Intelligibility
Last updated
Intelligibility is how much of a person's speech a listener can understand, often given as a percent of words understood.
Topic: Speech and language
In plain terms
Intelligibility depends on the speaker and the listener. Familiar listeners, like parents, usually understand more than unfamiliar ones. It is affected by articulation, phonological patterns, voice, rate and fluency. A rough guide is that most children are understood by unfamiliar listeners most of the time by about age 4.
How it shows up in an IEP
Intelligibility goals can be measured by having a listener transcribe a speech sample or rate understanding, and can target strategies like slowing down or using gestures to repair breakdowns.
Example
An unfamiliar adult understands 45% of a student's words in a picture description. After therapy on final consonants, the same task reaches 75%.
Related terms
- ArticulationArticulation is the physical production of speech sounds using the lips, tongue, teeth, jaw and palate.
- Phonological processA phonological process is a predictable pattern young children use to simplify speech, such as dropping final sounds or saying t for k.
- Childhood apraxia of speechChildhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder in which a child has trouble planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech.
- Language sampleA language sample is a recording of a student's natural talk, transcribed and analyzed to measure everyday language skills.
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