Join us as Robert Englebretson, professor of linguistics at Rice University in Houston, Texas, records a special live edition of our Braillecast podcast.
Robert has been internationally recognised for his work updating and completing the Braille version of the International Phonetic Alphabet, a system for transcribing the pronunciation of words accurately. It uses a combination of Latin, Greek and special characters to transcribe every single sound the human mouth can produce.
The lack of a workable braille IPA code put blind students and professionals at a considerable disadvantage. In diverse fields from scientific linguistics to speech and language therapy or performing arts, the IPA is essential for understanding the sounds of language, and often the only way to understand the pronunciation of a word without hearing a native speaker.
Over the course of the hour, we’ll be talking to Robert about his work completing the braille IPA code, the importance of specialised braille codes to blind students and professionals and his research interest in braille reading and writing from the perspective of the cognitive sciences.
If you are unable to make the live recording, you can email any questions for Robert to [email protected] and listen to the recording at www.braillecast.com when it goes live.