• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.79-90
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of stuttering severity on articulation rate measured from different types of utterances in preschool children who stutter. Participants were 40 boys who stutter (CWS) and age-matched 10 boys who do not stutter (CWNS). CWS were sub-grouped based on the severity of their stuttering: 15 mild, 13 moderate, and 12 severe. Utterances were categorized as "overall utterance" including all utterances that children spoke and "fluent utterance" which did not contain any disfluencies. Utterances containing abnormal disfluencies were categorized as "SLD utterance" for CWS. The results revealed no significant difference among groups in any type of utterance. There were significant positive correlations in articulation rates between utterance types. Stuttering severity was not a factor for characterizing the articulation rate of each type of utterance. Also, current findings suggest that articulation rate may not predict speech motor control ability in preschool CWS.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.35-48
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• 2005

This study was to examine the relationship between maternal interactive behaviors and stuttering behaviors in preschool children who stutter. Participants were twenty-four children who stutter and their mothers. For the purpose of the current study, 5$\sim$10 minutes of 50 minutes videotaped scenes originally collected to develop fluency assessment instrument were re-videotaped. They included mother-child interactions during playing with toys and reading book situations. Mothers-children interactive behaviors were assessed with Maternal Behavior Rating Sroles(MBRS) and Child Behavior Rating Scales (CBRS). And children's stuttering were assessed with Paradise-Fluency Assessment(P-FA). The results were as follows: 1) the maternal interactive behavior did not significantly differ depending on situations, but scores of maternal responsive factor were higher in the play situation than in the reading situation. 2) Maternal responsiveness might influence on promoting the children's pivotal behavior with children who stutter. And 3) the level of maternal responsiveness was the predictor of children's stuttering behaviors. The therapeutic implication of the results were discussed.

• 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.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.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2012

This study deals with how stuttering changes in its frequency in a situation where adult participants who stutter are exposed to one type of background noise, that is, multi-talker babble noise. Eight American English-speaking adults who stutter participated in this study. Each of the subjects read aloud sentences under each of three speaking conditions (i.e., typical solo reading (TSR), typical choral reading (TCR), and multi-talker babble noise reading (BNR)). Speech fluency was computed based on a percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS) and speaking rate was also assessed to examine if there was significant change in rates as a measure of vocal change under each of the speaking conditions. The study found that participants read more fluently both during BNR and during TCR than during TSR. The study also found that participants did not show significant changes in speaking rate across the three speaking conditions. Some discussion was provided in relation to the effect of multi-talker babble noise on the frequency of stuttering and its further speculation.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to use high-speed digital imaging (HSDI) to compare vocal vibratory behaviors of persons who stutter (PWS) and persons with muscle tension dysphonia (PMTD) for uttering the /i/ vowel in a bid to identify the characteristics of vocal fold vibratory behaviors of PWS. This study surveyed seven developmental PWSs and seven PMTDs. The findings of the study indicated the following: first, regarding the two groups' vocal fold vibratory behaviors, of seven PWSs, three were found to be close vocal tract (VC) and four were found to be combination vocal tract (VCB). Of the seven PMTDs, one was found to be VC, and the other six were found to be VCB. These results indicate that a voiceprint which is different from the open vocal tract (VO) found in normal groups in research conducted by Jung, et al. (2008b) appeared in both groups of this study. Even between the two groups, there is a difference in the voiceprint before vocalization. Second, a VKG analysis was conducted to identify the two groups' vocal cord contact quotient. As a result, the PWS group's vocal cord contact quotient changed gradually from an irregular one at the initial vocalization stage to a regular one. The PMTD group continued the tension at the initial vocalization. Putting together all of these results, there is a difference in vocal fold vibratory behaviors between PWSs and PMTDs when they speak. Thus, there was a difference in muscular tension between the two groups.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.159-173
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to use fiber-optic nasolaryngoscope to find out differences in laryngeal behavior between persons who stutter(PS) and those who do not stutter(NS) upon their utterance. To meet the goal above, this study took 5 NS and 5 PS respectively as a part of sampling, so that they were all asked to join an experiment hereof. As a result, this study came to the following findings: First, there was not any significant difference in laryngeal behavior of uttering spoken languages between stuttering group and control. Second, there were some differences in laryngeal behavior of repetition and prolongation, which were a sort of disfluency revealed in the utterance of nonfluent spoken languages between stuttering group and control. Third, as reported by prior studies, it was found that there were differences in laryngeal abehavior of stutterer group's nonfluent spoken languages depending upon stuttering types. In this study, a variety of laryngeal behavior unreported in prior studies could be found. In addition, it was notable that stutterers showed different laryngeal behavior depending on their personal stuttering types. On block condition, Subject 1 showed laryngeal behavior of fAB, INT and fAD; Subject 2 showed laryngeal behavior of fAB, fAD and rAD; Subject 3 showed laryngeal behavior of fAD and rAD; Subject 4 showed only laryngeal behavior of fAD; and Subejct 5 showed laryngeal behavior of fAB, fAD and rAD. Summing up, these findings imply that when stutterers utter nonfluent words, they may reveal a variety of laryngeal behavior depending on their personal stuttering types. Moreover, it is found that there are more or less differences in the utterance of nonfluent spoken languages between NS and stuttering ones. In particular, it is interesting that one common trait of nonfluent spoken languages uttered by PS is evidently excessive laryngeal stress, no matter which type of stuttering they reveal.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2015

