Browsing by Subject "Voice"
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Item Acoustic correlates of [voice] in two dialects of Venezuelan Spanish(2009-08) Lain, Stephanie; Birdsong, David; Kelm, Orlando R., 1957-The present study is an investigation of acoustic correlates corresponding to the category [voice] in two dialects of Venezuelan Spanish. The Andean mountain dialect Mérida (MER) and Caribbean coastal dialect Margarita (MAR) are thought to differ systematically in the phonetic implementation of the Spanish phonological stop series along the lines of lowland and highland divides commonly reported for Latin American Spanish. Specifically, MER has been characterized by a greater percentage of occlusive pronunciations, MAR by more fricative and/or approximant realizations of phonological stops. To test what repercussions these differences in consonant articulation have on the acoustic correlates that encode [voice], a production experiment was run. Informants were 25 adult monolingual speakers of Venezuelan Spanish from the areas of El Tirano (Margarita Island) and San Rafael de Mucuchíes (Mérida state). The materials were 44 CV syllable prompts. Target syllables were analyzed with respect to the following: consonant closure duration, VOT, %VF, RMS, preceding vowel duration, CV ratio, F1 onset frequency, F0 contour, and burst. Statistical analysis using a linear mixed model ANOVA tested for fixed effects of voicing category, dialect and condition (speeded/unspeeded) and interactions of voicing category * dialect and dialect * condition. Results showed that the dialects MER and MAR vary significantly in RMS. In addition, the following correlates were significant for the interaction of voicing category * dialect: consonant duration, VOT, %VF, RMS, CV ratio and burst. Generally, the nature of the differences indicates a greater separation between [± voice] values in MER than in MAR (notably divergent are VOT and RMS). These results imply that while the same acoustic correlates of [voice] are operative in both fortis and lenis dialects of Spanish, [± voice] categories relate differently. Furthermore, with regard to prosody and rate of speech, most significant differences in condition occurred in initial position while most significant differences in the interaction of voicing category * dialect were linked to medial position. The results of this study are relevant to current research on the specifics of dialectal variation in consonant systems. They also have wider implications for the general mapping of phonetics to phonology in speech.Item Big fish in a new pond : how self-perceived status influences newcomer change oriented behaviors(2014-08) Howell, Taeya Marie; Burris, Ethan R.My dissertation focuses on self-perceived status as a driver for newcomers to initiate change in the organizations they join, either by trying to modify the tasks they are assigned to do (job crafting), implementing changes that affect how others do their work (taking charge), or making broader suggestions for improvement to the organization (voice). Although research has noted the actions that organizations take to socialize and to assimilate newcomers into the way things are conventionally done, my research centers the focus on the agency that newcomers display. I find that self-perceived status, how much prestige, respect, or admiration a newcomer thinks he/she enjoys in a group, plays an important role in determining newcomer change oriented behaviors. I also examine if newcomer self-perceived status influences the target of change oriented behaviors towards coworkers or supervisors. I find some support for the moderating influences of both individual level differences (e.g., self-monitoring) and organizational contextual factors (e.g., socialization tactics that aim to affirm newcomers' unique values and skills in the new organization) on the relationship between self-perceived status and the propensity to engage in change oriented behaviors. I test my hypotheses with a variety of methods including a field study and two laboratory experiments.Item Clinical considerations in speech therapy for female-to-male transgender populations(2013-05) Maurer, Elizabeth Hobbs; Byrd, Courtney T.Purpose: The purposes of the present study consisted of primary, secondary, and tertiary purposes: 1) to determine what factors that can be addressed in speech therapy are the most important for female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals in passing as their true gender, 2) to determine what factors may contribute to these individuals seeking speech therapy services and to the importance that they assign to speech therapy as part of the transition process, and 3) to determine awareness of this population in regards to the availability and scope of speech therapy services relative to transitioning or passing as their true gender. Method: A 38-item survey was developed to address these research questions and a link to the online survey was distributed via email to various listservs, organizations, and personal contacts to assist in the electronic distribution of the survey link. The responses of the final participant pool of 63 respondents were evaluated. Results: Overall, the participants ranked voice characteristics as the most important for passing followed by nonverbal communication and social language use. These broad categories rankings are generally supported by the existing literature. Within category rankings revealed rankings that are in accord with the existing literature, others that oppose the existing literature, and others that have not been explored in the literature. The following factors stood out as possibly contributing to how important FtMs find speech therapy as facilitating their ability to live as their true gender: desire to pass, satisfaction with hormone related pitch changes, current overall presentation, and whether speech/language contribute to instances of not passing. Factors that appear to possibly contribute to how likely FtMs are to have sought speech therapy include: satisfaction with hormone related pitch changes, voice prior to transition, and if aspects of speech and language contribute to instances of not passing. Overall, FtMs have little awareness regarding speech therapy as part of the transition process, particularly for FtMs.Item Factors Supporting College Mathematics Sucess: Orientation, Voice, and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge(2013-08-09) Alpert, Anna PatThe purpose of this study was to examine factors supporting college mathematics success. First, effect of a brief high school orientation to mathematical technologies used for college