title: Effect of Two Isolated Vocal-facilitating Techniques Chant Talk and Pitch Inflections on the Phonation of Female Speech-language Pathology Students: A Pilot Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the isolated vocal-facilitating techniques Chant Talk and Pitch Inflections on the phonation of healthy female speech-language pathology (SLP) students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multigroup pretest-posttest design was used.
  
  
  METHODS
  A homogenous group of 40 healthy female SLP students with a mean age of 18.7 years were randomly assigned into 3 groups: a Chant Talk group (practicing Chant Talk across 18 weeks), a Pitch Inflections group (practicing Pitch Inflections across 18 weeks), and a control group (practicing no facilitating techniques). To compare vocal measures before and after this time span, an identical objective voice assessment protocol (aerodynamic measurement, acoustic analysis, voice range profile, and Dysphonia Severity Index) was performed in the 3 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both Chant Talk and Pitch Inflections groups resulted in a significant decrease of the acoustic measure noise-to-harmonics ratio compared with the control group. The Chant Talk group resulted in a significant increase in the acoustic measure fundamental frequency compared with the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this pilot study suggest that the facilitating techniques Chant Talk and Pitch Inflections may improve the objective measure of breathiness (noise-to-harmonics ratio) in healthy female SLP students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Iris.Meerschman@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meerschman
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bettens
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dejagere
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lieselot
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tetaert
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Evelien
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: D'haeseleer
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Claeys
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kristiane
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Lierde
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000293:Adolescent; D001530:Belgium; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D010699:Phonation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000193:education*; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D014834:Voice Training; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chant talk; Facilitating techniques; Phonation; Pitch inflections; Speech-language pathology students