Optimizing Communication in Schools and Other Settings During COVID-19

Masked smiles matter – employee verbal expertise and emotion display during COVID-19

“…Referring to Marinova and colleague's (2018) classification of expertise as verbal cue, compared to emotion display as non-verbal cue, the literature provides mixed results regarding face masks' role. On the one hand, FLEs seem not only to suffer from wearing face masks due to their discomfort but are also restricted in their verbal communication as it is more difficult to speak clearly (Mehta et al, 2020;Spitzer, 2020;Wolfe et al, 2020). On the other hand, even though the mask requires more effort from the FLE, in contrast to the facially expressed emotion display, verbal communication is still possible and appreciated (Luximon et al, 2016;Spitzer, 2020).…”

“…The literature on FLE problem-solving effectiveness and associated with this customer satisfaction suggests that FLE verbal cues in such dyadic service interactions play a major role for interaction success since these verbal cues are indicators of FLE knowledge, skills and expertise (Marinova et al, 2018;Wood et al, 2008). While some suggest that verbal communication is more difficult when wearing face masks (Luximon et al, 2016;Mehta et al, 2020;Spitzer, 2020;Wolfe et al, 2020), we do not expect verbal expertise to decrease in relevance when wearing face masks, but rather increase in importance since face masks only slightly exacerbate, but do not hinder the verbal communication between interactants (Luximon et al, 2016;Spitzer, 2020;Thomas et al, 2011). This leads to our third research question, that is, does the relevance of nonverbal cues in the form of FLE emotion display and verbal cues in the form of FLE verbal expertise change for positive customer responses if the FLE is wearing a face mask?…”

Acoustic effects of medical, cloth, and transparent face masks on speech signals

“…Most prior research on masked speech has focused on medical equipment such as surgical masks and N95 respirators. Recent acoustic studies have shown that surgical masks and N95 respirators can attenuate higher-frequency sounds by between 3 and 12 dB ( Atcherson et al , 2020 ; Goldin et al , 2020 ; Wolfe et al , 2020 ). Listening tests using audio-only recordings made with medical masks have not shown significant effects on speech intelligibility ( Mendel et al , 2008 ; Palmiero et al , 2016 ; Thomas et al , 2011 ).…”

“…Because both medical and cloth face masks obstruct visual cues that contribute to speech intelligibility ( Llamas et al , 2008 ), there has been growing interest in transparent face coverings such as plastic shields and face masks with windows ( Atcherson et al , 2020 ; Wolfe et al , 2020 ). In listening tests with audiovisual recordings of talkers, transparent masks improved intelligibility for listeners with severe-to-profound hearing loss compared to opaque paper masks ( Atcherson et al , 2017 ).…”

Acoustic effects of non-transparent and transparent face coverings

“…That is, conventional face coverings result in a noticeable reduction in the loudness and clarity of speech that can be perceived even by individuals with normal hearing sensitivity ( Goldin et al , 2020 ). Speech understanding is further reduced when there is competing background noise ( Goldin et al , 2020 ) and the effect of increased physical distance ( Tucci, 2020 ; Wolfe et al , 2020 ). Second, conventional face coverings not only deteriorate the quality of speech, but they also present a visual obstacle to facial cues and lipreading, especially for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing ( Mendel et al , 2008 ; Atcherson et al , 2017 ; Chodosh et al , 2020 ; Atcherson et al , 2020 ; Tucci, 2020 ; Eby et al , 2020 ; Corey et al.…”