Lexical tone recognition in noise in normal-hearing children and prelingually deafened children with cochlear implants

Abstract

Objective The purpose of the present study was to investigate Mandarin tone recognition in background noise in children with cochlear implants (CIs), and to examine the potential factors contributing to their performance. Design Tone recognition was tested using a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm in various signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions (i.e., quiet, +12, +6, 0, and −6 dB). Linear correlation analysis was performed to examine possible relationships between the tone-recognition performance of the CI children and the demographic factors. Study sample Sixty-six prelingually deafened children with CIs and 52 normal-hearing (NH) children as controls participated in the study. Results Children with CIs showed overall poorer tone-recognition performance and were more susceptible to noise than their NH peers. Tone confusions between Mandarin tone 2 and tone 3 were most prominent in both CI and NH children except for in the poorest SNR conditions. Age at implantation was significantly correlated with tone-recognition performance of the CI children in noise. Conclusions There is a marked deficit in tone recognition in prelingually deafened children with CIs, particularly in noise listening conditions. While factors that contribute to the large individual differences are still elusive, early implantation could be beneficial to tone development in pediatric CI users.

The effectiveness of sound‐processing strategies on tonal language cochlear implant users: A systematic review

“…These reports have shown that CI provides a fairly high level of speech perception in the majority of users, especially in quiet conditions. However, other reports have indicated that CI recipients exhibit considerable deficits in tone perception of native tonal language speakers, especially among prelingually deafened tonal language children …”

“…However, other reports have indicated that CI recipients exhibit considerable deficits in tone perception of native tonal language speakers, especially among prelingually deafened tonal language children. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Sound-processing strategies are the core of CI technology, which transform speech into stimuli for the electrodes. Most sound-processing strategies have been designed based on the languages of Europe and the United States, which differ from tonal languages, that is, Sino-Tibetan, including Mandarin and Cantonese.…”

Speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants: A systematic review

“…English. Tone information is particularly important for tonal language and speech 136 recognition in noise (Mao & Xu, 2016). Thus, poor pitch information conveyed by 137…”

“…Seven 210 studies were cross-sectional (Y. Chen, Wong, Chen, & Xi, 2014;Han et al, 2009;211 A. Li, Wang, Li, Zhang, & Liu, 2014;Mao & Xu, 2016;Tao et al, 2015;Xu et al, 212 2011;Zhou, Huang, Chen, & Xu, 2013) and one is a review (Tan, Dowell, & Vogel, 213 2016). None of the tone perception tests used in these studies had been standardized, 214 which was the major source of bias.…”

“…On the other hand, Y. Chen et al (2014) and Mao and Xu (2016) Although all studies about tone perception were cross-sectional and differs in 301 participant demographic characteristics and test materials, the studies all concluded 302 that perception of lexical tone was possible in Mandarin-speaking children with 303 CIs. That is, children are expected to identify tones above chance level after one to 304 three years of CI use.…”