THE SPEECH RATE AND VOCABULARY PROFILE OF TED-ED VIDEOS AS EXTENSIVE LISTENING MATERIALS FOR EFL LEARNERS

Listening proficiency is essential in language acquisition, yet both its classroom time and research are overshadowed by other skills, such as speaking and reading. To tackle the issue of limited classroom time, extensive listening is one of the most convenient and effective solutions. Selecting the materials, however, needs an equally extensive effort; especially for the authentic ones.  Therefore, this study aims to investigate the speech rate and vocabulary level of TED-Ed videos as one of the sources of authentic material for extensive listening to determine their suitability for EFL learners. The research used a quantitative descriptive design with purposive sampling. The data collection of Speech Rate is conducted by transcribing the sample videos and dividing the number of words by the length of the video, and the result is measured in terms of WPM (Word Per Minute). To get the vocabulary level, the video transcripts are put into the Vocabkitchen website to analyze the vocabulary CEFR level for each word. From the analysis, the average speech rate of TED-Ed videos is 147.4 WPM and it is suitable for all levels of EFL learners, including beginner level. Meanwhile, the CEFR level of the vocabulary is more suitable for intermediate EFL learners and beyond

Supporting Voice-Based Natural Language Interactions for Information Seeking Tasks of Various Complexity

Natural language interfaces have seen a steady increase in their popularity over the past decade leading to the ubiquity of digital assistants. Such digital assistants include voice activated assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa, as well as text-based chat bots that can substitute for a human assistant in business settings (e.g., call centers, retail / banking websites) and at home. The main advantages of such systems are their ease of use and - in the case of voice-activated systems - hands-free interaction. The majority of tasks undertaken by users of these commercially available voice-based digital assistants are simple in nature, where the responses of the agent are often determined using a rules-based approach. However, such systems have the potential to support users in completing more complex and involved tasks. In this dissertation, I describe experiments investigating user behaviours when interacting with natural language systems and how improvements in design of such systems can benefit the user experience. Currently available commercial systems tend to be designed in a way to mimic superficial characteristics of a human-to-human conversation. However, the interaction with a digital assistant differs significantly from the interaction between two people, partly due to limitations of the underlying technology such as automatic speech recognition and natural language understanding. As computing technology evolves, it may make interactions with digital assistants resemble those between humans. The first part of this thesis explores how users will perceive the systems that are capable of human-level interaction, how users will behave while communicating with such systems, and new opportunities that may be opened by that behaviour. Even in the absence of the technology that allows digital assistants to perform on a human level, the digital assistants that are widely adopted by people around the world are found to be beneficial for a number of use-cases. The second part of this thesis describes user studies aiming at enhancing the functionality of digital assistants using the existing level of technology. In particular, chapter 6 focuses on expanding the amount of information a digital assistant is able to deliver using a voice-only channel, and chapter 7 explores how expanded capabilities of voice-based digital assistants would benefit people with visual impairments. The experiments presented throughout this dissertation produce a set of design guidelines for existing as well as potential future digital assistants. Experiments described in chapters 4, 6, and 7 focus on supporting the task of finding information online, while chapter 5 considers a case of guiding a user through a culinary recipe. The design recommendations provided by this thesis can be generalised in four categories: how naturally a user can communicate their thoughts to the system, how understandable the system's responses are to the user, how flexible the system's parameters are, and how diverse the information delivered by the system is

A competencies framework of visual impairments for enabling shared understanding in design

