Original scientific paper
The Differences in Acoustic Voice Characteristics Between Female Teachers and Female Vocal Non-professionals
Ana Bonetti
; Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences
Abstract
The aim of this paper was to investigate possible differences in voice quality between the group of 20 female teachers
and the group of 20 female non-professional vocal users, aged between 35 and 50 years. Recordings of the sustained
phonation of the vowel /a/ were acoustically analyzed by using MDV Program. Differences between the selected groups
of subjects were tested by using discriminant analysis. The results showed statistically significant differences between the groups in the mean fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency range, and on variables describing short-term frequency and amplitude perturbations of the fundamental frequency, while on the variables describing harmonicity of the voice no significant differences were detected. Considerably high average values of the perturbation measures gained in the group of female teachers suggested that everyday demands of the teaching profession have a negative impact on the health of the vocal mechanism, and that the teachers should be informed about the vocal hygiene techniques in order to prevent
the development of voice disorders in this population.
Keywords
Female teachers; female vocal non-professionals; acoustic analysis; MDVP
Hrčak ID:
22096
URI
Publication date:
19.3.2007.
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