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User Invitation

Thank you for your interest in the Machine Aided Spoken Language Evaluation (MASLE) project. Currently, I am collecting speech data from native and non-native speakers in order to test the use and effectiveness of the MASLE system. To do this, there are four "tests" you can take.

Doing all four tests will only take about 30 minutes so thank you in advance for your time. If you are teacher, I hope that by experiencing the system firsthand you will be inspired by seeing ways you could use MASLE in your own classes. Please let me know if you are interested in this. I hope we can explore these possibilities together.

I know the interface is still quite rough, so I apologize for this in advance. Newer, more friendlier versions are being worked on now.

To take part in the tests you need to do the following things:

1. Sign a consent form (or agree to the consent by reading the consent form and entering the system)
2. Register for MASLE
3. Make sure your computer audio is ready
4. Take the tests

Follow the instructions below. If you need additional help, you can watch the videos here that show how to do these things. (Note: The videos might show the system at a slightly older state, so don't be surprised if things look a little different in these videos than you actually see on the screen).

Instructions:

Sign a consent form

If you haven't already done this, please contact me or stop by my office. You can take tests without one, but I'll need it later before I can use your audio for research purposes.

Register

1. Go to http://popear.com/ and register for a MASLE account. (Note for OJC students: you must use your wilmina address. For teacher's and staff of OJC, wilmina is preferred, but not required.) Fill in all the items on the form. If you are not a student at OJC, please leave the "Student Number" field blank. When you are finished, click "submit". Don't enter the class key yet.
2. Check your e-mail and click on the link you recieve and log-in to MASLE
3. Sign up for a class. To sign up for a class, you need to enter the CLASS KEY in your profile. If you do not have one of these please ask me.

Prepare your Computer

1. Audio

You need a microphone hooked up to your computer. It can be a built-in microphone or an external microphone. Make sure it is hooked up and ready to use.

1. Java

Your computer needs to have browsers that are enabled for Java. Currently, Java comes ready in most browsers, so you don't have to worry about this. However, if you go to the first test and can't get the recorder to work, you will probably get some kind of error related to Java. If this happens, you should try to get some help in getting Java to work. (try an internet search on the key words including Java, download, the name of your browser and the name of your operating system (OS X, Windows XP, Vista, etc.).

Take the Tests

1. Click "Take a test" in the left menu. When you start the MASLE recorder for the first time in one session you will get a message from the java machine that let's you know you are giving java power to make recordings and send them over the internet for storage. You should say "Allow" since if you don't allow it, you can't do the test.
2. There are four tests to take and involve simply reading the text that will be displayed on the screen.
   1. Welcome
   2. Vowels
   3. Consonants
   4. Couper

 The first "test"  called "1. Welcome" can be thought of as a warm up and way to test the system. If you cannot record and play back the audio properly in the warm up, finish it anyway and try to get some help on making sure everything works. When you do this one you can check to make sure you are able to record properly. If you can't record properly, just finish this test and notify me so I can help you solve any problems you might have before going on to the other tests.

Test 2 and 3 are tests focusing on vowels and consonants respectively. They are of the form "She said "_____" once." The third set consists of twelve sentences that have been constructed to cover most of the sounds of English, and therefore might seem a little odd.

Here are the items from the tests. Please read these through one time before you start the test to familiarize yourself with the items. When you take a test, the text below will appear on the screen so you don't have to look at this paper when taking a test.

1. Welcome

    - Hi how are you?
    - One, two, three, four, five.

2. Vowels

    - She said "deed" once
    - She said "did" once
    - She said "days" once
    - She said "dead" once
    - She said "dad" once
    - She said "god" once
    - She said "dawn" once
    - She said "dot" once
    - She said "dude" once
    - She said "code" once
    - She said "dud" once

3. Initial Consonants

    - He said "paid" once
    - He said "gain" once
    - He said "ten" once
    - He said "den" once
    - He said "Keep" once
    - He said "beat" once
    - He said "wing" once
    - He said "ring" once
    - He said "lend" once
    - He said "rend" once
    - He said "fed" once
    - He said "said" once
    - He said "met" once
    - He said "net" once

4. Couper

    - 1. He loves sailing through storms.
    - 2. The lawns in Greenlane are great.
    - 3. Heat the beans and put them on a plate.
    - 4. He speaks Spanish with a strong accent.
    - 5. It’s good to eat oranges and lemons in winter.
    - 6. We’ve got hot and cold baked potatoes for breakfast.
    - 7. She threw her perfect birthday jumper in the birdbath.
    - 8. He lit lots of cigarettes because he had to wait for a long time.
    - 9. Many kind men and women live on the slopes of Mount Eden.
    - 10. I’ve been waiting since five to seven and now it’s ten past twelve.
    - 11. Haven’t you ever seen girls and boys cheering and shouting for joy.
    - 12. Victoria walked all the way even though she wasn’t feeling very well.