Influence of Verbal and Nonverbal Contexts on the Sentence Intelligibility of a Speaker with Dysarthria.

The role of contextual factors in intelligibility was examined using sentences produced under varying conditions by a speaker with severe flaccid dysarthria. Results indicated that gestures, predictiveness, and context influenced intelligibility. It is argued that when signal fidelity is poor, different combinations of signal-independent information may enhance listener comprehension. (Author/PB)