Seminars in Hearing Research (03/07/24) - Pasquale Bottalico
Seminars in Hearing Research (03/07/24) - Pasquale Bottalico
Author: | M. Heinz |
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Event Date: | March 7, 2024 |
Hosted By: | Maureen Shader |
Time: | 12:00 - 1:00 pm |
Location: | NLSN 1215 |
Contact Name: | Shader, Maureen J |
Contact Email: | mshader@purdue.edu |
Open To: | All |
Priority: | No |
School or Program: | Non-Engineering |
College Calendar: | Show |
Seminars in Hearing Research at Purdue (SHRP)
Date: Thursday, March 7, 2024
Time: 12pm - 1:00pm
Location: NLSN 1215
Title: Classroom acoustics for enhancing students' understanding when a teacher suffers from a dysphonic voice.
Speaker: Pasquale Bottalico, Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Abstract:The purpose of this project is to assess the acoustical conditions in which optimal intelligibility and low listening difficulty can be achieved in real classrooms for elementary students, taking into consideration the effects of dysphonic voice and typical classroom noise. Speech intelligibility tests were performed in six elementary classrooms with 80 normal-hearing students aged 7–11 years. The speech material was produced by a female actor using a normal voice quality and simulating a dysphonic voice. The stimuli were played by a Head and Torso Simulator. Child babble noise and classrooms with different reverberation times were used to obtain a Speech Transmission Index (STI) range from 0.2 to 0.7, corresponding to the categories bad, poor, fair, and good. The results showed a statistically significant decrease in intelligibility when the speaker was dysphonic, in STI higher than 0.33. The rating of listening difficulty showed a significantly greater difficulty in perceiving the dysphonic voice. In addition, younger children showed poorer performance and greater listening difficulty compared with older children when listening to the normal voice quality. Both groups were equally impacted when the voice was dysphonic. The results suggested that better acoustic conditions are needed for children to reach a good level of intelligibility and to reduce listening difficulty if the teacher is suffering from voice problems. This was true for children regardless of grade level, highlighting the importance of ensuring more favorable acoustic conditions for children throughout all elementary schools.
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