International Journal of Health Sciences

Speech Language Pathology Students’ Expressive and Perceived Speech Rate
Elisa Pitchon, Heather Cadden, Mark W. Pellowski

Abstract
Purpose: This investigation assessed the relationship between speech-language pathology student-clinicians’ expressive and perceived speech rate, and how it relates to the assessment and treatment of individuals who stutter or exhibit other communication disorders. Method: One hundred and five speech-language pathology graduate students participated. Expressive speech rates were calculated from conversational speech samples and perceived speech rates were obtained from a questionnaire. Results: Results indicated that the participants’ average perceived speech rate was 257 words per minute (wpm) and their average expressive speech rate was 317 wpm. Survey results also indicated that the majority of student-clinicians perceived that their speech rate was appropriate, fluent, and important to consider when treating a client with a communication disorder. Conclusion: Findings from this investigation will hopefully aid in developing more effective speech rate modification procedures for speech-language pathologists who work with people who stutter or exhibit other communication disorders.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijhs.v4n3a5