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The goal of the present research study was to investigate possible differences in nasalance scores between different Nasometer headgears. Frequency response characteristics of microphone pairs in a Nasometer model 6200, a model 6450 and two model 6500 headsets were compared using long-term average spectra of white noise and multi-speaker babble signals. Prerecorded sound files from a male and a female speaker were used to record nasalance scores with the four Nasometer headsets and to calculate cumulative absolute differences within and between the headsets. The main outcome measures were the cumulative absolute differences between the decibel (dB) values in the frequency bins from 300 to 750 Hz for the nasal and oral channels of each microphone pair. Cumulative absolute differences between nasalance scores of repeated stimuli within and across Nasometer headsets were tabulated. Results showed that cumulative absolute differences for the frequency range 300-750 Hz were between 6.58 and 7.68 dB. Within headsets, 95.6% to 100% of measurements of all four Nasometer headsets were within 3 nasalance points, although test-retest differences of up to 6 nasalance points were found. Between headsets, 56.1% to 98.9% of measurements were within 3 nasalance points, with the single largest difference of 8 nasalance points. In conclusion, differences between repeated nasalance scores obtained with the same and different headsets were noted. Clinicians should allow a margin of error of ±6 to 8 nasalance points when interpreting scores from different Nasometer headsets.
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This study explores the perceptions of facilitators, barriers to communication and strategies in Malaysian school-aged children with non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (CL/P), parents, and teachers. Fourteen children with non-syndromic CL/P aged 7 to 12 years, their parents (n = 16), and their teachers (n = 10) were recruited via purposive sampling. Participants were selected based on resilience scores (RS-10; (Wagnild, 2015) distinguishing low (<34) from high resilience (35-40) (Wagnild, 2015). Individual in-depth interviews were conducted online and evaluated qualitatively. The analyses were conducted utilising the guidelines by Braun and Clarke (2006). Inductive thematic analysis was performed. Facilitators for communication identified by children, parents and teachers were the child's personal attributes, common interests, and helping others. Barriers that were identified were unfamiliar conversation partners, and insensitive comments or questions. Children used passive (e.g. ignored) and active (e.g. retorted, explained the condition) strategies to address social communication issues. Children with high resilience responded more actively than children with low resilience. Strategies that were described by the parents included accepting the child, empowering themselves, following the cleft management plan, and empowering the child. Teachers adopted general approaches such as giving encouragement, increasing confidence, and teaching empathy. The presence of face masks was perceived as both a facilitator and a barrier to communication. The study provides information on challenges encountered and coping mechanisms used by children with non-syndromic CL/P, their parents and their teachers. This knowledge may help the development of targeted interventions to support the communication of children with non-syndromic CL/P in school.
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Rapid palatal expanders (RPEs) are commonly used in patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) prior to secondary alveolar bone grafting (SABG). Their position and size can impede tongue movement and affect speech. This study assessed changes in perception and production of speech over the course of RPE treatment.Prospective longitudinal.Tertiary university-affiliated hospital.Twenty-five patients with unilateral CLP treated with Fan-type RPEs, and their parents.Patient and parent speech questionnaires and patient speech recordings were collected at baseline before RPE insertion (T1), directly after RPE insertion (T2), during RPE expansion (T3), during RPE retention (T4), directly after RPE removal but before SABG (T5), and at short-term follow-up after RPE removal and SABG (T6).Ratings for patient and parent questionnaires, first (F1) and second (F2) formants for vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/, and nasalance scores for non-nasal and nasal sentences, were obtained and analyzed using mixed model analyses of variance.Ratings worsened at T2. For the vowel /a/, F1 and F2 were unchanged at T2. For the vowel /i/, F1 increased and F2 decreased at T2. For the vowel /u/, F1 was unchanged and F2 decreased at T2. Nasalance was unchanged at T2. All outcome measures returned to T1 levels by T4.RPE insertion resulted in initial adverse effects on speech perception and production, which decreased to baseline prior to removal. Information regarding transient speech dysfunction and distress may help prepare patients for treatment.
