Phonological systems of pediatric cochlear implant users: The acquisition of voicing

Abstract

Although cochlear implants are primarily auditory prostheses, they have also demonstrated their usefulness as aids to speech production and the acquisition of spoken language in children. This presentation reports on research currently being conducted at the Indiana University Medical Center on the development of phonological systems by children with five or more years of cochlear implant use in English-speaking environments. Characteristics of the feature [voice] will be examined in children with cochlear implants and in two comparison groups: adults with normal hearing and children with normal hearing. Specific aspects of voicing to be discussed include characteristic error patterns, phonetic implementation of the voicing contrast, and phonetic implementation of neutralization of the voicing contrast. Much of the evidence obtained thus far indicates that voicing acquisition in children with cochlear implants is not radically different from that of children with normal hearing. Many differences between the systems of children with cochlear implants and the ambient system thus appear to reflect the children’s age as much as their hearing status. [Work supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health to Indiana University: R01DC005594 and R03DC003852.]