Browsing by Person "Beck, Janet M."

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Acoustic analysis of /l/ in glossectomees
(1998) Lunn, J.; Wrench, Alan A.; Beck, Janet M.
The production of /l/ is examined for pre- and post-operative patients who have undergone surgery in three distinct areas (anterior, posterior or lateral tongue) followed by radiotherapy and reconstruction. Results show F1 and F2 to be raised after surgery in all cases. Normalised measures of tongue height (F1-F0) and extension (F2-F1) revealed no significant change after surgery to the side of the tongue but in the other two categories, results indicated a change normally associated with both raising and fronting of the tongue. The paper compares these results with findings from other studies and considers possible mechanisms for the observed changes. 1. INTRODUCTION Previous work [1] by the authors has focused on the production of /s/ and /sh/ in pre- and postoperative glossectomee speech. Although, these phonemes can be objectively shown to be affected by surgery, change in dentition also plays a critical role and in a large number of cases speech therapy must wait until new dentu...
An introduction to the science of phonetics.
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006) Hewlett, Nigel; Beck, Janet M.
Assessing voice health using smartphones: Bias and random error of acoustic voice parameters captured by different smartphone types
(Wiley, 2019-02-19) Jannetts, Stephen; Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Cowen, Steve
BACKGROUND: Occupational voice problems constitute a serious public health issue with substantial financial and human consequences for society. Modern mobile technologies like smartphones have the potential to enhance approaches to prevention and management of voice problems. This paper addresses an important aspect of smartphone-assisted voice care: the reliability of smartphone-based acoustic analysis for voice health state monitoring. AIM: To assess the reliability of acoustic parameter extraction for a range of commonly used smartphones by comparison with studio recording equipment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty-two vocally healthy speakers (12 female; 10 male) were recorded producing sustained vowels and connected speech under studio conditions using a high-quality studio microphone and an array of smartphones. For both types of utterances, Bland-Altman-Analysis was used to assess overall reliability for Mean F0; CPPS; Jitter (RAP) and Shimmer %. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Analysis of the systematic and random error indicated significant bias for CPPS across both sustained vowels and passage reading. Analysis of the random error of the devices indicated that that mean F0 and CPPS showed acceptable random error size, while jitter and shimmer random error was judged as problematic. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Confidence in the feasibility of smartphone-based voice assessment is increased by the experimental finding of high levels of reliability for some clinically relevant acoustic parameters, while the use of other parameters is discouraged. We also challenge the practice of using statistical tests (e.g. t-tests) for measurement reliability assessment.
Comparing Vocal Health and Attitudes to Voice care in Primary Teachers and Voiceover Artists – A Survey Study Using the Health Belief Model
(Elsevier, 2023-03-19) Schaeffler, Felix; Parry, Anna M.; Beck, Janet M.; Rees, Meagan; Schaeffler, Sonja; Whittaker, Tess
Objectives A range of professions experience high demands on their voices and are potentially at risk of developing voice disorders. Teachers have been studied extensively in this respect, while voiceover artists are a growing professional group with unknown levels of voice training, voice problems and voice care attitudes. To better understand profession-specific voice care requirements, we compared voice training, voice care habits and self-reported voice problems of these two professional groups and measured attitudes to voice care, informed by the Health Belief Model (HBM). Study design The study was a cross-sectional survey study with two cohorts. Methods We surveyed 264 Scottish primary school teachers and 96 UK voiceover artists . Responses were obtained with multiple-choice and free-text questions. Attitudes to voice care were assessed with Likert-type questions that addressed five dimensions of the HBM. Results Most voiceover artists had some level of voice training, compared to a minority of teachers. Low numbers of teachers reported regular voice care, compared to over half of voiceover artists. Higher numbers of teachers reported work-related voice problems. Voiceover artists reported greater awareness for vocal health and perceived potential effects of voice problems on their work as more severe. Voiceover artists also saw voice care as more beneficial. Teachers perceived barriers to voice care as substantially higher and felt less confident about voice care. Teachers with existing voice problems showed increased perceptions of voice problem susceptibility and severity and saw more benefit in voice care. Cronbach's alpha was below 0.7 for about half of the HBM-informed survey subsets, suggesting that reliability could be improved. Conclusions Both groups reported substantial levels of voice problems, and different attitudes to voice care suggest that the two groups require different approaches to preventative intervention. Future studies will benefit from the inclusion of further attitude dimensions beyond the HBM.