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Labio Leporino , Fisura del Paladar , Humanos , Labio Leporino/cirugía , Habla , Fisura del Paladar/cirugía , Estudios ProspectivosRESUMEN
The Nasometer is a popular instrument for the acoustic assessment of nasality. In light of the currently ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, clinicians may have wondered about the infection control procedures for the Nasometer. The current research investigated whether nasalance scores are affected if the Nasometer 6450 microphone casings are covered with a material such as rolled polyvinyl chloride household wrap. For the experiment, pre-recorded sound files from two speakers were played back through a set of small loudspeakers. Nasalance scores from two baselines and three wrap cover conditions were compared. While there was no statistically significant condition effect in a repeated-measures analysis of variance, the within-condition cumulative differences in nasalance scores were 2 for the initial baseline, 42 for wrap cover 1, 24 for wrap cover 2, 78 for wrap cover 3, and 8 for the final baseline. Mean differences between the wrap cover and the baseline conditions were 8.2 to 15.3 times larger, and cumulative differences were 8.3 to 16.6 times larger than between the two baselines. Based on the higher cumulative and mean differences observed, clinicians should not cover Nasometer microphones with household wrap as this increases variability of nasalance scores. Since there is evidence that the COVID-19 virus can survive for some time on metal surfaces, clinicians should be mindful of the fact that the Nasometer microphone housings can only be cleaned superficially and should be handled with gloves to minimize any possible risk of touch transfer of pathogens to the next speaker or the clinician.
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COVID-19 , Acústica del Lenguaje , Humanos , Control de Infecciones , Plásticos , Medición de la Producción del Habla/métodos , Calidad de la VozRESUMEN
Nasometry is used to assess nasality in speech but it is unclear whether overly frequent recalibration of the instrument adds measurement errors. The goal of the present research study was to describe the effect of the Nasometer 6450 calibration on the nasalance scores of repeated recordings. In a first experiment, the Nasometer calibration values stored in the computer's registry were manipulated to investigate the impact on nasalance scores. In the second experiment, a set of pre-recorded speech samples was re-recorded 40 times with a Nasometer 6450 in 4 different calibration regimens: Short-term repeated recordings without (R1) and with recalibration (R2C), and long-term repeated recordings over 10 days without (R3) and with recalibration (R4C). The first experiment showed that, compared to a calibration value of 1.0, a value of 0.9 resulted in nasalance scores that were on average 3 points lower while a calibration value of 1.1 resulted in scores that were 0.5 points higher. The results of the second experiment showed test-retest differences of less than 2 nasalance points for 91% of the data for a non-nasal stimulus. For a nasal stimulus, 91% of data were within 5 points for R3 and R4C. The results suggested that frequent recalibration of the Nasometer may slightly increase test-retest differences of nasalance scores. An alternative procedure for verifying microphone balance without recalibration is suggested.
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Nariz , Calidad de la Voz , Calibración , Humanos , Habla , Acústica del Lenguaje , Medición de la Producción del Habla/métodosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Phonetic accommodation is observed when interacting speakers gradually converge (or diverge) on phonetic features over the course of a conversation. The present experiment investigated whether gradual changes in the nasal signal levels of a pre-recorded model speaker would lead to accommodation in the nasalance scores of the interlocutor in a speech-shadowing experiment. METHODS: Twenty female speakers in two groups repeated sentences after a pre-recorded model speaker whose nasal signal level was gradually increased or decreased over the course of the experiment. Outcome measures were the mean nasalance scores at the initial baseline, maximum nasal signal level, minimum nasal signal level and final baseline conditions. The order of presentation of the maximum and minimum nasal signal levels was varied between the two groups. RESULTS: The results showed a significant effect of condition in F(3) = 2.86, p = 0.045. Both groups of participants demonstrated lower nasalance scores in response to increased nasal signal levels in the model (phonetic divergence). The group that was first presented with the maximum nasal signal levels demonstrated lower nasalance scores for the minimum nasal signal level condition (phonetic convergence). CONCLUSION: Speakers showed a consistent divergent reaction to a more nasal-sounding model speaker, but their response to a less nasal-sounding model may depend on the order of presentation of the manipulations. More research is needed to investigate the effects of increased versus decreased nasality in the speech of an interlocutor.
