How to Cite
Liji Antony, Vani Latha, & Geetha YV. (1). Comparison of Fluency Characteristics in News-readers and Controls. Journal of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, 34(1), 48-54. Retrieved from http://203.129.241.91/jaiish/index.php/aiish/article/view/837
Abstract
Presentation expertise is an essential characteristic of a successful news-reader. The study aimed to investigate the uency characteristics like continuity, rate and speech naturalness in TV newscasters and control speakers. The participants included 10 (8 females and 2 males) news readers within the age-range of 25-35 years and 10 age and
gender matched controls. Spontaneous speech and reading samples of the participants were audio recorded and analysed for type and percentage of dis uencies, rate of spontaneous speech and reading and speech natural- ness. Three post-graduate speech language pathologists rated the speech samples for naturalness using Multidimensional Speech Naturalness scale (Kanchan & Savithri, 1997). The percentage of dis uencies was higher in control group as compared to news readers both in reading as well
as in spontaneous speech tasks. The news readers exhibited normal dis uencies like interjections, pauses, revisions, word llers, phrase repetitions and whole word repetitions while the normal group in addition showed revisions and word llers as well as occasional stuttering like dis uencies (SLDs) like part word repetitions, sound repetitions and
prolongations. Signicant dierence in spontaneous speaking rate was evidenced between the two groups, but no signicant dierence in reading rate was noticed between news readers and controls. Overall naturalness of the spontaneous speech as well as reading samples was dependent on the groups. Hence, the professional news readers diered from the
normals in terms of types and percentage of dis uencies, speaking rate and naturalness characteristics.
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dio and Television News, Oxford: Focal Press.
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voice in person perception. Trends in Cognitive Sciences,
11, 535-543.
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Oxford: Focal Press.
Dahan, D., Tanenhaus, M. K., & Chambers, C. G. (2002).
Accent and reference resolution in spoken-language com-
prehension. Journal of Memory and Language, 47, 292-
314.
Dary, D. (1970). Radio news handbook (2nd ed.). Blue
Ridge Summit, PA: G/L Tab Books.
De-la-Mota, C., & Rodero, E. (2010). Demarcation
of intonation and accent in radio news presentation,
XXXIX Simposio Internacional de la Sociedad Espaola
de Lingustica (SEL), Santiago de Compostela: Facultad
de Filologa de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.
Goldhaber & Gerald, M. (1974). E ects of speech compression
training in comprehension of native speakers
of English and Navajo. In Sam Duker (ed.), Time com-
pressed speech: Ananthology and bibliography, 730-735.
Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press.
Hebert, J. (1977). The techniques of radio journalism. Mel-
bourne: Edward Arnold.
Hills & George. (1987). News on radio and television.
Madrid: IORTV.
Hirschberg, J., & Pierrehumbert, J. (1986). Intonational
structuring of discourse, Proceedings of 24th meeting
of the association for computational linguistics, Nueva
York, 136-144.
Hudson, Roxanne, F., Holly, B., Lane & Pullen, P.C. (2005).
Reading
uency assessment and instruction: What, why,
and how? The Reading Teacher, 58(8), 702-714.
Ito, K., Jincho, N., Minai, U., Yamane, N., & Mazuka, R.
(2012). Intonation facilitates contrast resolution: Evi-
dence from Japanese adults & 6-year olds. Journal of
Memory and Language, 66(1), 265-284.
Kendall & Tyler, S. (2009). Speech rate, pause, and linguistic
variation: An examination through the sociolinguistic
archive and analysis project. Durham, NC: Duke
University Graduate School, Department of English dis-
sertation.
LaBarbera, Priscilla & MacLachlan, J. (1979). Time-
compressed speech in radio advertising. Journal of Marketing,
43(1), 30-36.
Lawton & Paxton, S. (1930). Principles of e ective ra-
dio speaking. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 16(3), 225-
277.
Lumley & Frederick, H. (1933). Rates of speech in ra-
dio speaking. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 19(3), 393-
403.
Masterton, M., & Patching, R. (1990). Now the news in
detail: A guide to broadcast journalism in Australia.
Melbourne: Deakin University Press.
Mastropieri, M. A., Leinart, A., & Scruggs, T. E. (1999).
Strategies to increase reading
uency. Intervention in
School and Clinic, 34, 278-283.
