Effects of sound amplification on teachers' speech while teaching

Jónsdottir, Valdis; Rantala, Leena; Laukkanen, Anne-Maria; Vilkman, Erkki

doi:10.1080/14015430152728025

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…With regard to the point of view of the children, most of the teachers in the study reported that children became immediately used to the novelty, and they also benefitted from listening. Also this aspect is in agreement with some previous reports indicating that poor voice quality in teachers reduces the intelligibility of speech [14,15,24,25], while amplification both reduces the need for repetition and permits better concentration [15].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Despite an increase in the selection and popularity of voice amplification in the classroom, only sporadic studies have objectively evaluated the effects of these instruments on reducing the speaker's vocal demand. In the first years of this decade, a few studies demonstrated that portable systems permit up to 6.0 dB SPL reduction of the voice intensity during a simulated classroom lecture [12][13][14]. Furthermore, among a group of 33 teachers, 97% reported easier voice production and 82% found improved vocal endurance [15].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Bovo¹,

Trevisi²,

Emanuelli³

2013

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

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Objectives: Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of voice disorders in teachers, together with the personal, professional and economical consequences of the problem. Good primary prevention should be based on 3 aspects: 1) amelioration of classroom acoustics, 2) voice care programs for future professional voice users, including teachers and 3) classroom or portable amplification systems. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit obtained from the use of portable amplification systems by female primary school teachers in their occupational setting. Materials and Methods: Forty female primary school teachers attended a course about professional voice care, which comprised two theoretical lectures, each 60 min long. Thereafter, they were randomized into 2 groups: the teachers of the first group were asked to use a portable vocal amplifier for 3 months, till the end of school-year. The other 20 teachers were part of the control group, matched for age and years of employment. All subjects had a grade 1 of dysphonia with no significant organic lesion of the vocal folds. Results: Most teachers of the experimental group used the amplifier consistently for the whole duration of the experiment and found it very useful in reducing the symptoms of vocal fatigue. In fact, after 3 months, Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores in "course + amplifier" group demonstrated a significant amelioration (p = 0.003). The perceptual grade of dysphonia also improved significantly (p = 0.0005). The same parameters changed favourably also in the "course only" group, but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.4 for VHI and p = 0.03 for perceptual grade). Conclusions: In teachers, and particularly in those with a constitutional weak voice and/or those who are prone to vocal fold pathology, vocal amplifiers may be an effective and low-cost intervention to decrease potentially damaging vocal loads and may represent a necessary form of prevention.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Bovo¹,

Trevisi²,

Emanuelli³

2013

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The voice pitch is a sensitive indicator for voice load [22,23]. A correlation of voice pitch (mean and standard deviation) of vowels with voice loading in different rooms could be observed in our study: in acoustically better rooms the mean voice pitch before/after teaching decreased stronger than in unfavourable rooms.…”

Section: Kob Et Al: Influence Of Room Acoustics On the Teacher's supporting

confidence: 50%

Experimental investigations of the influence of room acoustics on the teacher's voice

Kob

Behler

Kamprolf

et al. 2008

Acoust. Sci. & Tech.

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Teachers belong to the group of professional voice users who often suffer from voice disorders. A reduction of the voice capacity can impede or stop the exertion of their profession. One reason for a significantly increased prevalence of voice problems can be poor room acoustical conditions in the class rooms. About the half of the teachers of a secondary modern school in Aachen were investigated with respect to their voice status by using phoniatric, logopedic and objective voice analysis methods. The prevalence of voice problems in this group was found to exceed previous studies where subjective voice quality was rated. Four rather reverberant and loud class rooms in that school were analysed using measurements of the reverberation time, T 30 , and the speech transmission index, STI. In a further part of this joint project the change of voice quality during the teachers' working day was analysed. Two of the four rooms were acoustically optimised. Members of two groups of teachers with and without voice problems were recorded before and after teaching in either one of the acoustically poor rooms or one of the newly renovated rooms. The results indicate statistically significant differences between the groups of subjects with respect to one or more voice parameters. Healthy subjects are less affected by unfavourable room acoustical conditions than subjects with voice problems.

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“…It is also observed that the national experiences do not present action involving vocal amplification, pointed out in the international literature as an option to improve and facilitate the vocal production of the teacher (11,12,29) . In the perspective of health promotion, it is necessary to re-examine the vocal health intervenient and determining factors and identify the directions necessary to face the challenges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…It is interesting to point out that, in spite of several publications that subsidize reflection on the relations involving work conditions, environment and organization and teachers' health (16,(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36) , the educative actions in vocal health structured from such assumptions still are rare. The results are alarming, now that some authors (25) claim that there is a limit to the efficiency of the speech therapy action without the transformation of the work conditions and organization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processos educativos em saúde vocal do professor: análise da literatura da Fonoaudiologia brasileira

Penteado¹,

Ribas

2011

Rev. soc. bras. fonoaudiol.

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This literature review analyzes the educative processes of vocal healthc actions aimed at teachers discussed in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology literature produced in Brazil. Our corpus consisted of 63 studies on collective intervention published between 1994 and 2008. The analysis emphasizes the distribution of publications over time; the characterization of the type of educative process (unilateral or dialogic, democratic, participatory and problema-based); the themes/content addressed; the form of development (precise or procedural); and the organization of actions (individually centered or expanded towards working issues). It was observed that 74% of the actions were developed in processes, such as courses, workshops or voice training. The average length of each meeting ranged from 20 minutes to four hours. Seventy nine percent of the educative strategies employed were characterized as unilateral and inconsistent with proposals based on healthcare promotion. The most common themes and topics were: vocal habits/behaviors and vocal hygiene/health (71%); warming up and cooling down, vocal exercises and techniques (50%); anatomy and physiology of vocal production and oral sensorimotor system (44%); vocal parameters (23%); work environment (22%), and use of voice, communication and expression (20%). The focus of the educative process is the individual (100%) and it is generally conducted without considering work conditions, health and quality of life. Work environment aspects were contemplated in only 17% of the publications, teachers' work organization, in 6%, and school community, in 1%. It was identified the need for organization and revision of forms of development, dynamics, strategies, themes and contents, type and focus of the educative process of public healthcare actions aiming at teachers' vocal health, according to the perspective of health promotion.

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Effects of sound amplification on teachers' speech while teaching

Cited by 37 publications

References 21 publications

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Experimental investigations of the influence of room acoustics on the teacher's voice

Processos educativos em saúde vocal do professor: análise da literatura da Fonoaudiologia brasileira

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