The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the recommended/required use of face masks in public. The use of a face mask compromises communication, especially in the presence of competing noise. It is crucial to measure the potential effects of wearing face masks on speech intelligibility in noisy environments where excessive background noise can create communication challenges. The effects of wearing transparent face masks and using clear speech to facilitate better verbal communication were evaluated in this study. We evaluated listener word identification scores in the following four conditions: (1) type of mask condition (i.e., no mask, transparent mask, and disposable face mask), (2) presentation mode (i.e., auditory only and audiovisual), (3) speaking style (i.e., conversational speech and clear speech), and (4) with two types of background noise (i.e., speech shaped noise and four-talker babble at −5 signal-to-noise ratio). Results indicate that in the presence of noise, listeners performed less well when the speaker wore a disposable face mask or a transparent mask compared to wearing no mask. Listeners correctly identified more words in the audiovisual presentation when listening to clear speech. Results indicate the combination of face masks and the presence of background noise negatively impact speech intelligibility for listeners. Transparent masks facilitate the ability to understand target sentences by providing visual information. Use of clear speech was shown to alleviate challenging communication situations including compensating for a lack of visual cues and reduced acoustic signals.

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in recommended/required use of a face mask in public. The use of a face mask compromises communication, especially in the presence of competing noise. It is crucial to measure potential adverse effect(s) of wearing face masks on speech intelligibility in communication contexts where excessive background noise occurs to lead to solutions for this communication challenge. Accordingly, effects of wearing transparent face masks and using clear speech to support better verbal communication was evaluated here. We evaluated listener word identification scores in the following four conditions: (1) type of masking (i.e., no mask, transparent mask, and disposable paper mask), (2) presentation mode (i.e., auditory only and audiovisual), (3) speaker speaking style (i.e., conversational speech and clear speech), and (4) with two types of background noise (i.e., speech shaped noise and four-talker babble at negative 5 signal to noise ratio levels). Results showed that in the presence of noise, listeners performed less well when the speaker wore a disposable paper mask or a transparent mask compared to wearing no mask. Listeners correctly identified more words in the audiovisual when listening to clear speech. Results indicate the combination of face masks and the presence of background noise impact speech intelligibility negatively for listeners. Transparent masks facilitate the ability to understand target sentences by providing visual information. Use of clear speech was shown to alleviate challenging communication situations including lack of visual cues and reduced acoustic signal.

This study investigates whether the earliest words children choose to say are mainly words containing sounds they can produce (cf. 'phonological dominance' hypotheses), or whether children choose words without regard to their phonological characteristics (cf. 'lexical dominance' hypotheses). Phonological properties of words in spontaneous speech from six children age 0;8 to 2;11 were analyzed by comparing sound distributions of consonant place and manner. Word-initial and word-final consonant patterns in children's Word Targets versus Actual Word Forms were analyzed as a function of vocabulary size. Word-initial results showed more overall evidence for phonological dominance. In word-final position, at lower vocabulary sizes, results showed several differences between Word Targets and Actual Word Forms, consistent with lexical dominance. These findings challenge an 'either-or' phonological versus lexical dominance approach, and support consideration of a multifactorial set of influences, including different phonological dimensions and word positions, on the words that young children choose to say.

Purpose This study examined the effect of depressive symptoms on production and perception of conversational and clear speech (CS) sentences. Method Five talkers each with high-depressive (HD) and low-depressive (LD) symptoms read sentences in conversational and clear speaking style. Acoustic measures of speaking rate, mean fundamental frequency (F0; Hz), F0 range (Hz), and energy in the 1–3 kHz range (dB) were obtained. Thirty-two young adult participants (15 HD, 16 LD) heard these conversational and clear sentences mixed with energetic masking (speech-shaped noise) at −5 dB SPL signal-to-noise ratio. Another group of 39 young adult participants (18 HD, 19 LD) heard the same sentences mixed with informational masking (one-talker competing speech) at −12 dB SPL signal-to-noise ratio. The key word correct score was obtained. Results CS was characterized by a decreased speaking rate, increased F0 mean and range, and increased energy in the 1–3 kHz range. Talkers with HD symptoms produced these modifications significantly less compared to talkers with LD symptoms. When listening to speech in energetic masking (speech-shaped noise), listeners with both HD and LD symptoms benefited less from the CS produced by HD talkers. Listeners with HD symptoms performed significantly worse than listeners with LD symptoms when listening to speech in informational masking (one-talker competing speech). Conclusions Results provide evidence that depressive symptoms impact intelligibility and have the potential to aid in clinical decision making for individuals with depression.