Existing work in Human Computer Interaction and accessibility research has long sought to investigate the experiences of people with visual impairments in order to address their needs through technology design and integrate their participation into different stages of the design process. Yet challenges remain regarding how disabilities are framed in technology design and the extent of involvement of disabled people within it. Furthermore, accessibility is often considered a specialised job and misunderstandings or assumptions about visually impaired people’s experiences and needs occur outside dedicated fields. This thesis presents an ethnomethodology-informed design critique for supporting awareness and shared understanding of visual impairments and accessibility that centres on their experiences, abilities, and participation in early-stage design. This work is rooted in an in-depth empirical investigation of the interactional competencies that people with visual impairments exhibit through their use of technology, which informs and shapes the concept of a Competencies Framework of Visual Impairments. Although past research has established stances for considering the individual abilities of disabled people and other social and relational factors in technology design, by drawing on ethnomethodology and its interest in situated competence this thesis employs an interactional perspective to investigate the practical accomplishments of visually impaired people. Thus, this thesis frames visual impairments in terms of competencies to be considered in the design process, rather than a deficiency or problem to be fixed through technology. Accordingly, this work favours supporting awareness and reflection rather than the design of particular solutions, which are also strongly needed for advancing accessible design at large. This PhD thesis comprises two main empirical studies branched into three different investigations. The first and second investigations are based on a four-month ethnographic study with visually impaired participants examining their everyday technology practices. The third investigation comprises the design and implementation of a workshop study developed to include people with and without visual impairments in collaborative reflections about technology and accessibility. As such, each investigation informed the ones that followed, revisiting and refining concepts and design materials throughout the thesis. Although ethnomethodology is the overarching approach running through this PhD project, each investigation has a different focus of enquiry: • The first is focused on analysing participants’ technology practices and unearthing the interactional competencies enabling them. • The second is focused on analysing technology demonstrations, which were a pervasive phenomenon recorded during fieldwork, and the work of demonstrating as exhibited by visually impaired participants. • Lastly, the third investigation defines a workshop approach employing video demonstrations and a deck of reflective design cards as building blocks for enabling shared understanding among people with and without visual impairments from different technology backgrounds; that is, users, technologists, designers, and researchers. Overall, this thesis makes several contributions to audiences within and outside academia, such as the detailed accounts of some of the main technology practices of people with visual impairments and the methodological analysis of demonstrations in empirical Human Computer Interaction and accessibility research. Moreover, the main contribution lies in the conceptualisation of a Competencies Framework of Visual Impairments from the empirical analysis of interactional competencies and their practical exhibition through demonstrations, as well as the creation and use of a deck of cards that encapsulates the competencies and external elements involved in the everyday interactional accomplishments of people with visual impairments. All these contributions are lastly brought together in the implementation of the workshop approach that enabled participants to interact with and learn from each other. Thus, this thesis builds upon and advances contemporary strands of work in Human Computer Interaction that call for re-orienting how visual impairments and, overall, disabilities are framed in technology design, and ultimately for re-shaping the design practice itself

A competencies framework of visual impairments for enabling shared understanding in design

Existing work in Human Computer Interaction and accessibility research has long sought to investigate the experiences of people with visual impairments in order to address their needs through technology design and integrate their participation into different stages of the design process. Yet challenges remain regarding how disabilities are framed in technology design and the extent of involvement of disabled people within it. Furthermore, accessibility is often considered a specialised job and misunderstandings or assumptions about visually impaired people’s experiences and needs occur outside dedicated fields. This thesis presents an ethnomethodology-informed design critique for supporting awareness and shared understanding of visual impairments and accessibility that centres on their experiences, abilities, and participation in early-stage design. This work is rooted in an in-depth empirical investigation of the interactional competencies that people with visual impairments exhibit through their use of technology, which informs and shapes the concept of a Competencies Framework of Visual Impairments. Although past research has established stances for considering the individual abilities of disabled people and other social and relational factors in technology design, by drawing on ethnomethodology and its interest in situated competence this thesis employs an interactional perspective to investigate the practical accomplishments of visually impaired people. Thus, this thesis frames visual impairments in terms of competencies to be considered in the design process, rather than a deficiency or problem to be fixed through technology. Accordingly, this work favours supporting awareness and reflection rather than the design of particular solutions, which are also strongly needed for advancing accessible design at large. This PhD thesis comprises two main empirical studies branched into three different investigations. The first and second investigations are based on a four-month ethnographic study with visually impaired participants examining their everyday technology practices. The third investigation comprises the design and implementation of a workshop study developed to include people with and without visual impairments in collaborative reflections about technology and accessibility. As such, each investigation informed the ones that followed, revisiting and refining concepts and design materials throughout the thesis. Although ethnomethodology is the overarching approach running through this PhD project, each investigation has a different focus of enquiry: • The first is focused on analysing participants’ technology practices and unearthing the interactional competencies enabling them. • The second is focused on analysing technology demonstrations, which were a pervasive phenomenon recorded during fieldwork, and the work of demonstrating as exhibited by visually impaired participants. • Lastly, the third investigation defines a workshop approach employing video demonstrations and a deck of reflective design cards as building blocks for enabling shared understanding among people with and without visual impairments from different technology backgrounds; that is, users, technologists, designers, and researchers. Overall, this thesis makes several contributions to audiences within and outside academia, such as the detailed accounts of some of the main technology practices of people with visual impairments and the methodological analysis of demonstrations in empirical Human Computer Interaction and accessibility research. Moreover, the main contribution lies in the conceptualisation of a Competencies Framework of Visual Impairments from the empirical analysis of interactional competencies and their practical exhibition through demonstrations, as well as the creation and use of a deck of cards that encapsulates the competencies and external elements involved in the everyday interactional accomplishments of people with visual impairments. All these contributions are lastly brought together in the implementation of the workshop approach that enabled participants to interact with and learn from each other. Thus, this thesis builds upon and advances contemporary strands of work in Human Computer Interaction that call for re-orienting how visual impairments and, overall, disabilities are framed in technology design, and ultimately for re-shaping the design practice itself