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This study integrates two lines of research: technologies as tools and technologies as social beings, under the theoretical framework of dynamic systems, to investigate the reciprocal dynamics between functional use and relational use of artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistants, and the mediating roles of self-disclosure and privacy concerns. A two-wave longitudinal survey was conducted among 354 AI voice assistant users across 2 months. Factor analysis results supported the conceptualization and operationalization of functional use and relational use of voice assistants. Results from the cross-lagged panel model confirmed that functional use and relational use reinforced themselves over time, respectively. Relational use increased subsequent functional use, and relational use reinforced itself through self-disclosure. Surprisingly, functional use did not increase subsequent relational use; instead, longitudinal mediation analysis showed that functional use reduced subsequent relational use due to the lack of self-disclosure. Furthermore, while self-disclosure increased subsequent privacy concerns, privacy concerns did not reduce subsequent self-disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Hearing-impaired individuals have difficulty comprehending and producing speech sounds. Cochlear implantation is used to augment hearing. The present study aims to compare the production of fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ and affricate /ʧ/ by Persianspeaking Cochlear-Implanted (CI) and Normal-Hearing (NH) children Methods: Fifteen Persian-speaking NH children and 15 Persian-speaking CI children, matched for age, gender, and general health conditions, were included in the study. The stimuli included two voiceless Persian fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ and one voiceless Persian affricate /ʧ/ along with the open front vowel /æ/ in three Consonant-Vowel (CV), Consonant-VowelConsonant (CVC), and Vowel-Consonant (VC) contexts (/sæ/, /æsæ/, /æs/, /ʃæ/, /æʃæ/, /æʃ/, /ʧæ/, /æʧæ/, /æʧ/). After recording all utterances, Praat software was used to measure the friction duration, rise time, and spectral peak of the consonants Results: The CI children could not distinguish between /ʃ/ and /ʧ/ and produced affricate /ʧ/ as an allophone of /ʃ/ (p=0.01). Moreover, distinguishing between two fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ was difficult for both groups. While NH children slightly treated these two sounds differently, the CI group produced fricative /s/ as an allophone of /ʃ/ (p=0.02). The rise time of /ʃ/ was longer in the NH children, except for /ʧæ/, where the CI children had a longer rise time. Conclusion: The speech of CI children is different in producing /s/, /ʃ/, and /ʧ/ from their NH peers. The results can help speech therapists, clinical linguists, and application designers focus on speech sounds that are challenging for CI children to produce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coeditors of this Festschrift sent three questions to a number of Jack Amariglio's interlocutors to explore the circumstances in which their paths have crossed with Jack's and how that encounter has influenced them. Arjo Klamer chose to respond to the questions (included as an appendix) in the form of an essay: a robust portrait of Jack Amariglio as an engaged intellectual and loyal friend, as a Marxist voice in many of the economic conversations he conducted, and as a neotraditionalist in his daily practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a dearth of literature in determining whether language groups for whom aspiration and/or voicing is phonologically contrastive show better perception relative to those who do not use these features contrastively and whether the cue type modulates perception in noise. This study addresses perception of laryngeal cues (voicing and aspiration) by Hindi, English, and Tamil listeners, in quiet and in noise. Method: Sixteen participants between 20 and 45 years of age were included in each of the three language groups. The stimuli were bilabial stops that contrasted phonetically in voicing and aspiration, voicing-lead [ba], short-lag [pa], and long-lag aspirated [pha], with one set corresponding to the Hindi phonemes /ba/, /pa/, and /ph a/ and the second set to the English phonemes /ba/ and /pa/ (which are phonetically [pa] and [pha], respectively). Tamil includes only the short-lag [pa] as a bilabial stop consonant. The stimuli were presented at 70 dB SPL, in quiet and in speech-shaped noise at a signal-to-noise ratio of 0. Participants performed two speech identification tasks and a speech discrimination task. Results: Patterns of perceptual assimilation related to the first language were observed in all three language groups, and accuracy was generally higher in quiet than in noise. Hindi participants identified the English /pa/ as Hindi /ph a/ and English /ba/ as Hindi /pa/. The American English participants identified Hindi /ph a/ as English /pa/ and both the Hindi /pa/ and Hindi /ba/ as English /ba/. In contrast, Tamil listeners generally perceived both Hindi and English bilabial stops as one category, regardless of voicing and aspiration. English and Hindi participants generally showed higher accuracy for native language stimuli. Patterns of assimilation in quiet and noise differed across language groups for each stimulus type. The aspirated stimuli were most likely to be misperceived in noise by all groups (often as /ha/). Conclusions: The results serve as evidence that listeners accurately access native language speech cues, even in noise. The results contribute toward a better understanding of cross-linguistic speech processing in noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The vocal fold tissues undergo nearly continuous and repeated cycles of injury and repair throughout the course of an individual’s lifetime. It is well established that certain individuals are at greater risk of lesion development based on personality and behavioral classification. However, these characteristics alone do not wholly predict or explain lesion development or severity. In this review, we discuss current knowledge of mechanotransduction proteins and their potential relevance to tissue homeostasis in the vocal folds. Method: A review of literature surrounding mechanotransduction and tissue homeostasis as it relates to the vocal folds was conducted. Review of the literature included searches of PubMed, Google Scholar, and other various online peer-reviewed sources. Search terms pertained to mechanosensation, mechanotransduction, mechanically activated channels, mechanical cellular regulation, and other associated concepts and terms. Additional literature was identified through the reference lists of identified papers. Findings of this literature review were then applied to known physiology and pathophysiology of the vocal folds in order to speculate on the contribution of mechanically mediated mechanisms within the vocal fold. Discussion and Conclusion: Because the vocal folds are such mechanically active structures, withstanding nearly constant external forces, there is strong support for the idea that mechanically sensitive molecular pathways within the vocal fold tissue play a major role in tissue homeostasis in the presence of these considerable forces. As such, mechanotransduction within the vocal fold should be considered and targeted in future biological studies of vocal fold physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Researchers often use identification or goodness rating tasks to assess speech perception for different populations. These tasks provide useful information about a listener’s willingness to accept a range of acoustically variable stimuli as belonging to the same category and also about assessing how stimuli that are labeled the same may not be perceived as equally good versions of a particular speech sound. Many methodological aspects of these simple tasks have been tested, but one aspect that has not is the choice of label. In this study, we examine response patterns to images