| Abstract: |
Purpose: Vocal fry (VF), a low-pitched, grating voice quality, appears to be trending among young women. Current research lacks consensus of listeners' perceptions associated with VF. This study investigated practicing speechlanguage pathologists' (SLPs) perceptions of graduate speech-language pathology students who speak with VF. Method: Thirty-two graduate students were recorded reading the Rainbow Passage and providing a brief monologue. VF was detected perceptually and acoustically for all 32 students' recordings. For the 127-syllable passage, percent of VF (%VF) ranged from 2.36% (three syllables) to 40.16% (51 syllables) with an average of 12.25% (15 syllables). Twelve recorded passages were selected and sorted into two statistically significant groups (p = .001; seven with the most %VF and five with the least). Passage samples were randomly uploaded into a Qualtrics survey. Practicing SLPs listened to each sample and provided categorical and visual analog ratings for voice pleasantness and perceived speaker competence, education, hirability, and professionalism. Results: The online survey was completed by 150 experienced SLPs who spanned differing geographical locations, work settings, and years of experience. Chi-square tests of independence and independent-samples t tests revealed statistically significant findings for all rated characteristics, indicating that VF samples were less pleasant, and their users less competent, hirable, educated, and professional. Conclusions: These findings support those of Gottliebson et al. (2007), whereby 32% of our cohort had ≥ 15 instances of VF during passage reading, and those of Anderson et al. (2014), that VF negatively impacts how a speaker is perceived. Speech-language pathology graduate students should be cognizant of VF use, as they seek to secure competitive externships and jobs. |
