ERIC Number: EJ1013843
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Oct
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Listeners' Attitudes toward Children with Voice Problems
Ma, Estella P.-M.; Yu, Camille H.-Y.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v56 n5 p1409-1415 Oct 2013
Purpose: To investigate the attitudes of school teachers toward children with voice problems in a Chinese population. Method: Three groups of listeners participated in this study: primary school teachers, speech-language pathology students, and general university students. The participants were required to make attitude judgments on 12 voice samples using a semantic differential scale with 22 bipolar adjective pairs. The voice samples were collected from 6 children with healthy voices and 6 children with dysphonia. The 22 bipolar adjective pairs were intended to cover nonspeech characteristics about the child's personality, social characteristics, and physical appearance. Results: The mean attitude ratings received by children with dysphonic voice were significantly lower (i.e., less favorable) than those received by children with healthy voices in all of the 22 adjective pairs (all "ps" less than 0.002). The attitude ratings made by the 3 groups of listeners were not significantly different from one another ("ps" greater than 0.05). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study in which the authors examine listeners' perception toward children with voice problems in the Chinese population. The results suggest that voice problems in children warrant attention, and their effects on the child should not be underestimated. The findings also highlight the importance of early identification and intervention for children with voice problems.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, College Students, Speech Language Pathology, Attitudes, Children, Voice Disorders, Semantic Differential, Personality, Social Characteristics, Physical Characteristics
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A