Dynamic Dialects: an articulatory web resource for the study of accents [website]
(University of Glasgow, 2015-04-01) Lawson, Eleanor; Stuart-Smith, Jane; Scobbie, James M.; Nakai, Satsuki; Beavan, David; Edmonds, Fiona; Edmonds, Iain; Turk, Alice; Timmins, Claire; Beck, Janet M.; Esling, John; Leplatre, Gregory; Cowen, Steve; Barras, Will; Durham, Mercedes
Dynamic Dialects (www.dynamicdialects.ac.uk) is an accent database, containing an articulatory video-based corpus of speech samples from world-wide accents of English. Videos in this corpus contain synchronised audio, ultrasound-tongue-imaging video and video of the moving lips. We are continuing to augment this resource. Dynamic Dialects is the product of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, University College London and Napier University, Edinburgh. For modelled International Phonetic Association speech samples produced by trained phoneticians, please go to the sister site http://www.SeeingSpeech.ac.uk
Effects of the restriction of hand gestures on disfluency.
(University of Gothenburg, Department of Linguistics, Gteborg, SUEDE (1970) (Revue), 2003) Finlayson, Sheena; Forrest, Victoria; Lickley, Robin; Beck, Janet M.
This paper describes an experimental pilot study of disfluency and gesture rates in spontaneous speech where speakers perform a communication task in three conditions: hands free, one arm immobilized, both arms immobilized. Previous work suggests that the restriction of the ability to gesture can have an impact on the fluency of speech. In particular, it has been found that the inability to produce iconic gestures, which depict actions and objects, results in a higher rate of disfluency. Models of speech production account for this by suggesting that gesture and speech production are part of the same integrated system. Such models differ in their interpretation of the location of the gesture planning mechanism in relation to the speech model: some authors suggest that iconic gestures relate closely to lexical access, while others suggest that the link is located around the conceptualization stage. The findings of this study tentatively confirm that there is a relationship between gesture and fluency - overall, disfluency increases as gesture is restricted. But it remains unclear whether the disfluency is more related to lexical access than to conceptualization. Proposals for a larger study are suggested. The work is of interest to psycholinguists focusing on the integration of gesture into models of speech production and to Speech and Language Therapists who need to know about the impact that an impaired ability to produce gestures may have on communication.
Hearing smiles - Perceptual, acoustic and production aspects of labial spreading.
(International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 1999) Robson, Julie; Beck, Janet M.
This paper discusses the role of labial spreading in the perception of happiness and investigates whether untrained judges perceive labial spread samples as more smiled than neutral samples. The main experiment is a paired forced-response design perceptual experiment comparing neutral and labial spread voice quality samples. This is supplemented with articulatory measurements, which provide evidence of the differences in articulatory settings. The study's findings are discussed with reference to current theories of affect behaviour.
InterPHACE - internetworked links for phonetic analysis in clinical education.
(1999-04) Beck, Janet M.; Alistair, Lawson; Mennen, Ineke
This collaborative project addresses two key issues. The first is the need for Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) students to develop skills in analysis of a wide range of speech disorders and to apply these to clinical practice. The second is the lack of opportunities for utilising instrumental speech analysis techniques in many SALT clinics. Computerised links between Queen Margaret College and a variety of Health Care Trust clinics have been established which allow SALT clinic sessions to be monitored and speech data collection controlled remotely from QMC. Speech data is transmitted to the QMC Speech Laboratory for analysis and compilation of results. QMC staff and students are then able to discuss the results by teleconference with the SALT responsible for each client_s management, thus learning about the impact of analysis results on diagnosis and management. A data-base of clinical speech material is also being developed as a teaching/learning resource. A novel form of curricular design and delivery is thus being developed, which allows college staff and students access to speech from disordered clients in SALT clinics, and allows students to be actively involved in the process of clinical speech analysis of a range of current cases. Evaluation of the educational value of this project is ongoing, but it should enhance both undergraduate education in clinical phonetics and continuing professional development.
