How Graduate Students With Vocal Fry Are Perceived by Speech-Language Pathologists

Abstract

Purpose: Vocal fry (VF), a low-pitched, grating voice quality, appears to be trending among young women. Current research lacks consensus of listeners' perceptions associated with VF. This study investigated practicing speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) perceptions of graduate speech-language pathology students who speak with VF. Method: Thirty-two graduate students were recorded reading the Rainbow Passage and providing a brief monologue. VF was detected perceptually and acoustically for all 32 students' recordings. For the 127-syllable passage, percent of VF (%VF) ranged from 2.36% (three syllables) to 40.16% (51 syllables) with an average of 12.25% (15 syllables). Twelve recorded passages were selected and sorted into two statistically significant groups ( p = .001; seven with the most %VF and five with the least). Passage samples were randomly uploaded into a Qualtrics survey. Practicing SLPs listened to each sample and provided categorical and visual analog ratings for voice pleasantness and perceived speaker competence, education, hirability, and professionalism. Results: The online survey was completed by 150 experienced SLPs who spanned differing geographical locations, work settings, and years of experience. Chi-square tests of independence and independent-samples t tests revealed statistically significant findings for all rated characteristics, indicating that VF samples were less pleasant, and their users less competent, hirable, educated, and professional. Conclusions: These findings support those of Gottliebson et al. (2007), whereby 32% of our cohort had ≥ 15 instances of VF during passage reading, and those of Anderson et al. (2014), that VF negatively impacts how a speaker is perceived. Speech-language pathology graduate students should be cognizant of VF use, as they seek to secure competitive externships and jobs.