CRITIQUE OF UNSUPPORTED PROCEDURAL DESCRIPTIONS
(also known as Expert Opinion)
NOTE: To view the summary of the intervention, scroll about one-third of the way down this post.
KEY
C = clinician
NA = not applicable
P = patient or participant
pmh = Patricia Hargrove, blog developer
SLP = speech-language pathologist
Source: Fairbanks, G. (1960, Ch. 13, Phrases) Voice and articulation drillbook. New York: Harper & Row. (pp. 146-151)
Reviewer(s): pmh
Date: January 13, 2022
Overall Assigned Grade (because there are no supporting data, there is not a grade)
Level of Evidence: Expert Opinion, no supporting evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention although the author may provide secondary evidence supporting components of the intervention.
Take Away: This chapter of Fairbanks (1960) is concerned with the use of phrasing. Fairbanks focuses on two aspects of phrasing: the prosodic marking of phrases and the correspondence between phrases and breathing. This review, however, is only concerned with phrases.
1. Was there a review of the literature supporting components of the intervention? No
2. Were the specific procedures/components of the intervention tied to the reviewed literature? Not Applicable (NA)
3. Was the intervention based on clinically sound clinical procedures? Yes
4. Did the author provide a rationale for components of the intervention? Variable
5. Description of outcome measures:
– Are outcome measures suggested? Yes
• Outcome #1: Appropriate phrasing by modifying location and duration of pauses
• Outcome #2: Appropriate use of stress (prominence)
6. Was generalization addressed? No
7. Was maintenance addressed? No
SUMMARY OF INTERVENTION
PURPOSE: To produce appropriate phrasing using pausing (location and duration) and stress (prominence)
POPULATION: Adults
MODALITY TARGETED: production
ELEMENTS/FUNCTIONS OF PROSODY TARGETED: phrasing, stress (prominence)
ASPECTS OF PROSODY USED TO TREAT THE TARGET: pauses, duration, intensity, pitch, rate
DOSAGE: NA
ADMINISTRATOR: The book is written so that a lay person could use it as a self-help book. Historically, I know of many speech-language pathologists who have used the techniques and the materials in their therapy sessions.
MAJOR COMPONENTS:
1. The author defines phrases and explains that the same passage can be divided into a variety of phrasing patterns. Because of the variation, the development of norms a challenge. Nevertheless, the author provides the following guide for the reading aloud of factual information: 6 to 7 words per phrase or 25 to 30 phrases per minute.
2. C provides P with sentences (see Fairbanks, 1960, p. 146, #1) marked for pausing. P reviews the sentences (e.g., If you get the ice cream,| chocolate sprinkles,| and the whipped cream,| we can get started|) and P
∞reads the sentence aloud attending to the markings and then
∞ reads the same passage with alternative pausing suggesting a different meaning.
3. P reads the passages from #2 with inappropriate pausing.
4. P reads the passages from #2 with unconventional but meaningful pausing.
5. C provides a set of sentences that increase in length from 2 words to 20 words but only have one pause. (See Fairbanks, 1960, p. 146, #4.) P reads aloud the series of sentences.
6. P marks each sentence from #5 with 2 pauses and then reads aloud the sentences as marked.
7. P again marks the sentences from #5 but this time identifies optimal pausing. P then reads the sentences aloud.
8. Using a graphic/visual representation of pausing of phases in a short passage, P reads the passage aloud attempting to replicate the pauses and the duration of the phrases on the representation.
9. P reviews a conventionally written paragraph (see Fairbanks, 1960, p. 147, #8) and marks appropriate pausing. P then reads aloud the passage with the designated pausing.
10. P reads aloud a paragraph that is written with no capitalizations or punctuations. (See Fairbanks, 1960, p. 147-148, #8.)
∞ The first time P reads the paragraph aloud, the objective is continuous speaking with pauses only for breathing.
∞ P reviews the paragraph and marks pauses that are appropriate to the meaning and then reads it aloud.
11. P reads a 100-word factual paragraph silently and then reads it aloud with appropriate phrasing. NOTE: P does not mark the paragraph for pauses.
12. C provides 18 sentences to the P. (See Fairbanks, 1960, p. 148, #11.) Each sentence is bounded by 1, 2, or 3 bars representing short, medium, or long pauses. P reads aloud the sentences with the designated pauses
13. P rereads the 18 sentences from #12:
– with all short pauses,
– then with all medium pauses, and
– finally with all long pauses.
14. C provides P with a set of sentences consisting of 2 phrases/clauses. (See Fairbanks, 1960, p. 148, #13.)
– P marks each sentence with a single bar (|) signifying an appropriate place for a pause.
– P then experiments with the length of pauses in each sentence and settles on a pause duration for each of the bars that is appropriate for an imagined content (emotional state, situation) for each sentence.
– P then marks the sentences with the new pause durations (short |, medium ||, long |||) and reads the sentences aloud.
15. C provides a paragraph with no punctuation. (See Fairbanks, 1960, p. 149, #14.) P reviews the paragraph and adds marks (bars) for place of pauses and the duration. P then reads aloud the paragraph.
18. C provides a paragraph with content that focuses on prominence/stress and opportunities to produces varying degrees of prominence/stress. (See Fairbanks, 1960, p. 150, #17.)
16. C provides sentences containing 3 marked phrases each (see Fairbanks, 1960, p. 149-150, #16). P reads aloud the sentences with special attention to the 2nd phrase within each sentence. Fairbanks claims that the 2nd phrase likely
∞ is produced with the pause after the phrase longer than the pause before it
∞ has less intensity, lower pitch, and/or faster rate (i.e., less prominence/stress).
∞ P then rereads the sentences with attention to prominence
17. C rewrites the sentence from #16, but transposes the second phrase in each sentence with the third. (For Example, the sentence “| It’s too bad | I said, | that you can’t go.| “is transposed to “| It’s too bad | that you can’t go | I said. |”
∞ P reviews the revised sentences and marks the phrases with pause durations that are appropriate to any new meanings.
∞ P then reads the transposed sentence aloud with appropriate pause (locations and durations) while also attending to prominence.
∞ P reviews the paragraph marking phrase and noting potential use of prominence.
∞ P reads aloud the paragraph.
19. C provides a paragraph with no punctuation about grammar and phrasing. (See Fairbanks, 1960, pp. 150-151, #18.)
∞ P reviews the paragraph as well as marks for location and duration of pauses.
∞ P reads aloud the marked paragraph while also producing appropriate prominences/stresses.
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Clinical Prosody 