Download doc - Post Caxton Era

right how we speak or speek how we rite
/raɪt/haʊ/wiː/spiːk/ɔːr/spiːk/haʊ/wiː/raɪt/
Franklin Evans
www.postcaxtonera.org
Our educationalists have failed to understand the implications posed by the 4th Revolution.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep mining are all here working away in the
background effecting everyday life. Uber is one significant player in the GIG economy.
Education is using machine learning to collect, sort, analysis and present pupil data in
greater depth at lower cost and reducing teacher’s time.
Google is using deep mining to analysis your searches and pop up related ads suggesting
something of interest. Using what others bought in similar searches.
Deep mining is highly relevant to future digital education using Artificial Intelligence to
work out learners existing knowledge base and create future learning decisions. Taking
over one of teacher’s primary functions.
Data input bottlenecks are being overcome by using Voice Recognition which uses high
level Artificial Intelligence. This raises another educational problem as speaking is not part
of the curriculum.
Digital devices are changing how we hear, speak, read and write and where and how this
takes place. A standardised machine English is appearing with the loss of regional accents.
English Language
English is a highly complex non-logical language transmitting ideas from one person to
another via speech, reading and writing. It excludes computer coding and images.
Caxton and printers have a lot to answer for as Caxton invented words and the printers
added letters as they were paid by individual letters used.
Over the centuries many words and their sounds have been added or changed resulting in
the divergence between the spoken and written language. Our speaking alphabet has 44
symbols where as our written has only 26. There are 17 silent letters in over 170 words.
One of the advantages of working as a supply teacher is you see how language is used
across all the subjects. Much attention is focused on writing with marks for spelling and
grammar but nothing on correct speaking.
This is becoming problematic as the world is going verbal. Job interviews held by phone or
Skype, cars using voice commands and many other situations where you have to speak to
a digital device.
What is language?
Pronunciation
There is an argument on how phonics are taught, by imitation or by understanding but
nobody denies it is vitally important in learning how to speak. Motor skills have to be learnt
in a logical sequence on how to manipulate the mouth, tongue and lips to produce speech
sounds. Imitating words by rote will deny the ability to understand new words.
Does Imitation Have A Place in Learning Pronunciation? by Dr Piers Messum
How does phonics fit into the big picture of teaching reading?
Phonemes Development Milestones
Sounds of language from birth
Reading phonemics
Babies start to learn even before they are born
Spoken alphabet
44 graphic symbols.
One word with different spellings right, rite and write. /raɪt/
One letter with six sounds: rote /əʊ/, owl /ɑʊ/, horse /ɔ:/, toy /ɔɪ /, hot /ɒ/ and foot /ʊ/
B is not pronounced b but bee /bɪ:/
/ eɪ / ɑe / eə / a: / b / k / tʃ / d / e/ ɪ: / ə/ ɜ: / ɪə / f / g/ h /aɪ / ɪ / dʒ / k / l /
/ m / n / ŋ / əʊ / ɑʊ / ɔ: / ɔɪ / ɒ / ʊ / p / r / s / ʃ / ʒ / z / t / ð / θ / ʌ / u: / v / w / j /
Go to British Council phonemic chart to see and hear each sound with example words/
Devices & Media
Ergonomics is the study of the inter-relationship between man and machine. It is vital to
understand how digital knowledge is transmitted between the speaker and vast range of
current and future devices.
Spoken language was originally the only means of communication between the majority of
the population with information coming from the church, officials, story tellers and gossip
over the garden fence. The words are given emotion by body language and vocal
presentation. It’s a two way process and can be stored digitally.
Written English is a one way translation of spoken words into images of its sounds which
are recognised as our alphabet. Caxton translated and printed the first book in English in
England and had to develop a standard language readable by the masses.
Written language lacks the silent expressions conveyed by body language and uses
punctuation to help reading and it is for the reader to comprehend the writer’s emotions.
It is hand written, typed or dictated using voice recognition software.
Emails are one way written communication using formal english with the advantage of
digital speed and cost. It removes the personality of hand written letters and may not be
legally valid as the message or date can be altered. Emails are restricted to those who
have internet electronic devices. Typed or dictated.
Texting is another form of emailing developed to overcome mobile phone’s restricted size
and cost of transmission. The alphabet is condensed by putting three letters on each key
abc, def … Capital letters, punctuations are omitted and short-cuts 2, 4, u, I8U used to
increase speed and reduce finger errors.
The introduction of the digital keyboard on smart phones gave the manufacturers the
opportunity to user either the logical ABCD or the old QWERTY.
The use of emoticons (:-), emojis , abbreviations (LOL), hashtags (#) and neologisms
are creating two societies of those who can or cannot understand the message.
