NEW! SPATS-ESL NOW FOR SALE TO QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL PURCHASERS

The Speech Perception Assessment and Training System for ESL (SPATS-ESL) has previously been sold only to institutional users or research organizations.   Earlier versions of SPATS-ESL included  many options to be selected by the user.  Like most very flexible software systems, the large number of choices made the system difficult for those who tried to use it, unless they had the help of a clinical supervisor or ESL teacher.   The most recent version of the system avoids these problems by limiting the number of choices presented to the user.   The flexibility of the software remains, but individuals who use the system in its normal form only have to start it and follow the simple step-by-step instructions to move through the standard curriculum.      

This most recent form of SPATS-ESL has now been used successfully by many individuals without their needing teachers or clinicians available to supervise their drills.  CDT does provide online help if you have questions about the system, but experience with the new version has shown that most qualified users make excellent progress without having to ask many (or even any) questions.   The only choices that the users will have to make are (a) click “NEXT” to move to the next step in training, or (b) click “EXIT” to end a training session.  Whenever the user chooses “NEXT”, the SPATS system automatically starts the next training session, containing those training tasks selected for the user on the basis of past performance.  Performance records are automatically displayed at the end of each training unit. If you have stopped in the middle of a training session, when you click on “NEXT” the system will start again at the point where you stopped.

Who is a “qualified user”? A qualified user is a person who meets the following four criteria:

1. A qualified user is interested in improving his or herability to understand English spoken as rapidly as is common to native speakers of that language.   Read the “Letter to ESL students” to help decide whether you are really interested in improving in this way.
2. A qualified user understands that SPATS-ESL is a training system designed to improve the ability of the non-native speaker to understand spoken English, and that it is not a system for teaching English vocabulary or grammar.
3. A qualified userhas good or better literacy skills (reading and writing) in English.  This means, for non-students, that the person can read a newspaper in English.   For students, it means a TOEFL score of at least 400.
4. A qualified user has sufficient experience with computers to run the program.  This generally means at least the ability to “surf the web” using a web browser, and to use a word processor.

How much does SPATS-ESL cost?

SPATS-ESL is licensed for one year to a qualified user for $79.95.

How does a user acquire the program?

The system is acquired by downloading the software, after the fee is paid and a license ID number has been provided to you by email.   The SPATS-ESL system may be purchased by clicking here.

How does a user actually use the program?

When training sessions are conducted, the user logs on to the SPATS website, where all performance records are kept.   When a session is begun, the information required to start training at the proper point in the curriculum is downloaded to the user’s computer.  As the training session proceeds, the new performance data is added to the user’s records on the SPATS server.  

What benefit does the SPATS_ESL program have for a person who has good English reading and writing skills?

Read “A letter to ESL students” which gives several reasons that speech perception training can improve an ESL student’s ability to understand English at conversational rates, and also why this training is likely to lead to improvements in pronunciation.