For those with complex communication needs, oral speech is not so straightforward. Thus, one approach may be provided through the use of augmentative and alternative communication(AAC), a type of helpful technology with applications for communication....
For those with complex communication needs, oral speech is not so straightforward. Thus, one approach may be provided through the use of augmentative and alternative communication(AAC), a type of helpful technology with applications for communication. Particularly, the E-Tran communication board is widely used for those with CCN in English-speaking countries though, the lack of experts’ awareness in Korea has delayed the development of the E-Tran communication board that reflects the characteristics of Korean language.
The main purpose of the present study is to develop the E-Tran communication board that is effective in the arrangement of vowels in Korean. In addition, the purpose of the study is threefold: The first goal is to examine whether the accuracy and response time of the E-Tran board performance task are affected by two vowel arrangements(individual double vowels vs. single vowel combination). The second goal is to find out the working memory capabilities that are likely to be involved in the performance of the E-Tran board. The last one is to investigate the user preferences concerning them.
In this study component, thirty subjects of typical, literate adults (ages 20~30 years) participated. This group performed E-Tran copywrite task by a participants’s eye movement according to the arrangement of two vowels and a survey related to preference after the working memory task.
The main results are as follows. First, no difference in accuracy by participants was found between the individual double vowels arrangement and single vowel combination arrangement. This indicates that accuracy does not affect two arrangements. Second, the arrangement of individual double vowels board was more faster than the arrangement of single vowel combination board. This suggests that the single vowel combination arrangement took longer time when creating a double vowel, which means it required two choices. Third, there was correlation between the single vowel combination arrangement and working memory task. It indicates that the single vowel combination arrangement affects cognitive process compared to the individual double vowel arrangement. Lastly, the preference scores illustrated that the individual double vowel arrangement was the most preferred board. It is reasonable to suggest that participants likely factored their perceptions of rates of use into judgements of preference.
The study is important in that it can be clinically used for CCN patients with motor disorder. Also, the study suggested that the E-Tran board can be a tool to effectively use by patients in clinical setting.