- Phonation,
- Jitter,
- Accumulation,
- Vocal fatigue
Copyright (c) 2009 All India Insitute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Teachers form a large group of professional voice users and are thought to be at risk for voice problems than the general population. Primary school teachers report the common need to shout or raise the voice to make children heard. In a complete working day, the excessive vibration of vocal fold tissues due to loud or prolonged vocalization has been assumed to contribute to voice problems. There are relatively few studies focused on measuring the amount of voicing performed by speakers over time. Hence, the present study quantified the amount of voice use on a single workday and measured the changes, if any, in the acoustic parameters of voice [mean fundamental frequency (F0), standard deviation of fundamental frequency (SD F0), and mean jitter]. A primary school
teacher of 32 years of age having twelve years of teaching experience participated in the study. The voice samples were recorded in a class room setting, the natural working environment of the teacher, with a portable, lightweight digital audio tape (DAT) recorder. The entire workday speech/voice sample (throughout the working hours) was recorded. Also, prolongation of vowel /a/ was recorded at four times of interval in the day - before the first class, after the first class, after lunch and after the last class. The external noise was removed by using CoolEdit software. The voicing (pitch) periods were measured using PRAAT software. Dr. Speech software was used to analyze F0, SD F0, and jitter at four different intervals of time. The voicing percentage was found to be around 31.46 % (i.e., 1 hour 49 minutes 48 seconds). F0, SD F0 and jitter increased from the first to the last recording. The results of the study throw light on vocal usage and its effect on voice by a primary school teacher who work with children on a entire workday.
References
Buekers, R., Bierens, E., Kingma, H. & Morris, E. H. M. A. (1995). Vocal load as measured by the voice accumulator. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 47,252-261.
Brackett, I. P. (1971). Parameters of voice quality. In L.E. Travis (Ed). Handbook of Speech pathology and Audiology. New Jersy: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 441-464.
Cheyne, H. A., Hanson, H. M., Genereux, R. P., Stevens, K. N. & Hillman, R. E. (2003). Development and testing of a portable vocal accumulator. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 46, 1457-1467.
Elliot, N., Sundberg, J. & Gramming, P. (1995). What happens during vocal warm-up? Journal of Voice, 9, 37-44.
Gelfer, M. P., Andrews, M. L. & Schmidt, C. P. (1991). Effects of prolonged loud reading on selected measures of vocal function in trained and untrained. Journal of Voice, 5, 158-167.
Gelfer, M. P., Andrews, M. L. & Schmidt, C. P. (1996). Documenting laryngeal change following prolonged loud reading: a videostroboscopic study. Journal of Voice, 10, 368-377.
Gotaas, C. & Starr, C. D. (1993). Vocal fatigue among teachers. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 45, 120-129.
Hammarberg, B. (1986). Perceptual and acoustic analysis of dysphonia. [doctoral dissertation]. Stockholm, Sweden: Huddinge University Hospital.
Kaufman, J. A. (1998). What are voice disorders and who gets them? Website: www.bgsm.edu/voice/voice_disorders.html
Linville, S. E. (1995). Changes in glottal configuration in women after loud talking. Journal of Voice, 9, 57- 65.
Masuda, T., Ikeda, Y., Manako, H. & Komiyama, S. (1993). Analyses of vocal abuse: fluctuations in phonation time and intensity in four groups of speakers. Acta-Oto-Laryngology, 113 (4), 547- 552.
Neils, R. L. & Yairi, E. (1987). Effects of speaking in noise on vocal fatigue and vocal recovery. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 39, 104-112.
Novak, A., Dlouha, O., Capkova, B. & Vohradnik, M. (1991). Voice fatigue after theater performance in actors. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 43, 74-78.
Ohlsson, A, C. (1988). Voice and work environment: towards an ecology of vocal behavior [dissertation]. Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg.
Pekkarinen, E., Himberg, L. & Pentti, J. (1992). Prevalence of Vocal symptoms among teachers compared with nurses: a questionnaire study. Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics &Phoniatrics, 17, 113-117.
Rantala, L. & Vilkman, E. (1998). Relationship between subjective voice complaints and acoustic parameters in female teachers’ voices. Journal of Voice, Vol 13 (4), 484-495.
Rantala, L., Paavola, P., Korkko, P. & Vilkman, E. (1998). Working day effects on the spectral characteristics of teaching voice. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 50, 205-211.
Rantala, L., Vilkman, E. & Bloigu, R. (2002). Voice changes during work: Subjective voice complaints and objective measurements for female primary and secondary school teachers.Journal of Voice, 16 (3), 344-355.
Sala, E., Airo, E., Olkinuora, P., Simberg, S., Strom, U., Laine, A., Pentti, J. & Suonpaa, J. (2001). Vocal loading among day care center teachers. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 27 (1), 21-28.
Stemple, J. C., Stanley, J. & Lee, L. (1995). Objective measures of voice production in normal subjects following prolonged voice use. Journal of Voice, 9, 127-133.
Stone, R. E. & Sharf, D. J. (1973). Vocal changes associated with the use of atypical pitch and intensity levels. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 25, 91-103.
Svec, J. G., Popolo, P. S. & Titze, I. R. (2003). Measurements of vocal doses in speech: Experimental and signal processing. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 28 (4), 181-192.
Titze, I. R., Hunter, E. J. & Svec, J. G. (2007). Voicing and silence periods in daily and weekly vocalizations of teachers. Journal of Acoustic Society of America, 121 (1), 469-478.
Verstraete, J., Forrez, G., Mertens, P. & Debruyne, F. (1993). The effect of sustained phonation at high and low pitch on vocal jitter and shimmer. Folia Phoniatrica Logopaedica, 45, 223-228.
Vilkman, E., Lauri, E-R., Alku, P., Sala, E. & Sihvo, M. (1999). Effects of prolonged reading on F0, SPL, subglottal pressure and amplitude characteristics of glottal flow waveforms. Journal of Voice, 13,303-315.