Speech Rates of Australian English-speaking Children and Adults

Abstract

Speech rate is an important consideration in the assessment of individuals presenting for speech pathology treatment. It has also become a factor in evaluation of treatment efficacy because a common goal in treatment is that the speech attained should not sound different from that of a normal speaker. This is particularly true of the treatment of individuals who stutter. The existing data relating to speed of speaking is of limited clinical value, as much is based on non-Australian populations and the available Australian data are outdated. The speech rates of 120 children (aged approximately 9 years) and adults (aged 21- 30 years) were studied. All participants were assessed during oral reading and conversation tasks. The children were found to speak at a rate of 176 syllables per minute (SPM) and to read at 159 SPM. Adult subjects spoke more quickly, at 237 SPM, and read at a rate of 230 SPM. Current speech rate data show higher SPM rates in Australian English-speaking children and adults than were repo...