A Trial Study about the Effect of Hi-Speeded Educational Video Utilizing Synthetic Speech

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the effect of presenting educational video utilizing synthetic speech at a high speed. In the experiment, 40 university students were shown video dealing with declarative knowledge in 4 conditions: actual speed (1x) synthetic speech, double speed (2x) synthetic speech, actual speed (1x) normal speech, and double speed (2x) normal speech. An analysis of the comprehension test results showed no significant difference in the learning effect according to presentation condition, suggesting that speed and speech factors may have no impact on the learning effect. An analysis of the interview results indicated that while learners found synthetic speech unnatural in terms of inflection and intonation when it was presented at actual speed, at high speed this unnatural impression was alleviated, and the speech became more acceptable to listeners.