scholarly journals Effects of pause duration and speech rate on sentence intelligibility in younger and older adult listeners

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 264-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiro Tanaka ◽  
Shuichi Sakamoto ◽  
Yôiti Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Older Adult ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Sentence Intelligibility

scholarly journals The Effect of Clear Speech on Cantonese Alaryngeal Speakers’ Intelligibility

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Tak Fai Hui ◽  
Steven Randall Cox ◽  
Ting Huang ◽  
Wei-Rong Chen ◽  
Manwa Lawrence Ng
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Data ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Clear Speech ◽  
Heterogeneous Groups ◽  
Intelligibility Test ◽  
Sentence Intelligibility ◽  
Communication Methods ◽  
Training Protocols

<b><i>Background/Aim:</i></b> The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary data concerning the effect of clear speech (CS) on Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ intelligibility. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Voice recordings of 11 sentences randomly selected from the Cantonese Sentence Intelligibility Test (CSIT) were obtained from 31 alaryngeal speakers (9 electrolarynx [EL] users, 10 esophageal speakers and 12 tracheoesophageal [TE] speakers) in habitual speech (HS) and CS. Two naïve listeners orthographically transcribed a total of 1,364 sentences. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Significant effects of speaking condition on speaking rate and CSIT scores were observed, but no significant effect of alaryngeal communication methods was noted. CS was significantly slower than HS by 0.78 syllables/s. Esophageal speakers demonstrated the slowest speech rate when using CS, while EL users demonstrated the largest decrease in speaking rate when using CS compared to HS. TE speakers had the highest CSIT scores in HS (listener 1 = 81.4%; listener 2 = 81.3%), and esophageal speakers had the highest CSIT scores in CS (listener 1 = 87.5%; listener 2 = 89.7%). EL users experienced the largest increase in intelligibility while using CS compared to HS (9.1%) followed by esophageal speakers (8.9%) and TE speakers (1.4%). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Preliminary data indicate that CS may significantly affect Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ speaking rate and intelligibility. However, intelligibility appeared to vary considerably across speakers. Further research involving larger, heterogeneous groups of speakers and listeners alongside longer and more refined CS training protocols should be conducted to confirm that CS can improve Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ intelligibility.

Impact of Cognitive Impairment and Dysarthria on Spoken Language in Multiple Sclerosis

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Lynda Feenaughty ◽  
Ling-Yu Guo ◽  
Bianca Weinstock-Guttman ◽  
Meredith Ray ◽  
Ralph H.B. Benedict ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Perceptual Judgments ◽  
Speech Timing ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objective: To investigate the impact of cognitive impairment on spoken language produced by speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS) with and without dysarthria. Method: Sixty speakers comprised operationally defined groups. Speakers produced a spontaneous speech sample to obtain speech timing measures of speech rate, articulation rate, and silent pause frequency and duration. Twenty listeners judged the overall perceptual severity of the samples using a visual analog scale that ranged from no impairment to severe impairment (speech severity). A 2 × 2 factorial design examined main and interaction effects of dysarthria and cognitive impairment on speech timing measures and speech severity in individuals with MS. Each speaker group with MS was further compared to a healthy control group. Exploratory regression analyses examined relationships between cognitive and biopsychosocial variables and speech timing measures and perceptual judgments of speech severity, for speakers with MS. Results: Speech timing was significantly slower for speakers with dysarthria compared to speakers with MS without dysarthria. Silent pause durations also significantly differed for speakers with both dysarthria and cognitive impairment compared to MS speakers without either impairment. Significant interactions between dysarthria and cognitive factors revealed comorbid dysarthria and cognitive impairment contributed to slowed speech rates in MS, whereas dysarthria alone impacted perceptual judgments of speech severity. Speech severity was strongly related to pause duration. Conclusions: The findings suggest the nature in which dysarthria and cognitive symptoms manifest in objective, acoustic measures of speech timing and perceptual judgments of severity is complex.

Control of Prosodic Features for Keyword Emphasis in a Text-to-Speech Synthesizer

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-236
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Hamada ◽  
Jin'ichi Chiba
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Graphical User Interface ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
The Other ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Text To Speech ◽  
Speech Synthesizer ◽  
Prosodic Feature

For the purpose of designing a method to control the main speech parameters for keyword emphasis in a text-to-speech synthesizer, the relation between speech parameters and emphasis level is determined from experiments. Twelve subjects are instructed to modify keyword emphasis to achieve natural sounding speech from three sentences. An interactive speech editor with a graphical user interface is developed for the experiments. The editor allows the subjects to control speech intensity, speech rate and average fundamental frequency of the keyword, and of the other sentence components. Furthermore, subjects can also control pause (silence) duration preceding and following the keyword. Extracted relations between prosodic feature parameters and emphasis level shows that speech intensity and speech rate are independent of sentence content. Speech intensity increases linearly and speech rate decreases linearly with emphasis level. On the other hand, average fundamental frequency and pause duration depend on sentence content, and relatively large changes are required to strongly emphasize keywords using pause insertion and increased fundamental frequency.

scholarly journals Acoustic and Perceptual Consequences of Speech Cues for Mandarin Speakers With Parkinson's Disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-535
Author(s):  
Sih-Chiao Hsu ◽  
Megan J. McAuliffe ◽  
Peiyi Lin ◽  
Ruey-Meei Wu ◽  
Erika S. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Slow Condition ◽  
Speech Cues ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