McGregor, J., & Palethorpe, S. (2008). High Rising Tunes
in Australian English: The Communicative Function of
L* and H* Pitch Accent Onsets, Australian Journal of
Linguistics, 28(2), 171-193.
McGurk, Harry & MacDonald, J. (1976). Hearing lips and
seeing voices. Nature, 264, 746-748.
McLeish,M & Robert. T (2005). Radio production. Oxford:
Focal Press.
Meyerson,N. & Marion, D. (1974). An exploration of comprehension
di erences in time-compressed Japanese,
Chinese, Indi and English speech. In Sam Duker
(ed.), Time compressed speech: An anthology and
bibliography, 730-735. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow
Press.
Miles, D.W. (1975). Broadcast news handbook. Indianapo-
lis, IN: Howard W.Sams.
Mok, P., Fung, H., & Li, J. (2014). A preliminary study on
the prosody of broad ast news in Hong Kong Cantonese.
Proceedings of Speech Prosody, 7, 1072-1075.
Murphey, Carol, Dobie, K & Grant, J. (2003). Time ver-
sus pause manipulation in communications directed to
the young adult population: Does it matter? Journal of
Advertising Research, 43, 281-292.
Neil, E., Worrall, L., Day, A., & Hickson, L. (2003). Voice
and Speech Characteristics and Vocal hygiene in Novice
and Professional Broadcast Journalists. Advances in
Speech Language Pathology, 5(1), 1-14.
Nelson,M & Harold, E. (1948). The e ect of variation of rate
on the recall by radio listeners of `straight' newscasts.
Communication Monographs, 15(2), 173-180.
Nihalani, P., & Po Lin, T. (1998). Intonation patterns in
news broadcasts, World Englishes, 17(1), 15-29.
Parrish, W. M. (1951). The concept of naturalness. Quarterly
Journal of Speech, 37, 448-450.
Pimsleur, Paul, Hancock, C., & Furey, P. (1977). Speech
rate and listening comprehension. In Burt, M., Dulay,
H., & Finocchiaro, M (eds.), Viewpoints on English as a
second language, 27-34. New York: Regents.
Price, J. (2008). New News Old News: A Sociophonetic
Study of Spoken Australian English. In: News Broad-
cast Speech. Arbeitenaus Anglistik und Amerikanistik,
33(2), 285-310.
Rodero, E. (2003). Presentation on Radio. Madrid: IORTV
(2006). Analysis of intonation in news presentation on
television, ExLing, 209- 212.
Rodero, E., & Campos, G. (2005). The voices of
the television news broadcasters. Comunicar. Revista
Cient caIberoamericana de Comunicacion y Educaci
on, 25, 35-42.
Rodero, E. (2007). Characterization of a presentation on au-
diovisual media. Estudios del mensajeperiodstico, 13,
523-542.
Sanders, W. C., Gramlich, C., & Levine, A. (1981). Naturalness
of synthesized speech. In P. Suppes (Ed.),
University-level computer-assisted instructions at Stan-
ford: (1968-80), 487-501. Stanford, CA: Stanford Uni-
versity.
Scherer, K.R. (1996). Adding the a ective dimension: A
new look in speech analysis and synthesis. Proceedings
of the 4th International Conference on Spoken Language
Processing. Philadelphia, USA, Addendum, 20-
23.
Starkweather, C. W. (1987). Fluency and stuttering. En-
glewood Cli s, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Strangert, E. (2004). Speech chunks in conversation: Syn-
tactic and prosodic aspects. Proceedings in Speech
Prosody, 305- 308.
Swerts, M., & Zerbian, S. (2010). Intonational di erences
between L1 and L2 English in South Africa. Phonetica,
67, 127-146.
Tauroza, Steve & Allison, D. (1990). Speech rates in British
English. Applied Linguistics, 11, 90-105.
Taylor, D. S. (1993). Intonation and Accent in English:
What teachers need to know. IRAL, XXXI (1).
Tench, P. (1990). The Roles of Intonation in English Discourse.
Peter Lang: Germany.
Utterback, A. (2000). Broadcast voice handbook. Chicago:
Bonus Books.
Van Leeuwen, T. (1984), Impartial Speech: Observations on
the Intonation of Radio Newsreader, Australian Journal
Cultural Studies, 2, 84-98.