placement testing was examined. Secondly, the voice of participants in this orientation was heard. Finally, bootstrapped orientation data were presented to teachers and instructors of introductory statistics courses as a scaffold to their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) as these teachers and instructors strive to actively engage students to achieve college mathematics success. Many entering college students are placed into developmental mathematics classes based on scores from college placement assessments that allow extremely limited use of calculating technology and have various time constraints. Students in a rural central Texas 3A high school that were enrolled in Algebra II course were given pre- and post- tests in Arithmetic and Algebra. Each 20-minute test contained 15 mathematical content questions and one qualitative question. The post-test was given approximately a week after the pre-test. During the week, students were provided time to explore review material using only pencil and paper for the arithmetic review, and a four-function calculator on the algebra review questions. Effects of the orientation were analyzed using mean scores, confidence intervals, effect size, and GLM for whole-group and sub-groups. A paired samples t-test was calculated. These effects were discussed. A case study involving participants of the orientation was conducted. Twelve participants were interviewed after each had entered college. Five themes emerged from these interviews: (1) Knowledge of College Mathematics, (2) Technology and Mathematics, (3) Mathematics Tests/Assessments, (4) Teaching and Learning Mathematics, and (5) Mathematical Experiences, Hopes and Dreams. Each theme is discussed. Using Microsoft Excel, bootstrapping is presented to instructors of first year introductory statistics courses in support of student success as instructors? technological pedagogical content knowledge is developed. A course project demonstrating and developing application of computational technology by bootstrapping confidence intervals at the 95 % level using Microsoft Excel is presented. Data from the orientation were further analyzed in the bootstrapping project. Confidence intervals were empirically calculated from bootstrapped resamples of the mean. The number of resamples used was 250 at each of three levels: Over-sampling, at-sampling, and under-sampling. Graphs of bootstrapped confidence intervals, using the Rule of Eye 4, showed statistically significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores for all pairs of data sets.Item Fostering youth engagement:(2009-05-15) Maynard, Karen KimberlyYouth-adult partnerships are collaborations between adults and youth in the decision-making and planning processes. When adults enable youth to be a part of the decision-making and planning processes, youth voice, empowerment, and participation become important tools for facilitating engagement. Better understanding these processes can be beneficial for practitioners and programmers. Incorporating these tools increases support and opportunity for youth developmental benefits and increases program retention rates. This thesis focuses on better understanding the relationship between youth voice, empowerment, and participation and critical factors in developing youth engagement and utilizing the power of adult-youth partnerships in youth development. A preliminary model of Systematic Degree of Engagement specifying the relationship between youth voice, empowerment, and participation has been developed and discussed. One of the key issues in developing the model has been that existing literature has rarely made distinctions between voice, empowerment, and participation. The terms have been used interchangeably and, when distinctions have been made, overlaps between the terms have not been fully explored. Therefore, this thesis built on existing literature by defining distinctions among these constructs. After distinctions between concepts were made a model was derived: Systematic Degree of Engagement. From this research, program designers are able to develop programs and assess existing programs that foster youth engagement. Researchers benefit from this thesis in understanding the distinctions in voice, empowerment, participation, and engagement. The findings of this thesis are the distinctions in terminology of voice, empowerment, participation, and engagement; as well as, a model illustrating these terms independence and inter-relatedness.Item Hearing voices in the dark : deploying Black sonicity as a strategy in dramatic performance(2012-05) McQuirter, Marcus Emil; Jones, Omi Osun Joni L., 1955-; Jones,, Meta DuEwa; Gerald, Stephen; Christian, Pamela; Bonin, PaulDespite the apparent hegemony of vision in racial categorization, historically vocality has borne the brunt of as much racial presumption as physical appearance. This project explores ideas about Blackness, and how the voice in performance engenders conversations on racial authenticity within the United States. Broadly, the work examines how “sounding Black” functions within dramatic performance, and how wider concerns of racial identity adhere to a performer’s vocal choices. The contextualization of racialized sound presented in this project begins with an historical overview of how a “Blackness of tongue” has been framed in U.S. theatrical performance from the early 1800s through the 1960s. It then addresses the dynamics of voice and racial authenticity through two performance case studies: August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro. These cases will be used to explore how issues of racial authenticity thrive in the space between vocal sound production and perception. As case studies based on specific productions of these two plays, text, directorial choices, and the vocal characteristics of the actors themselves occupy equal space at the center of each analysis. At a deeper level, this research seeks an understanding of the cultural assumptions that support the idea of a uniquely Black vocal sound, and what that sound purchases within American societies. In addressing both the phonological and the interpretive qualities of these performances, the central research concerns of this project attempt to pinpoint with more accuracy how voice, fore-grounded in performance, triggers different sets of assumptions that have been commonly identified as a significant component of BlacknessItem Knowledge and training of speech-language pathologists regarding assessment and treatment considerations for singers(2013-05) Badgett, Lynn Burnor; Byrd, Courtney T.Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine SLPs' preparation to work with singers by examining their knowledge and training levels regarding vocal hygiene, assessment and treatment for singers, vocal pedagogy and competency in working with singers. Method: A 66-item survey designed to address the research questions was distributed via email to possible participants found through American Speech Language Hearing Association's (ASHA) "Find a Professional" service. Each email contained a password-protected web link to the survey, which was hosted on Survey Monkey. Results: The majority of participants reported low amounts of academic and clinical exposure to singers. The largest percentage demonstrated adequate knowledge of vocal hygiene, but had difficulty with knowledge items regarding assessment and treatment considerations for singers and vocal pedagogy. The majority expressed low levels of competency in working with singers. However, these effects appeared to be mediated by voice specialization. Voice specialists (VS), a subset of the total participants, were found to have received significantly more total hours studying voice and had significantly more voice clients, including singers, than non-voice specialists (NVS). A combination of academic and clinical exposure at the graduate level was found to lead to continued study regarding voice disorders and vocal function for singers. VS also reported higher levels of training in vocal pedagogy and performance and demonstrated significantly higher knowledge levels regarding assessment and treatment considerations for singers and vocal pedagogy than NVS. Similarly, they also reported higher overall competency in working with singers than the NVS. Conclusions: This preliminary data suggests that overall preparation to work with singers is somewhat lacking in most graduate programs. The majority of SLPs appears to retain information regarding vocal hygiene, but does not appear to remember some basic facts about the treatment of voice disorders. Improvements towards education in voice would serve as a worthy goal in improving SLP's service delivery in general to voice clients and singers. Additionally, providing more opportunities to work with voice clients and singers would also help better prepare SLPs as a whole to work with singers. Finally, a structured accreditation process to become a singing voice specialist (SVS) is sorely needed to ensure optimal service delivery to this unique population.Item The male-to-female transgender voice client of the 21st century(2010-05) Bodoin, Erika Melissa.; Byrd, Courtney T.; Adler, Richard K.The purpose of the present study was to determine the current characteristics and needs of the male-to-female transgender voice client. Specifically, what are the current characteristics (e.g. age, marital status, number of children) of the male-to-female transgender client? Does participation in therapy affect overall satisfaction with feminine presentation? Do alternative methods for voice feminization (e.g. DVDs, YouTube, peer mentors) result in similar levels of satisfaction? Lastly, do male-to-female transgender avoid community activities in order to prevent being perceived as male, and can therapy help with this? We evaluated the responses of 77 participants who completed an Internet-based survey. Results were compared to Blanchard’s 1994 study of characteristics of male-to-female transgender persons. Characteristics of the 1994 study and the MtF transgender client of 2010 were comparable, with a slightly older age for the present study. The client was likely to have been married at least once, and to have at least one child. Respondents who had participated in speech therapy were more satisfied with their femininity overall when compared to those who had not received speech services. Satisfaction with alternative methods was low. In addition, both groups reported a high level of avoidant activities based on fear of being perceived as male.Item The persistence of hoarseness in school-age children(Texas Tech University, 1973-12) Bulian, Nita JNot availableItem ?To be natural . . . is such a difficult pose to keep up?: Elocution?s Extended D?nouement, a Case for the Revival of Thomas Sheridan?s Sincere Performer in Contemporary English Studies(2012-07-16) Snodgrass, LindsayThis thesis analyzes elocutionary theory and practice on a national, literary, and individual level, placing emphasis on the ways in which the eighteenth century treatises of elocutionist Thomas Sheridan address, and ultimately promote, speaking as both a public (or performative) and private (or authentic) act. Moreover, the thesis extends a consideration of the impact of elocutionary theory on various historical moments throughout the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, respectively. Beginning with the works of elocutionist Thomas Sheridan and concluding with an analysis of recent pedagogical theories and narratives within the field of composition studies, this thesis also defines the impact of Sheridan's theories on the construction of Irish national identity. It presents nineteenth and twentieth-century Irish theatre as a compelling case study in order to argue that performance?a key theoretical concept in elocutionary theory?remains essential to the study and investigation of voice in the contemporary English classroom. Focusing on the dramatic works of Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Brian Friel, this thesis contends that Irish drama, in addition to presenting a forceful illustration of the ways in which Sheridan's elocutionary theories have been adapted and challenged on the national and civic level, provides current scholars access to recent dramatic representations of authenticity and voice as well as the virtues/pitfalls of performativity. Wilde, Shaw and Friel specifically present linguistic performance as a process of negotiation and exchange, using the stage to reflect and construct Irish national and civic identity. Each playwright offers a lens through which to reevaluate ongoing debates over language acquisition, particularly as such debates arise within the context of composition studies. Through a careful examination of elocutionary theory and its various influences across a variety of historical moments, this study encourages contemporary composition scholars and pedagogues to reconsider the role of authenticity and performance within the writing classroom, prompting students and teachers to explore writing as an expression of both the public and private self. In doing so, this thesis argues that scholars and teachers will become better equipped to address discussions of voice, authenticity and performance in their writing classrooms.