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Perceptions of Glottal Fry in Young Women, Natalie Foulks, Speech and Language Pathology, M.S
PERCEPTIONS OF GLOTTAL FRY IN YOUNG WOMEN
Natalie Foulks
Speech & Language Pathology, M.S.
Dr. Chaya Guntupalli, Faculty Advisor
Written by Hannah Warren
Natalie Foulks earned her bachelor’s degree in speech and language pathology from Middle Tennessee State University before coming to East Tennessee State University for her master’s in the same subject area. After experiencing firsthand the numerous ways that speech pathologists could positively impact people’s lives in clinical settings, from augmenting communicative disorders to reteaching individuals how to swallow after a cerebrovascular event (stroke), she knew this was the field she wanted to work in. She learned that ETSU’s master’s program in speech and language pathology offered a concentration in adult voice and a broader spectrum of learning opportunities than other programs she had considered.
Natalie is currently working as a graduate assistant to Dr. Chaya Guntupalli (Nanjundeswaran), an associate professor in the department of Speech and Language Pathology at ETSU, whose clinical work and research interests focus on prevention
Click/tap play button to hear an example of a glottal fry at the end of a sentence (EOS)
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Left, Natalie Foulks, Right, Dr. Chaya Guntupalli
and treatment of voice disorders in professional voice users, such as singers and teachers. During her first year of graduate school in her research class, Natalie and her classmates began a project that examined perceptions of elementary and high school students towards teachers with varying degrees of voice disorders. The mildly dysphonic sample is a representative of a glottal fry. Glottal fry (GF) is a vocal quality of the lowest register and results in a voice that sounds low, rough, and creaky. Interestingly, elementary school kids preferred the mildly dysphonic voice sample (glottal fry) over a non-dysphonic voice sample. A question arose during this study: “Is glottal fry the new norm?” This inspired Natalie to learn more about the prevalence of glottal fry in young female speakers and its impact in the professional world.
With GF being increasingly used by female celebrities (like the Kardashian’s and some podcast hosts), more and more young females are subconsciously emulating this voice quality, and it is even beginning to be heard in young girls. There are several theories as to why more celebrities are using GF, but the exact reason remains unknown. Natalie herself, as a speech and language pathology student, was made aware by Dr. Guntupalli that she, along with around 75% of the other female students were using a glottal fry. This was surprising to her, because she had become so accustomed to hearing that vocal quality that she didn’t even notice it in her own voice at first. There is not much research that has studied whether using GF over time can be damaging to the vocal folds, but it is known that during glottal fry, vocal folds are shortened, and they come close together resulting in a noticeably different and potentially inefficient use of the voice. Natalie and Dr. Guntupalli were interested in examining a potential, more immediate consequence of using GF from a perception perspective. Voice determines an individual’s identity. Natalie, as a young female preparing to enter the workforce, was curious to find out if the hirability of young females might be affected if they spoke with a GF during their interviews. She decided to study the effect of fry in females because, while it is possible for males to use a fry, their voice is usually deeper to begin with making it less noticeable.
Left, Natalie Foulks, Right, Dr. Chaya Guntupalli
To begin with, after screening several females using the Consensus AuditoryPerceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) tool, three females who each exhibited either complete glottal fry, glottal fry at the end of sentences, or no glottal fry were recruited to record voice samples. The CAPE-V scale evaluates vocal quality based on five vocal parameters; roughness, breathiness, loudness, pitch, and strain. An individual with no glottal fry would have no roughness and all attributes would be within normal limits, while individuals with partial GF would have intermittent roughness toward the end of their sentences, and an individual with complete GF would have consistent roughness. After selecting her participants, Natalie created a survey using semantic differential scales of fourteen pairs of contrasting adjectives from hiring construct literature. She distributed the survey to 60 employers across the southern United States to control for dialect and gender; all of whom volunteered to participate in her study. Each of the three mock candidates had the same qualifications and no pictures of the mock employees were included. Her survey wanted to understand if employers could identify GF, if they had any negative perceptions toward glottal fry, and lastly, if glottal fry would impact an individual’s hirablilty.
Once the potential employers received the survey, they were asked to listen to the recordings for each individual and assess each individual based on their voice alone by sliding a scale on each pair of contrasting adjectives such as nice and rude, friendly and grouchy to the word they felt best described the speaker. Natalie found that the potential employers in her study were able to identify continuous glottal fry more frequently than glottal fry at the end of sentences. Even if they were unable to label what they were hearing, they were able to tell that there was something different about the voice of the individuals speaking with a glottal fry. The last portion of her survey asked the potential employers, if on the basis of voice alone, would they would hire each individual. Overall, speakers who used a glottal fry had more negative perceptions than those who had no glottal fry. The most significant difference was between those with continuous glottal fry and those with end of sentence glottal fry in perceived ability to be a good communicator.
Natalie’s findings are significant for females in all professional fields, but especially for those who are speech and language pathologists where their success in their profession depends on their ability to effectively communicate with their patients. Often, individuals do not pay attention to their voice until there is a problem. Both Natalie and Dr. Guntupalli hope this research can aid in teaching young female speakers who are professional voice users, the importance of effective communication. Dr. Guntupalli describes Natalie as a highly motivated, self-starter who always goes above and beyond what is required in any role. She was selected to present her findings in a technical presentation this upcoming May at the Annual Voice Symposium in Philadelphia, an honor that students are not normally selected for. After she defends her thesis this spring, she plans to publish her research. After graduation, she will complete her clinical fellowship and hopes to work in an outpatient clinical setting where she can experience all aspects of the speech and language pathology field.
