Validation of items for a speech intelligibility assessment scale

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Linguistics
• Psychology

Background:

• Speech intelligibility is crucial for effective communication.
• Phonological disorder (PD) significantly impacts speech clarity.
• Understanding the role of phonological repair strategies (RS) is key to assessing intelligibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a speech intelligibility assessment scale for Brazilian Portuguese speakers with PD.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the scale in classifying speech intelligibility.
• To investigate the influence of repair strategies (RS) and demographic factors on speech intelligibility.

Main Methods:

• Recorded spontaneous narratives from children with PD and a control subject.
• Presented audio recordings to 103 judges with normal hearing.
• Judges evaluated speech intelligibility based on a developed scale.

Main Results:

• The developed scale demonstrated statistical validity and efficacy in assessing speech intelligibility.
• Phonological repair strategies (RS) were found to be fundamental to speech intelligibility.
• No significant interference was observed from judge's gender, age, literacy, or experience with children.

Conclusions:

• The validated scale is effective for assessing speech intelligibility in children with PD.
• The study highlights the critical role of repair strategies (RS) in speech clarity.
• Demographic factors did not statistically influence intelligibility judgments.