• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.125-134
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• 2011

The current study investigated the effects of experience of deaf speech, severity of speaker's articulation, and linguistic cues on speech intelligibility of congenitally deafened adults with cochlear implants. Speech intelligibility was judged by 28 experienced listeners and 40 inexperienced listeners using a word transcription task. A three-way (2 $\times$ 2 $\times$ 4) mixed design was used with the experience of deaf speech (experienced/inexperienced listener) as a between-subject factor, the severity of speaker's articulation (mild to moderate/moderate to severe), and linguistic cues (no/phonetic/semantic/combined) as within-subject factors. The dependent measure was the number of correctly transcribed words. Results revealed that three main effects were statistically significant. Experienced listeners showed better performance on the transcription than inexperienced listeners, and listeners were better in transcribing speakers who were mild to moderate than moderate to severe. There were significant differences in speech intelligibility among the four different types of cues, showing that the combined cues provided the greatest enhancement of the intelligibility scores (combined > semantic > phonological > no). Three two-way interactions were statistically significant, indicating that the type of cues and severity of speakers differentiated experienced listeners from inexperienced listeners. The current results suggested that the use of a combination of linguistic cues increased the speech intelligibility of congenitally deafened adults with cochlear implants, and the experience of deaf speech was critical especially in evaluating speech intelligibility of severe speakers compared to that of mild speakers.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.91-109
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• 2016

This study was mainly aimed to investigate on the perceptions of occupational suitability for speakers who stutter and the associated factors. 90 college students who do not stutter participated in this study and asked to hear one of three audio recordings(i.e., fluent version, mildly-stuttered version, and severely-stuttered version) of a male speaker who stuttered. Then, the participants were asked to rate the speaker's communicative functioning, personal attributes, and suitability for 31 occupations, along with perceptions of the occupations' speaking demands and educational requirements. Results show that speakers who stuttered (i.e., mildly-stuttered and severely-stuttered version) received lower suitability ratings for high speaking demand occupations than for low speaking demand occupations. In addition, it has been shown that perceived speaking demand strongly affected occupational suitability ratings at both levels of stuttering severity. However, it has been shown that occupational suitability ratings were not associated with ratings of the speaker's personal attributes and perceived educational requirements. From these findings it can be argued that adults who stutter may face occupational stereotyping and/or role entrapment in work settings.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.171-178
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• 2010

This study examined the relationship between speech intelligibility and comprehensibility for hearing impaired children with cochlear implants. Speech intelligibility was measured by orthographic transcription method for acoustic signal at the level of words and sentences. Comprehensibility was evaluated by examining listener's ability to answer questions about the contents of a narrative. Speech samples were collected from 12 speakers(age of 6~15 years) with cochlear implants. For each speaker, 4 different listeners(total of 48 listeners) completed 2 tasks: One task involved making orthographic transcriptions and the other task involved answering comprehension questions. The results of the study were as follows: (1) Speech intelligibility and comprehensibility scores tended to be increased by decreasing of severity. (2) Across all speakers, the relationship was significant between speech intelligibility and comprehensibility scores without considering severity. However, within severity groups, there was the significant relationship between comprehensibility and speech intelligibility only for moderate-severe group. These results suggest that speech intelligibility scores measured by orthographic transcription may not accurately reflect how well listener comprehend speech of children with cochlear implants and therefore, measures of both speech intelligibility and listener comprehension should be considered in evaluating speech ability and information-bearing capability in speakers with cochlear implants.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.35-43
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between overt and covert characteristics of stuttering. This study included 10 adult participants who stutter. To analyze the overt characteristics, stuttering frequency, duration of stuttering moments, concomitant behaviors, and total score were scored based on the Stuttering Severity Instrument-Fourth Edition (SSI-4). Additionally, the modified Erickson scale of communication attitudes (S-24) and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering for Adults (OASES-A; general information, reactions to stuttering, communication in daily situations, quality of life, and total score) were used to determine the covert characteristics. Correlation analyses showed no significant association between the overt and covert variables. However, there were significant correlations between the scores on the S-24 and the OASES-A. These findings support the perspective that the overt characteristics of stuttering do not predict the covert characteristics, and vice versa. Therefore, when evaluating and intervening with adults who stutter, it is important to consider these characteristics separately.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.498-507
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• 2012

Background and Objectives We aimed to develop a Korean version of the velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) speech corpus system. Subjects and Method After developing a 3-channel simultaneous speech recording device capable of recording nasal/oral and normal compound speech separately, voice data were collected from VPI patients aged more than 10 years with/without the history of operation or prior speech therapy. This was compared to a control group for which VPI was simulated by using a french-3 nelaton tube inserted via both nostril through nasopharynx and pulling the soft palate anteriorly in varying degrees. The study consisted of three transcriptors: a speech therapist transcribed the voice file into text, a second transcriptor graded speech intelligibility and severity and the third tagged the types and onset times of misarticulation. The database were composed of three main tables regarding (1) speaker's demographics, (2) condition of the recording system and (3) transcripts. All of these were interfaced with the Praat voice analysis program, which enables the user to extract exact transcribed phrases for analysis. Results In the simulated VPI group, the higher the severity of VPI, the higher the nasalance score was obtained. In addition, we could verify the vocal energy that characterizes hypernasality and compensation in nasal/oral and compound sounds spoken by VPI patients as opposed to that characgerizes the normal control group. Conclusion With the Korean version of VPI speech corpus system, patients' common difficulties and speech tendencies in articulation can be objectively evaluated. Comparing these data with those of the normal voice, mispronunciation and dysarticulation of patients with VPI can be corrected.