Speech and Sound - Production and Perception, 10.5 credits

For admission to the course, it is required that the student has managed at least 45 HE credits from semester 1-2 and a pass grade in part 1 and 2 from the course Clinical Audiology 1.

The general the aim of the course is to give the student an introduction to the human communication process from a phonetic, acoustic and auditory perspective. It is also to give the student a basic knowledge in how humans notice and experience sounds, as well as psychoacoustic concepts and methods of measurement.

The expected learning outcomes of the course
On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• describe and explain basic concepts in phonetics
• describe and identify vowels and consonants, both articulatory and acoustically, and be able to interpret simple speech spectrograms
• describe phonation mechanisms and voice in normal speech
• explain how speech communication may be affected by hearing impairment
• describe and explain basic concepts in sound perception
• relate these concepts of sound perception to the normal-hearing individual's auditory experience and how this can be measured
• relate the most common types of hearing impairments to perceptual consequences
• critically choose and apply simple psychoacoustic methods of measurement.

The course consists of three modules:

This module highlights how humans notice and experience sounds. The emphasis lies on perception, but the course also includes cognitive aspects of hearing. Basic psychoacoustics constitutes the main part of the course. This  part deals with how different physical properties of sound are perceived by humans. Concepts such as auditory threshold, loudness, masking, time and frequency resolution and localization are thoroughly discussed. Normal hearing is covered, as well as perceptual consequences of the most common types of hearing impairments.

In this module, psychoacoustic methods of measurement are covered. How one carries out psychoacoustic measurements is covered in theory and practice.

The part is an overview of the subject which introduces the theories of speech. The module deals with articulatory, acoustic and auditory phonetics as well as phonology and voice theory.

Lectures, laboratory sessions and seminars.

Laboratory sessions and seminars are compulsory. In case of absence from a compulsory part, the student is responsible for contacting the course coordinator for a complementary assignment.

The examiner decides how absence from compulsory course elements can be made up. Study results cannot be reported until the student has participated in compulsory course elements or compensated for any absence in accordance with instructions from the course coordinator. Absence from a compulsory course element could imply that the student cannot  retake the element until the next time the course is offered.

Phonetics, 3 credits
Written examination

Auditory perception, 4,5 credits
Written examination

Psychoacoustic measurements, 3 credits
Written laboratory report by group which is also presented orally
Written examination

For a Pass grade in the course, attendance and active participation in compulsory parts are also required. Students who do not pass a regular examination are entitled to re-sit the examination on five more occasions. Each time the course is offered, one regular examination and two additional examinations are given. Each occasion the student participates in the same test counts as an examination. Supplementary additions to a written assignment is counted as one examination. Submission of a blank exam paper is regarded as an examination. In case a student is registered for an examination but does not attend, this is not regarded as an examination.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities,  the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc.   Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.

Examination may take place under the previous reading list during a period of one year after the renewal of the reading list. Examination will be provided during a period of two years after a close-down of the course.

The course evaluation will be carried out according to the guidelines that are established by the Committee for Higher Education. The course evaluation will be carried out both through a written course evaluation at the end of the course, and through an oral course forum at least once in connection with the course, during which the students can state their opinions.

The course can be taught in English, if incoming exchange students are attending the course.

The course will not be credited in a degree together with another course the student has completed and passed which completely or partly corresponds to the contents of this course.