Wichmann,H & Anne. B. (2002). Attitudinal intonation
and the inferential process. In: Bel, B., Marlien, I.
(Eds), Proceedings of the Speech Prosody Conference,
11-16.
Yairi, E., & Ambrose, N. (1999). Spontaneous recovery and
clinical trials research in early childhood stuttering: A
response to Onslow and Packman. Journal of Speech,
Language, and Hearing Research, 42, 402-410.
ict, arousal and curiosity.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Borden, R. C. (1927). The principles of e ective radio speak-
ing. Modern Eloquence, XV, 9-17.
Boyd, A. (1993). Broadcast journalism: Techniques of radio
and TV news (2nd ed.). Oxford: Focal Press.
Boyd, A. (2003). Broadcast Journalism. Techniques of Ra-
dio and Television News, Oxford: Focal Press.
Brazil, D. (1978).Discourse Intonation II. English Lan-
guage Research, Birmingham: University of Birming-
ham.
Campanella, S., & Belin, P. (2007). Integrating face and
voice in person perception. Trends in Cognitive Sciences,
11, 535-543.
Chantler, P., & Stewart, P. (2003). Basic radio journalism.
Oxford: Focal Press.
Dahan, D., Tanenhaus, M. K., & Chambers, C. G. (2002).
Accent and reference resolution in spoken-language com-
prehension. Journal of Memory and Language, 47, 292-
314.
Dary, D. (1970). Radio news handbook (2nd ed.). Blue
Ridge Summit, PA: G/L Tab Books.
De-la-Mota, C., & Rodero, E. (2010). Demarcation
of intonation and accent in radio news presentation,
XXXIX Simposio Internacional de la Sociedad Espaola
de Lingustica (SEL), Santiago de Compostela: Facultad
de Filologa de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.
Goldhaber & Gerald, M. (1974). E ects of speech compression
training in comprehension of native speakers
of English and Navajo. In Sam Duker (ed.), Time com-
pressed speech: Ananthology and bibliography, 730-735.
Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press.
Hebert, J. (1977). The techniques of radio journalism. Mel-
bourne: Edward Arnold.
Hills & George. (1987). News on radio and television.
Madrid: IORTV.
Hirschberg, J., & Pierrehumbert, J. (1986). Intonational
structuring of discourse, Proceedings of 24th meeting
of the association for computational linguistics, Nueva
York, 136-144.
Hudson, Roxanne, F., Holly, B., Lane & Pullen, P.C. (2005).
Reading
uency assessment and instruction: What, why,
and how? The Reading Teacher, 58(8), 702-714.
Ito, K., Jincho, N., Minai, U., Yamane, N., & Mazuka, R.
(2012). Intonation facilitates contrast resolution: Evi-
dence from Japanese adults & 6-year olds. Journal of
Memory and Language, 66(1), 265-284.
Kendall & Tyler, S. (2009). Speech rate, pause, and linguistic
variation: An examination through the sociolinguistic
archive and analysis project. Durham, NC: Duke
University Graduate School, Department of English dis-
sertation.
LaBarbera, Priscilla & MacLachlan, J. (1979). Time-
compressed speech in radio advertising. Journal of Marketing,
43(1), 30-36.
Lawton & Paxton, S. (1930). Principles of e ective ra-
dio speaking. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 16(3), 225-
277.
Lumley & Frederick, H. (1933). Rates of speech in ra-
dio speaking. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 19(3), 393-
403.
Masterton, M., & Patching, R. (1990). Now the news in
detail: A guide to broadcast journalism in Australia.
Melbourne: Deakin University Press.
Mastropieri, M. A., Leinart, A., & Scruggs, T. E. (1999).
Strategies to increase reading
uency. Intervention in
School and Clinic, 34, 278-283.
McGregor, J., & Palethorpe, S. (2008). High Rising Tunes
in Australian English: The Communicative Function of
L* and H* Pitch Accent Onsets, Australian Journal of
Linguistics, 28(2), 171-193.
McGurk, Harry & MacDonald, J. (1976). Hearing lips and
seeing voices. Nature, 264, 746-748.
McLeish,M & Robert. T (2005). Radio production. Oxford:
Focal Press.