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Fonética , Habla , Femenino , Humanos , Nariz , Trastornos del Habla , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Previous research has shown that altering the nasal signal level auditory feedback changed the control of oral-nasal balance in normal speakers. The present study investigated whether knowledge of the task and the instruction not to compensate would change the participants' response to the manipulation. METHODS: Twenty participants (10 females) in 2 groups continuously repeated a sentence while their nasal signal level was increased or decreased and fed back to them via headphones, so the speakers heard themselves as more or less nasal, respectively. After the first recording session, participants were debriefed about the true nature of the experiment. They were instructed not to compensate in the second recording session. The outcome measures were the percentage changes of nasalance scores from the first baseline. RESULTS: Statistical analysis using a repeated measures analysis of variance showed an effect of the nasal signal level, F(5,80) = 2.51, p = 0.049, and a nasal signal level by knowledge of task interaction effect, F(5,80) = 3.25, p = 0.019. Post hoc tests showed that the maximum nasal signal level auditory feedback resulted in a significant decrease of nasality from the initial baseline. CONCLUSION: Despite knowledge of the task, speakers were unable to resist compensating. As found in previous research, there was a numerically higher compensation response at the maximum than at the minimum nasal signal level auditory feedback condition.
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Nariz , Habla , Femenino , Audición , Humanos , Lenguaje , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Reliable perceptual and instrumental assessment of oral-nasal balance disorders is a persistent problem in speech-language pathology. The goal of the study was to evaluate whether nasalance-based preclassification of oral-nasal balance disorders improves listener agreement. DESIGN: Retrospective listening study. SETTING: Tertiary university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-four randomly selected recordings of patients with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Three experienced speech-language pathologists participated as expert listeners. INTERVENTIONS: Two listening experiments were based on nasalance scores and audio recordings of speakers with repaired UCLP. The speakers were preclassified as normal, hypernasal, hyponasal, or mixed based on their nasalance scores. Initially, the listeners determined the diagnostic category of the oral-nasal balance for 62 audio recordings (8 repeats). Six months later, they listened to 38 of the recordings (6 repeats) along with a spreadsheet indicating the nasalance-based categories for the oral-nasal balance. The listeners confirmed, or rejected and corrected, the nasalance-based preclassification. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intralistener, interlistener agreement, and agreement between listener categories and nasalance-based oral-nasal balance categories. RESULTS: In the first study, the agreement between the listeners' diagnostic category and the nasalance-based category was 45.1% and the interlistener agreement was 36.7%. In the second study, the agreement between the listeners' category and the nasalance-based category was 67.1% (75% agreement for the correct nasalance-based categories and 41.7% for the misclassifications), and the interlistener agreement was 85.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Preclassification of oral-nasal balance disorders based on nasalance scores may help listeners achieve better diagnostic accuracy and higher agreement.
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Enfermedades Nasales , Trastornos del Habla , Percepción Auditiva , Humanos , Nariz , Estudios Retrospectivos , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effect of training backward and forward voice focus adjustments on oral-nasal balance in speech and singing in typical speakers. METHODS: Twenty participants (10M/10F) aged 24.25 (SD 3.73) years read phonetically balanced, nasal and oral speech stimuli, and sang a song in both forward and backward voice focus conditions. A Nasometer 6450 was used to obtain nasalance scores in the different conditions. RESULTS: Results indicated that forward voice focus resulted in more nasality (p < 0.01) for the oral stimulus and song. Backward voice focus caused a decrease in nasality (p < 0.01) for the nasal stimulus, the phonetically balanced paragraph, and the song. During production of the song, males were more nasal in the forward voice focus condition than females (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Voice focus can influence oral-nasal balance in normal speakers. More research is needed to investigate whether voice focus adjustments could be helpful to speakers with oral-nasal balance disorders.