versus letters, as studies with different populations (children vs. adults) or different methods (typical behavioral study vs. visual world paradigm) may vary in the type of label used. Method: Eighty-one adult listeners completed phoneme identification and goodness ratings tasks with either images of response options (a picture of a bear and a picture of a pear) or with letter labels (a capital B and P). Results: The results suggest that choice of label does not alter performance within the tasks studied here. In addition, the results did show the expected finding that the slope of the response curve is steeper in an identification task than in a goodness rating task. Conclusion: These results suggest that it is possible to compare across studies that use different response options, a benefit to research and practice because letter labels can be used for non-imageable words and nonwords, whereas images may be best used for participants who are younger or have poorer reading skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the acoustic and electroglottographic (EGG) profiles of Mandarin deception, including global characteristics and the influence of gender. Method: Thirty-six Mandarin speakers participated in an interactive interview game in which they provided both deceptive and truthful answers to 14 biographical questions. Acoustic and EGG signals of the participants’ responses were simultaneously recorded; 20 acoustic and 14 EGG features were analyzed using binary logistic regression models. Results: Increases in fundamental frequency (F0) mean, intensity mean, first formant (F1), fifth formant (F5), contact quotient (CQ), decontacting-time quotient (DTQ), and contact index (CI) as well as decreases in jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), and fourth formant (F4) were significantly correlated with global deception. Cross-gender features included increases in intensity mean and F5 and decreases in jitter, HNR, and F4, whereas gender-specific features encompassed increases in F0 mean, shimmer, F1, third formant, and DTQ, as well as decreases in F0 maximum and CQ for female deception, and increases in CQ and CI and decreases in shimmer for male deception. Conclusions: The results suggest that Mandarin deception could be tied to underlying pragmatic functions, emotional arousal, decreased glottal contact skewness, and more pressed phonation. Disparities in gender-specific features lend support to differences in the use of pragmatics, levels of deception induced emotional arousal, skewness of glottal contact patterns, and phonation types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although different factors and voice measures have been associated with phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (PVH), it is unclear what percentage of individuals with PVH exhibit such differences during their daily lives. This study used a machine learning approach to quantify the consistency with which PVH manifests according to ambulatory voice measures. Analyses included acoustic parameters of phonation as well as temporal aspects of phonation and rest, with the goal of determining optimally consistent signatures of PVH. Method: Ambulatory neck-surface acceleration signals were recorded over 1 week from 116 female participants diagnosed with PVH and age-, sex-, and occupation-matched vocally healthy controls. The consistency of the manifestation of PVH was defined as the percentage of participants in each group that exhibited an atypical signature based on a target voice measure. Evaluation of each machine learning model used nested 10-fold cross-validation to improve the generalizability of findings. In Experiment 1, we trained separate logistic regression models based on the distributional characteristics of 14 voice measures and durations of voicing and resting segments. In Experiments 2 and 3, features of voicing and resting duration augmented the existing distributional characteristics to examine whether more consistent signatures would result. Results: Experiment 1 showed that the difference in the magnitude of the first two harmonics (H1–H2) exhibited the most consistent signature (69.4% of participants with PVH and 20.4% of controls had an atypical H1–H2 signature), followed by spectral tilt over eight harmonics (73.6% participants with PVH and 32.1% of controls had an atypical spectral tilt signature) and estimated sound pressure level (SPL; 66.9% participants with PVH and 27.6% of controls had an atypical SPL signature). Additionally, 77.6% of participants with PVH had atypical resting duration, with 68.9% exhibiting atypical voicing duration. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that augmenting the best-performing voice measures with univariate features of voicing or resting durations yielded only incremental improvement in the classifier’s performance. Conclusions: Females with PVH were more likely to use more abrupt vocal fold closure (lower H1–H2), phonate louder (higher SPL), and take shorter vocal rests. They were also less likely to use higher fundamental frequency during their daily activities. The difference in the voicing duration signature between participants with PVH and controls had a large effect size, providing strong empirical evidence regarding the role of voice use in the development of PVH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Smart devices are widely available and capable of quickly recording and uploading speech segments for health-related analysis. The switch from laboratory recordings with professional-grade microphone setups to remote, smart device-based recordings offers immense potential for the scalability of voice assessment. Yet, a growing body of literature points to a wide heterogeneity among acoustic metrics for their robustness to variation in recording devices. The addition of consumer-grade plug-and-play microphones has been proposed as a possible solution. The aim of our study was to assess if the addition of consumer-grade plug-and-play microphones increases the acoustic measurement agreement between ultra-portable devices and a reference microphone. Methods: Speech was simultaneously recorded by a reference high-quality microphone commonly used in research and by two configurations with plug-and-play microphones. Twelve speech-acoustic features were calculated using recordings from each microphone to determine the agreement intervals in measurements between microphones. Agreement intervals were then compared to expected deviations in speech in various neurological conditions. Each microphone's response to speech and to silence was characterized through acoustic analysis to explore possible reasons for differences in acoustic measurements between microphones. The statistical differentiation of two groups, neurotypical and people with multiple sclerosis, using metrics from each tested microphone was compared to that of the reference microphone. Results: The two consumer-grade plug-and-play microphones favored high frequencies (mean center of gravity difference ≥ +175.3 Hz) and recorded more noise (mean difference in signal to noise ≤ −4.2 dB) when compared to the reference microphone. Between consumer-grade microphones, differences in relative noise were closely related to distance between the microphone and the speaker's mouth. Agreement intervals between the reference and consumer-grade microphones remained under disease-expected deviations only for fundamental frequency (f0, agreement interval ≤0.06 Hz), f0 instability (f0 CoV, agreement interval ≤0.05%), and tracking of second formant movement (agreement interval ≤1.4 Hz/ms). Agreement between microphones was poor for other metrics, particularly for fine timing metrics (mean pause length and pause length variability for various tasks). The statistical difference between the two groups of speakers was smaller with the plug-and-play than with the reference microphone. Conclusion: Measurement of f0 and F2 slope was robust to variation in recording equipment, while other acoustic metrics were not. Thus, the tested plug-and-play microphones should not be used interchangeably with professional-grade microphones for speech analysis. Plug-and-play microphones may assist in equipment standardization within speech studies, including remote or self-recording, possibly with small loss in accuracy and statistical power as observed in the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vocal performers often seek natural treatments to improve their vocal capability. