Development and Validation of Standardised Passages for Speech Assessment in Hindi
Virender Kumar Yadav, Suman Kumar, Sanghamitra DeyAbstract
Introduction:
The frequency and distribution of phonemes vary across languages and directly influence nasalance scores. In Hindi, nasal consonants constitute approximately 9.5% of the phoneme inventory. Such cross-linguistic variation underscores the need for language-specific normative data to ensure accurate assessment of resonance. The present study aimed to develop standardised Hindi reading passages and establish normative nasalance values for the assessment of individuals with speech disabilities.
Method:
The study included 200 native Hindi speakers between 18 and 30 years of age. Three types of passages – an oral passage, a phonemically balanced passage and a nasal passage – were systematically developed based on documented phoneme frequency in Hindi and validated using the Delphi method. Nasalance scores for all three newly developed passages were obtained using a Nasometer.
Result:
The results demonstrated that the developed passages possess good content validity and strong test–retest reliability. Test–retest analysis revealed high correlation coefficients for each passage, indicating the stability and reliability of the stimuli. The mean nasalance scores obtained were 11.15% for the oral passage, 26.42% for the phonemically balanced passage and 56.48% for the nasal passage. Statistically significant differences in nasalance scores were observed across the three passage types between genders.
Conclusion:
The nasal passage yielded the highest nasalance values, followed by the phonemically balanced passage and the oral passage. In addition, females consistently exhibited higher nasalance scores compared to males. The normative data generated in this study provide an important clinical reference for the Hindi-speaking population and may facilitate more accurate assessment and management of resonance disorders.