Effects of a short-term voice training course for teacher students of physical education
Elina Kankare, Jaana Tyrmi, Anne-Maria Laukkanen, Tiina Järvinen
This study investigated the effects of a short-term voice-training course on the speaking voice of 10 female teacher students of physical education. The course consisted of five contact lessons (á 1 h theory, 1 h vocal exercises) given every two weeks. The participants also performed simple, little time consuming vocal exercises at home and kept an exercise diary. The exercises were taught and checked during every contact lesson. Before and after the course the participants read aloud a one minute long text in habitual loudness and loudly and filled in a visual analog scale questionnaire about subjective sensations of their voices. The text reading samples were analyzed for mean fundamental frequency (F0), sound pressure level (SPL) and alpha ratio (SPL [1-5 kHz] - SPL [50Hz -1 kHz]). Seven experienced voice trainers perceptually analyzed the text reading samples in habitual loudness. The mean F0 increased slightly (p = 0,013, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test) and SPL decreased (p= 0,033). Voice quality was evaluated better (p = 0,017). According to subjective reports, voice production felt easier after the course (p = 0,007), throat was less tired (p ="." 0,02) and voice less hoarse (p ="." 0,002). The results suggest that also a short-term voice-training course may have positive effects on the speaking voice both from the point of view of the speaker and the listener. The spectral parameters do not necessarily show any significant changes since they may change into opposite directions in different individuals depending on the starting quality.
Key words: Voice exercises, subjective sensations, perceptual valuation, F0, SPL, spectrum slope
Elina Kankare (1, Jaana Tyrmi (1, Anne-Maria Laukkanen(1 , Tiina Järvinen (2
1. Department of Speech Communication and Voice Research, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
2. Department of Sport Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
Elina Kankare
Antinkatu 4
33900 Tampere
Finland
+358 40 589 33 00
email add. elina.kankare@uta.fi
Anne-Maria Laukkanen
Tampereen yliopisto, Kalevantie 4, E202
Puheopin laitos, 33014 Tampereen yliopisto
+358 3 35516323
anne-maria.laukkanen@uta.fi
Jaana Tyrmi
Kannistonkuja 2 D
33900 Tampere
Finland
+358 500 571158
email add. jaana.tyrmi@uta.fi