The Effects of Using Text-to-Speech Technology on Fifth Grade Science Comprehension

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of using text-to-speech technology in science to determine whether students with below grade level reading comprehension would benefit to a greater degree than those who scored above the grade level mean. The study, conducted over a 6 week period, involved twenty-six 5th grade science students. Two different sample groups were determined by Stanford reading scores that differentiated between a distinct low and high group when separated by the mean of the student reading scores. The instructional method used a combination of text-to-speech technology and outdoor ecology laboratory activities. The study was designed to compare the progress between reading comprehension and science test scores with the intervention of synthesized text-to-speech. Student results were measured by the raw scores that were recorded in the final test over the six-week study. The analysis was computed by comparing total raw score points and reading comprehension scores using the Pearson's Product-Moment Co-efficient of Correlation. In contrast to the original hypothesis there was a significant increase between students who used text-to-speech technology and were in the higher reading comprehension group compared to the lower reading comprehension in relation to achievement on the final science test.