小组讨论的形式参与了主观质量评估。
尽管合成成人语音看起来更自然，但利益相关者对所有合成语音都能接受。虽然语音的个性化很重要，但可懂度更受重视，并且人们通常更喜欢标准方言。当沟通伙伴接受了充分的培训并愿意在所有环境中为儿童树立榜样并提供支持时，有表达性沟通困难的儿童会茁壮成长，但当辅助和替代沟通（AAC）的使用不一致时，词汇发展会减少，系统转换也会很差，并且放弃使用AAC的情况会更多。
这项研究表明，低收入和中等收入国家的利益相关者对开发母语合成语音感兴趣。我们的研究强调，儿童更愿意在他们的高科技设备上使用这些语音，并将其用于儿童、学习者和/或客户的设备上，而不是使用英式或美式英语语音。
关于该主题的已知信息 照顾者、服务提供者、同龄人及其他沟通伙伴在儿童AAC用户早期沟通成功中发挥着重要作用，他们对AAC的接受程度最终会影响干预效果。当沟通伙伴倡导并支持纳入特定的语音生成设备、AAC应用程序和合适的合成语音时，儿童更愿意持续使用该技术。本文对现有知识的补充 由于关注低收入和中等收入国家利益相关者观点的文献比高收入国家的研究少见，且往往缺乏多视角利益相关者的投入，我们的研究从南非有表达性沟通困难的儿童、这些儿童的照顾者、他们的言语治疗师和教师那里，提供了关于资源匮乏语言中合成语音的质量、可接受性和实用性的独特视角。这项工作的潜在或临床意义是什么？我们的研究强调，利益相关者更喜欢南非语音生成设备上使用南非语言和方言，而不是依赖仅包含英式或美式英语语音的设备。资源匮乏语言中合成语音的开发有可能支持边缘化的AAC群体。有表达性沟通困难的儿童最终将能够参与课堂，并使用与他们的年龄、性别以及社会和语言背景相匹配的声音。本文强调了提供多种合成语音选项的重要性，并强调以尊重并符合其语言和文化背景的方式，为高科技AAC向儿童引入新语音的重要性。
