Speaking Rate: Effects on Children’s Comprehension of Normal Speech

Abstract

This study investigated the comprehension of speech among children in maturational stages of linguistic development when speech was presented at varying rates of utterance by a trained speaker. Five groups, each consisting of a subgroup of 10 kindergarten and a subgroup of 10 second-grade children, were presented with a tape-recorded administration of the receptive section of the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (NSST). Each group heard the test at one or another of the following rates: 2.6, 3.4, 4.7, 5.3, or 6.3 syllables per second. A mean comprehension score was determined for each group and subgroup, and a treatment-by-levels analysis of variance was completed. Results indicated that comprehension was higher at the two slower rates than at the three faster rates. Rate by grade interaction was nonsignificant and comprehension differences between sexes appeared virtually nonexistent.

Repetition of Time-Altered Sentences by Normal and Learning Disabled Children

“…The present findings from normal children do not support the claim of improved performance when stimuli are presented at rates faster (Woodcock & Clark 1968) or slower (Berry & Erickson 1973, Nelson 1976) than normal speech. In the present investigation the normal children repeated sentences presented at a very fast rate (60% compression or approximately 411 words per minute) as accurately as those presented at a normal rate.…”

Children's Perception of Conversational and Clear American-English Vowels in Noise

“…Generally, a moderate rate of speech appears to facilitate intelligibility, with slightly slower rates thought to increase young children's comprehension (Berry & Erickson, 1973), although optimal vowel durations for child listeners in conversational speech or in clear speech are likely variable. Slight increases in vowel duration appear to yield the greatest intelligibility, permitting listeners to resolve a perturbed speech signal.…”

Effects of the acoustic properties of infant-directed speech on infant word recognition

“…Further evidence of the effects of speaking rate on listeners' speech processing abilities comes from other age groups. For instance, Nelson ͑1976͒ showed that 5-9-year-old children's comprehension of spoken sentences was significantly impaired when they listened to the sentences at a fast speaking rate ͑4.9 syllables/s͒ compared to a slower speaking rate ͑2.5 syllables/s͒ ͑see also Berry and Erickson, 1973͒. Furthermore, slower speaking rate is generally associated with better speech intelligibility in hearing-impaired populations ͑Uchanski et al, 1996͒, as well as in normal adult listeners ͑Bradlow and Pisoni, 1999͒.…”