ERIC Number: EJ1448929
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
EISSN: EISSN-1460-6984
Gender and Age Biases in the Assessment of Speech Accuracy: A Study of Speech-Language Clinicians' Ratings of /s/ Accuracy
Benjamin Munson; Chloe Wruck; Nina R. Benway; Jonathan L. Preston
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v59 n6 p2878-2895 2024
Purpose: Typically developing children assigned male at birth (AMAB) and children assigned female at birth (AFAB) produce the fricative /s/ differently: AFAB children produce /s/ with a higher spectral peak frequency. This study examined whether implicit knowledge of these differences affects speech-language pathologists'/speech and language therapists' (SLPs'/SLTs') ratings of /s/ accuracy, by comparing ratings made in conditions where SLPs/SLTs were blind to children's sex assigned at birth (SAB) to conditions in which they were told this information. Methods: SLPs (n = 95) varying in clinical experience rated the accuracy of word-initial /s/ productions (n = 87) of eight children with speech sound disorder in one of four conditions: one in which no information about the children was revealed, one in which children's SAB was revealed, one in which children's age was revealed, and one in which both were revealed. Results: Despite there being no statistically significant differences between AFAB and AMAB children's /s/ production in researcher-determined accuracy or in one acoustic characteristic, spectral centroid, SLPs in all four conditions judged the /s/ productions of AFAB children as more accurate than AMAB children. Listeners were significantly less likely to judge the productions of AMAB children to be inaccurate in the conditions in which age or age and SAB were revealed. These effects were consistent across SLPs with greatly varying levels of clinical experience. Conclusion: Knowing or imputing children's age and SAB can affect ratings of /s/ accuracy. Clinicians should be mindful of these potential effects. Future research should understand how expectations about sociolinguistic variation in speech affect appraisals of their speech and language.
Descriptors: Gender Bias, Age Differences, Bias, Speech Impairments, Accuracy, Allied Health Personnel, Speech Language Pathology, Speech Therapy, Children, Gender Differences, Evaluation, Pronunciation
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01DC020959; R01DC02932; R03DC012152; R15DC016426; T32DC000046