Monitoring voice condition using smartphones
(Firenze University Press, 2017-12-13) Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Manfredi, Claudia
Smartphone mediated voice monitoring has the potential to support voice care by facilitating data collection, analysis and biofeedback. To field-test this approach we have developed a smartphone app that allows recording of voice samples alongside voice self-report data. Our longterm aim is convenient and accessible voice monitoring to prevent voice problems and disorders. Our current study focussed on the automatic detection of voice changes in healthy voices that result from common transient illnesses like colds. We have recorded a database of approximately 700 voice samples from 62 speakers and selected a subset of 225 voice samples from 8 speakers who had submitted at least 10 recordings and reported at least one instance of a moderate cold. We extracted 12 acoustic parameters and applied multivariate statistical process control procedures (Hotelling's T2) to detect whether instances of cold caused violations of distributional control limits. Results showed significant association between control limit violations and reporting of a cold. While there is scope for further improvement of sensitivity and specificity of the procedure, it could already support early detection of voice problems, especially if mediated by voice experts.
Organic and performance components in vocal and non-vocal communication: unifying concepts of description and interpretation
(Taylor & Francis, 2004) Beck, Janet M.; Laver, John
This paper explores some conceptual and descriptive parallels between vocal and non-vocal communication, paying particular attention to the physical phenomena and semiotic functions in both speech and gesture. The discussion focuses on the interplay between organic and performance components of speech and gestural behaviour. A central thesis of the paper is that dilemmas of semiotic attribution are likely to arise when a person's organic state constrains or alters their communicative behaviour, especially if the listener or observer is unaware of that organic state. This thesis is illustrated by a discussion of the changes in communicative behaviour that may result from the physical modifications and movement constraints that are typically associated with old age or with selected disorders of movement. The paper concludes that a more integrated programme of research into comparable descriptive and theoretical concepts would offer a timely and fresh perspective on both speech and gesture, and their semiotic role in conversational interaction. Keywords: Vocal communication, gesture, attribution, organic state Introduction
Perceptual analysis of voice quality: the place of Vocal Profile Analysis.
(Laurence Erlbaum, 2005) Beck, Janet M.
Phonation stabilisation time as an indicator of voice disorder
(University of Glasgow: Glasgow, 2015-08-10) Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Jannetts, Stephen
There is increasing emphasis on use of connected speech for acoustic analysis of voice disorder, but the differential impact of disorder on initiation, maintenance and termination of phonation has received little attention. This study introduces a new measure of dynamic changes at onset of phonation during connected speech, phonation stabilisation time (PST), and compares this measure with conventional analysis of sustained vowels. Voice samples obtained from the KayPENTAX Disordered Voice Database were analysed (202 females, 128 males) including 'below threshold' voices where there was a clinical diagnosis but acoustic parameters for sustained vowels were within the normal range. Female disordered voices showed significantly longer PST duration than normal voices, including those in the 'below threshold' group. Overall differences for male voices were also significant. Results suggest that, at least for females, PST measurement from connected speech could provide a more sensitive indicator of disorder than traditional analysis of sustained vowels.
Reliability of clinical voice parameters captured with smartphones – measurements of added noise and spectral tilt
(ISCA, 2019-09-20) Schaeffler, Felix; Jannetts, Stephen; Beck, Janet M.
Smartphones have become powerful tools for data capture due to their computational power, internet connectivity, high quality sensors and user-friendly interfaces. This also makes them attractive for the recording of voice data that can be analysed for clinical or other voice health purposes. This however requires detailed assessment of the reliability of voice parameters extracted from smartphone recordings. In a previous study we analysed reliability of measures of periodicity and periodicity deviation, with very mixed results across parameters. In the present study we extended this analysis to measures of added noise and spectral tilt. We analysed systematic and random error for six frequently used acoustic parameters in clinical acoustic voice quality analysis. 22 speakers recorded sustained [a] and a short passage with a studio microphone and four popular smartphones simultaneously. Acoustic parameters were extracted with Praat and smartphone recordings were compared to the studio microphone. Results indicate a small systematic error for almost all parameters and smartphones. Random errors differed substantially between parameters. Our results suggest that extraction of acoustic voice parameters with mobile phones is not without problems and different parameters show substantial differences in reliability. Careful individual assessment of parameters is therefore recommended before use in practice.
