Say Goodbye To 'Laud'

NU 6 word list to be updated

April 1, 2011. Scottsdale AZ. - The International Committee of Speech Recognition Measures (ICSRM) held their annual meeting March 4th, 2011, in conjunction with the American Auditory Society Scientific and Audiology meeting. In an unprecedented move, this prestigious group of researchers resolved to remove the word "laud" from the Northwestern University List #6. ICSRM President Richard Wilson stated: "Although we all have a certain fondness for "laud," its usefulness has run its course. At this point, it may be best to move on. The intent of speech recognition testing is not to trick the subject using archaic or unfamiliar test items".

Following this action, a sub-group was formed, which led to the recommendation of adding the replacement word "broad" as this new item would closely maintain the phonemic balance of the list. This was opposed, however, by some group members, because the word broad could be deemed offensive to females. This issue was forwarded to the ICSRM Word Review working group, who also continue to study the appropriateness of the word "but." Until a suitable replacement for laud is approved, the ICSRM recommends that clinicians conduct testing with 49 rather than 50-word lists, and use the multiplier of 2.041 to calculate percent correct scores.

The ICSRM is seeking input on this issue from the audiology community and the general public. Comments and feedback can be submitted at www.icsrm.org