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation may reduce inflammation and cause changes in body composition, such as loss of fat mass. The purpose of this study was to determine if omega-3 PUFA supplementation in combination with a singer's training regimen enhances singing training and body composition. Methods: This was a non-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Forty-three college-level students were recruited and volunteered to serve as study participants. 3.0 g of omega-3 PUFA per day or 3.0 g of placebo per day were provided over a 10-week intervention. Participants completed Singing Voice Handicap Index (SVHI), Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), Evaluation of Ability to Sing Easily (EASE), Voice Range Profile (VRP), food records, and body composition measures at baseline and study end. Results: Thirty-five participants completed the study. SVHI was significantly different between groups (p = 0.0152; ƞ2 = 0.153). A minor third was added to the bottom of the range in 50% of males in the supplement group (placebo = 0%). Body composition measures were not statistically significant, although those in the supplement group lost more fat mass than placebo, p = 0.101. Discussion/Conclusion: Omega-3 PUFA supplementation may be beneficial to improve how active singers feel about their voice and could potentially improve voice range in conjunction with voice lessons; however, more research is necessary to confirm the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Since new evidence regarding the impact of Wendler glottoplasty (WG) on the voice in transgender women became available in the literature in recent years, we aimed to perform an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the actual safety and efficacy of WG in the process of vocal feminization. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane were searched for English-language articles published until July 4, 2023. Studies were found eligible if they evaluated the impact of WG on the acoustic-aerodynamic measures and quality of voice in transgender women. Results: Twenty-three studies were identified. After exclusion of three studies due to incomplete data, 20 studies including 656 patients were included in the meta-analysis. After WG, there was a significant increase of fundamental frequency, speaking fundamental frequency, and lower limit of the frequency range (p < 0.001). Concurrently, a significant reduction of frequency range and maximum phonation time was observed (p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between the pre- and postoperative values regarding the Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain scale score (p = 0.339). The overall score in the Trans Woman Voice Questionnaire (TWVQ) significantly improved after WG (p < 0.001). Conclusions: WG is an effective voice feminization method in transgender women, associated with a high procedural success and low risk of postoperative complications. Significantly improved TWVQ score after surgery suggests its positive impact on the voice-related quality of life. Postoperative decrease of maximum phonation time and frequency range does not seem to significantly impact the effectiveness of voice production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this concluding reflection, we value the special issue's focus on how power asymmetries among civil society organisations (CSOs) affect their relations with international organisations (IOs) and micro-level dynamics of in – and exclusion. Yet we propose to pay further attention to the crisis of liberal institutions and the shrinking spaces provided to some CSOs. We also encourage revisiting the liberal assumption that CSOs seek to democratise IOs and the proposition that the majority of CSOs are keen to cooperate with IOs. The pressing question for us is not how CSOs push in- or exclusion in IOs but how dynamics of in- and exclusion are generated in the web of practices performed by diverse actors. In our perspective, the question is best addressed in reflexive research that is aware of power relations, the methodological difficulties of researching CSOs and often inaccessible IOs, and the dangers of silencing non-academic voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual/theoretical paper, we present an argument about the importance of preparing community teachers, articulating tenets of youth voice, community voice, and context in this undertaking. We operationalize these tenets by proposing a Learning-to-Teach Cycle as an organizing structure for teacher candidates to encounter across their programs through four interrelated elements-- observing; identifying; reflecting/synthesizing; and designing/implementing--that center and leverage community issues, knowledge, and voice. This approach is urgently needed in urban contexts amid increasingly porous boundaries between schools and broader communities, and in recognition of youth and communities as sources of knowledge integral to the preparation of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short drama Mörder Hoffnung der Frauen by Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), first published in 1910, underwent repeated revisions. Based on a close examination of the significant changes he made, this reading suggests that Kokoschka's revaluation of the role of light, the acting body, and voice is complemented by an acute interest in dramatic form. The play—widely considered a pioneering text of expressionist theater—details and reflects the process of figuration, i.e., the formation of dramatic characters: "Man" and "Woman," confronting each other in existential battle, emerge from a choric collective that they, however, remain part of. The protagonists never fully recognize each other as well-defined figures; instead, they remain painfully permeable to the plurality the chorus represents and their male/female counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present essay aims to provide a brief critical assessment of the so-called "pan" phenomena, particularly those related to the American continent ("Pan-Americanism") and the European continent ("Pan- Europeanism"). With this in mind, and based on various authoritative voices regarding this matter, we will examine certain factors that have contributed to the formation of these "identity" processes (or "macro-communitarian") throughout history. In this regard, it is illustrative to observe what happens with the notion of the "nation-state", an element that will ultimately allow us to identify the "limitations" and "contradictions" that these regional movements under study may reflect, and thus to determine their degree of durability, if any, in our present times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice user interface (VUI) systems, such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, are popular and widely available. Still, challenges such as privacy and the ability to have a dialog remain. In the latter example, the user expects a human‐like conversation, that is, that the VUI understands the dialog and its context. However, this VUI feature of context‐aware interaction is rather error prone. For this reason, we intend to explore the VUI context of use and its impact on interaction, that is, relevant user experience (UX). We see a demand for context‐dependent UX measurement because analyzing the context of use and UX assessment are both critical human‐centered design (HCD) methods. Therefore, we examine the VUI context of use by asking users about how, where, and for what they use VUIs, as well as their UX and improvement proposals. We interviewed people with disabilities who rely on VUIs and people without disabilities who use VUIs for convenience or fun. We identified VUI context‐of‐use categories and factors and explored their