Effect of sign task on speech timing in simultaneous communication

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Speech Science
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Simultaneous communication (SC) involves integrating spoken language with sign language.
• Understanding the temporal dynamics of speech during SC is crucial for effective communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how signing task characteristics influence speech temporal features during simultaneous communication (SC).
• To examine the effects of communication mode, sign task demand, and sign movement type on speech timing.

Main Methods:

• 12 normal-hearing, experienced sign language users participated.
• Participants produced experimental words under two conditions: speech only (SO) and SC.
• Speech was recorded and analyzed for temporal features including word duration, sentence duration, diphthong duration, and interword intervals (IWIB, IWIA).

Main Results:

• Sentence duration was longer in SC compared to SO.
• Interword interval before signed words (IWIB) and diphthong duration increased, particularly with higher sign task demand or morphokinetic sign movements.
• Interword interval after signed words (IWIA) lengthened in SC versus SO, but was not affected by sign task demand or movement type.

Conclusions:

• Signing task demand and movement influence speech timing, primarily affecting durations and pauses preceding the sign.
• The observed temporal effects in SC are less significant than those reported for finger spelling tasks.
• These findings contribute to understanding the cognitive and articulatory load in simultaneous communication.