Method

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nine a Dynamo, also with version 1 of the shop vocabulary and in three a touch screen Smartphone with Imagetalk and a miniature version of the vocabulary.

5.1.2 Preparations and setup of the role‐play sessions 

In order to evaluate the shopping-related vocabulary a series of role-play sessions were orchestrated. Two different shops were set up.

• The games shop was equipped with boxes for computer games, card-games and books, films and posters from the genres Fantasy and Science Fiction. There was a portable computer with information about the items in stock and other information the sales assistant would have to consult a computer to find.

• The food shop had boxes for food items at strategic places in the room, and newspapers near the checkout station. Behind the shop assistant were candy, lighters and other items that could be bought at the counter. At the entrance to the food shop, the customers could take a shopping basket to put their things in.

Figure 5.1. The games shop        Figure 5.2. The food shop  

5.1.3 VOCAs used in the role‐play 

These VOCAs with Phrases 1 were tried in the role-play sessions:

• Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook with 8.9″ touch screen, on-screen keyboard, the software Clicker 4 and the synthetic voice Emma. The vocabulary had a main page with a schematic scene of a shop and the different sub-activities that could be performed there. A selection on the main screen led to a page with written expressions that could be selected and spoken.

• Dynamo™ with the same vocabulary as the Fujitsu Lifebook, but with a

traditional grid version of the menu and recorded speech instead of synthetic. The Dynamo had a black and white touch screed and in addition to the grid layout with the pre-stored phrases it had an on-screen keyboard. The names of the letters were spoken when someone composed a message with them, but the lack of

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speech synthesis made it impossible to have a newly composed text read-out loud by the voice.

• Nokia 7710 multimedia touch-screen Smartphone with the software Imagetalk Symbol Writer and a miniature version of the shopping vocabulary and the synthetic voice Ingmar.

In addition to the VOCAs that contained the shopping vocabulary, other VOCAs were also used:

• SpeakOut /Qwerty – A portable VOCA with keyboard and one LCD display with 240x64 tokens directed towards the user and one LCD display with 40 x 2 tokens directed towards the communication partner. SpeakOut had a male and a female synthetic voice, word prediction and capacity to store phrases. In the role-play sessions the male voice (Ingmar) was used and no pre-recorded phrases.

• Tablet PC, Paceblade, with the Swedish version of the software VocabPlus™ and the synthetic voice Ingmar. VocabPlus was built on the presumption that selecting words provides faster access than writing letter by letter, which was also possible.

The configuration that came with the Swedish version of the software was used.

The only features that were used were the selection of word by word and the typing on the on-screen keyboard.

• Portable computer with the vocabulary TALK boards for Speaking Dynamically – Swedish preliminary translation that was not configured for a specific user. The computer had a regular keyboard and the synthetic voice Ingmar.

The main reason to include the three devices that did not have the shopping related pre-stored phrases was to try devices that were targeted at phrase-creation, in order to see what implications that would have for the expressions that were created with their help.

It was also interesting to see how the participants would react to the TALK boards, but in practice the participants made most use of the regular laptop keyboard, that made it possible for them to type quickly. The phrases for greeting and feedback that are part of the TALK boards were also used to some extent. 

5.1.4 Instructions 

An important goal was to create situations that were similar to some of the actual events that were recorded and transcribed for the Gothenburg Spoken Language Corpus, GSLC, in order to see if that could make the VOCA users perform communicative acts that were similar to those in the original conversations. The model conversations were selected because they were complete and varied, so that they would provide the role-players with some challenges, as well as real-world models. In the real games shop,

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customers were asking for games that were not always in stock. They then had to respond to that message from the shop assistant in some way. Now and again the shop assistant had to consult the computer to find out if an out-of- stock item was likely to come in again in a recent future. In the food shop, most of the items the customers wanted to purchase were already collected when they came up to the cash register, but there were also items that were placed behind the counter and had to be asked for.

Table 5.2. General instructions for participants in the Games shop 

Games shop, customer.  

General instructions. 

If you are using a VOCA – prepare your  purchase before entering the shop by  writing what you want to buy in your  VOCA.  

It will also happen that you find things  that interest you in the shop, that you  have no prepared words for in your  VOCA. In that case you will have to try  to get your message through anyway.  

Games shop, sales assistant. 

General instructions. 

The goods on the shelves are fore sale. You can see  the prices in the computer. There you also find  information about orders, estimated dates of  delivery, items that are in stock or possible to order.  

The customers can only pay cash. You use the  calculator / cash register and may print a receipt  that you give the customer.  

The customers may get a free bag for their  purchased goods. You have to de‐magnetize the  games you are selling. 

Nine conversations from the activity Shop were selected - five from the games shop and four from the food shop. From these nine conversations instructions were written and given to the participants. There were separate instructions for the customers and the shop assistants – both general instructions and separate for each scene.

Table 5.3. Examples of specific role‐play instructions 

Games shop, Scene 2. Customer  

• You want the game Sims that you find in  the shop. But you don’t know if it is for  Mac or PC. You have a PC.  

• You pay with a 500 note.  

Games shop, Scene 2. Shop assistant.  

• You look in the computer for the  information that is asked for.   

• You offer the customer a receipt  and a bag. 

Food shop, Scene B. Customer  

• You buy a can of Coke that you have  found in the shop 

• You pay cash 

• You don’t say much. 

Food shop, Scene B. Shop assistant 

• You comment on what the  customer is buying. 

• You ask if the customer wants the  receipt. 

The specific instructions for each scene varied in length and complexity. Most scenes were performed more than once, with different VOCAs, but the participants also had a choice and only some of the six VOCAs were used in each scene. The person given the role of the customer only got the instruction cards for the customer and the one acting as a shop assistant only had the cards for that role. Before a scene, the participants agreed

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on which one to re-enact, read the instructions for that specific scene and then started the role-playing.

5.1.5 Criteria for replication of interactions from GSLC in role‐play 

For a role-play interaction to be regarded as a replication of an interaction in GSLC, it had to meet certain criteria.

A full replication of an interaction from GSLC was said to occur when:

• All communicative acts that were used by the customer in the original interaction were also used by the VOCA-user in role-play.

• The role-play participant using the VOCA asked for the same item and/or information from the shop assistant.

• The result of the interaction was the same, i.e. with regard to what got purchased.

A partial replication of an interaction from GSLC was said to occur when:

• At least 50% of the communicative acts that were used by the customer in the original interaction were also used by the VOCA-user in role-play.

• The role-play participant using the VOCA asked for the same item and/or information from the shop assistant.

• The result of the interaction was the same, i.e. with regard to what got purchased.

5.1.6 Improvisation in role‐play 

The role-play sessions were to a great extent improvised, an important feature for making them as close to real shopping activities as possible. The instructions to the participants made them ask for specific things or give pre-determined answers (such as that a game or book was not in stock), but the conversations were not scripted. It was not decided beforehand what VOCAs to use in what scenes or who should play the role as customer or shop assistant in a specific scene. How it turned out can be seen in table 5.4, and the implications are that certain questions can be answered through the resulting role-play conversations and others can not. Due to the mixture of participants, VOCAs and shops, it is not possible to make a direct comparison between the efficiency of specific VOCAs, there are too many confounding factors. On the other hand, the improvisations may have participated in creating role-play sessions that were closer to real life, which is also not scripted.