Mandarin lexical tones identification among children with cochlear implants or hearing aids

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Linguistics
• Pediatric Medicine

Background:

• Mandarin Chinese utilizes lexical tones, where pitch changes meaning.
• Limited research exists on tone identification in deafened children using hearing devices.
• No studies have compared tone identification with hearing devices on versus off.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate lexical tone identification in deafened children using cochlear implants (CIs) or hearing aids (HAs).
• To compare tone identification abilities with hearing devices on and off.

Main Methods:

• Forty prelingually deafened children (20 with CIs, 20 with HAs) participated.
• Subjects completed a computerized lexical tone pairs test with devices on and off.
• Tone pair identification scores were recorded.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in tone identification between CI and HA groups (devices on or off).
• Scores were significantly higher with devices on compared to off for both groups.
• Tone 4 pairs and earlier age at fitting correlated with better identification.

Conclusions:

• Hearing aids and cochlear implants benefit tone identification in deafened children.
• Lexical tone identification abilities were comparable between HA and CI users.
• Earlier device fitting age is associated with improved tone identification.