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Fonética , Acústica del Lenguaje , Habla , Calidad de la Voz , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Canto , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
Auditory-perceptual judgements are regarded as the standard method for assessing speech disorders. However, the results of auditory-perceptual evaluations and rater reliability can be affected by various factors, such as concurrent problems in multiple speech subsystems. This study investigated the effect of a co-occurring articulation disorder on auditory-perceptual judgements of hypernasality and the effect of co-occurring hypernasality on judgements of an articulation disorder. The speech stimuli were sentences produced by a male speaker who simulated four levels of hypernasality (typical nasality, and mild, moderate, and severe hypernasality) at four levels of disordered articulation (typical articulation, and mild, moderate, and severe articulation disorder). Thirty speech and language therapy students used visual analogue scales to rate the severity of hypernasality and articulation disorder for each speech sample. Results showed that the hypernasality ratings were significantly higher when articulation disorder co-occurred compared to those without. However, there was no significant difference between mild, moderate and severe concurrent articulation disorder on hypernasality ratings. The speech samples with typical articulation and those with severe articulation disorder were rated as more severe in terms of articulation problem when combined with severe hypernasality. However, there was no significant hypernasality effect on articulation ratings for speech with mild or moderate articulation disorder. The present results generally agreed with previous findings regarding the effect of co-occurring speech problems on auditory-perceptual judgements. Clinicians are advised to be cautious of the potential impact. If possible, speech evaluation using instrumental techniques should be used to supplement auditory-perceptual judgements.
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Trastornos de la Articulación , Percepción Auditiva , Terapia del Lenguaje , Logopedia , Estudiantes , Insuficiencia Velofaríngea , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Juicio , Masculino , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Research has argued that a speaker's facial appearance can result in an "intelligibility cost" for the listener. The study investigated whether such an intelligibility cost exists for a visible repaired cleft lip and nasal asymmetry. SETTING: University department. PARTICIPANTS: Eight typical speakers provided speech samples. Twenty-eight naive listeners participated in a speech in noise experiment. INTERVENTIONS: Listeners transcribed sentences in noise that were paired with faces of individuals with repaired cleft lip and nasal asymmetry or typical faces. They also rated speaker intelligibility and answered a questionnaire about their previous knowledge about cleft lip and palate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percentage of words transcribed correctly and intelligibility ratings, compared by experimental condition (photo of typical face or face with repaired cleft lip and nasal asymmetry) and speaker gender. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between speech stimuli that were presented with faces with repaired cleft lip and nasal asymmetry or typical faces. The percentage of words transcribed correctly by the listeners was lower for female speakers (F = 12.7, df = 1; P < .01). Speech intelligibility of female speakers was rated more poorly (F = 10.5, df = 1; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Presence of a repaired cleft lip and nasal asymmetry did not result in an intelligibility cost for naive listeners. Future research should investigate possible effects of facial motion or previous knowledge.
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Labio Leporino , Fisura del Paladar , Asimetría Facial , Inteligibilidad del Habla , Percepción del Habla , Labio Leporino/cirugía , Fisura del Paladar/cirugía , Cara/anatomía & histología , Femenino , Humanos , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: A new approach to classify oral-nasal balance disorders based on instrumental measurements was developed based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of nasalance scores of simulated oral-nasal balance disorders by de Boer and Bressmann. The current study aimed to apply the newly developed functions to clinical data to investigate the applicability of this new approach. DESIGN: Retrospective diagnostic accuracy study. SETTING: Tertiary university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-five Dutch-speaking Flemish children (age 4-12 years) with normal (n = 20), hypernasal (n = 18), hyponasal (n = 12), or mixed nasality (n = 5). INTERVENTIONS: Nasalance scores of an oral and a nasal text were used to calculate 3 sets of LDA function scores. Predicted classification was consecutively based on the function values of the group centroids originally determined by de Boer and Bressmann and adapted LDA functions and group centroids based on clinical data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Discriminatory power of the linear discriminant formulas. RESULTS: Based on the original LDA functions, 56% of the speech samples matched the perceptual classification. Applying a correction factor for age and language differences resulted in a 67% correct classification, although 83% of the hyponasal samples were ranked as "normal resonance." Rederivation of the LDA functions based on current clinical data resulted in an 80% correct classification. CONCLUSIONS: The new approach of classifying oral-nasal balance disorders based on a combination of nasalance scores was promising. However, further clinical research is needed to refine the LDA functions and group centroids before clinical application is possible.