PurposeThis study investigated the effects of cueing for increased loudness and reduced speech rate on scaled intelligibility and acoustics of speech produced by Mandarin speakers with hypokinetic dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease (PD).MethodEleven speakers with PD read passages in habitual, loud, and slow speaking conditions. Fifteen listeners rated ease of understanding (EOU) of the speech samples on a visual analog scale. Effects of the cues on EOU, vocal loudness, pitch range, pause duration and frequency, articulation rate, and vowel space, as well as relationships between EOU gains and acoustic features, were analyzed.ResultsEOU increased significantly in the loud condition only. The loud cue resulted in increased intensity, and the slow cue resulted both in reduced articulation rate and increased pause frequency. In the loud condition, EOU increased significantly as intensity increased and vowel centralization decreased. In the slow condition, EOU tended to increase as intensity increased and vowel centralization decreased but did not reach statistical significance.ConclusionCueing for loud speech may yield greater EOU gains than cueing for slow speech in Mandarin speakers with PD. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed, although further investigations with more participants and a larger range of dysarthria severity are warranted.

Transfer Effects from Listening to Frequency-Controlled and Frequency-Shifted Accelerated Speech

1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Wallace ◽  
Georgette Koury
Keyword(s):  
Speech Signal ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Test Sentence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Training ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Intelligibility Test ◽  
Tonal Frequency ◽  
Sentence Intelligibility

Two experiments examined intelligibility of sentences reproduced with increased tonal frequency (the spectrum of the speech signal shifted upward), increased speech rate, or both frequency and speech rate increased. The first experiment showed that both the frequency and speech rate increases independently impaired sentence intelligibility. Sentences played back at increased rates and increased frequencies also were perceived as having been spoken more rapidly. In the second experiment subjects listened either to practice sentences played back at frequency-shifted (FS) or frequency-controlled (FC) accelerated rates. Subsequent to this practice, an intelligibility test was given on 10 FS and 10 FC accelerated sentences played back at double speed. The accelerated sentences were more intelligible for practice groups than for a no-practice control group, and FC accelerated rates produced more intelligible sentences than FS acceleration. The specific training experiences produced an interaction with the type of test-sentence acceleration early in transfer. The FS accelerated sentences were more intelligible following FS practice compared to FC practice, and the FC accelerated sentences were more intelligible following FC practice compared to FS practice.

scholarly journals The influence of pre-task planning on speed and breakdown fluency

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-102
Author(s):  
Mirjana M. Kovač ◽  
Gloria Vickov
Keyword(s):  
Speech Rate ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Temporal Variables ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Planning Condition ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Conscious Attention

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of pre-task planning on L2 fluency performance by measuring the temporal variables. Performing a picture description task, two groups of thirty-seven students were given 10 minutes of planning time and no planning time before the performance, respectively. The temporal fluency variables are extracted by means of the PRAAT speech analysis program in order to be automatically measured for evaluation purposes. Fluency is operationalized as speed fluency (i.e. speech rate and articulation rate) and breakdown fluency (i.e. average pause duration and number of pauses). The results indicate that no significant difference is found when comparing the non-planning and planning condition for each temporal variable. Presumably, the chosen task type containing highly frequent lexemes does not seem to impose increased conscious attention on the part of the more proficient speakers, and thus the formulation and articulation can, to a high degree, run in parallel. Based on the observed results, a modified task design is proposed, i.e. guided pre-task planning directed to attend to less frequent formulae as vocabulary or lexical items for everyday contexts, having a clear potential as a pedagogic device, aiming at activating relatively underused vocabulary and promoting ultimate fluency in the temporal sense.

Temporal and Episodic Analyses of the Story of Cinderella in Latent Aphasia

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1S) ◽  
pp. 449-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle DeDe ◽  
Christos Salis
Keyword(s):  
Speech Rate ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Discourse Production ◽  
Speech Behaviors ◽  
Language Characteristics ◽  
Temporal Measures ◽  
Word Rate ◽  
Speech Segments

Purpose The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the language characteristics of people with latent aphasia using measures that examined temporal (i.e., real-time) and episodic organization of discourse production. Method Thirty AphasiaBank participants were included (10 people with latent aphasia, 10 people with anomic aphasia, and 10 neurotypical control participants). Speech material of Cinderella narratives was analyzed with Praat software. We devised a protocol that coded the presence and duration of all speech segments, dysfluencies such as silent and filled pauses, and other speech behaviors. Using these durations, we generated a range of temporal measures such as speech, articulation, and pure word rates. Narratives were also coded into episodes, which provided information about the discourse macrostructure abilities of the participants. Results The latent aphasia group differed from controls in number of words produced, silent pause duration, and speech rate, but not articulation rate or pure word rate. Episodic organization of the narratives was similar in these 2 groups. The latent and anomic aphasia groups were similar in most measures, apart from articulation rate, which was lower in the anomic group. The anomic aphasia group also omitted more episodes than the latent aphasia group. Conclusions The differences between latent aphasia and neurotypical controls can be attributed to a processing speed deficit. We propose that this deficit results in an impaired ability to process information from multiple cognitive domains simultaneously.

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