impacts on relevant UX qualities. Our result is a matrix containing these elements; thus, it provides an overview of the contextual UX of our target group's VUI interaction. We intend to develop a VUI context‐of‐use conceptual structure in the future based on this matrix, which is needed to create an automated context‐dependent UX measurement recommendation tool for VUIs. This conceptual structure could also be useful for automated UX testing in the context of VUI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maximum phonation time (MPT) is used to assess speech and other oral rehabilitation‐related issues. Various factors contribute to MPT decline in older individuals. Although the impact of physical frailty on MPT has been suggested, this has not been conclusively determined. Objective: To examine the relationship between MPT and physical frailty in community‐dwelling individuals aged ≥60 years who were independently mobile. MPT‐associated factors were investigated. Methods: This cross‐sectional study analysed the clinical data of 122 patients (age [interquartile range]: 80.0 [74.0–83.0] years) without dementia who visited a neurology department between 1 February 2021 and 31 January 2023. Investigated factors included age, sex, weight, height, body mass index, smoking history, grip strength, functional independence measure, vital capacity, oral diadochokinesis, MPT and the Japanese Cardiovascular Health Study score. Physical frailty was assessed based on the total score from five items (weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slowness and low physical activity). The relationship between MPT and physical frailty was examined using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: The MPT was negatively correlated with age (r = −0.347, p <.01) and physical frailty (r = −0.681, p <.01) and positively correlated with vital capacity (r = 0.474, p <.01) and height (r = 0.248, p <.01). The hierarchical multiple regression analysis, conducted with MPT as the dependent variable, demonstrated that physical frailty (β = −.59, 95% confidence interval: −0.74 to 0.43, p <.001) had a strong influence on MPT. Conclusion: In older individuals, MPT is associated with physical frailty. When assessing MPT in clinical settings, it is advisable to perform a concurrent assessment of physical frailty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Perceptual measures such as speech intelligibility are known to be biased, variant and subjective, to which an automatic approach has been seen as a more reliable alternative. On the other hand, automatic approaches tend to lack explainability, an aspect that can prevent the widespread usage of these technologies clinically. Aims: In the present work, we aim to study the relationship between four perceptual parameters and speech intelligibility by automatically modelling the behaviour of six perceptual judges, in the context of head and neck cancer. From this evaluation we want to assess the different levels of relevance of each parameter as well as the different judge profiles that arise, both perceptually and automatically. Methods and Procedures: Based on a passage reading task from the Carcinologic Speech Severity Index (C2SI) corpus, six expert listeners assessed the voice quality, resonance, prosody and phonemic distortions, as well as the speech intelligibility of patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer. A statistical analysis and an ensemble of automatic systems, one per judge, were devised, where speech intelligibility is predicted as a function of the four aforementioned perceptual parameters of voice quality, resonance, prosody and phonemic distortions. Outcomes and Results: The results suggest that we can automatically predict speech intelligibility as a function of the four aforementioned perceptual parameters, achieving a high correlation of 0.775 (Spearman's ρ). Furthermore, different judge profiles were found perceptually that were successfully modelled automatically. Conclusions and Implications: The four investigated perceptual parameters influence the global rating of speech intelligibility, showing that different judge profiles emerge. The proposed automatic approach displayed a more uniform profile across all judges, displaying a more reliable, unbiased and objective prediction. The system also adds an extra layer of interpretability, since speech intelligibility is regressed as a direct function of the individual prediction of the four perceptual parameters, an improvement over more black box approaches. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: Speech intelligibility is a clinical measure typically used in the post‐treatment assessment of speech affecting disorders, such as head and neck cancer. Their perceptual assessment is currently the main method of evaluation; however, it is known to be quite subjective since intelligibility can be seen as a combination of other perceptual parameters (voice quality, resonance, etc.). Given this, automatic approaches have been seen as a more viable alternative to the traditionally used perceptual assessments. What this study adds to existing knowledge: The present work introduces a study based on the relationship between four perceptual parameters (voice quality, resonance, prosody and phonemic distortions) and speech intelligibility, by automatically modelling the behaviour of six perceptual judges. The results suggest that different judge profiles arise, both in the perceptual case as well as in the automatic models. These different profiles found showcase the different schools of thought that perceptual judges have, in comparison to the automatic judges, that display more uniform levels of relevance across all the four perceptual parameters. This aspect shows that an automatic approach promotes unbiased, reliable and more objective predictions. What are the clinical implications of this work?: The automatic prediction of speech intelligibility, using a combination of four perceptual parameters, show that these approaches can achieve high correlations with the reference scores while maintaining a certain degree of explainability. The more uniform judge profiles found on the automatic case also display less biased results towards the four perceptual parameters. This aspect facilitates the clinical implementation of this class of systems, as opposed to the more subjective and harder to reproduce perceptual assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of English in voice assistant (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant) use from the perspective of language ideology. Major commercial companies in the voice assistant market use English as a training language for their speech technologies and offer the most optimised support for standardised varieties of English. This affects the experiences with voice assistants of speakers of non-European languages, i.e., one of the non-target audiences. Drawing on qualitative interview data from Turkish-speaking users who migrated to Germany, the present study reveals that the participants iconize English as the "standard" language in digital contexts, constructing it as the "original" language of speaking computers. By conducting an inductive analysis, the article demonstrates that not only the lack of technological support, but also specific discourses about Artificial Intelligence, impact perceptions of English. These developments have implications for our understandings of prestige and digital literacy in human-machine interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice-based virtual assistants are becoming increasingly popular. Such systems provide frameworks to developers for building custom apps. End-users can interact with such apps through a Voice User Interface (VUI), which allows the user to use natural language commands to perform actions. Testing such apps is not trivial: The same command can be expressed in different semantically equivalent ways. In this article, we introduce VUI-UPSET, an approach that adapts chatbot-testing approaches to VUI-testing. We conducted an empirical study to understand how VUI-UPSET compares to two state-of-the-art approaches (i.e., a chatbot testing technique and ChatGPT) in terms of (i) correctness of the generated paraphrases, and (ii) capability of revealing bugs. To this aim, we analyzed 14,898 generated paraphrases for 40 Alexa Skills. Our results show that VUI-UPSET generates more bug-revealing paraphrases than the two baselines with, however, ChatGPT being the approach generating the highest percentage of correct paraphrases. We also tried to use the generated paraphrases to improve the skills. We tried to include in the voice interaction models of the skills (i) only the bug-revealing paraphrases, (ii) all the valid paraphrases. We observed that including only bug-revealing paraphrases is sometimes not sufficient to make all the tests pass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the identity and legacy of the residents of Nueva Germania, a region in Paraguay that was originally intended to be a racially pure German community. The author, Jonatan Kurzwelly, explores how the current inhabitants of the area perceive their German heritage and how it intersects with their Paraguayan identity. Through personal stories and participatory photography, Kurzwelly reveals the complex and contradictory nature of national, ethnic, and personal identities. He argues against essentialist notions of identity and advocates for a non-essentialist understanding that recognizes the fluid and imaginative nature of individual identities. The text also discusses the challenges of capturing individual lives and voices in written history, particularly in the context of cultural constructs and identity politics. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing the personal and intimate nature of voices and the ability to convey personality and artistry through words. The article calls for a cosmopolitan anthropology that transcends cultural classifications and seeks to distill a universal human story from individual stories, highlighting the complementarity and diversity of individual experiences and the common humanity that underlies them. [Extracted from the article]

"Practitioner Research in Voice Studies" is a book that aims to support artist-scholars in designing and publishing research in voice. It is divided into three sections: Conducting Practitioner Research in Voice Studies, Getting Started, and Practitioner Research Examples. The book offers a variety of perspectives on how to conduct practitioner research, provides guidance and tips for new researchers, and presents examples of practitioner research in various forms. It covers topics such as voice training methods, communication and resilience in acting students, accent modification, and online theatre voice pedagogy. The book is a valuable resource for those studying voice, speech, singing, acting, public speaking, voice science, communication, music, theatre, and performance. [Extracted from the article]

Group singing is beneficial for health and well-being but many new clients presenting in the singing teaching studio come from choir backgrounds and with established voice problems. Amateur group singers do not usually receive individual feedback on their singing efforts, so there is a need to establish a self-monitoring procedure. This qualitative inquiry involved purposive sampling of 18 amateur choir singers trialing a self-assessment (SA) protocol for three weeks. A pre-trial and post-trial online questionnaire was completed to assess the impact of the SA protocol on singing behaviors. Three follow up online interviews were conducted to further interrogate the processes experienced by participants. Post-trial results revealed an increased awareness of healthy and unhealthy singing habits evidenced by changes in thinking and mental attitude, and in behavior and practice improvement. Visual and aural self-assessment were easiest for participants to employ with kinesthetic self-assessment being the most difficult. Choir leaders need to continue to educate the singers in their care concerning vocal health and efficiency and encourage self-assessment during singing and speaking acts. Individual singers in an amateur setting must be encouraged to become independent learners, taking responsibility for their vocal health through self-monitoring procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the author's experience as the Editor of the Voice and Speech Review (VSR) and offers tips for artist-scholars, particularly those new to research. It provides information on different types of peer-reviewed articles, the concept of "voice" in academic writing, the practical purpose of voice research, and the relationship between voice teacher certification and research. The article also discusses the importance of authorial voice in research articles and the need for academic rigor. It encourages authors to consider the relevance of their articles to educational practice, policy, other academic research, and theory, and promotes questioning and forward-thinking in pedagogy. [Extracted from the article]

In this interview, British actor Nonso Anozie discusses the significance of vocal training for actors. He shares his experience of receiving intense voice training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, which revolutionized the way he used his voice. Anozie emphasizes the importance of accent work, breath control, and the ability to think through the end of a thought in both theater and film. He also discusses how he applies vocal attributes to different roles, considering the psychological aspects and pace of speech. Anozie highlights the importance of vocal training in maintaining vocal health and delivering strong performances, concluding that a wide range of vocal skills can enhance an actor's ability to fulfill their objectives. [Extracted from the article]

This article provides a first insight to practitioner-research for the vocal pedagogue interested in exploring their practice from a scientific perspective. It is intended to contribute to a growing field of methodological academic support for the voice practitioner interested in expanding their knowledge and skillset via research means. It acknowledges the ever-growing need for research-based practice in pedagogy—both freelance and institutional—and recognition of the rigor–relevance debate. The article then takes the reader through the process of refining research methodology suitable for a likely qualitatively based project. In doing this, a variety of paradigms, methodologies and methods are considered. Other lenses are explored as a framework within which to examine narrative data. Ethics and obstacles related to insider-research are examined, including the pros and cons of participant observation. The value of interdisciplinary collaboration is discussed, and the benefits of the practitioner-researcher's experiential and practical expertise is promoted, particularly regarding reflective practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The puppet has always been the metaphor of freedom. Here is a list of events that have taken place over the centuries and in various countries where puppetry has been necessary to claim freedom. Try not to solo the voice of the voice, but the voice of the voice does not have voice! No, during a difficult period, and in the course of developments and war, the Marionette was born in particular and it was a difficult task at the moment. The most surprising thing is that during periods of time it is not alone that it is difficult to move and it is difficult to do so, but I keep people in the community for a while to resist, resist and live poorly all the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early-stage glottic carcinomas can be treated with either laser surgery or radiotherapy. Both approaches have demonstrated similar cure rates. However, the question of which modality is superior in terms of voice outcomes remains a topic of debate. Methods: In our study, we conducted a comparison of short-term phonatory outcomes in patients with primary early glottic cancer who underwent treatment using both modalities. We assessed these outcomes using videostroboscopy and voice analysis software at three time points: