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Speech Sampling

Taking a sample of a client’s speech is an important aspect of the work of a Speech–Language pathologist. It may form part of the screening process, the assessment, and also be used during the posttreatment follow-up stage. Sampling enables a clinician to get an overall impression of a client’s abilities, pinpoint the areas in which the client is having difficulties, and also track any changes from the previous sample. A speech sample is also a permanent part of the client’s record, which can be referred back to and phonetically transcribed. This entry provides an overview of general recommendations for sampling speech, different types of speech samples, and some considerations related to best practice.

General Recommendations

It is generally recommended to sample a client’s speech during an assessment. This will enable the clinician to assess where the client’s strengths and abilities lie and what type of treatment approach may be beneficial. It will also help the clinician reach a diagnosis by considering the sample along with the case history and any other relevant information available. A speech pathologist will usually audio record the sample using a high-quality audio recorder. This will ensure that there is a permanent high-fidelity copy of the sample for future reference and will also facilitate phonetic transcription or linguistic analysis if this is considered important. Audio recording the sample means it can be played to other speech pathologists and also referred back to by the speech pathologist during or after treatment. For the recording of the sample, it is a good idea to try and reduce any background noise as much as possible and make sure that the microphone is at a comfortable distance from the client’s mouth. It should be explained to the client, and the client’s family if appropriate, why the client’s speech is being recorded and why this will be useful. Many clinicians will begin analyzing the sample while the recording is being made and use the audio recording to check their transcription/analysis.

Types of Speech Samples

A major consideration in carrying out speech sampling is what type of speech to sample. This means deciding whether to sample at the individual sound or syllable level, the word level, the multiword level/sentence level, or at the level of free conversation. All these approaches have relative strengths and weaknesses and should be considered carefully before a decision is made. In some instances, a combination of these approaches can be implemented (e.g., sampling at the individual sound level but then also taking a sample of free conversation). This enables the clinician to see how the client’s speech varies from context to context.

Sound or Syllable Level

Sampling at the sound or syllable (e.g., consonant–vowel and consonant–vowel–consonant–vowel) level is the most basic form of speech sampling. It is almost always used when the clinician wants to establish whether a client can accurately repeat specific sounds or contrast phonetic features (e.g., voiced/voiceless) in a nonword environment. This can help the clinician establish the basic phonetic inventory of his or her client. It is difficult to sample at the sound level without modeling (in the case of children) or perhaps using some form of written prompt (in the case of adults), and therefore, the extent to which the productions carry over into spontaneous speech should always be checked. Single-sound sampling does not allow the clinician to establish whether the client can produce whole words and the sort of rapid movement between articulatory gestures that speech requires. It is also important to remember that a client’s ability to imitate a single sound or even produce a sound spontaneously in isolation does not necessarily mean that the client can produce that same sound in free conversation. Nonetheless, sound and syllable sampling can be a useful strategy when working with clients where a motor speech disorder such as apraxia is suspected.

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