title: Measuring up to speech intelligibility.
abstract: Improvement or maintenance of speech intelligibility is a central aim in a whole range of conditions in speech-language therapy, both developmental and acquired. Best clinical practice and pursuance of the evidence base for interventions would suggest measurement of intelligibility forms a vital role in clinical decision-making and monitoring. However, what should be measured to gauge intelligibility and how this is achieved and relates to clinical planning continues to be a topic of debate. This review considers the strengths and weaknesses of selected clinical approaches to intelligibility assessment, stressing the importance of explanatory, diagnostic testing as both a more sensitive and a clinically informative method. The worth of this, and any approach, is predicated, though, on awareness and control of key design, elicitation, transcription and listening/listener variables to maximize validity and reliability of assessments. These are discussed. A distinction is drawn between signal-dependent and -independent factors in intelligibility evaluation. Discussion broaches how these different perspectives might be reconciled to deliver comprehensive insights into intelligibility levels and their clinical/educational significance. The paper ends with a call for wider implementation of best practice around intelligibility assessment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, Speech and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D013060:Speech; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception
keywords: articulation; assessment; intelligibility; speech disorders; speech perception