immediately following treatment, at 1 month, and at 3 months post-treatment. Results: Voice analysis revealed that laser surgery had a more favorable immediate effect compared to radiotherapy in parameters such as jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, and fundamental frequency. However, at the 3-month post-treatment mark, both treatment modalities demonstrated similar effects. Additionally, both modalities had comparable effects on maximum phonation time. Videostroboscopy observations showed that mucosal wave forms were more prominent immediately after laser surgery and gradually improved following radiotherapy. Furthermore, patients with incomplete glottic closure experienced recovery after both treatment modalities. Conclusion: Based on the results, there are better outcomes immediately following LS compared to RT. However, after a 3-month period, the outcomes of both treatment modalities become comparable. The treating physicians must consider various factors such as complications, patient-specific considerations, treatment costs, and duration to make informed decisions. A personalized approach considering the individual patient's circumstances is crucial in achieving optimal results in the management of T1 laryngeal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructive voice encompasses a multitude of voice message content. However, existing measures of voice do not capture these differences in a precise way and contribute to inconclusive evidence. Based on existing conceptualizations of constructive voice, we suggest that employee voice messages differ along three main dimensions: (1) suggesting innovative opportunities versus highlighting harm (functional orientation), (2) offering specific suggestions versus pointing out problems (substantive orientation), and (3) addressing existing versus potential future issues (temporal orientation). Using this three-dimensional approach, we define five distinct prototypical facets of voice with well-defined conceptual boundaries. Through two expert studies (N = 12 and N = 10), we identify uncertainties in the content of current voice measures. We then introduce a newly developed measure that addresses these shortcomings. In two consecutive survey studies (N = 132 and N = 553), we present initial evidence supporting the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of this measure. The correlations among the five facets of voice were high. However, we also found evidence for differential associations with some antecedents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sleep inertia, characterized by reduced alertness and cognitive functioning upon waking, has been well-researched in its effects on cognitive and motor abilities. However, its impact on voice quality remains less clear. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep inertia following nocturnal sleep and changes in acoustic and perceptual voice parameters in adults. Methods: Ninety healthy participants (45 females, 45 males, ages: 18 - 30 years) took part in a pre-post study using convenience sampling. Their voices were recorded before and after nocturnal sleep across multiple tasks, including vowel /a/ phonation, spontaneous speech, text reading, and maximum phonation time (MPT). Recordings were made in a quiet room using a Zoom H6 recorder at a 44.1 kHz rate. The acoustic analysis included measures of fundamental frequency (F0), standard deviation of F0 (SD F0), vocal intensity, harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), cepstral peak prominence smoothed (CPPS), jitter, shimmer, and formant frequencies. Auditory-perceptual evaluation was conducted using the GRBAS Scale. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS-19. The Shapiro-Wilk test assessed normality, and a paired t -test compared variables, separately for males and females at a 0.05 significance level. Results: Acoustic analysis revealed that both females and males experienced a decrease in mean F0, mean intensity, HNR, and CPPS, and an increase in jitter, shimmer, and SD F0 across most voice samples after sleeping. These changes were particularly significant for females in all voice samples (P < 0.001). Perceptual analysis also showed a significant increase in grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain for both genders after sleep (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that sleep inertia negatively impacts vocal performance, resulting in a decline in voice quality for both genders after sleep compared to before. Notably, this decline in voice quality was more pronounced in women than in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can teams sustain their team voice behavior over time? Drawing from meta-perceptions and the collective action perspective, we propose a reciprocal relationship between collective perception of voice importance for leaders (i.e., the extent to which team members infer or pre-judge leaders' importance assessment of team voice) and team voice. Using five-wave longitudinal field data from 554 individual team members of 71 teams, our results supported such a reciprocal relationship over time. Our findings shed new light on how team members' inference or pre-judgement of their team leader's attitudes towards team voice affects subsequent team voice. In turn, the team voice reversely shapes the subsequent collective perception of voice importance for leaders. Our findings provide theoretical and practical implications for how team members can sustain team voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many animals can extract useful information from the vocalizations of other species. Neuroimaging studies have evidenced areas sensitive to conspecific vocalizations in the cerebral cortex of primates, but how these areas process heterospecific vocalizations remains unclear. Using fMRI-guided electrophysiology, we recorded the spiking activity of individual neurons in the anterior temporal voice patches of two macaques while they listened to complex sounds including vocalizations from several species. In addition to cells selective for conspecific macaque vocalizations, we identified an unsuspected subpopulation of neurons with strong selectivity for human voice, not merely explained by spectral or temporal structure of the sounds. The auditory representational geometry implemented by these neurons was strongly related to that measured in the human voice areas with neuroimaging and only weakly to low-level acoustical structure. These findings provide new insights into the neural mechanisms involved in auditory expertise and the evolution of communication systems in primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we set out to examine children's voices on inclusion through a systematic review of empirical studies carried out in Cyprus over the past 20 years. Specifically, it focuses on research related to this field and investigates the ways in which these studies illustrate the importance of children's perspectives as a means for promoting inclusion and challenging segregational practices. The aim of such analysis is to bring to the surface the diverse ways and methodological tools in which children may be actively involved and have their voices heard. Moreover, our analysis seeks to point out the major issues raised by children with regards to areas of concern or suggestions for inclusion. In this context, the originality of this study lies in integrating findings and perspectives from the available empirical studies as well as in synthesising research findings to depict evidence on a meta-level and reveal areas in which more research is needed and to sum up suggestions for further policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on congenital laryngeal webs, a rare malformation resulting from embryonic laryngeal recanalization failure, with less than 5 present of congenital laryngeal anomalies. Topics include the anatomical location and etiology of laryngeal webs, presenting symptoms such as hoarseness and respiratory distress, and a case report detailing a 6-year-old with unrecognized laryngeal web misdiagnosed as laryngopharyngeal reflux and vocal cord paresis.

