Self-perception and voice quality of journalism students

Purpose to relate data from auditory vocal analysis, complaint and vocal self-perception of journalism students. Methods it is an observational, descriptive, cross-senctional study with prospective data collection, conducted at Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste/UNICENTRO-PR. 41jounalism students participated, 27 women and 14 men. A protocol was applied to collect data of identification and voice complaints, and vocal recordings were made with sustained emission of the vowel “a”; and chained (counting of numbers and months of the year). These recordings were analyzed by a speech therapist, voice specialist, related to voice quality (adapted or altered). Students also responded to the protocol “Descriptive terms about voice”;. Results despite presenting adapted voices, the students presented voice complaints. The most common complaints reported to pitch change, phonemic production, voice quality and speech speed. The students who presented adapted voice quality mentioned a greater amount of positive terms related to the self-perception. There was no difference when compared the average amount of positive and negative terms presented by the group. The most positive terms listed were: nice voice, expressive, confident, feminine, strong and docile. The negatives were: tuneless voice, unstable, oscillanting, irregular, rapid, nasal voice, low and timid. Conclusion even with adapted voices from the auditory vocal point of view, journalism students refer voice complaints, probably due to the demand placed upon them during graduation.