LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:11 November 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Comparison of Rate of Speech and Diadochokinetic Rate in
Nepali and Malayalam Adult Native Speakers

Shanta Dhakal, Keziah Merin Chacko, Vishnu V.K. and Sreelakshmi R.

Abstract

Fluent speech is the production of speech at a normal level of skill, which is continuous but in addition to flow of sounds and syllables, flow of information should also be continuous. Rate of speech is a dimension of fluency which can be defined as the number of words or syllables uttered per unit of time. Diadochokinetic rate refers to an assessment tool which measures how quickly an individual can accurately produce a series of rapid and alternating sounds. In general, it is the ability to repeat a segment of speech at high speed.

Need: Studies on rate of speech are very few. Recent cross linguistic studies are also very rare. The correlation between rate of speech and Diadochokinetic rate is unclear. Malayalam language was found to have the fastest rate of speech among the southern states of India. Nepali language was chosen to compare with the Malayalam language to check which one has faster rate of speech. There is a need to conduct a study on the Diadochokinetic rate in normal Nepali speaking adults since it has not been investigated yet.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the rate of speech and Diadochokinetic rate of adults between Nepali language and Malayalam language and check the correlation between rate of speech and Diadochokinetic rate within and across language.

Participants: Forty participants i.e. twenty each in both the languages, with equal number of both the genders were included in the study. All the participants were having normal speech, language and hearing skill.

Method: In this study, samples were collected in monologue, oral reading and picture description for attaining the rate of speech in both the languages. It was measured in terms of words per minute. Diadochokinetic rate was measured and both Alternate Motion Rate (AMR) and Sequential Motion Rate (SMR) were calculated by using count per time method. The samples were recorded using PRAAT software.

Result: The results revealed that there was a highly significant difference (p<0.001) in rate of speech and no significant difference in DDK results between Malayalam and Nepali speakers. Even though, Nepali speakers were found to have faster rate of speech but their Diadochokinetic rates were similar to those of Malayalam speakers. Results showed that DDK results were independent of rate of speech.

The study clearly indicates that there is a significant difference in many parameters of speech across languages. Hence, there is a requirement of separate normative for the speech assessment in different languages.

Keywords: Nepali, Malayalam, Rate of speech, Diadochokinetic rate.

Introduction

Speech is the audible manifestation of language where the motor and neuro-motor behaviors of human sound production are used for the purpose of communication. Fluency is a speech pattern that flows in a smooth and rhythmic manner. Fluent speech is the production of speech at a normal level of skill, which is continuous but in addition to flow of sounds and syllables, flow of information should also be continuous. Rate of speech is an important dimension of fluency which can be defined as the number of words or syllables uttered per unit of time. Speech rate is estimated from samples of connected speech spoken spontaneously or read. A sample of the clients connected speech is necessary to screen for any fluency disorders. Speech rate can be calculated by various methods which are either syllables per minute or words per minute. Factors which can affect the rate of speech are stylistic effects, biological demands on the speech system, cognitive processing, frequency and duration of hesitations and pauses, emotional state of the speaker and type of speaking situation. Rate of speech is slower in shorter utterances than in longer ones. There is more of a rate decrease during short utterances than there is a rate increase during longer ones. This implies that it is the amount of information in the utterances that affects the rate (Malecot, Johnston and Kizziar, 1972; Starkweather, 1981). Abnormal speech rate affects not only articulatory precision, but also speech intelligibility, so either increasing or decreasing the speaking rate is an objective in therapy for various motor speech disorders.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Shanta Dhakal, BASLP
Student
Dr. M. V. Shetty College of Speech and Hearing
Malady Court
Kavoor
Mangalore – 575 015
Karnataka
India
dhshanta2050@gmail.com

Keziah Merin Chacko, BASLP
Student
Dr. M. V. Shetty College of Speech and Hearing
Malady Court
Kavoor
Mangalore – 575 015
Karnataka
India
keziah.merin7@gmail.com

Vishnu V.K., BASLP

Student
Dr. M. V. Shetty College of Speech and Hearing
Malady Court
Kavoor
Mangalore – 575 015
Karnataka
India
vishnuvk220@gmail.com

Sreelakshmi R., MASLP
Lecturer
Dr. M. V. Shetty College of Speech and Hearing
Malady Court
Kavoor
Mangalore – 575 015
Karnataka
India
lakshmilegacy.r@gmail.com
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