The purpose of this study was to explore the unit of information and the size of the unit for designing a voice user interface. Through two experiments, this study investigated what form the information (the unit of information) should take and what size of that (the size of unit) should be when people were provided information by voice interfaces. Participants were presented with a task to recall (OX quiz) by listening to and remembering information (based on an encyclopedia) provided by smart speakers. In Experiment 1, it was revealed that participants stored information in their memory span on a sentence-by-sentences basis to determine how much information they could remember. In Experiment 2, sentence-based information was presented in various sizes, and participants evaluated 17 information units consisting of up to nine words as their memory limit. This information unit-based voice interface design could help improve users' memory performance and usability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice production of humans and most mammals is governed by the MyoElastic-AeroDynamic (MEAD) principle, where an air stream is modulated by self-sustained vocal fold oscillation to generate audible air pressure fluctuations. An alternative mechanism is found in ultrasonic vocalizations of rodents, which are established by an aeroacoustic (AA) phenomenon without vibration of laryngeal tissue. Previously, some authors argued that high-pitched human vocalization is also produced by the AA principle. Here, we investigate the so-called "whistle register" voice production in nine professional female operatic sopranos singing a scale from C6 (≈ 1047 Hz) to G6 (≈ 1568 Hz). Super-high-speed videolaryngoscopy revealed vocal fold collision in all participants, with closed quotients from 30 to 73%. Computational modeling showed that the biomechanical requirements to produce such high-pitched voice would be an increased contraction of the cricothyroid muscle, vocal fold strain of about 50%, and high subglottal pressure. Our data suggest that high-pitched operatic soprano singing uses the MEAD mechanism. Consequently, the commonly used term "whistle register" does not reflect the physical principle of a whistle with regard to voice generation in high pitched classical singing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is often impaired in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), typically secondary to sensorimotor deficits impacting voice and speech. Language may also be diminished in PD, particularly for production and comprehension of verbs. Evidence exists that verb processing is influenced by motor system modulation suggesting that verb deficits in PD are underpinned by similarities in the neural representations of actions that span motor and semantic systems. Conversely, subtle differences in cognition in PD may explain difficulty in processing of complex syntactic forms, which increases cognitive demand and is linked to verb use. Here we investigated whether optimizing motor system support for vocal function (improving loudness) affects change in lexical semantic, syntactic, or informativeness aspects of spoken discourse. Picture description narratives were compared for 20 Control participants and 39 with PD, 19 of whom underwent Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUD®). Treated PD narratives were also contrasted with those of untreated PD and Control participants at Baseline and after treatment. Controls differed significantly from the 39 PD participants for verbs per utterance, but this difference was largely driven by untreated PD participants who produced few utterances but with verbs, inflating their verbs per utterance. Given intervention, there was a significant increase in vocal loudness but no significant changes in language performance. These data do not support the hypothesis that targeting this speech motor system results in improved language production. Instead, the data provide evidence of considerable variability in measures of language production across groups, particularly in verbs per utterance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether phonetic information functions and how phonetic information affects voice identity processing in blind people. Method: To address the first inquiry, 25 normal sighted participants and 30 blind participants discriminated voice identity, when listening forward speech and backward speech from their own native language and another unfamiliar language. To address the second inquiry, combining articulatory suppression paradigm, 26 normal sighted participants and 26 blind participants discriminated voice identity, when listening forward speech from their own native language and another unfamiliar language. Results: In Experiment 1, not only in the voice identity discrimination task with forward speech, but also in the discrimination task with backward speech, both the sighted and blind groups showed the superiority of the native language. This finding supports the view that backward speech still retains some phonetic information, and indicates that phonetic information can affect voice identity processing in sighted and blind people. In addition, only the superiority of the native language of sighted people was regulated by the speech manner, which is related to articulatory rehearsal. In Experiment 2, only the superiority of the native language of sighted people was regulated by articulatory suppression. This indicates that phonetic information may act in different ways on voice identity processing in sighted and blind people. Conclusion: The heightened dependence on voice source information in blind people appears not to undermine the function of phonetic information, but it appears to change the functional mechanism of phonetic information. These findings suggest that the present phonetic familiarity model needs to be improved with respect to the mechanism of phonetic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cochlear implant users experience difficulties controlling their vocalizations compared to normal hearing peers. However, less is known about their voice quality. The primary aim of the present study was to determine if cochlear implant users' voice quality would be categorized as dysphonic by the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) and smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS). A secondary aim was to determine if vocal quality is further impacted when using bilateral implants compared to using only one implant. The final aim was to determine how residual hearing impacts voice quality. Twenty-seven cochlear implant users participated in the present study and were recorded while sustaining a vowel and while reading a standardized passage. These recordings were analyzed to calculate the AVQI and CPPS. The results indicate that CI users' voice quality was detrimentally affected by using their CI, raising to the level of a dysphonic voice. Specifically, when using their CI, mean AVQI scores were 4.0 and mean CPPS values were 11.4 dB, which indicates dysphonia. There were no significant differences in voice quality when comparing participants with bilateral implants to those with one implant. Finally, for participants with residual hearing, as hearing thresholds worsened, the likelihood of a dysphonic voice decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores and displays some of the literacy events taking place in the context of early childhood education in Sweden. More specifically, the literacy events are part of the educational practices in the atelier of Reggio Emilia inspired preschools in Sweden. As parts of an ethnographic study of aesthetic activities, including digital technology, these literacy events awoke the researcher's interest. The literacy events are analysed from a sociocultural perspective reinforced by the use of multimodal theory. The results show how the literacy events in the ateliers become playful explorations. The children use the atelier's specific cultural and social potentiality to explore and develop written and oral language as part of the visual and aesthetic literacy practices taking place there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bi- and monolingual children, nonword repetition tasks (NWRTs) differentiate typically developing (TD) children from children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) or children with a risk of DLD. Previous research has highlighted the importance of considering language specificity in nonword (NW) construction especially for bilingual children. A novel NWRT has been designed for the screening of DLD risk in the bilingual Italian-German