This study was mainly aimed at investigating on the effects of background noises (i.e., white noise, multi-speaker conversational babble) on stuttering rate and other speech-related measures (i.e., articulation rate, speech effort). Nine Korean-speaking adults who stutter participated in the study. Each of the participants was asked to read a series of passages under each of four experimental conditions (i.e., typical solo reading (TR), choral reading (CR), reading under white noise presented (WR), reading with multi-speaker conversational babble presented (BR). Stuttering rate was computed based on a percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS) and articulation rate was also assessed as another speech-related measure under each of the experimental conditions. To examine the amount of physical effort needed to read, the speech effort was measured by using the 9-point Speech Effort Self Rating Scale originally employed by Ingham et al. (2006). Study results showed that there were no significant differences among each of the passage reading conditions in terms of stuttering rate, articulation rate, and speech effort. In conclusion, it can be argued that the two different types of background noises (i.e., white noise and multi-speaker conversational babble) are not different in the extent to which each of them enhances fluency of adults who stutter. Self ratings of speech effort may be also useful in measuring speech-related variables associated with vocal changes induced under each of the fluency enhancing conditions.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.91-101
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• 2021

This study aimed to investigate speech motor control in adults who stutter (AWS) by testing whether articulation rate changes with practice and linguistic complexity. Eleven AWS and 11 adults who do not stutter (AWNS) repeated four sentences of different lengths and syntactic complexity [simple-short (SS), simple-long (SL), complex-long (CL), and faulty-long (FL) sentences]. Overall articulation rates of each sentence were measured and compared between groups. Practice effects were evaluated by comparing the articulation rates of the first three, middle four, and last three productions. Overall, the AWS had significantly slower articulation rates than AWNS across the four sentences. The longer sentences showed significantly slower articulation rates than the baseline sentence (SS). The articulation rates of the middle four and the last three productions were significantly faster than those of the first three productions of each sentence in both groups. The articulation rates of the SS, SL, and CL sentences indicated a consistent practice effect. The slower articulation rates of the AWS are consistent with a speech motor limitation. There was no interaction with linguistic complexity or practice, so a slower articulation rate may be a general feature of the speech of AWS. Both AWS and AWNS showed practice effects with faster articulation rates which may reflect a degree of adaptation to the stimuli.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2021

According to Demand and Capacity Model (DCM), external and internal environments influence the disfluency of children who stutter (CWS). This study investigated the effects of simultaneous changes in motoric and linguistic demands on CWS and children who do not stutter (CWNS). Participants were 4-6 years old CWS and CWNS. A sentence imitation task with changes in speech rate, utterance length, and sentence complexity was used to examine their effects on children's disfluency. When the utterance length changed, CWS showed more disfluency regardless of utterance length and as the speech rate changed, CWS showed more disfluency at fast speech rate than CWNS. When the utterance length and speech rate changed, at fast speech rate, CWS showed more disfluency in both utterances than CWNS. When sentence complexity changed, CWS showed more disfluency than CWNS in complex sentences. Changes in linguistic elements such as speech rate, utterance length, and sentence complexity affect disfluency in CWS, especially when they were exposed to faster, longer, and more complex sentences. This indicates that CWS are vulnerable to fast and complex speech motor control and language processing ability than CWNS. Thus, this study suggests that parents and therapists consider both the speech rate and the utterance length when talking with CWS.