Secure account-based data capture with smartphones – preliminary results from a study of articulatory precision in clinical depression
(De Gruyter Mouton, 2021-01-20) Miley, Erin; Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Eichner, Matthias; Jannetts, Stephen
Smartphone technology is continuously being updated through software and hardware changes. At present, a limited number of studies have been undertaken to assess the impact of these changes on data collection for linguistic research. This paper discusses the potential of smartphones to gather reliable recordings, along with ethical considerations for storing additional personal information when working in other contexts (i.e. healthcare settings). A pilot study was undertaken using the FitvoiceTM account-based application to analyse articulatory proficiency in depressed and healthy participants. Results suggest that phonetic differences exist between these groups in terms of plosive production, and that smartphones are capable of adequately recording these minute aspects of the speech signal for analysis.
Seeing Speech: an articulatory web resource for the study of phonetics [website]
(University of Glasgow, 2015-04-01) Lawson, Eleanor; Stuart-Smith, Jane; Scobbie, James M.; Nakai, Satsuki; Beavan, David; Edmonds, Fiona; Edmonds, Iain; Turk, Alice; Timmins, Claire; Beck, Janet M.; Esling, John; Leplatre, Gregory; Cowen, Steve; Barras, Will; Durham, Mercedes
Seeing Speech (www.seeingspeech.ac.uk) is a web-based audiovisual resource which provides teachers and students of Practical Phonetics with ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) video of speech, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) video of speech and 2D midsagittal head animations based on MRI and UTI data. The model speakers are Dr Janet Beck of Queen Margaret University (Scotland) and Dr John Esling of University of Victoria (Canada). The first phase of this resource began in July 2011 and was completed in September 2013. Further funding was obtained in 2014 to improve and augment this resource (this version) and to develop its sister site Dynamic Dialects. The website contains two main resources: An introduction to UTI, MRI vocal tract imaging techniques and information about the production of the articulatory animations. Clickable International Phonetic Association charts links to UTI, MRI and animated speech articulator video. This online resource is a product of the collaboration between researchers at six Scottish Universities: The University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University, Napier University, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen; as well as scholars from University College London and Cardiff University. For examples of various dialects of English, please go to the sister site http://www.dynamicdialects.ac.uk
Therapy for abnormal vowels in children with phonological impairment.
(Butterworth-Heinemann; illustrated edition., 2002-01-06) Gibbon, Fiona; Beck, Janet M.
Towards ordinal classification of voice quality features with acoustic parameters
(ESSV, 2019-03-09) Schaeffler, Felix; Eichner, Matthias; Beck, Janet M.
The human voice is capable of fine-grained variation that results in listener attributions of various psychological, social and biological factors. The complexity of this process is reflected in the number and richness of terms that are used to describe human voices. In this paper we argue that any application that attempts a mapping of the acoustic voice signal onto voice descriptor labels would benefit from an intermediate auditory-phonetic level. As a point of departure we explore the relationships between acoustic parameters and some specific perceptual features derived from Vocal Profile Analysis (VPA), a phonetically motivated voice quality analysis scheme. Perceptual analysis of voice samples from 133 speakers was carried out using VPA for three key phonation features (creakiness, whisperiness, harshness). We extracted eleven acoustic parameters from the samples and used stepwise linear regression to identify acoustic parameters with predictive value. Samples from female speakers were used to derive regression equations which were then used to predict VPA ratings of male voices. Results show significant predictors for all three phonation features and indicate that predictions for the three phonation types rely mainly on different parameters. If a tolerance of ± 1 scalar degree for the perceptual analysis is accepted, then classification accuracy lies at or above 90% for all three phonation features.
Voice Quality Variation In Scottish Adolescents: Gender Versus Geography
(University of Glasgow: Glasgow, 2015-08-10) Beck, Janet M.; Schaeffler, Felix
Given the importance of voice quality in signalling personal identity and social group membership, effective control of voice features may become especially important during adolescence, yet this has to be achieved in the context of significant physical changes within the speech production system. Most previous research has focussed on phonation, but this study used Vocal Profile Analysis (VPA) [11] for perceptual analysis of both laryngeal and vocal tract voice settings in Scottish adolescents, in order to identify voice quality markers of gender and geographical background in this age group. VPA analysis was carried out for 76 speakers (31 male; 45 female), drawn from three geographically distinct areas of Scotland. Some of the observed variation in voice quality (especially phonatory settings) may be attributable to physical changes associated with puberty, but other setting adjustments seem more likely to be sociophonetic in origin.