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Enfermedades Nasales , Calidad de la Voz , Niño , Preescolar , Humanos , Nariz , Estudios Retrospectivos , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
Many speakers with cleft palate develop atypical consonant productions, especially for pressure consonants such as plosives, fricatives, and affricates. The present study investigated the nature of nasal sound errors. The participants were eight female and three male speakers with cleft palate between the ages of 6 to 20. Speakers were audio-recorded, and midsagittal tongue movement was captured with ultrasound. The speakers repeated vowel-consonant-vowel with the vowels /α/, /i/, and /u/ and the alveolar and velar nasal consonants /n/ and /η/. The productions were reviewed by three listeners. The participants showed a variety of different placement errors and insertions of plosives, as well as liquid productions. There was considerable error variability between and within speakers, often related to the different vowel contexts. Three speakers co-produced click sounds. The study demonstrated the wide variety of sound errors that some speakers with cleft palate may demonstrate for nasal sounds. Nasal sounds, ideally in different vowel contexts, should be included in articulation screenings for speakers with cleft palate, perhaps more than is currently the case.
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Trastornos de la Articulación/fisiopatología , Labio Leporino/fisiopatología , Fisura del Paladar/fisiopatología , Medición de la Producción del Habla/métodos , Lengua/diagnóstico por imagen , Lengua/fisiopatología , Ultrasonografía , Adolescente , Trastornos de la Articulación/etiología , Niño , Labio Leporino/complicaciones , Fisura del Paladar/complicaciones , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Anecdotal clinical reports have stated that hypernasal speech sounds monotonous. However, the relationship between the perception of intonation (i.e., the fundamental frequency variation across an utterance) and hypernasality (excessive nasal resonance during the production of non-nasal sounds) has not been investigated in research. We hypothesized that auditory-perceptual ratings of intonation would be significantly lower for more hypernasal stimuli. METHODS: One male and one female voice actor simulated 3 levels of intonation (monotone, normal, and exaggerated) at 4 different levels of hypernasality (normal, mild, moderate, and severe). Thirty participants listened to the simulations and rated the intonation on a visual analogue scale from 0 (monotone) to 100 (exaggerated). RESULTS: A mixed-effects ANOVA revealed main effects of intonation (F2 = 236.46, p < 0.001), and hypernasality (F3 = 159.89, p < 0.001), as well as an interaction between the two (F6 = 28.35, p < 0.001). Post hoc analyses found that speech was rated as more monotonous as hypernasality increased. Summary/Implications: The presence of hypernasality in speech can lead listeners to perceive speech as more monotonous. Instrumental measures should be used to corroborate auditory-perceptual evaluations of speech features like intonation.
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Percepción del Habla , Calidad de la Voz , Adolescente , Adulto , Percepción Auditiva , Tedio , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Fonética , Percepción de la Altura Tonal , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: This study establishes normative nasalance values for middle-aged and elderly Brazilian Portuguese-speakers and investigates age and gender effects across the life span. METHODS: Nasalance scores were obtained from 62 middle-aged (45-59 years) and 60 elderly (60-79 years) participants with normal speech for 3 nonnasal, 1 phonetically balanced, and 2 nasal-loaded test sentences using the Nasometer II 6400. The data were combined with a published data set of 237 speakers in 4 groups: children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), young adults (20-24 years), and mature adults (25-35 years). A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to investigate differences between the stimuli by gender and age groups. RESULTS: There were statistically significant effects of stimulus, gender, and age group, as well as a stimulus-age group interaction effect and a gender-age group interaction effect. The females' mean nasalance scores were higher than those of the males. The mean nasalance scores for the child, adolescent, and young and mature adult speakers were significantly lower than those for the elderly speakers, and the children's scores were significantly lower than those of the middle-aged speakers. CONCLUSION: Higher nasalance scores among middle-aged and elderly speakers may indicate physiological changes affecting oral-nasal balance in speech across the life span.