Emoticon = emotion + icon have been around for over a hundred years and
show the writer’s moods or facial expressions in their message.
From the simple :-) to complex ><(((*> fishy
Emojis = pictograph
Stylised image of an idea, thought or
character used in text messages. First used in 1982.
“It is said that Emojis convey the tone and non-verbal context behind the
text”. Their value is debatable as there are now thousand of emojis available
to download making them unintelligible to most readers.
Deeper meaning of Emojis; How social media is changing communication
Neologism means the use of new words or using existing words for a new
purpose.
“Technology is making life easier for us but it comes at a price, it seems as though
many young people are either too lazy to type, or have become so engrossed in their
‘tweeting’ and their ‘status updates’ that they can no longer communicate in the
real world without the use of ‘LOL’ or a ‘smiley face’. (I attempted to research
why 18-25 year olds preferred emoticons, but all my emails were responded to with
a smiley, Sad or confused face, so I eventually gave up before I began to bald with
stress.) “ From Morse Code to Emoticons
E-Books are downloadable digital books read on E-readers with large white screens usable
in sun-light. E-readers have advantages over paper books because of large storage, lower
weight, cost, functionality and eco-friendliness.
“bookbub.com” send me two Amazon/Kindle book recommendations everyday and to date
I have downloaded 67 free books. I started off by taking five books with me on holiday and
now I make time to read one a week. Smart-phones are replacing the need for E-Readers.
Digital books have both advantages and disadvantages but in the end they are just books.
Radio books remove the need for the listener to be able to read or interpret the writer’s
emotions but it does require concentration. The speaker enhances the written word by
delivery and timing with sound effects adding to the listener’s enjoyment. It does not use
punctuation and the listener has no control over the time of delivery.
Podcasts are digital copies of radio programmes which can be listened to online or
downloaded for future use. Depending on the media used, the listener can control the
programme to stop, forwards or replay.
Audio Books are a combination of E-Books and Podcasts as you can read, listen or do
both together and it is this last feature that is particularly attractive for education.
Each word is highlighted as it is spoken so it would be possible to add a click feature to
hear the word and see how it is pronounced using a video clip plus a definition. This is how
parents teach their children.
Reading with your ears: do audiobooks harm or help literature? Claire Armistead - The Guardian
Television/Film/YouTube add body language and facial expression to the spoken word
but is still only a one way communication. The director controls the viewer’s experience by
the use of imagery and sound. They say “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
Video Phones are truly of the Post Caxton Era as it reverts back to face to face
conversation. Skype is one format useful for one to one education. Video conferencing and
webinars are used for mass lectures. Not dependent on accents.
Voice Recognition (VR) software is a specific use of Artificial Intelligence that converts
your voice into digital data which then performs some useful function. What AI does is to
learn the speech patterns in real time and use this to correct existing knowledge and add
new. Accents become problematic.
Accuracy is achieved at a cost. 96% - £250, 90% - £100 and 86% - £8. The objective is to
have a 100% recognition accuracy.
(Windows 7 has its own VR. Search “speech recognition”)
Voice Command Devices (VCD) uses VR to recognise a fixed set of commands then
instructs the device to perform a determined function. ie.domestics appliances and
vehicles.
Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA) is a limited voice activated search engine such as
Microsoft’s “Cortana” and Apple’s “Siri”. It controls how you ask questions and formats the
answers.
Application Programming Interface (API) is an APP (application) that can customised
how the voice recognition software receives and outputs the data. In a science experiment
it asks the student to verbally record some observations, processes this data and then asks
more appropriate questions if the data was inaccurate. (Machine learning).
right how we speak or speek how we rite
/raɪt/haʊ/wiː/spiːk/ɔːr/spiːk/haʊ/wiː/raɪt/
Current speech recognition software has to be trained to understand individual’s speech
patterns and accents.
Voice recognition digital devices can be designed to recognise a limited number of
command words with errors corrected by asking yes/no questions. The software will not
have to cope with different words having the same sound. Two, to, too.
The difficulty arises when the software has to translate phrases and sentences. Microsoft’s
“Cortana” and Apple’s “Siri” have problems with strong accents but are developing the
ability to understand slang. Both are finding that users are changing how they speak in a
Machine Voice which is causing the loss of regional accents and the increase of a
standardised English.
Spoken english has no punctuation or capitals so voice projection will need to be taught to
add emotion. Some schools have drama lessons but they are not deliberately aimed at
teaching how to speak. In primary schools English lessons emphasis is on reading and
writing with little time for children to tell their own stories. This will give confidence to
those who have problems writing.