School cafeteria noise—The impact of room acoustics and speech intelligibility on children’s voice levels

Abstract

The impact of room acoustics and speech intelligibility conditions of different school cafeterias on the voice levels of children is examined. Methods of evaluating cafeteria designs and predicting noise levels are discussed. Children are shown to modify their voice levels with changes in speech intelligibility like adults. Reverberation and signal to noise ratio are the important acoustical factors affecting speech intelligibility. Children have much more difficulty than adults in conditions where noise and reverberation are present. To evaluate the relationship of voice level and speech intelligibility, a database of real sound levels and room acoustics data was generated from measurements and data recorded during visits to a variety of existing cafeterias under different occupancy conditions. The effects of speech intelligibility and room acoustics on childrens voice levels are demonstrated. A new method is presented for predicting speech intelligibility conditions and resulting noise levels for the design of new cafeterias and renovation of existing facilities. Measurements are provided for an existing school cafeteria before and after new room acoustics treatments were added. This will be helpful for acousticians, architects, school systems, regulatory agencies, and Parent Teacher Associations to create less noisy cafeteria environments.