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Calidad de la Voz/fisiología , Anciano , Envejecimiento/fisiología , Brasil , Conjuntos de Datos como Asunto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Boca , Cavidad Nasal , Caracteres Sexuales , Acústica del Lenguaje , Medición de la Producción del HablaRESUMEN
The present study evaluated global aspects of lingual movement during sentence production with backward and forward voice focus. Nine female participants read a sentence with a variety of consonants in a normal condition and with backward and forward voice focus. Midsagittal tongue movement was recorded with ultrasound. Tongue height over time at an anterior, a central, and a posterior measurement angle was measured. The outcome measures were speech rate, cumulative distance travelled, and average movement speed of the tongue. There were no differences in speech rate between the different conditions. The cumulative distance travelled by the tongue and the average speed indicated that the posterior tongue travelled a smaller cumulative distance and at a slower speed in the forward focus condition. The central tongue moved a larger cumulative distance and at a higher speed in the backward focus condition. The study offers first insights on how tongue movement is affected by different voice focus settings and illustrates the plasticity of tongue movement in speech.
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Movimiento/fisiología , Pruebas de Articulación del Habla , Lengua/fisiología , Femenino , Humanos , Habla/fisiología , Lengua/diagnóstico por imagen , Ultrasonografía , Voz , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Acoustic studies of oral-nasal balance disorders to date have focused on hypernasality. However, in patients with cleft palate, nasal obstruction may also be present, so that hypernasality and hyponasality co-occur. In this study, normal speakers simulated different disorders of oral-nasal balance. Linear discriminant analysis was used to create a tentative diagnostic formula based on the long-term averaged spectra (LTAS) of the speech stimuli. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven female participants were recorded while reading nonnasal and nasal speech stimuli. LTASs of the recordings were run for their normal oral-nasal balance and their simulations of hyponasal, hypernasal, and mixed oral-nasal balance. The amplitude values (in decibels) were extracted in 100-Hz intervals over a range of 4 kHz. RESULTS: A repeated-measures analysis of variance of the normalized amplitudes revealed a resonance condition-frequency band amplitude interaction effect (P < .001). A linear discriminant analysis of the participants' LTAS led to formulas correctly classifying 80.7% of the oral-nasal balance conditions. CONCLUSION: The simulations produced distinctive spectra enabling the creation of formulas that predicted the oral-nasal balance above chance level. Future research with speakers with oral-nasal balance disorders will be needed to investigate the potential of this approach for the clinical diagnosis of disorders of oral-nasal balance.
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Medición de la Producción del Habla , Calidad de la Voz , Adulto , Fisura del Paladar/fisiopatología , Análisis Discriminante , Femenino , Humanos , Nariz , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: This study investigates whether a change in speaking voice focus affects the oral-nasal balance. The investigation was undertaken with different phonetic materials in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, which features phonological and phonetic vowel nasalization. METHODS: Ten females read oral, balanced oral-nasal, and nasal loaded sentences in their normal voice, and with a backward focus and a forward focus. Nasalance scores were collected with a Nasometer 6400. RESULTS: A repeated measures ANOVA of the nasalance scores demonstrated a significant main effect of speaking condition (F(2, 18) = 12.87, p < 0.001). The mean nasalance scores across the stimuli in the backward focus and normal speaking conditions were 36.85% (SD 16.85) and 40.18% (SD 18.02), respectively, both significantly lower than the forward focus condition at 45.38% (SD 18.90). CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that speaking focus influences oral-nasal balance in normal speakers. In future research, it should be investigated whether voice focus can also modify oral-nasal balance in hypernasal speakers with cleft palate and other disorders.
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Fonética , Acústica del Lenguaje , Medición de la Producción del Habla , Brasil , Femenino , Humanos , Calidad de la VozRESUMEN
Outcomes of articulation therapy for rhotic errors are usually assessed perceptually. However, our understanding of associated changes of tongue movement is limited. This study described perceptual, durational and tongue displacement changes over 10 sessions of articulation therapy for /ɹ/ in six children. Four of the participants also received ultrasound biofeedback of their tongue shape. Speech and tongue movement were recorded pre-therapy, after 5 sessions, in the final session and at a one month follow-up. Perceptually, listeners perceived improvement and classified more productions as /ɹ/ in the final and follow-up assessments. The durations of VɹV syllables at the midway point of the therapy were longer. Cumulative tongue displacement increased in the final session. The average standard deviation was significantly higher in the middle and final assessments. The duration and tongue displacement measures illustrated how articulation therapy affected tongue movement and may be useful for outcomes research about articulation therapy.