A Mandarin Chinese Reading Passage for Eliciting Significant Vocal Range Variations

Area of Science:

• Speech and Hearing Sciences
• Linguistics
• Clinical Voice Evaluation

Background:

• Standardized Mandarin reading materials for clinical voice assessment are lacking.
• Existing materials may not elicit sufficient vocal range variations (fundamental frequency and intensity).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a phonetically balanced Mandarin reading passage for clinical voice evaluation.
• To hypothesize that the new passage elicits vocal ranges similar to sustained vowel production (Voice Range Profile - VRP) and differs from existing passages.

Main Methods:

• Developed a "Three Bears Passage" based on the "Goldilocks" story.
• Recruited 120 young adults (60 male, 60 female) without vocal pathologies or training.
• Collected vocal range data (fundamental frequency and intensity) using Praat for VRP and passage reading.

Main Results:

• The new passage yielded significantly larger fundamental frequency and intensity ranges than the existing Mandarin passage for both sexes.
• The fundamental frequency range for the new passage was comparable to the VRP for male participants.

Conclusions:

• The developed Mandarin passage enables individuals without vocal training to demonstrate a broad vocal range during reading.
• This passage offers a time-efficient method for assessing vocal range and potential, particularly for individuals with voice disorders.