ELR Software produces a range of computer programs designed by speech pathologists for speech, language & literacy intervention. Our programs may be used interactively within therapy sessions, to increase efficiency in service delivery, and to improve access to the Internet for people with special needs. We are also available as consultants to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues associated with the Internet.
The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources), Build-a-Sentence, Word Meanings, Rude Readers and EIA (Enhancing Internet Access). We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.
This Newsletter (and previous editions) as well as a "print-ready" PDF version of the current edition is available online at www.elr.com.au/news. An email version is also sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).
In this issue -
The September 2016 edition contains only 2 new tasks, a LookThenCover and a SmileyMan game using the recently developed model DictionaryWords. You'll find them in the "Activity Toolbox - Game generators" section. That section is for activities which let you build you own activities for individualized targets. A similar model YourWords) is also in the "Activity Toolbox" and it lets you enter you own word lists to build word based games. In contrast, the DictionaryWords model lets you retrieve words from an internal dictionary by phonemic or alphabetic search patterns, and syllable length, to generate similar interactive word games.
Over the years we've produced thousands or activities for eLr and this has often meant hours of brain storming and web searches for word lists. DictionaryWords is a tool that's grown out of our needs for groups of words with specific phonemic or letter patterns, and although included as a game generator for therapy, you may find the words retrieved by its powerful search mechanism are useful in other therapy, teaching or research needs.
The dictionary in DictionaryWords contains over 24,000 words and matches the default N-Watch "CELEX" vocabulary of frequently used English words. We've removed potentially offensive words and any that are the simple plural (added "s" or "es") of words already in the list. N-Watch is free (Windows) program for computing neighbourhood statistics and other lexical measures (Davis C. 2005). It may be obtained from www.pc.rhul.ac.uk/staff/c.davis/Utilities/.
As in N-Watch, we've used the computer readable phonetic alphabet "SAMPA" (Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet) www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/ to facilitate phonemic retrieval of words. For example a search pattern using 'k' and 't' (which represent the /k/ and /t/ consonant sounds) such as 'k{t' finds the word "cat" (where '{' represents the /a/ short vowel sound), and 'k5t' (where '5' represents the /oa/ diphthong) finds "coat cote". Wildcard search patterns are also allowed so that 'k{t*' will find the 2-syllable words "catfish catkins catsup cattle catty".
In the October edition we'll add to DictionaryWords our remaining familiar words games MemoryWords and ConnectWords. As with all the materials in eLr, we appreciate your feedback - how useful you may have found particular tasks, any suggestions for changes or new materials, and of course, any errors you may notice. If you'd like to participate in a short webinar about this new model, and others in the "Activity Toolbox", please see the "Free eLr Training Webinars" item below.
Our free, regular eLr tutorials (webinars) are continuing. Some sessions are intended primarily for new eLr users, and people just interested in finding out more about what eLr offers. For example, one regular session is called "What is eLr and how do I use it?". Other sessions are intended more for existing subscribers and will target specialized topics such as "How to provide free eLr for home practice" and "eLr and literacy". Please see www.elr.com.au/events for details and to sign up for those which are of interest to you.
As an occasional feature of this Newsletter, we include simple, unpaid announcements of products developed by other small, independent developers, who, like ourselves, are practising clinicians who have put their ideas and experience into resource materials for general distribution. Links and brief information about these sites may be found at www.elr.com.au/links/developers.htm. To date we have listed -
If you would like your materials listed on this page (at no charge), please contact us.
ELR has a number of free or evaluation files available for downloading directly from our website. Please see www.elr.com.au/downloads.htm for specific details. For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see www.elr.com.au/support.htm.
ELR Software offers regular, free eLr tutorials over the web. We can provide this sort of support to individuals, or to groups who would like to have an overview of eLr. Please see www.elr.com.au/events for details.
You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Rude Readers, Word Meanings, Build-a-Sentence or EIA. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au
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