Malay articulation system for early screening diagnostic using hidden markov model and genetic algorithm

Speech recognition is an important technology and can be used as a great aid for individuals with sight or hearing disabilities today. There are extensive research interest and development in this area for over the past decades. However, the prospect in Malaysia regarding the usage and exposure is still immature even though there is demand from the medical and healthcare sector. The aim of this research is to assess the quality and the impact of using computerized method for early screening of speech articulation disorder among Malaysian such as the omission, substitution, addition and distortion in their speech. In this study, the statistical probabilistic approach using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) has been adopted with newly designed Malay corpus for articulation disorder case following the SAMPA and IPA guidelines. Improvement is made at the front-end processing for feature vector selection by applying the silence region calibration algorithm for start and end point detection. The classifier had also been modified significantly by incorporating Viterbi search with Genetic Algorithm (GA) to obtain high accuracy in recognition result and for lexical unit classification. The results were evaluated by following National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) benchmarking. Based on the test, it shows that the recognition accuracy has been improved by 30% to 40% using Genetic Algorithm technique compared with conventional technique. A new corpus had been built with verification and justification from the medical expert in this study. In conclusion, computerized method for early screening can ease human effort in tackling speech disorders and the proposed Genetic Algorithm technique has been proven to improve the recognition performance in terms of search and classification task

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2016 Fall

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Fall 2016

Undergraduate Student Catalog 2020-2021

The central pillars of Qatar University’s mission are highlighted through this document, namely the provision of high-quality education and the pursuit of an active role in the development of Qatari society. The courses described here have been designed, reviewed and assessed to meet the highest educational standards, with a strong focus on the knowledge and skill-based learning that is needed for a graduate to be competitive in today’s labor market and in graduate education pursuits. The many of the academic programs have attained independent external accreditation from internationally recognized associations, to cater to the needs of the country’s ambitious development course

Undergraduate Student Catalog 2018-2019

The central pillars of Qatar University’s mission are highlighted through this document, namely the provision of high-quality education and the pursuit of an active role in the development of Qatari society. The courses described here have been designed, reviewed and assessed to meet the highest educational standards, with a strong focus on the knowledge and skill-based learning that is needed for a graduate to be competitive in today’s labor market and in graduate education pursuits. The many of the academic programs have attained independent external accreditation from internationally recognized associations, to cater to the needs of the country’s ambitious development course

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2017 Spring

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Spring 2017

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2018 Spring

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Spring 2018

Discursive assessment practices in a special school for girls identified with a disability in one Arabic-speaking Gulf-Arabian country

This study examines discursive assessment practices in a special school for girls identified with a disability in an Arabian-Gulf country. The study is driven by a notable absence of research on girls with disability in the Arab world, and the need for analysing practices that shape their identities and future trajectories. To disclose the mechanisms, processes, and tools influencing the coconstruction of girls’ identities by members of a multidisciplinary team, I developed an analytic framework that draws on three theories: systemic functional linguistics, critical genre analysis and sociocultural theory of discourse and identity production. The main data source is the audio-record of conversations that took place at case-conference meetings (CCMs). To describe the genre of a CCM and to disclose what went on, who was involved, and what outcomes were achieved, I constructed three narratives: ‘The most relevant thing about us’, ‘Much ado about everything’, and ‘Not so great expectations’. These narratives revealed the object, goals, and the outcomes of talk. With respect to the object of talk, or the knowledge underpinning assessment practices, there was much focus on girls’ diagnostic histories and scores in IQ tests; they were given a high priority and perceived as key to understanding the girls. Analysis also revealed a resistance to move beyond dichotomous thinking (i.e. girls are either trainable or educable). The goals of talk were to pass on information, to share assessment results, and to list objectives for intervention, each practitioner within her domain of expertise. This mode of passing on - rather than - discussing information and assessment results limited the prospect to benefit from the distributed knowledge of practitioners. The outcomes of talk were mediated by the two preceding discursive actions. A preoccupation with girls’ medical diagnosis, and a focus on passing on rather than discussing assessment reinforced deficit thinking. Further, categories assigned to girls stood as self-fulfilling prophesies, and as predictors of girls’ future performance. The space to create more positive identities was evident, however, where practitioners knew little about girls’ genetic or developmental disabilities. The implications of these objectifying practices are serious with respect to Gulf-Arabian countries and to similar Muslim sociocultural contexts. Perceiving diagnosis as the absolute truth feeds fatalistic beliefs further and results in inactivity and invisibility. Implications are offered for policy and practice and for future research

Non-spurious correlations between genetic and linguistic diversities in the context of human evolution

This thesis concerns human diversity, arguing that it represents not just some form of noise, which must be filtered out in order to reach a deeper explanatory level, but the engine of human and language evolution, metaphorically put, the best gift Nature has made to us. This diversity must be understood in the context of (and must shape) human evolution, of which the Recent Out-of-Africa with Replacement model (ROA) is currently regarded, especially outside palaeoanthropology, as a true theory. It is argued, using data from palaeoanthropology, human population genetics, ancient DNA studies and primatology, that this model must be, at least, amended, and most probably, rejected, and its alternatives must be based on the concept of reticulation. The relationships between the genetic and linguistic diversities is complex, including interindividual genetic and behavioural differences (behaviour genetics) and inter-population differences due to common demographic, geographic and historic factors (spurious correlations), used to study (pre)historical processes. It is proposed that there also exist nonspurious correlations between genetic and linguistic diversities, due to genetic variants which can bias the process of language change, so that the probabilities of alternative linguistic states are altered. The particular hypothesis (formulated with Prof. D. R. Ladd) of a causal relationship between two human genes and one linguistic typological feature is supported by the statistical analysis of a vast database of 983 genetic variants and 26 linguistic features in 49 Old World populations, controlling for geography and known linguistic history. The general theory of non-spurious correlations between genetic and linguistic diversities is developed and its consequences and predictions analyzed. It will very probably profoundly impact our understanding of human diversity and will offer a firm footing for theories of language evolution and change. More specifically, through such a mechanism, gradual, accretionary models of language evolution are a natural consequence of post-ROA human evolutionary models. The unravellings of causal effects of inter-population genetic differences on linguistic states, mediated by complex processes of cultural evolution (biased iterated learning), will represent a major advance in our understanding of the relationship between cultural and genetic diversities, and will allow a better appreciation of this most fundamental and supremely valuable characteristic of humanity - its intrinsic diversity

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2017 Fall

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Fall 2017

Students' empathy and classroom climate as predictors of attitudes towards immigrants: a case study in three EU countries

The development of positive attitudes towards immigrants among students can be addressed at the individual level through their empathic abilities and at the school or classroom level, where the classroom climate plays an important role.In the present study, we have taken a closer look into the relationship between attitudes towards immigrants, two components of empathy (perspective taking, empathic concern), quality of student-teacher relations (both positiveand negative) and inclusive classroom climate(presented as perceived intercultural sensitivity of teachers) in a sample of 814 8th-grade students in three EU countries (Slovenia, Croatia, and Sweden). The findings showonlyempathy (especially perspective taking) was associated with better attitudes towards immigrantsin all three countries. Additionally, in two out of three countries, the importance of the relationship with teachers and inclusiveclassroomclimate was important as well. The results are discussed in the light of guidelines for school practice