Meyerson,N. & Marion, D. (1974). An exploration of comprehension
di erences in time-compressed Japanese,
Chinese, Indi and English speech. In Sam Duker
(ed.), Time compressed speech: An anthology and
bibliography, 730-735. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow
Press.
Miles, D.W. (1975). Broadcast news handbook. Indianapo-
lis, IN: Howard W.Sams.
Mok, P., Fung, H., & Li, J. (2014). A preliminary study on
the prosody of broad ast news in Hong Kong Cantonese.
Proceedings of Speech Prosody, 7, 1072-1075.
Murphey, Carol, Dobie, K & Grant, J. (2003). Time ver-
sus pause manipulation in communications directed to
the young adult population: Does it matter? Journal of
Advertising Research, 43, 281-292.
Neil, E., Worrall, L., Day, A., & Hickson, L. (2003). Voice
and Speech Characteristics and Vocal hygiene in Novice
and Professional Broadcast Journalists. Advances in
Speech Language Pathology, 5(1), 1-14.
Nelson,M & Harold, E. (1948). The e ect of variation of rate
on the recall by radio listeners of `straight' newscasts.
Communication Monographs, 15(2), 173-180.
Nihalani, P., & Po Lin, T. (1998). Intonation patterns in
news broadcasts, World Englishes, 17(1), 15-29.
Parrish, W. M. (1951). The concept of naturalness. Quarterly
Journal of Speech, 37, 448-450.
Pimsleur, Paul, Hancock, C., & Furey, P. (1977). Speech
rate and listening comprehension. In Burt, M., Dulay,
H., & Finocchiaro, M (eds.), Viewpoints on English as a
second language, 27-34. New York: Regents.
Price, J. (2008). New News Old News: A Sociophonetic
Study of Spoken Australian English. In: News Broad-
cast Speech. Arbeitenaus Anglistik und Amerikanistik,
33(2), 285-310.
Rodero, E. (2003). Presentation on Radio. Madrid: IORTV
(2006). Analysis of intonation in news presentation on
television, ExLing, 209- 212.
Rodero, E., & Campos, G. (2005). The voices of
the television news broadcasters. Comunicar. Revista
Cient caIberoamericana de Comunicacion y Educaci
on, 25, 35-42.
Rodero, E. (2007). Characterization of a presentation on au-
diovisual media. Estudios del mensajeperiodstico, 13,
523-542.
Sanders, W. C., Gramlich, C., & Levine, A. (1981). Naturalness
of synthesized speech. In P. Suppes (Ed.),
University-level computer-assisted instructions at Stan-
ford: (1968-80), 487-501. Stanford, CA: Stanford Uni-
versity.
Scherer, K.R. (1996). Adding the a ective dimension: A
new look in speech analysis and synthesis. Proceedings
of the 4th International Conference on Spoken Language
Processing. Philadelphia, USA, Addendum, 20-
23.
Starkweather, C. W. (1987). Fluency and stuttering. En-
glewood Cli s, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Strangert, E. (2004). Speech chunks in conversation: Syn-
tactic and prosodic aspects. Proceedings in Speech
Prosody, 305- 308.
Swerts, M., & Zerbian, S. (2010). Intonational di erences
between L1 and L2 English in South Africa. Phonetica,
67, 127-146.
Tauroza, Steve & Allison, D. (1990). Speech rates in British
English. Applied Linguistics, 11, 90-105.
Taylor, D. S. (1993). Intonation and Accent in English:
What teachers need to know. IRAL, XXXI (1).
Tench, P. (1990). The Roles of Intonation in English Discourse.
Peter Lang: Germany.
Utterback, A. (2000). Broadcast voice handbook. Chicago:
Bonus Books.
Van Leeuwen, T. (1984), Impartial Speech: Observations on
the Intonation of Radio Newsreader, Australian Journal
Cultural Studies, 2, 84-98.
Wichmann,H & Anne. B. (2002). Attitudinal intonation
and the inferential process. In: Bel, B., Marlien, I.
(Eds), Proceedings of the Speech Prosody Conference,
11-16.
Yairi, E., & Ambrose, N. (1999). Spontaneous recovery and
clinical trials research in early childhood stuttering: A
response to Onslow and Packman. Journal of Speech,
Language, and Hearing Research, 42, 402-410.