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FAQ10: Are there any exercises for practicing with the Servox electrolarynx?
Practicing speaking with an electrolarynx. Place the instrument against your neck and try to say the vowels "a, e, i, o, u." Was each sound understandable to a family member? Now say the following short phrases:
The following are some sentences, which will help you to practice producing various speech sounds with the electrolarynx. Careful articulation and exaggerated lip and mouth movements will help you to produce them clearly and distinctly.
Using Intonation with the SERVOX Inton Once you have become comfortable using the SERVOX Inton, you may want to try utilizing its intonation capability. Intonation is an inclusive term, in that it refers to variation of pitch as a function of time. It may be applied to single inflection or to long-term variation that extends over numerous inflections and shifts. Stress refers to relative vocal prominence and is a combined effect of duration, pitch and intensity. Evidence has shown that a stressed word may be longer in duration, reach a higher pitch, exhibit wider inflection and have a higher general pitch. Prosody is the various inflection patterns of speech or the 'speech melody'. The basic pitch of the SERVOX Inton is produced by depressing the upper control button. To produce the second, higher pitch for intonation purposes, you must depress both buttons simultaneously*, during the word or syllable you wish to stress. This can be done by either using the index and middle fingers to operate the control buttons, or by using a Îrocking' motion of the thumb from one switch to the other. Practice by saying the following sentences in three different ways (depress the lower button only on the underlined word):
*An alternative way to use the intonation capability is to depress the lower button, while releasing the top button. The lower button produces a pitch ¸ of a tone higher than the top button. The top button does not need to be kept depressed for the change of pitch to occur Intonation Practice Materials Read the following sentences, concentrating on the prosody:
Simple declarative and imperative (statement) sentences ordinarily take downward intonations. Be sure to exaggerate as you read the following sentences:
The SERVOX Inton can be professionally adjusted to provide for automatic downward intonation (i.e a gradual downward pitch change when the operating button remains depressed). If you would like this feature, contact your speech professional or the dispenser from whom you purchased your SERVOX Inton. Questions answered with a "yes" or a "no" usually take an upward intonation. Exaggerate as you read:
Questions which cannot be answered with "yes" or "no" usually take downward intonation. Exaggerate as you read:
In each of the following sentences a statement is followed by a question. The intonation in each question specifies the implication of the entire sentence. With upward inflection, the sentence is a general request for information; with a downward inflection, the listener would be asked to confirm or deny the statement. Try various intonation and stress patterns on these statements:
In each of the following, the listener is presented with alternatives. If the final intonation is upward, he is asked for an inclusive "yes" or "no". If it is downward, he must make a choice. Practice with the following phrases:
To practice stress or emphasis:
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