A Study of Accomodation of Prosodic and Temporal Features in Spoken Dialogues in View of Speech Technology Applications

Inter-speaker accommodation is a well-known property of human speech and human interaction in general. Broadly it refers to the behavioural patterns of two (or more) interactants and the effect of the (verbal and non-verbal) behaviour of each to that of the other(s). Implementation of thisbehavior in spoken dialogue systems is desirable as an improvement on the naturalness of humanmachine interaction. However, traditional qualitative descriptions of accommodation phenomena do not provide sufficient information for such an implementation. Therefore, a quantitativedescription of inter-speaker accommodation is required. This thesis proposes a methodology of monitoring accommodation during a human or humancomputer dialogue, which utilizes a moving average filter over sequential frames for each speaker. These frames are time-aligned across the speakers, hence the name Time Aligned Moving Average (TAMA). Analysis of spontaneous human dialogue recordings by means of the TAMA methodology reveals ubiquitous accommodation of prosodic features (pitch, intensity and speech rate) across interlocutors, and allows for statistical (time series) modeling of the behaviour, in a way which is meaningful for implementation in spoken dialogue system (SDS) environments.In addition, a novel dialogue representation is proposed that provides an additional point of view to that of TAMA in monitoring accommodation of temporal features (inter-speaker pause length and overlap frequency). This representation is a percentage turn distribution of individual speakercontributions in a dialogue frame which circumvents strict attribution of speaker-turns, by considering both interlocutors as synchronously active. Both TAMA and turn distribution metrics indicate that correlation of average pause length and overlap frequency between speakers can be attributed to accommodation (a debated issue), and point to possible improvements in SDS “turntaking” behaviour. Although the findings of the prosodic and temporal analyses can directly inform SDS implementations, further work is required in order to describe inter-speaker accommodation sufficiently, as well as to develop an adequate testing platform for evaluating the magnitude ofperceived improvement in human-machine interaction. Therefore, this thesis constitutes a first step towards a convincingly useful implementation of accommodation in spoken dialogue systems

A “Human Endeavor”: Killing In Contemporary U.S. Combat Narratives

This PH.D dissertation aims to develop a 3-D numerical model of dam-break flows on movable beds. Three tasks are defined to accomplish the goal of this study. The first task is developing a 3-D hydrodynamic model to simulate dam-break flow on fixed beds with simple geometry and test the water surface tracking technique. This model solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations using a finite-difference method on rectilinear, staggered grids. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique with SOLA-VOF advection scheme is used to capture the free surface motion. The developed model is tested using several experimental dam-break flows and the VOF technique is found to be able to effectively treat the rapidly-varying water surface boundary of dam-break flows. As the second task of this dissertation, a 3-D finite-volume model is developed to simulate dam-break flows on irregular fixed beds. Developing this model is necessary to accomplish the major goal of this dissertation since the finite-difference model explained above, which uses the rectilinear staggered grid, is not convenient to extend to the case of irregular and movable beds and integrate with sediment transport calculations. This model solves the RANS equations using a finite-volume method on irregular hexahedral, collocated meshes and adopts the compressive interface capturing scheme for arbitrary meshes (CICSAM) as the VOF advection method. The model is tested by means of experimental dam-break flows on fixed beds with simple and irregular geometries. The final task is extending the 3-D finite-volume model to a dam-break flow model applicable on movable beds. Therefore, it is integrated with a sediment transport model developed in this study. The sediment transport model solves the non-equilibrium transport equations of suspended load and bed load separately and in turn calculates the resulting bed change, based on the flow properties calculated by the hydrodynamic model. Since the time evolution of bed topography affects the hydrodynamic calculations, the model uses a moving grid technique to update the computational grid to fit on the calculated bed topography at every time step. The grid moving velocity and the computational cell volume change generated by the moving mesh are taken into consideration when the governing equations of the hydrodynamic and sediment transport models are discretized. The integrated model is tested using several experimental dam-break flows on movable beds. The calculated spatial and temporal variations of water and bed surfaces are generally in good agreement with the measured data

Sex on TV: Content and Context

Part of a series that examines the nature and extent of sexual messages conveyed on American television. Focuses on references to contraception, safer sex, and waiting to have sex. Based on a sample of 1997-1998 programs

Communication strategies in Edward Albee's and Martin Walser's work : a comparative study

This thesis is based on a comparative study of plays by two contemporary authors: Die Zimmerschlacht and Ein fliehendes Pferd by the German author Martin Walser and A Delicate Balance by the American playwright Edward Albee. Critics have stressed the emphasis which both playwrights lay on dialogue as the driving force of their dramatic art. Hence an analysis with pragmatics appears particularly pertinent. I demonstrate that methods and findings from linguistic pragmatics applied to ordinary language are equally relevant to critical analysis of dramatic action. My work draws in a broad but targeted way on pragmatic devices mainly from three different studies: G. Leech, The Principles of Pragmatics, P. B. Brown and S. C. Levinson, Politeness. Some Universals in Language Usage and P. Watzlawick, J. B. Bavelas, D. D. Jackson, Pragmatics of Human Communication. A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies and Paradoxes. I elaborate on how the tenets of pragmatics expose levels of meanings and character’s motivations not immediately derivable from the surface structure of utterances. I aim to provide pragmatic devices to explore a character’s behaviour and communicational targets and also focus on the level of communication between playwrights and audiences. Not withstanding their cultural differences both authors reveal similarities in their approach. They are concerned with social reality and its effect on human relations. Although not overtly political the plays by the two authors clearly denounce the refusal of individuals to engage beyond their own interests as social conformism thereby suggesting the necessity of embracing a more tolerant and empathetic attitude. Language is shown to illustrate the individual struggle between social demands, private desire and demands of contemporary society