Specificity of word meaning and use of sentence context by hearing-impaired adults

The effects of a semantic aspect of sentence context, general versus specific words, on word identification by hearing-impaired adults was examined. In Experiment 1, subjects heard incomplete sentences over headsets and attempted to identify the omitted test word. These sentences varied the number of contextual words with general or specific meanings. As predicted, listeners identified more test words when the sentences contained specific contextual words. In Experiment 2, listeners attempted recall of test words that were included in the sentence presentation. Listeners were required to recall the entire sentence in order to direct attention to the context. Again, recall of the test word occurred more frequently when sentences contained specific words. Implications of the findings for aural rehabilitation are discussed.