Vocal Loading in Speaking a Foreign Language

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Speech Science
• Phonetics

Background:

• Vocal fatigue is a common complaint among individuals using their voice professionally.
• Understanding factors influencing vocal fatigue is crucial for voice care and pedagogy.
• Foreign language use presents unique vocal demands that warrant investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if speaking a foreign language impacts subjective vocal fatigue.
• To assess if acoustic measurements indicate increased vocal loading when speaking a non-native language.
• To explore the relationship between subjective fatigue and objective vocal parameters.

Main Methods:

• Recorded speech samples from native Finnish and English speakers in both languages.
• Analyzed acoustic parameters including fundamental frequency, sound level, and speech rate.
• Calculated vocal doses and normalized measures to assess vocal loading.

Main Results:

• Subjects reported greater vocal fatigue when speaking a foreign language.
• Acoustic analysis revealed increased mean fundamental frequency and decreased speech rate.
• Overall vocal doses decreased, but trends for increased loading were observed in specific measures.

Conclusions:

• Subjective vocal fatigue in foreign language use may stem from increased cognitive load rather than physical vocal strain.
• A potential for increased vocal loading exists, particularly in normalized doses and specific acoustic measures.
• Further research with longer speech samples and voice quality indicators is recommended.