preschool population, creating lists of language-specific (for the two target languages) and language-non-specific NWs. This study aimed to test the discriminative validity of this NWRT and to identify the characteristics of the NWs that maximise discriminative validity within language-specific and language-non-specific subsets. The findings confirm the role of language specificity (in terms of target language alikeness) but also of other characteristics related to word structure complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations are increasingly depending on their employees to contribute suggestions aimed at enhancing organizational processes, boosting overall efficiency, and fostering innovation. However, some factors might hinder employees from expressing their thoughts. While there is evidence suggesting an effect of supervisor social undermining behavior on employee voice, the impact on innovative types of voice, specifically promotive voice, remains uncertain. This study aims to explore the association between supervisor social undermining and employee promotive voice. Moreover, this research investigates how employee perceptions of procedural justice moderate this relationship, utilizing the Conservation of Resources theory. Data were collected from 115 highly skilled employees, and hierarchical regression analysis was employed to assess the proposed hypotheses. The findings suggest that when individuals encounter social undermining behavior from their supervisor, they are less inclined to engage in promotive voice behavior. Interestingly, the results indicate that this relationship becomes stronger when individuals possess higher perceptions of procedural justice. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the impact of supervisor social undermining on promotive voice while considering procedural justice as a moderator in this relationship. The findings of this study suggest several theoretical and practical implications and provide directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in the quiet weather communication typology, we conducted two between‐subjects experiments comparing humanising to organisational voice messages in predicting disaster organisation‐public relationships, publics' message passing intentions, and publics' community resilience perceptions in the U.S. tornado context. Study 1 examines these relationships in the missed event context, where a tornado was not forecasted, but occurred. Study 2 examines these relationships in the false alarm context, where a tornado was forecasted, but did not occur. Results show differing processes across the two studies, with Study 1 results showing direct message effects, but no indirect effects. Study 2 results show indirect effects of the experimental condition on the outcomes via perceptions of conversational human voice. The discussion extends the quiet weather communication typology by theorising how context influences message strategy effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While reflective supervision and trauma-informed care are often implemented separately within early care and education (ECE) settings, there is meaningful intersection between these two approaches that may support ongoing efforts to support young children who have experienced trauma. The current study presents secondary analysis of qualitative data from three focus groups with 11 ECE supervisors who attended a reflective supervision training, paired with reflective consultation. ECE supervisors who engaged in a reflective supervision training noted shifts in experience and practice that intersect with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA's) six principles of trauma-informed care: 1) safety, 2) trustworthiness and transparency, 3) peer support, 4) collaboration and mutuality, 5) empowerment, voice, and choice, and 6) cultural, historical, and gender issues. Reflective supervision may serve as an effective tool for organizations to invest in trauma-informed care, which creates a space for teachers to engage in relational learning. This investment can lead to enhanced support for young children, especially those who have experienced trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africans' voices and contributions to communication scholarship are of interest to many Africanists. Some discourses have explored reasons for this interest. This article continues this conversation. It recognizes the challenges contributing to the limited influence of the African voice in global communication scholarship and contributes to the theorizing of the African media. There are a range of factors impeding robust African engagement in global communication scholarship. These factors are explored in this paper. However, African scholars should look beyond these factors. The first part of the article explores reasons for the lack of active African input in this discussion. The second part of the paper explores the peculiarities of Africa that should form building blocks for the emergence of African media typologies. The extant normative media theories fail to consider the realities of African governance structures and philosophies. These should lead to a media framework more reflective of the realities of Africa. Indeed, the article proposes a conversation of four media typologies that closely match the continental conditions: pragmatic authoritarianism, pragmatic progressive, pragmatic libertarianism, and civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is no consensus on the characterization of the human voice. The objective of the present study is to describe the myoelectric behavior of the extrinsic musculature of the larynx in 146 people with normal voice (Spanish speakers), aged between 20 and 50 years old. Different vocal tasks were recorded using a surface electromyograph (SEMG). In all vocal tasks, it was observed that women had higher activation (µV) in the suprahyoid and sternocleidomastoid muscles than men, while men had higher activation in the infrahyoid muscles. SEMG is a valid procedure to help define normal vocal characteristics in the studied population, providing reference values during clinical examination. However, it is necessary to adopt a universal system of assessment tasks and standardized measurement techniques to allow for comparisons with future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current decision-making regarding urban design, architecture, and spatial planning often emphasizes existing power balances, which historically have excluded other humans, such as indigenous people, and nature from conversations and decision-making. The purpose of this study is to explore if and how an empathic experience could give insights into how nature can be given a voice, and, more concretely, how a group of trees on the TEC campus in Monterrey would feel about a sudden change in their direct environment. The methodology is divided into three parts. The first is the explanation of the case study and immersion of the (human) participants in the site. The second stage consists of deep listening and reproducing the imagined expressions of the trees. In the third stage, the participants return from the site, evaluate, and formulate a manifesto. The experience suggests that it is possible to inspire human beings to imagine what trees would have to say if we only imagined their language. It also shows that it is possible to gain access to a formerly hidden environment. The conclusion is that the empathic access to these formerly muted worlds, such as those of nature or socially marginalized peoples, can strengthen our understanding of, and our ability to resolve, the current environmental crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is an attempt to investigate Doris Lessing's" An Old Woman and her Cat" applying Gerard Genette's model "The Narrative Discourse Method, mainly the concept of voice with its subdivisions of (person or narrator, time of narration, level of narration). The ultimate goal of this research is to spotlight the efficiency of Genette's theory as an analytical tool and to illustrate how this analysis enriches and enhances the readers understanding of Doris Lessing's writing style. The researcher has found out that Genette's model, the concept of "voice" in particular with its sub divisions is applicable to the short story "An Old Woman and her Cat" .Also, the use of narrative technique and stylistic devices contribute to the overall meaning of the short story. Moreover, the narrative choices influence the readers' perception of characters, events, and themes within the short story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]